Ohh nice I would kill to get my hands on that light. It would be perfect for me 3g pico I'm building.

Ehehe thanks! I'm super excited to get it (probably on Monday next week?).

Does anyone know if the small ADA cubes are tempered or not? I know larger rimless require them for strength, but I wasn't sure if they used it for the tiny ones.

PS: I'm about 90% sure I'm switching to a 12" cube now.

I'm so excited to see this running! This is gonna be one Pimp Pico

Sadly, I think it's going to be a while til I work everything out

Looking sweet.

So I've come to kind of a standstill with the tank. I currently am selling the glass tank for $30 which will go towards the new tank. I have a few options for what I will be getting, but none are really all that appealing price wise:

1. Custom made: $56 for the acrylic is the cheapest I can find so far. From there it will either be $30 for scooternerd to build it, or whatever the money would cost to buy weld on (still not a cheap option). Total cost for this is still looking to be at least $85.

2. Glass cages: They want $100 plus shipping for a 12" cube made of acrylic, which is obviously more expensive but I get the assurance of having it made by a company.

3. ADA Cube Garden: 12" cube made of lead free glass for $100 shipped. Very appealing for the same reason as above, but the lead free glass would be a great feature to keep in this build. Big problem is I still don't know if the smaller ADAs are tempered or not?

4. Local acrylic shop: I asked a local shop how much they would charge for this, but they still haven't gotten back to me. I doubt it will be any cheaper though

anyone have any ideas? I'm going for a VERY clean look.

DON'T buy from GlassCages, I've heard a ton of bad feedback on them.
It's a shame really, cause they're local to me.

I dont think you can drill the smaller ADA tanks.

Get the ADA 12" Cube.

The low iron > acrylic any day.

i have both the ada 12 and 10in cubes. both are very nice quality. the 10in is regular class but its 46+shipping

LOL okay scratch that. Advance acrylics just quoted me $100 shipped for acrylic cube. Everythings around the same price



That's what I'm afraid of.



Oh trust me, I agree. But if it is tempered then that ruins that immediately



Do you know if they are tempered or not? I know theres a way to tell without drilling, but that might be hard if they're filled lol.

Okay, I found this thread:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...hl=ada+tempered

I have the courage now, so I guess I'll pull the trigger once I sell the current tank.

"Hi Samuel,

This tank is not made of tampered glass, so it is possible to be drilled. However, it will void the warrenty if you drill hole on the tank. Please make your own judgement carefully. Thanky you.

Regards,

Steven Lo
Archaea Int'l Corp. DBA Aqua Forest Aquarium "



I'm ordering as soon as the paypal hits Weetie lol!

hold on there. my first ada was drilled by a friend of mine, but it was standard glass. ADA has since moved to low iron glass, Im not sure if that type of glass is tempered. The DO!AQUA is standard glass, it's probably drillable.

I would check whether low iron is tempered in general as I've heard time and time again that it is.

When I e-mailed them I linked to the exact tank, but I will clarify and make sure before placing the order.

what are you trying to keep in this tank anyways, there might not be a need to drill it. Im working on a 25c with leds and mine isnt drilled.

I'm just going for an incredddiibbllyyy clean look.

oh. you might want to consider the area of workable room and amount of flow you'd get from drilling though.

for example, a 1/2in bulkhead takes up roughly 1.5+in, and can handle 300gph. so a drain+a return might take up about 3-4in of workable space. You'd also wont be able to use the tank as a desktop tank again, depending on where you drill the bulkhead.

I think in this case, for tanks this small, it's better just to build a mock overflow and stick your pumps in there with a bag of carbon. You'd get the same gph as a drain, and you'd need a overflow anyways if you want a drain...for a clean look I mean. You can always use tape to hold down the cords so its still very clean overall...and a lot easier.

just my opinion though. That's the route Im taking. Minijet 606+ fake overflow w/cap. and a custom 6 emitter led system on a 9.8in cube.

Yeah when I got the original cube, I had similar plans (and have even considered a rock wall to conceal the overflow) but since have changed my mind. When I settled on going for the super clean look, I told myself I am going to make it so absolutely no equipment is visible (including overflows and return nozzles). I also want to make this completely viewable from all angles.

I know this will be hard, but I have a few ideas in mind...and hey, if that doesn't work, I can always change my game plan again

yeah good luck, I'd like to see this tank in action. fwiw, i drew out 2 diff overflows, the sizes are

1. diamond overflow w. 2 pockets for media:3.25x 3.25 w/ cut off section (triangle omission of what would otherwise be a square) @ 2in

2. rectangular overflow:2.25x 2.75

Go ahead and place your order Sir.

It will be here on the 16th.

Lights here! Lights here! Lights here...

Oooh! Pics?

I'm only bothering taking a picture of it on right now (since I got those pictures earlier from sammy).
I'll take more pictures of the unit once I get the tank and start on a way to hang it.

Please ignore the cyano, my R/O unit needs filter replacement:


I'm pretty sure if I got optics and hung it a little bit above the tank, I could use it to light my 28G enough to grow my LPS and zoas. This will be perfect for the ADA

So cool.
*sigh*
Someday I too will have a cool LED fixture...

Have you considered using something like this for some of your ideas:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.a...TZ&parsed=1

That's pretty much what I'll be doing, except with real rock. I'm trying to avoid having any fake rock in there. But good link!

So the tank won't be here until Monday the 19th now. Aqua Forest said they were waiting back to hear from ADA themselves before shipping the tank as to the lead free glass being tempered or not. They shipped it out, so I assume that means they heard good news in my favor.

In other news, I ordered 60 degree optics from nano tuners to see how they look on the lamp. I have been debating putting it over my 28 gallon and centralizing my coral so I can sell my halide and start making the large unit. I will also see how they look over the 4 gallon.

did you get the 25c or the 30c?

30c high clarity:
http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_pa...products_id=191

man that tank is bigger than you'd think. when you see it empty, you wont even want to put anything in it

Wow that is an awesome led set up! I am very jealous.

also, whats the outer dim of your led fixture again? Im a bit curious

I know! I keep thinking it's the same size as the home made one, and it's going to be a surprise when I get it. And I've had the feeling it will be too beautiful to touch Good thing I probably won't any money to fill it yet, so it will be on display empty for a while! Horay!



ehe thanks!



I'll post up exact dimensions of everything so far:

ADA Tank - 11.81" x 11.81" x 11.81" (30cm x 30cm x 30cm)
LED Lamp - 6.6" x 6.5" x 3.5" (17cm x 16.5cm x 9cm)

i look forward to this tank build

ooh, looks like you got things working nicely

Thanks to Mr. Sushi of course!

Glad I could help - looking forward to your progress

Okay, one more since I don't have my plumbing 100% planned and won't have progress for a little bit.

I just stuck water in my lil cube about an hour ago...

wow looks so sexay

Thanks Sammy!

I couldn't resist, I'm too excited. Took a picture for the water test too!

Haha you HAD to do it. Just to make sure ADA's doesn't leak lol
Now that it has water in it. What do you think of the light? Do you like it?

The guy from Aqua Forest told me to, since I'll be drilling it he wants me to make sure everything is okay BEFORE I mess with it, that way I don't get screwed if something is wrong that I had nothing to do with after my warranty is voided. Hope that makes sense...


Edit: I LOVE THE LIGHT. I added 60 degree optics today too, so that has a little bit to do with it, but with water you can really tell how great the colors look. I was a little weary when it was empty because it didn't quite look like the other LED setups I had seen, but not it looks great!

Apparently it wasn't tempered.

Thank GOD! haha That looks great! So the return runs inside the drain? Thats nice. Whats the size of the big PVC?

Yeah the original setup is 1/2" return inside of 1" PVC leading to the bulkhead, with 1 1/4" PVC for the overflow. I don't think I'm going this route though as it is proving to be too much of a pain. I think I'm drilling a second hole for a 3/4" return (unless anyone wants to trade their 1/2" bulkhead and bit for my 3/4" one )

Hmm but whats the problem? Its all done though... The only concern I may have is some leaking going on where the 1/2" pvc sticks out of the curve. Nothing silicone can't solve. Also depending on the gph from the return pump you may restrict some flow going down cause the 1/2" pvc is actually 3/4" outside diameter no? So that leaves you around 1/4" for drain.