Hmmm Another tank..... Well, not really "another", because my 10G contest tank broke on me and decided to drain onto the floor, so this new tank is just taking its place.. but it will also be an upgrade for my 20G, so really in the end, I'll actually have 1 tank less... but 10G's more water than now.. Make sense?!??!


Anyways, a few details I'm planning on and working out.

First off "The Tank":

It is a custom built tank for a customer at my LFS, but that customer backed out on the purchase, and so the tank was sitting at the store, so I got curious about it and inquired on the price. $150 for a 24x24x16 40G rimless (aka braceless) cube. The rimless style is something I have been looking at alot lately, so figured what better opportunity could present itself. I do need to drill it myself, and add an overflow, but that's no big deal.

2 Options: a) Corner 90 Center back

Couple pics of the tank to give you guys your fix.





Lighting will come in part from a 175W 13K MH that is currently running on my 20G. If some money opens up in my favor, I might upgrade that to a 250W 14KHQI w/Galaxy Ballast system. Supplemental light will be 2x24W HOT5 Actinics.

Flow will be provided to the tank by the OceanRunner 2500 return pump, and I'm thinking 2x Koralia 2's.

Sump plans are still TBD... I'm thinking of recycling the 20 as the sump. Either a Tunze 9005 or Deltec MCE300 taking care of the skimming.. 2x Phosban Reactors (1 Phosphate Remover, 1 Carbon).



More to follow..........

great find!! sorry to hear bout ur tank! really! that just bites! but, hey u get to start another, n a good one too!!!

i would go with a center overflow imo. and def use that 20 for a sump/fuge! good luck!!

cant wait to see progress!!

Center overflow would be AWESOME! I am no light expert, but don't you think a 250w in a 16" deep tank might be a little to much?

Doooooo Ettt !!! 250 !!!

thats sweet tank.hook me up with one........Thats about size of my dream tank lol

I think it would alright man... Its a deeper tank front to back that usual, so the surface area is still larger for penetration. I'll probably run a higher K bulb too. Like I said, the 250W will only happen if I get some unexpected cash.

Thanks guys.

I can't wait to see more pictures of this baby taking off. Gonna look great! Especially if you do the center overflow and get 360 degree viewing.

Yea, I'm still pondering the overflow.. I can't make it 360, cuz of where i'm putting it.. but it will be 3 sides viewable at minimum.

Only reason I am hesitating the center center overflow is I had plans to do my aquascaping in a "Cove" like look, connecting at the back of the tank, in front of a center back overflow..

Quick update...

Got the tank moved from my coffee table to its final resting spot, until I can find time to drill it, and do the overflow (prolly won't happen this year)

Nice tank, And $150 sounds like a good deal for a rimless cube. What is the water filled tank next to the empty tank?

Thanks A.L..

The one JUST out of frame is the 20G that will be getting transferred over to this new one..

What lens is that sitting on the desk?

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro.

Tis' my main reefing lens. Would really like the 180mm Macro sometime down the road though.

Got the bulkheads in today somehow... didn't really plan to do anything on this tank till next year.

Anyways, once in, I was able to get the dimensions for the overflow... going with a 10"x5"x14.25" Center back overflow. Black Glass. 3/4" Bulkhead hole drilled 12" up from the bottom for my return/locline.

So until it comes, this is how the tank will sit..




Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you embrace)

thats why i like external overflows, now you really only have 19" from front to back. but it looks great. so you made time to get the bulkheads in. what about your 75. is anything going to happen with that, or are you going to keep both. good to see you over here too. see you on canreef

Yea, I'm over here too. 75 is still going man.. I'm gonna run both tanks.. 75 in the Living Room, and this one in my computer room.

I updated my 75 yesterday.. take a look!

this looks good! I'm thinking of a rimless as an upgrade to the 28g jbj ... whenever that's due.

Nice tank! I'm loving the clams and cleaner wrass.

And nice job on the cube, did you drill the holes yourself?

Thanks Acro!

Unfortunately, I think I lost the wrasse.. I can't find him anywhere in the tank. And he was missing before I left for Christmas. Clams are really nice.. Green/Blue Crocea and a Paisly Maxima. They will definitely be getting transferred over. Some other corals I might switch out to my 75G. Kinda want to keep this tank as SPS/Clam/Zoa tank. Coulpe pics of the clams.





As for the holes, yea, I drilled them myself. I'm 9 for 10 to date stupid 10G glass disrupted my perfect streak. haha!

Try not to get another cleaner wrasse. Some people manage to get them on prepared foods, but for some reason they still waste away and starve to death in a few months (unless you have lots of large fish with the parasites it eats).

I don't plan on getting another one. I never wanted this one, I just ended up bringing it home to help with ich and parasites on an Angel I had. And never got a chance to get it back to the LFS.. However he was eating prepared foods no problem.

nothing new yet, im going to check out the update with the 75 now.

JDigital, Your tank Rocks! Thanks for stopping in over at thread! You are really going to enjoy those dimensions! I was so happy i have since bought another! Not sure how you are doing the overflow, but man i couldn't be happier with my false wall! The water just overflows like a waterfall. Very quiet and impresses all of the guests! I am jealous tho! I really want a cube in Glass like yours! Looking Great!

That's funny.. I been thinking I would prefer an acrylic version.

My overflow is gonna be a center rear. Herbie overflow, with the return line, Hence the 3 bulkheads.

rear center will look good! How are ya gonna aquascape? I am getting ready to move in the spring, and that is when i will put up my 24x24x12 cube. I don't plan on purchasing any more rock, and instead i am going to split the rock from my 24x24x15 cube in between the two of them. Will aquascape kinda like this guy did before his fake rock wall.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168740

Very Bonsai looking!

Simple and lots of room for corals to grow out and fish to swim!

This was on my doorstep this afternoon....



So I opened it up.....



Then I opened the box inside the box...



Then I put together what was in the box... a Vertex IN-80 Skimmer.



It's a pretty tight fit in the 10G sump.. lol I might have to run my return pump as an external, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.



Will be awhile before I can fire it up, still need to get some glass for the overflow, do a bunch of plumbing, find a new return pump since the OR2500 I had planned on salvaging from the 10G won't be enough return flow IMO.

There was also a 125W Jager heater, Spears Gate Valve, and some strainers in the box..

thats purty J, looks like the one i have but smaller

While being extremely broke since christmas, I didn't really have any plans for getting the overflow done for awhile, but a fellow reefer gave me some tinted acrylic and cut it to size for me as well. So I ended up putting together my overflow chamber tonight. Still letting the Weld-on cure before I silicone it in place.

10" long x 5" wide x 14.25" high. (on a 16" high tank. )

Anyways, couple pics, as you can see the tank is a storage space right now for other parts.. lol

you always take such nice pictures make your tank look way better. are you going to paint your plumbing in the overflow or leave it white? do you know what kind of lighting your going to do?

You wish you had my cube now dont yeah

love the rimmless tank but im an aio person. but if that was an aio id buy it in a heart beat

looks like you had a pizza on the dore step 2

once you get a sump you rarely go back.

Yea, nice pics...... Gotta love empty beer bottles, dirty glasses, nacho cheese, and Jolly Rancher wrappers next to the tank.


haha,,, i like this tank alot. Perfect size for where I put it, only wish I could have had an external overflow, but I wanted 3 sides viewable and the 4th side is up against the wall so the tank/stand sit flush with my comptuer desk. Your tank would be to big for this location.


Thanks coralcor! We ALWAYS have pizza boxes in this darn house! 3 Bachelors..

you still didnt answer what your going to do for lights? yeah the external overflow rocks, you can a clean look on all 3 sides.

and i was refering to the quality of the pictures and the colour of them, not what is in the picture.

haha.. those are my lazy pictures... haha

Lighting is gonna be a 250W Lumenmax 3 with Ushio 14K bulb running off either an Icecap or Galaxy Ballast. Basically the same as my 75G just cut in half.

just a heads up i run an icecap ballast and you have to rewire it, well you know that the reflector comes with a plug in and the icecap doesnt plug into it, i rewired it right into the reflector.

Galaxy it is then! haha... I really like the 2x250 Galaxy I have running on the 75.. so no point messing with a good thing. I had only thought about an Icecap because I saw one on Canreef for cheap.. $100 i think it was..

yeah but it wasnt the new ones, i have the new one, it has a heatsink built into it for cooling, i love it.

Got a little bit of work done on the overflow tonight... now that I got the stand pipes in, I'm not sure I actually need to paint them.. hmmm I like how its turned out so far.

Overflow is finally siliconed into place, and the return line inside the overflow box is in place as well. I'm having some design issues with my sump right now due to how small it is. 10G tanks aren't the easiest to turn into sumps. My main concern is microbubbles from my Skimmer, and whether or not to run my return pump externally or not.

just rin it external, let heat issues with the MH, i was wondering if you had enough room in your overflow for that return but i guess so.

Yea, there is plenty... it's 10" wide.. and the drains are only 3/4" piping.. There is 2" space between each bulk-head, which should be adequate for this size tank.

I am watching this one as I am doing a 24'' 24'' 20''

Thanks slayer... it has come to a screeching halt as of late.. I need a return pump, before I can get any water flowing.. Lighting is another concern.. I had thought about going 250W MH (still might) but now contemplating a 6/8x24W HOT5 retrofit

do the retro and then test growth under both tanks with same species of coral.

Not really my intent with this tank. I want them to be completely different regarding species.

ah who cares, i ment just one coral not the whole tank. try out both unless you already had both.

Pretty sure I have figured out what I wanna try for lighting.

I am gonna purchase 2 - Aquamedic 4x24W NO T5 units (getting a good deal), tear them open, DIY to brace them together as one unit, therefore creating a 8x24W unit cheaper than anything I can find, pull out the single relfector and NO ballasts, and swap in Tek individual reflectors, and run 3 Workhorse 5 HOT5 ballasts. Bulb configuration (and proposed light schedule) as follows.

Giesemann 10K (Workhorse Ballast #2) (On: 1000 Off: 2200)
KZ Fiji Purple (Workhorse Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann 10K (Workhorse Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann Actinic+ (Workhorse Ballast #1) (On: 0600 Off: 2400)
Giesemann Actinic+ (Workhorse Ballast #1) (On: 0600 Off: 2400)
Giesemann 10K (Workhorse Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann True Actinic (Workhorse Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann 10K (Workhorse Ballast #2) (On: 1000 Off: 2200)

Finally found a used pump for the system.

Buddy of mine shut down his 90G about 5 months ago, and has a ton of gear he was planning to keep, but being a student and broke, wanted to sell some stuff. The pump being one of those things.

Quietone 4000 HH, I should be pushing 900GPH thru the return. I will add to that with 2x Tunze 6045 or an Vortech MP20. Still undecided.

if your not sure which one to do, i would get the vortech just because i would want one. i also have that pump not to bad if you ask me.

will you be a nice guy and give me that tank!!