Fiji Cube EXT 81 Build (hello reef upgrade)

[sd_tom]

Hello! i got my first salt water tank back in June or so, a hello reef that has done very well

But, as these things tend to go.. made some room (filing cabinet relocated)

After going back and forth on a lot of vendors for 3ft x 2ft deep tanks, but for one reason or another they were eliminated. If IM did not make you take their sump and stand, i probably would of gotten with them. Anyways, the dimensions of Fiji Cube EXT 80 were great, did not make you buy stand or sump.. but very little information / reviews. So, I'm taking a gamble a little but..

It's here!

Box looks in great shape - MDF crate and then a cardboard box inside.

(I got too excited and opened the two included packages before taking a overal shot, had to put them back ;)

 

[sd_tom]

Return Pouch, also Imperial Plumbing!

Overflow Box

Overflow Box Depth - 4in, the drains are offset about 2.5 in from the tank (not centered on the bottom)

Everything that came in the Overflow Box

 

[sd_tom]

Next step(s) - now that i've confirmed it's a true 900mm x 600mm - now to get serious about the stand

 

[sd_tom]

Stand has been ordered - an AluFab t-slot stand - will take 3 weeks. It will be a custom height of 34" inclusive of casters, that make the total height 56" which is what i'm most comfortable with being that (1) I am short, and (2) it is next to my desk so i will be seated a lot.

And now playing around with sump , seeking Advice here

Sump Design - advice

Hi all, for my ~80 Gallon tank 3ft tank I am building I'm trying to squeeze: - Reef Factory Smart Roller - Reef Octopus Classic 110 (least priority) - Two Varios 4 pumps - Refugium with what's left. Into a UNS 60U - 20 gallon - 24x14x14 - even though it is not cheap as petco half off.. it is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[1000rrstunna]

Does this take standard pvc? I’m considering the same tank for my office. But internal overflow because of space from wall

 

[sd_tom]

Does this take standard pvc? I’m considering the same tank for my office. But internal overflow because of space from wall

Yeah, for the ext box it is 1in drain and 3/4 returns

 

[sd_tom]

Sump water tested, stand i am waiting on a couple missing parts from alufab

 

[blesk]

Hi any update on this build i thinking to buy the same tank .

 

[sd_tom]

Yeah sorry, life took a left turn where we ended up moving from San Diego to Portland over the summer so I had to pause everything. But I finally got it wet over the holidays in our new house. Will try to get some pictures and update this thread. Right now it has fish, corals not moved yet from the hello reef, taking my time cycling

 

[sd_tom]

Ok yeah so catching up.. After april my wife saw a job in portland she wanted to pursue, so i paused everything other than buying stuff.

A whole other tale is moving all our aquariums (4 nano fresh water, and the hello reef contents) , 2 dogs, 1 parrot, and 2 tortoises in a couple of vehicles over two days. Everything made it!

 

[sd_tom]

so i got a t-slot stand from alufab, that was great and easy to put together (but not cheap). And all the plumbing done before the move.

Notable Changes - in the end, I mounted the UV vertically hanging off the side.. that thing took up way too much space in the cabinet as pictured here.

 

[sd_tom]

Now we fast forward to portland. cycling started just before thanksgiving, got some tampa bay sand and moved my fish and bought new fish locally (nice to fine a LFS that quarantines everything). Current stocking
- Clown (old tank)
- Tailspot Blenny (old tank)
- Pistol Shrimp (old tank)
- Onespot foxface (maybe he'll outgrow, maybe not)
- Royal Gramma
- Melnarus Wrasse
- Yellow Watchman
- Tuxedo Urchin, Trochus snails, /maybe/ two strawberry crabs - they disappeared after day one and then i read they are nocturnal so who knows.








I am thrilled this sump is very quiet, will avoid a skimmer as long as i can to keep things that way. I have red ogo in the refugium.. so glad i used black acrylic on the partitions - so far keeps stuff from growing elsewhere.

I am only running UV 1 hour a day right now.

Next steps is to get brave enough to start moving my corals over, about week 9 or 10 now. I may move at least low light ones this weekend as test cases.

 

[sd_tom]

and here is a side view, that is ultimately what i liked this tank was that they were pretty deep (600mm / 23.622")

 

[blesk]

Nice progress what light you will use any idea

 

[sd_tom]

Right now i own two Reefi Uno 2.1's .. one is still on the hello reef with 90 degree reflector, one is over this tank with 120 degree. the idea is when the HR gets retired i will move the 2nd reefi over there. i can get 80 PAR on the sand (the same as I have hello reef) with it about 45% power just the one, and with the 120. So I think i dont' have to be in a rush to move the 2nd light over. I'm going to move two if my lower light corals (blastomussa, chalice) perhaps this weekend as a test case. But the second light will help with shading , but not an emergency

 

[blesk]

Interesting light do you have app for it to setup or online .

 

[sd_tom]

it has a built in webserver.. so you just browse into it from your PC on your local network based on IP address

 

[blesk]

What is the coverage for one of the lights