Sympicotic 4.5G Cube

[akabryanhall]

So I have been looking at this empty spot on my desk at work and thought that it needed a certain something. My plan is to build a pico cube with built in fuge that has a display of 4.5G and total water volume of around 6G.
My inspiration is a cross between this
5 Gallon Pico Aquarium features Elos Elite

And this
My 5.5g pico with built in Fuge - Pico Reefs - Nano-Reef.com Forums

I have always loved chunky cubes so I will be using 1/4" acrylic for this project, probably overkill for a pico lol.

I want to theme it a bit so I would like to feature symbiotic relationships and if possible, make all of my livestock either tank bred or from existing tanks.

Livestock options
Randall's goby and tiger pistol shrimp
Sexy Shrimp and Flower Anemone
Maybe a fire shrimp
ORA Neon Goby
ORA Pincushion Urchin
4 or 5 hippo tangs
More details to come. Need to go pick up my son;)

Mainly zoas, a chalice or two, a yuma, a monti or two and an acro or two.

 

[akabryanhall]

My lighting will be kept simple. I will use 1 50/50 stunner strip and 1 actnic stunner strip. Usually this would not be sufficient to grow much but with a tank this shallow, I should be able to grow anything with this configuration.

My biggest challenge may be stability. I may not have access to it every day due to weekends and holidays and have to think about things like controlling evap and one water change a week. I will not dose an hope the weekly wc will be enough. For the evaporation, there will be a cover over the aquarium.

In the back left chamber, I will be keeping a chaeto ball. I will use an underwater led grow light, on a reverse cycle to control PH swings.

Here is my equipment list: I am on a very tight budget.
Maxi-Jet 400
2 Ecoxotic Stunner Strips
Aqueon 50w heater
Submersible led grow light
Thermometer

More to come..

 

[akabryanhall]

The basic design..

 

[akabryanhall]

Spot it will go

 

[revhtree]

Oh man this should be great!

 

[akabryanhall]

Thanks Rev! Now I just need to figure out how much acrylic Im going to need. Not even sure what size sheets acrylic comes in tbh. Think with 6 sides and false back Im looking at around 1380 sq" 1400 with partition between back chambers.

 

[akabryanhall]

Thinking about doing a "basement sump" under the desk using an eheim canister filter. Thoughts? Too much?

 

[akabryanhall]

Way too much filtration I think.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I think the canister filter would be too much for the tank, but then again with 4 or 5 hippo tangs you might need it. :xd:

 

[akabryanhall]

Haha indeed! What do you think of my real stock list?

 

[rajkovich207]

I think it would be awesome and the tangs should love the 12" swimming space. Will you eventually regime them? Or upgrade to a massive 10g? ;-)

 

[akabryanhall]

Lol nah they'll have to live with it. May get too complacent in the opulence of a 10G:)

 

[akabryanhall]

Picked up a couple cool pieces. Some tonga branch thats been cut to fit and another small piece. They are seeding in my reef.

This will be la pièce de résistance. It's a ceramic magnet shelf that will go against the false wall. Been in my tank a year and a half and should be a filtration beast.

 

[Jgomez324]

Looks good!!

I have 1 hippo tang in my 70 gallon and a fellow reefer chewed me out about it.

 

[akabryanhall]

Thanks man! Yeah the tang thing was a joke lol. The tang police can be pretty brutal. Never helpful, just mean.

 

[Jgomez324]

Thanks man! Yeah the tang thing was a joke lol. The tang police can be pretty brutal. Never helpful, just mean.

Lol I was like I'm gonna trade him when he gets 1.78 inches long....

 

[akabryanhall]

A great day to fabricate! Got my acrylic. Went with 1/4". It was half the price as 3/8 and will be sufficient. Not having 3/8 is the one sore spot which I'll have to get over lol. Built on a budget..

I also got dome scrap black acrylic from a place called skycraft down here. Less radio shacks and more skycrafts and the world would be a better place lol.

 

[akabryanhall]

Thanks to MitchReef for helping me out with the build!

 

[akabryanhall]

Working on the baffle. Set the false back 3" from the back actual. About 2 fingers gap at the bottom.

 

[sprinklerdudes]

looks like a good project in the making, I saw a similer one in atlanta a couple of years back 1 piece of rock, some macro algea, and a large peppermint shrimp small , simple, but something you could stare at on your desk for hours and not get any work done, lol , my kind of tank