Our Ocean In A Box: 74g Cube Build

[mikee002]

Great looking build. I would have personally made the doors open opposite directions outwards so that I could get a 2 sided view of the fugue without having to go around the opposite door on the right.

I guess I got lucky with my mandarin. She will eat frozen when fed directly, but she was the only fish that survived a brook outbreak so I haven’t fed frozen in months. I grow a lot of chateo in the fuge and there’s always a lot of pods, she’s fatter and healthier than ever. I was culturing pods and phyto for a while also... but it’s been unnecessary.

 

[mfl74]

I love the build, and the tank looks great.
I see 2 problems, or more so potential problems you may run into... 1st, the tang may turn fairly aggressive without much swimming room. They like horizontal swimming more than vertical.

2nd, the mandarin is notoriously difficult to keep because of its feeding. Dosing pods is a good idea, but it gets really expensive really quickly. If money is no issue, then no worries!

Other than those two things, I think everything is great! Especially the friend you got those nice frags from. How's the growth on them?

Hey thanks, appreciate the nice comments.
I’m going with a small tang and we’ll see thru time, was aware of this so may need to re-home in a couple years.
Mandarin is doing well after 1 month, happy and fat but I do need to always continue watching the pod situation and the health of the fish. The way folks talk about how difficult, I think it scares a lot of people from getting one.

 

[mfl74]

Great looking build. I would have personally made the doors open opposite directions outwards so that I could get a 2 sided view of the fugue without having to go around the opposite door on the right.

I guess I got lucky with my mandarin. She will eat frozen when fed directly, but she was the only fish that survived a brook outbreak so I haven’t fed frozen in months. I grow a lot of chateo in the fuge and there’s always a lot of pods, she’s fatter and healthier than ever. I was culturing pods and phyto for a while also... but it’s been unnecessary.

Thanks so much for the comments.
On the doors...I debated doing them that way like you said but thought the hinges and handles looked weird when closed. It’s been ok so far because the opening is so wide and tall I can easily get in and under there at any area of the sump. Besides wanting a nice tall stand for tank viewing, I knew it would be nice to have extra headroom underneath.

 

[mfl74]

They seem to be getting used to their surroundings well. The yellow tang is pretty skittish, but comes in and out of the rock work.

 

[mfl74]

Keeping the thread alive...nothing new to report, which I guess is good. Everything stable and doing well.

 

[mfl74]

Added a Ruby Red Dragonet and a piece of Gorgonian coral yesterday. Both are doing well.

 

[mfl74]

Some other updates -
Food:

• Dry pellets in small amounts 2X’s / day from Eheim auto feeder, thru a Two Little Fishes magnetic feeding ring (help prevent food from staying on surface and going down overflow).
• I have been feeding Reef Chilli 1-2X’s / week, and
• just the Phyto Feast (primarily for the Gorgonian at the moment) to use in future.
• I also have Cyclops product in the freezer if needed in the future for the Mandarin Dragonet and Ruby Red Dragonet, to supplement the pods I added weeks ago to my tank.

 

[DS204]

We lost our ruby red to air flight one night after lights out- not sure if you have a lid on your tank? I thought it could never happen to me, until it did - so I bit the bullet and put a lid on the tank. Sigh.

 

[mfl74]

We lost our ruby red to air flight one night after lights out- not sure if you have a lid on your tank? I thought it could never happen to me, until it did - so I bit the bullet and put a lid on the tank. Sigh.

I’ve had the aluminum “rails”, corners, and netting to make the top but have been putting it off. I already lost a clown and found him as fish jerky on the floor months ago...so I will have to make this a priority.
I’ll post some pics on how I make my top if anyone is interested.

 

[mfl74]

Lots of photos!

 

[mfl74]

Fish were out so I snapped a few pictures to share.

 

[mfl74]

Heading to bed and noticed the Mandarin out...I think her coloration is really cool under these A360X light settings, late in the cycle before they turn off for the night.

 

[Tek]

Nice build and thank you for sharing! I am setting up the same tank and getting back to reefing! I found your thread while researching DIY tank stands.

 

[mfl74]

Nice build and thank you for sharing! I am setting up the same tank and getting back to reefing! I found your thread while researching DIY tank stands.

Hey thanks. Been awhile since I posted anything on here. Hope you get some good ideas for your tank and stand. I don’t have any regrets or changes I’d make to my stand I built. I can get inside there easily, well-lit, and everything fits as it should...I think the key thing besides the stand itself is to research the sump, it’s footprint, and it’s features & functionality so you’ll be happy with the outcome. Good luck with your build.

 

[Tek]

Hey thanks. Been awhile since I posted anything on here. Hope you get some good ideas for your tank and stand. I don’t have any regrets or changes I’d make to my stand I built. I can get inside there easily, well-lit, and everything fits as it should...I think the key thing besides the stand itself is to research the sump, it’s footprint, and it’s features & functionality so you’ll be happy with the outcome. Good luck with your build.

I definitely have a better idea now of how to build one. The sump fit is important and skimmer space. I may end up building my own sump to get it the way I want.

 

[mfl74]

After a couple casualties of fish I didn’t think were “jumpers” I had a temporary ugly looking thing on top. I don’t think I’m 100% satisfied with this solution either, but, I finally got around to building this one and it’s better at least for now.
I got the netting, tracks and plastic corners from the fish store - I believe it was about $25.

 

[mfl74]

Hi everyone- can anyone help identify this guy? I just saw him over the last week and I’ve put nothing new in the tank for many, many months. A few days ago he was attached somewhere else and now he’s sort of attached 1/2 way up in the corner so I was able to get some pictures & video.
Thank you!

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Aptasia

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

2nd the aiptasia.

 

[mfl74]

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