40 gallon all in one Starphire Custom Cube

[aural]

well i posted about my new tank over on RC - but not over here at N-R. I've read hundreds of pages of your threads and have gotten some really great ideas, so i thought i would share my new tank with you guys.

 

First off the equipment I'm using (as of now)

40g Custom 1/4" Starphire tank with black overflow & metal trim built by www.oceanimage.net

Custom built stand from www.oceanimage.net

250w AquaMedic Pendant w/ 15k XM bulb

Rio 1700HF return pump connected to Loc-Line (yes i know it sucks - when it dies it will be repleaced)

Tunze 6000 on single controller for additional water movment.

Remora Skimmer with MJ1200

Phosban Reactor powered by minijet 404 running ZEOvit media.

Barebottom - starboard with sand adheared to it

auto top-off system from www.top-off.com (these are the best i have found)

 

onto the pictures:

This is the crate that the aquarium came in... pretty impressive:

 

with the top of the crate off:

 

The stand without the bottom, top, shelf, or door on:

 

Assembled stand inside:

 

Assembled tank outside:

 

Tank in place:

 

Back wall overflow:

 

Skimmer, light, and return installed:

 

closeup:

 

adhearing the sand to the starboard:

[FateX9]

nice set-up so far

i had a quick question though, what adhesive did you use to put the sand on the starboard?

mike

[aural]

Water testing:

 

starboard installed and 45 lbs of Indoneasian Live Rock from www.reefscience.com

 

closeup of some of the live rock:

 

skimmer skimming:

 

Added about 10 lbs more of some indoneasian live rock i found locally. i think that once it is aquascaped it will be enough. This was from about 10 days ago.

 

as of right now i am still cycling. the maxijet is in there while the tank is cycling - my Tunze Stream is in my 75g where all my SPS is being housed for now.

 

If i could do it all over i probably would have had it drilled for a closed loop, but nothing i can do about that now. live and learn

 

tanks for looking!

[aural]

nice set-up so far

i had a quick question though, what adhesive did you use to put the sand on the starboard?

mike

Clear PVC glue. First i roughed it up with my random orbit sander with 60 grit paper on it... then I put it on thick in some areas and thinner in others (making sure to at least coat the whole thing). that way it is kind of wavy/rippled. looks a bit more natural that way.

 

Dont be shy with the glue, but work quickly. It helps if you have 2 people. I spread the glue on and my wife had a big plastic cup filled with sand and she covered the glue as i went.

 

let it dry for a while and tap off any loose sand and reapply to any light spots. I did 3 coats total. Once it is done, tap off any loose sand and let it cure for 48 hours or so before getting it wet.

 

worked great and i really like the way it turned out. The fiji-pink sand is MUCH better than stark-white starboard.

[FateX9]

cool thanks for the info

really liking the setup

[aural]

cool thanks for the info

really liking the setup

cheers! it should be interesting watching it come into fruition. I've been calling it my "not-quite-nano-tank". i've had great success with my nano tanks, so i wanted to try something along the same lines but with a little more water volume.

 

more to come

[scarf_ace1981]

bravooo. someone did their homework. looks good. can't wait to see it w/ corals and fish? what are your stocking plans?

 

btw love the metal trim.

[RandalG]

Nice tank.Whats the advantage to the starboard vs. say live sand?

[aural]

bravooo. someone did their homework. looks good. can't wait to see it w/ corals and fish? what are your stocking plans?

 

btw love the metal trim.

Thanks! Stocking plans are mainly SPS. I have a bunch of acro pieces that i have been collecting over the past couple of months that will find their home here in this tank. As far as fish go - Not sure yet. Probably keep it to 1 fish due to the fact that i am trying to go low nutriant.

 

Nice tank.Whats the purpose of the starboard vs. say live sand?

I am going to have a LOT of waterflow in the tank due to SPS needs. If i used sand it would blow all over the place.

 

I think i might buy a wavysea unit and remove the loc-line returns. anyone ever had any experience with these units?

[aural]

installed my auto top-off today... few updated pictures:

 

Business end. from left to right:

Remora Skimmer - fill tube from reservoir - float switch - ZEOvit reactor in/out

 

Updated FTS - still no aquascaping done

 

I cant wait to get this puppy full of coral. I hate waiting!

[aural]

well as much as the locline return looked great on paper - in practice it wasnt nearly as good.

 

The locline tends to vibrate a bit and when it hits the side of the aquarium just right, it can be NOISY. (and as i said earlier on in this thread - Noise and I dont get along)

 

Also with all the different junctions and bends and outlets - the actual water movment coming out wasn't adequate in my opinion.

 

So i ordered myself a Wavysea PLUS+ model. Apparently it can handle up to 3600GPH so it will allow me to grow if/when i decide to change return pumps. here is what it looks like:

 

so hopefully between this and my tunze stream 6000 i'll get some great water movement.

[dga]

nice tank and setup. wow, $319 for starphire glass, stainless trim, beefy glass thickness, impressive packaging. good deal in my book. more companies should get a clue.

[aural]

nice tank and setup. wow, $319 for starphire glass, stainless trim, beefy glass thickness, impressive packaging. good deal in my book. more companies should get a clue.

well it was a little more for starphire - but neglagable IMO - the tank ended up being $340 which i thought was very resonable.

 

thanks for looking

[Cesar]

Very cool. Can't wait to see with some nice corals.

[Carinya]

That is a very, very nice setup you have there. Really well designed.

 

Just out of curiosity (because I do like the setup as is), I'm wondering why you didn't go with a sump below to hide your equipment. It generally looks (at least at the outset here) like you're going for a pretty clean & streamlined look. But much of that equipment could have been housed below. Just wondering what steered you away from a sump.

 

C

[aural]

Just out of curiosity (because I do like the setup as is), I'm wondering why you didn't go with a sump below to hide your equipment. It generally looks (at least at the outset here) like you're going for a pretty clean & streamlined look. But much of that equipment could have been housed below. Just wondering what steered you away from a sump.

long story short was i didnt want to deal with a sump. i wanted all my equipment available and accessable. i wanted to keep the design easy so i could focus on coral care.

[DKreefkeepers]

nice.........

[Cam barr]

post update

[LBCBJ]

Nice! Any updates? How's the Phosban reactor working?

[proraptor2]

Awesome tank! I dig the starfire....You might want to get rid of the XM 15K bulb as it doesnt have much par at all...I think it had the worst PAR out of any other bulb on the market...

[Cesar]

What are the dimensions of your tank?

[FateX9]

any updates?