THE CUBED CORNER ! 24g

[Pizzafam!]

Hey everyone ,This is our first saltwater tank ,super excited to share our progress so far ,it's about 2 weeks since we started so sorry for delayed post but better late than never ! Had a great time aquascaping ,the whole family had an input lol ,we've built custom enclosures for a reptiles (will share) so our rockwork may have some unique influences but we're so happy with it ! We've positioned the tank at an angle in the room with future plans to create custom corner shelving on sides and top !
Over the next few weeks we're hoping to upgrade lights,pump,custom lid ,add more flow ,ATO ,etc and of course beautiful livestock ! most importantly keep learning from the community and our mentors !

Tank : Aquatop AIO 24 g cube with stand
Stock powerhead /stock pump/stock light
Hygee heater with controller
Sand:Nature's ocean 20lb reef sand
Filter: basket with carbon /filter. floss/biomass
Rocks/coral mix Fiji coral /rocks 2lbs of live

 

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Our captive bred E.collared lizard

 

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Quick update:loving the overall look
but undecided about adding a small shelf like addition on the left side slanted rock/slope or a magnetic shelf for the glass ,any inputs appreciated. Will move live rock that's in back to the front of main structure as an island .

Since this pic changed nozzle position ,still tuning the best flow with current setup . Definitely can see benefit of a better powerhead ,gotta go shopping ! Thanks for looking !

 

[Pizzafam!]

We have growth!!!
upgrades for today :
Nero 3 with backup battery
Smatfarm G5
cabinet motion lights and organization
Stay tuned !

 

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New lights and Nero 3 are up!
Still adjusting light settings but what a difference from the OEM light bar.

 

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Weekend update : 1 week covered (pics soon)

*rescaped entire rock work .Definitely learned its more about the future coralscape and lighting, added some islands as well.

*Diatom bloom was in full effect ,thousands of micro bubbles that cleared up within a few days !

*All number within range of cycled tank (API test kit)Still testing daily and how nice a digital reader would be ,color matching was fun .......

*Nero 3 hooked up to DIY Battery .Stimulated a power shut off and it switched over to backup battery and ran 29 hours at 30-40%!
Overall pleased but during diatom bloom micro bubbles lifted sand to top the Nero 3 kept getting stuck ,that was kinda annoying to clean,but running fine since then.

*Smatfarm G5 lightning mounted beautifully ,it was a bit tricky to program but figured out with the help of youtube and R2R ! anyone running these in a cube?
Still tuning the percentages but keeping it basic for now,looks like this :
Sunrise-8am-noon
Daytime-noon-4pm A: cold white 2% E: warm white 3%
Sunset-4pm-8pm B: royal blue 50% F: green 0%
Moonlight-8pm-11pm C: violet blue 50%
No light - 11pm-8am D: purple 45%

*added a toadstool frag,opened up in first hour and has been looking great last coup!e of days !

* The CAT finally acknowledged the tank while I was using the flipper ,I think the sound caught his attention. he tried to jump in but was quickly blocked .Either way a lid was in the plan but its moved up in the priority list .Heading in the direction of making my own with a polycarbonate sheet and adding 1000 perfectly aligned holes lol wish me luck.

 

[Pizzafam!]

Happy Monday ! Keeping thread updated!
Frags doing well
The underlight in the cabinet is the best thing ever !

Goals this week: make a lid! Find better testers!

here's some pics!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Happy Monday ! Keeping thread updated!
Frags doing well
The underlight in the cabinet is the best thing ever !

Goals this week: make a lid! Find better testers!

here's some pics!

How are you planning on making a lid for your tank?

 

[Pizzafam!]

How are you planning on making a lid for your tank?

Hey!! Check out pics for reference for all ideas listed below.
1. LID -
Aquire a polycarbonated sheet between 6 -8 mm in thickness better for drilling(13 in.x 17 in. Approx.) Hopefully i can find one locally or a shop that can cut it .
If not I'll buy the bigger sheet and use a scoring tool or jigsaw to size it.

2. MOUNTING
Use the aquarium tabs as sheet (lid) holders.

3. HOLES
This might be the most challenging part finding a system to drill the holes that's consistent and streamline .Aiming for pea size holes ,covering at least 75% of the sheet ,also find a template to help assist.

4.Mount a fun handle to lift lid off.
Undecided about adding a feed port or hole but it's on my mind.

6.Have fun and give myself some grace that it might not be as sleek as the $160 option but pretty close .
Approx. Budget $50-60 . Low end
$60-75 High end
Polycarbonate sheet biggest contributing factor.

If anyone has any thoughts always appreciated.

 

[Pizzafam!]

Circular template is just an example. I will not be drilling holes that close to each other haha .

 

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Weekly Update:

3 cerith ,3 Nassirius ,3 trocus snails and a cleaner shrimp added !

Lid is on! 1st attempt, the drilling was a bit hard to keep symmetrical so went somewhat abstract.will make a 2nd lid in the future and really take my time.Went with magnetic strip instead of clips .

Thanks for reading!

 

[tbrown]

I printed similar clips for my lid to sit on. My lid is just egg crate though so it's fairly light. I think I over designed mine though.

 

[Pizzafam!]

I printed similar clips for my lid to sit on. My lid is just egg crate though so it's fairly light. I think I over designed mine though.

I did see the egg crate setup, Another good DIY option ,will check out your tank thread!
I definitely had to step back and not over design as well haha im like get simple."its a plastic ,with some holes in it "

 

[Pizzafam!]

I printed similar clips for my lid to sit on. My lid is just egg crate though so it's fairly light. I think I over designed mine though.

I did see the egg crate setup, Another good DIY option ,will check out your tank thread!
I definitely had to step back and not over design as well haha im like get simple."its a plastic ,with some holes in it "

 

[Pizzafam!]

Added in the last few weeks:
An awesome firefish and Yellow watchman Goby that started to share the same hole!
A blue hermit crab!
Fire and ice zoa,bam bam zoa and orange disco! Here's some pics .YWG is hiding but will take a pic soon!

 

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photo dump from last few weeks!

 

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