Thanks man. I'd recommend this setup to ANYONE. For the cube, pumps, and all the filtration gear you see, it cost me roughly $430. The light was an additional $289. Most of all, I like the idea of being able to clean/change my filter, without recirculating crap back into the tank. I also own an all-in-one biocube and every time I change carbons or floss, accumulated detritus spits back into the tank. Now I can simply turn the pumps off, remove the filter completely and rinse the hole thing with freshwater. Anyway, works for me (so far).

hey i was wondering if you could take some pics with lights on in your kitchen showin how the pendant looks hanging..i would love to do something like that, but my gf thinks it would not look good...i think she is wrong lol

thanks

keith

Np. Gimme 1 day to clean my kitchen first! (so you can SELL it to your GF)

sweet! thanks man

so, 2 weeks ago you had massive ammonia and uncured rock, today it's full of corals, snails and fish... a few days ago a diatom bloom... your tank is cycled? what are the n-cycle parameters at, and what's the water change schedule been?

^^ x2

I looked at the dates and said...this can't be right...

nah, i think his dates are straight.

Yeah, it did cycle rather quickly. The 25lb piece of uncured rock was seeded by 3 smaller pieces of cured stuff from my other tank. Also, I added water from my other tank weekly to speed things up a bit. Lastly, I added weekly doses of live bacteria left over from before. Params are reading 0 for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. If I notice anything out of norm, I'll definitely post. I won't be adding anything from the LFS for another couple of months. Keeping close watch...

no water changes? how do you "add doses of bacteria"? do you have a centrifuge?

so what did your cycle progession look like?

Maybe two 5G water changes within the last month. Bacteria in a bottle, called "STRESS ZYME." Guess it worked - or it could have been a combination of the tank water and live rock from my other system. Or the 25lb live rock I picked up from the LFS may have already been curing in their tank for several weeks already? But that wouldn't explain the high ammonia spike. No centrifuge, just a 3G bucket of water and a siphon. Honestly, I didn't track my cycle progression. The only time I saw any params out of wack was in the first 2 weeks. So far so good and everything looks happy and healthy. From here on out, I'll be changing 3Gs of water every week.

Here ya go, Keith.

You can just barely see the suspension cables.

The black cord you see below the tank will be hidden inside the island,
along with the halide ballast and power strip (once I get around to drilling it).


FYI, that's my other nano tank in the right corner - BC14.

Hope you like it. Got my mother-in-law's approval!

very nice man..thank a ton for the shots..will def have the gf look at it hah..i like how clean it looks

That's an interesting place to put the tank.

Wow! That looks incredible!

WOW looks good. How far is the light from the water line? it seems like alot of the 250 watts light is shining on your refrigerator and floor.

Typically, one would put food there, I know. But my primary incentives were having a 360 degree view, an intriguing dining centerpiece, and most importantly, keeping the tank safe from my 1yr old son!

Tx. The light is a good 12" from the water line. I had it about 8" at first, but it raised the temp too high. 12" helps maintain a nice 80 degrees. In a couple of months, when I introduce some SPS, I may lower it a bit. In the meantime, maybe I set a pico bowl full of zoa frags next to the cube and see how fast they grow.

do you notice any bowing with your 6mm glass?

i'm going to scratchbuild a very similar tank and am trying to decide between 1/4" and 3/8" glass

No bowing at all, but a little thicker would be nice. Just for added comfort and security.

super nice tank man..the gf likes the way it looks!! sweet hahah..now the hard parts over

thanks again for the pics

This tank is straight up awesome......My next tank will be rimless

I think it would have been cooler to build the tank into your center island, the tanks lights shimmer all over the floor, making your house unattractive. probably add more value to your house.

That would've been cooler, but I'd only be able to view it from one side? Oh and the kitchen table would block it.

I have a quick lighting question. How high up from the water surface can I keep my 250W HQI, without depriving SPS corals from sufficient light? During the day, water temp can rise to about 82.3 degrees, and I know it's from the heat ray above. It's about 12" above the water surface now. I'm thinking to raise it up 1.5 to 2 more inches. BTW: There aren't any SPS in the tank yet. I don't expect to add any for the next couple of months at least. Just planning ahead.

So I finally found some time to drill the side wood panels of my kitchen island. Still need to order a 2" desk grommet to finish it off. The one shown is from my entertainment system, but it doesn't quite fit. I also need a new power strip plug that won't stick outward like this one does.


Now all the plugs and balast are now tucked away inside the cabinet below.

Here are a few wide angle shots of the total system setup...



It would be awesome if I could somehow hide the wire coming down from the light.






Need a 2" desk grommet here too.

At least we've got a little room for pots, dishes, and other real kitchen stuff!

Looks great, great job with the cabinet and wiring. Not sure about height. I assume your planning on SPS on the top rocks? How far are they from the surface?

Thanks alot. I'm actually planning for SPS mostly everywhere in the tank. The soft corals in there now are only temporary, to give me something to look at while the tank stabilizes. I think I might need to run a fan to cool it down one degree or two.

Someone had mentioned that you cant drill a ADA tank? Does anyone know if that is true? I think this tank would be amazing if you could drill two hole in the bottom of the tank and run a canister filter or sump. Build a cave around the outlet and inlet to cover it up but still be able to service it. Run an inline heater, and place only low flow coral in it. That would be my ultimate dream tank. One with absolutely no hardware showing.

Please tell me that it is possible with this tank... If someone out there can show me how to do it, I will begin ordering tomorrow.

That definitely sounds like a custom build tank. The retail store where I purchased this tank insisted that it could not be drilled. Trust me, I wanted to do something similar. What I'll probably do in another 6mos is remove the hang-on-back completely, so I can view the backside without any obstruction.

Last night I was thinking that maybe the setup would benefit by using an outside canister filter instead of the hang-on-back it has now. Since the island now has holes, I can conceal the canister unit inside the cabinet. Only the intake and return tubing would be exposed, and the view from the rear would be unobstructed. Anyone know if these filters sold by ADANA USA can be used for saltwater?



ES-600 Filtration System Set (Expensive but very clean looking) MORE INFO

I don't know but I think you should definitely use those glass tubes! I think the HOB filter takes away from the beauty of the ADA tank.

That's right huh? I can always use the glass tubes and run a different (CHEAPER) canister filter. I'll order the tubes right away. any recommendations for a good canister filter? But I'll need to keep the Koralia and MJ1200 pumps in there since I'm planning on keeping a good amount of SPS.

you can definitely use any canister filter on saltwater, however, if I may suggest --- construct a refugium/sump and add a nice powerful skimmer. Or, if you dont want to mess with that, try a euro-reef inline skimmer.

A sump would definitely be ideal, but I don't want to risk using a siphon overflow and have water spill all over the kitchen floor. Remember, I cannot drill this tank. Where can I get some good info on the euro-reef?

i cant wait to see ur tank stocked with a lot of sps

www.euro-reef.com

only problem with those glass input/outputs is that corraline will grow inside and IMO corraline is VERY ugly.... I have thought about getting those but the corraline inside of the glass tube stopped me.

I've thought about that too. Corraline wouldn't bother me so much as brown and green hair algae. I still might do it, but what do you use instead?

Same here! Not at least for another 2mos though. I think once I get my hardware in order, especially the filtration, the tank will begin to stabalize. Hopefully some corraline will start to develop. The water is already crystal clear, which is a good sign.

That's beautiful! Those ADA cubes are pretty much my dream tanks! I'll be saving this thread because I plan on upgrading to one within the next few years.

EDIT: Why did you choose to put your tanks in the kitchen?

I chose the kitchen at first b/c of the solid structure of the granite counter tops. They're perfectly level! More importantly, I have a 1yr old son and I worried about him knocking over a simple stand or bashing the glass. The granite counter tops are high enough for him not to reach. In a couple of years, I might venture out from the kitchen and into the living room, where I'll custom build a 2-way 200G - so you can see through the tank from inside the master bedroom and into the living room (and vice versa). But I'll always have a thing for nanos So in the kitchen they'll remain b/c tanks are such a biatch to move!

you can buy 2 sets of glass tubes. when one set starts getting algae growth or whatever, switch it out for the other set. In the meantime, soak the dirty set in some vinegar. It could be a biweekly or monthly routine whenever you do w/c's.

Sounds like the perfect solution. Now I just need twice the money and I'm set! I'm definitely switching to an outside canister with glass tubes. After I integrate an in-line heater, that'll leave only the 2 pumps and surface skimmer in the tank. Shouldn't look to bad when it's done. For now, the HOB is keeping the tank extremely clean.

Has happened to my dad many times. lol he's got a 75 reef and is in the hallway right when you walk in the door to the kitchen. Every time we have a power outage (which is alot we live in florida and have hurricanes!) the whole hall way floods and my dad gets so ticked off. You should have saw him when he installed his skimmer. The sump overflowed about 5 times.

I hear you. that's hilarious, but raw determination, especially since he still has it! It's happened to me several times too and I don't even have a sump! My ATO overflowed a few times b/c I installed it incorrectly.

Here's a pic I took earlier today. Thought it was cool to see the reflection of my son looking out the window.


Right Side Shot. I've gotta get my other camera. This Sony T1 is taking blurry pics.

I can really hear ADA calling my name next summer. Love the look of the tank. I agree though, the HOB kind of spoils the cleanliness of the tank and the 360 view. Either way, you've got a fan.

Yup, I appreciate the constructive criticism. Based on the advice from this thread, I'm going with an outside canister filter, possibly an in-line protein skimmer, definitely an in-line heater, and clear glass tubes! Once my gear is hooked up, my next consideration is water chemistry. My other BC14 consumes so much ALK and CALC that I can hardly keep up with it. I'll probably go with a dosing pump for Kalwasser this time around.

A continuous siphon overflow filter (to 'feed' a sump that contains whatever other devices [skimmer, heater, etc.] you want to incorporate) should work.

There has to be some electrical outlet control device that would prevent the return pump in the sump from coming on after a power outage and then the worst that would happen would be for a small amount of water to drain into the sump (and the sump should be designed/purchased to easily hold extra water specifically for this reason).

There are all sorts of method for people doing this in safe fashions, look it up or get help from someone else here. Having only the sump overflow box hanging on the side of the tank and the return lines from the sump directing flow into the tank would eliminate the vast majority of the clutter in/on the tank and help it look the way that you want.

They have pipe cleaner type brushes for those tubes you know. The ADA canister filter seams way too expensive for my tast. Aquaforest also uses Fluval and Hydor canisters on their tanks.