Mike89t's 45gal Cube Build

mike89t

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So back in the day I had a 190 reef system that I eventually sold off back in 2011. With two small kids at the time it just became too much to handle. Fast forward a decade and I baby sat my friends Biocube over the holiday weekend while they were on Vacation. Ooops I did it again. Caught the bug. Wife says I'm crazy.

So I re-joined my local reef club and within a day I was the proud owner of a 45 Gallon Cube. We have an awesome club out here in the Phoenix area and this member sold me his tank and stand for a price that I couldn't pass up. it needed a ton of TLC to get it back into shape and will need to be drilled to add an overflow but "I'm back baby!"

Here it is in sad need of some TLC:

OldCube.jpg


Here is the 45 Cube after some Elbow Grease:



AllClean.jpg


Here is the Stand after wiping it down and getting it ready for a new paint job:


Cleaned up stand.jpg
 
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lapin

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nice
 
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mike89t

mike89t

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Was able to add a top and reinforce the bottom of the stand. Also added a handle to the door that matches the cabinets in our kitchen. I purchased a cabinet painting kit to try and make the stand match our kitchen cabinets better.


D677A9A6-5223-4957-8CAE-AE070583BEDC.jpeg


Hope is to try and match as close as possible the cabinets that we recently installed in our kitchen:
IMG_2120.JPG
 
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mike89t

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D4F83403-BBDE-4634-891F-A02E77FD78F7.jpeg
93FDD402-BC59-4B2B-BF93-BC8907C21458.jpeg


decided to start with an early aquascaping of dry rock. Going with a crescent shaped island in the back corner and a pillar island in the front corner.

I’m pretty happy with it. A lot has changed since I used live rock shipped from Tonga. With this dry rock I decided that the longer I can cure it the better. As soon as I get my RODI system back up and running I’ll start curing this rock.

Now that we are back from vacation I can get back to rehabbing the stand.
 
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mike89t

mike89t

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27863FF9-03D7-411E-B941-30191F50D3E6.jpeg


Got my RO/DI system setup in my Garage. Luckily I still had the connections from my last system still available. So it literally was just installing on the wall and connecting the tubes. I even still had the Brute trash can that I used a decade ago to store water.

Already completed flushing the unit and I am making water.
 
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mike89t

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I’m trying the Rustoleun Furniture Transformation kit to try and match my espresso colored kitchen cabinets
EE072ADB-75E8-4027-B636-72318BD3271F.jpeg

I started by deglossing the cabinet
2CBAC105-1679-4F3F-A19A-2684161E2CB2.jpeg


then I put the first base coat on last night and let it dry overnight
2FC726DF-9FD9-4EF5-841A-59FBAB5B3FF9.jpeg


today I’m hoping to finish the second base coat and put the decorative glaze on.
 
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mike89t

mike89t

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Finished applying the decorative glaze and now will wait until tomorrow to apply the protective clear coat.

D4F00FFB-AB79-4971-B3AF-9B97F75C7CDE.jpeg


got my dry rock into some salt water with a power head and began dosing Microbacter7 to get a jump on curing the rock.

D043B949-9D93-414B-AB00-901415487FFB.jpeg
 
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mike89t

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Finished applying the clear protective coat

4640FDEC-2CAD-46D5-80BA-341873887187.jpeg

The finish ended up being slightly darker than our kitchen cabinets but it’s close enough for me.
E3519E98-0B4E-4F27-B0F0-7016FE8E54B0.jpeg


Now I need to wait at least 12 hours for the protective coat to fully dry before replacing the hardware and reinstalling the door
 
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mike89t

mike89t

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PetCo had a 50% Aqueon tank sale going on so I picked up a 20gal tall for my QT. Painted the back black and the bottom white. Started cycling the QT.

14D75AF1-070C-44CD-833C-2C9B40800BC4.jpeg
 

guntercb

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Mike,FYI drilling a tank is nerve racking, but it is actually quite easy. What side of Phoenix are you located? I am in Anthem.
 

guntercb

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If I ever make it down to Chandler, I will PM you and maybe I can see your handy work in person. Until then keep posting.
 
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