Fiji Cube 22.5g Build

[adobo]

I dunno if I will be able to keep updates on this thread but I will try.

Setting up my first nano reef tank. I have limited floor space to work with. The area I have reserved is sort of a corner shaped like this:



Here is a pic of the actual space:



With a space like that, I was considering a custom built tank of the same shape or an off-the-shelf tank. Custom built tank was super expensive and would take 8+ weeks. So, off-the-shelf tank it is. With that space, I can fit an 18"x18" footprint tank. So I have my eye on this (Fiji Reef 22.5G cube):

I can get a standard stand that has the same footprint. Fiji Reef has a matching stand for this tank, in fact. You can see the entire set up in this other member's thread for their build:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fiji-cube-22-external-overflow-build.730542/

 

[adobo]

Instead of getting the matching stand, I am thinking of getting a custom stand made of aluminum. I guess its like 8020 except its a competitor. Here is the footprint of the stand that I think I want:



This stand's footprint is bigger than the tank's. Hopefully this allows me more flexibility in terms of sump size and equipment placement.

In terms of things that I have actually purchased... reef rock came yesterday. Here is what I have for aquascpaing:

The edges of the plywood are presumably the interior walls of tank. This rock is nice in terms of shape but dang, its absolutely not porous. And, it is a bear to cut and chisel. I will definitely need something like brightwell bricks or something to provide more surface area for nitrifying bacteria.

 

[adobo]

Oh lordy... this build process has been moving at a glacial pace. Did make progress on three fronts:

1. I have an RO/DI system now and it fills a 32 gallon rubbermaid trashcan just nicely.
2. I but the above rock work in a spare 10gallon glass tank, filled with salt water and added Dr. Tim's one and only along with a few drops of ammonium chloride. The idea being, pre-seed the rock work (and a little bit of sand) with nitrifying bacteria. In other words, pre-cycle while I wait for all the ducks to get lined up in a row.
3. I finally have a design on a stand. :p Patrick from FandL is the man. Great to work with and very responsive. So the stand is designed and ordered. I should have it in hand in a few weeks. Below is the design:

Bonus update: I am going with a Fiji Cube sump. I am told that acrylic is in short supply right now so I had no faith in BRS or any other retailer being able to easily replenish acrylic products in the near term. BRS only had two in stock so I went and ordered one.

 

[adobo]

Well, I got the sump last night. Overall impressions - mostly good. A couple of incredibly minor nitpicks so first impressions were short of perfect.

Here is a real life pic of the sump:

 

[adobo]

A couple of nice features. One, you can use either filter socks or filter floss. You simple change the attachment:

 

[adobo]

On the overflow side, you can use either 1/2" and 3/4" pipe. You simply use the appropriate attachment and bulkheads. This thing came with 3 1/2" bulkheads - two for the overflow side and the other for the return side.

I guess one minor nitpick here is, the pics on BRS and Fiji Cube websites show that the overflow side bulkheads are larger than the return pump side bulkhead so I was expecting two have gotten two 3/4" bulkheads. Now, I will have to purchase those separately.



Edit: I was mistaken - all of the bulkheads for the sump are 3/4" bulkheads.

 

[adobo]

From what I can tell, all the cuts are precise, the joints look ok. I will leak test it later today just to see. There is a minor imperfection in one of the lids. Check out the end of the chopsticks:

 

[adobo]

In the end, its a sump. It doesn't need to be a beauty queen. Just sturdy and functional. So I guess so far, it meets expectations. One thing I wish I would have thought about though, I should have asked where these things are made. Oh well, next time.

 

[adobo]

Well, I got the tank last week. Upon first inspection, the tank seems fine. I mean nothing fancy but it did not have any obvious defects.

I did finally put water in it - I figured I should leak test it and leave water in it overnight to see if the panels will hold together.



Supposedly, the stand should arrive by Thursday. FandL charged my credit card today and told me that the stand has already been shipped. If it shows up by end of this week, the system should be plumbed by next weekend.

Separately, I have been trying to cycle dead rock and live sand. Process has been ongoing for 3ish weeks now. I am hoping that moving the rock and live sand into this tank will allow me to put fish in sooner rather than later.

 

[adobo]

Sit-rep...

Stand came in. I finished putting it together this morning. As I put a couple of pieces together, I realized the stand has a design flaw. Sigh... self inflicted too. The original proposal from FandL did not come with the design flaw. I asked for a modification but did not think through the proper implementation. :(

Anyway, here is the whole kit and kaboodle.



There is the right way to fix the design flaw and there is a "good 'nuff" fix. I think I am going to go with good nuff as the proper way to fix this thing would be to buy another 36" profile, chop off 1.5 inches off of two of the vertical profiles and then reassemble.

Anyway, I really like this 8020 stuff - just sucks that mistakes are so pricey and time consuming to fix.

 

[adobo]

Aquascaping... done.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looking great and nice build so far! Congrats!

 

[adobo]

Light.... installed.

Looking great and nice build so far! Congrats!

Thanks.

 

[adobo]

Some minor updates. The tank is on its slow march to maturity.

I didn't really think through my fish stocking. Originally, I was thinking of keeping the following:

• 1 ocellaris or percula clown
• 1 tang of some sort - preferably a purple tang
• 1 wrass of some sort - watermelon or maybe canary wrasse

I grabbed a clownfish on a whim while at an LFS. At first, I assumed that it was an ocellaris clown. Now that I look more closely, I am not entirely sure. It could be a percula clown. Whatever.

After some thought, I decided that trying to keep any kind of tang in such a small tank is just foolish. So I decided to get a friend for my previous clown. The second clowfish is designer clown. Not sure what it is - likely some ocellaris/percula hybrid. The first day was nerve wracking but they have seem to have made friends. Its possible they are also bonded.

I added a cleaner shrimp also.


This is what the tank looks like today:




If added some "corals" recently. Here is a pic of a blastimussa welsi and a ricordea florida:




Here is a pic of other ricordea floridas:


I also have this rhodactis:



I am going to wait until the tank is more mature to add much more than mushrooms. I'm also trying to sort out some of the systems of the tank to get parameters stable. I have pH almost nailed down to 8.2ish using a CO2 reactor. I am also waiting on a temp controller from Ranco. My BRS (Ink Bird) heater controller seems to work fine but I wanted something dual stage that would kick a cooling fan on if the tank goes up to a certain temperature. I would have gotten the Ink Bird dual stage controller but reviews on that unit have been mixed at best.

Strangely, I am struggling with keeping salinity consistent. Every time I do water change, I wind up under-filling. When I turn the pumps back on, inevitably the sump levels go too low which kicks on my Tunze ATO.

I haven't been testing alkalinity. I don't really have anything that would consume alkalinity at this point but I do intend on getting an alkalinity checker eventually. For now, I am taking it for granted that whatever is being depleted is being replenished and whatever is accumulating is being diluted when I do my weekly 15ish % water change.

Tank params:
SG: 35ppt (Until I do a water change then it dips to 34ppt).
Temp: 78-80 degrees
Ca: No idea
Alk: No idea
Nitrate: 5-10ppm (hard to tell with these hobby grade test kits)
Phos: .08ppm (Hanna phos ULR)

 

[terraincognita]

Some minor updates. The tank is on its slow march to maturity.

I didn't really think through my fish stocking. Originally, I was thinking of keeping the following:

• 1 ocellaris or percula clown
• 1 tang of some sort - preferably a purple tang
• 1 wrass of some sort - watermelon or maybe canary wrasse

I grabbed a clownfish on a whim while at an LFS. At first, I assumed that it was an ocellaris clown. Now that I look more closely, I am not entirely sure. It could be a percula clown. Whatever.

After some thought, I decided that trying to keep any kind of tang in such a small tank is just foolish. So I decided to get a friend for my previous clown. The second clowfish is designer clown. Not sure what it is - likely some ocellaris/percula hybrid. The first day was nerve wracking but they have seem to have made friends. Its possible they are also bonded.

I added a cleaner shrimp also.


This is what the tank looks like today:




If added some "corals" recently. Here is a pic of a blastimussa welsi and a ricordea florida:




Here is a pic of other ricordea floridas:


I also have this rhodactis:



I am going to wait until the tank is more mature to add much more than mushrooms.

If they don’t start actively swimming together within a month or two, I’d take one back and get a bigger or much smaller one.

I made the mistake of letting 2 co exist in a 15g.

they never fought unless it was feeding time so I thought everything was fine.

I never paid attention to it until finally one day I noticed the little guy was emaciated and weak.

when I fed them that day I realized the big one was basically stopping the little one from even eating.

it was too late to save him.

Anyway, either way just hope no one else makes that same mistake.

 

[adobo]

If they don’t start actively swimming together within a month or two, I’d take one back and get a bigger or much smaller one.

I made the mistake of letting 2 co exist in a 15g.

they never fought unless it was feeding time so I thought everything was fine.

I never paid attention to it until finally one day I noticed the little guy was emaciated and weak.

when I fed them that day I realized the big one was basically stopping the little one from even eating.

it was too late to save him.

Anyway, either way just hope no one else makes that same mistake.

Thanks for the tip.

They actually swim together about half of the time. The little guy is more aloof and kind of does his own thing. The female will spend part of the day tucked away in the rocks. The little guy doesn't follow her in there. At night though, they are always together.

In terms of feeding, there is no fighting. The little guy actually is more adventurous and will eat off my fingers. The female waits until food is fairly close to the rockwork. So the little guy actually winds up getting the first crack at food.

I'm not sure how to tell if they are bonded - I've never kept two clownfish at one time before, let alone a bonded pair. We'll see I guess.

 

[terraincognita]

Thanks for the tip.

They actually swim together about half of the time. The little guy is more aloof and kind of does his own thing. The female will spend part of the day tucked away in the rocks. The little guy doesn't follow her in there. At night though, they are always together.

In terms of feeding, there is no fighting. The little guy actually is more adventurous and will eat off my fingers. The female waits until food is fairly close to the rockwork. So the little guy actually winds up getting the first crack at food.

I'm not sure how to tell if they are bonded - I've never kept two clownfish at one time before, let alone a bonded pair. We'll see I guess.

sleeping together is a good sign as long as they're pretty close.

Sometimes they'll swim near like a few inches but that's not the same. You'll notice them still bickering around.

They have to touch basically. lol.

 

[LRT]

Sounds like the clowns should be fine.
Ive found when they "bond" its almost instant. They make best friends by swimming up to each other and shake tails at eachother and then are usually joined by the hip forever lol
Cool build. Following

 

[adobo]

Hmm.. seems my most recent posts were lost. I wonder how (or why) that happened.

Anyway, recent tank shots:

 

[greefer]

Well, I got the sump last night. Overall impressions - mostly good. A couple of incredibly minor nitpicks so first impressions were short of perfect.

Here is a real life pic of the sump:

took me hours to get that tape off my fiji sump. ugh. but love it