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Aaron's Rimless 18" Cube


aaron1987

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New FTS 1/20/13

 

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FTS 11/21/12

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FTS 9/28/12:

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When I moved to Seattle from the scenic cornfields of IA I was forced to sell my beloved 47 column (pictured below because threads are worthless without pics):

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Earlier this week, my girlfriend told me to get on craigslist to find our new place a couch. I did and she loved it. I also found a 18x18x18" rimless cube. She didn't love it. I'm not sleeping on the new couch, though, so I'm counting it as a win!

Since then I've been (very) rapidly planning what to do with it. Thus far: custom 13x17x14" sump being fab'd as we speak, Kessil a350, dry rock from BRS, eheim 1048, and lots of boring but entirely more expensive than I remember it being basics have been ordered.

The tank is drilled for a return line, but that's it - so this will be my first time drilling a tank! Wish me some luck. I'll be sure to post pics of the progress.

In the mean time, I've been trying to figure out how to 'scape my new toy. I don't want to give anything away (mostly because I haven't come up with anything 'WOW!' just yet) but I am interested in ideas. No rock mountains here! So, NR, show me some sexy nano-cube 'scapes while I drain my bank account on equipment.

Oh and P.S. - I'm trying to decide what to skim with - SWC 120, Eshopps S-120, or BM NAC 3/3.5. Opinions?

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Awesome column tank. Very inspiring. Can't wait to see your cube. I have 25g MrAqua sitting dry I might have to break out when you wow us.

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Thanks - I loved the column because it was so different than most of what I'd seen at the time and it was fun to excite so many people with it but I am looking forward to trying something new (and keeping my arm pits dry during tank maintenance!).

 

I haven't planned much for stocking just yet but at my girlfriend's request, I'll be including a mated pair of harlequin shrimp and a jawfish.

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eddiecorrea

Haha. I passed on that cube a few times. What did you end up getting it for? I had him talked down to $100 but passed.

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Nice column Looking forward to your new cube; love that shape. Welcome to the Emerald City!

 

Thanks! I'm loving it here.

 

Haha. I passed on that cube a few times. What did you end up getting it for? I had him talked down to $100 but passed.

 

Didn't bother badgering him on the price as he delivered it and the stand to me. The foam rock wall had to go and I bathed it in vinegar, but otherwise it's in pretty solid shape and I'm pleased.

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eddiecorrea
Thanks! I'm loving it here.

 

 

 

Didn't bother badgering him on the price as he delivered it and the stand to me. The foam rock wall had to go and I bathed it in vinegar, but otherwise it's in pretty solid shape and I'm pleased.

 

 

Ya. Well I'm cheap haha. So I badger on the price a lot. I know stuff can be found at the price I want to pay so I typically don't budge.

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A busy week for me. After spending a bit more time on various classifieds with (mixed) success, I have finished rounding out my hardware list. The notable highlights:

 

Eshopps S-120

Custom 13x17x14 sump

MP10

Kessil a350 w/goosenck (may end up mounted from the ceiling...)

JBJ ATO

 

Now to drill the tank and wait for christmas to arrive in Fedex and UPS boxes this week. Goal: wet by next Sunday.

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I use an SWC 120 cone and I am pleased with it. What pleases me the most is how incredibly quiet it is. I have to look at he skimmer and see the bubbles to know for sure. It is that quiet. :)

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i miss your 47 column tank. what a beauty it was. Can't wait to see what you start on this tank soon!

 

I miss it too! Watching it crash was absolutely awful.

 

I use an SWC 120 cone and I am pleased with it. What pleases me the most is how incredibly quiet it is. I have to look at he skimmer and see the bubbles to know for sure. It is that quiet. :)

 

This was a major selling point for me since it's near my bed! Can't wait to try it out :)

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Sweet another WA person :) Can't wait to see your new setup going. Your old column looked awesome!

 

Thanks! I love it here. I get mountains and the sound out my window and the ocean inside my place once this little guy is set up :)

 

You shouldn't have posted a pic of yer old tank, this one has to be even beter, LOL!!!!

 

Haha well, I'd be regressing if it isn't! ;) Won't be easy but I'm going to try..

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Thinking ahead a bit here, anyone care to give me a compelling argument for a CUC that includes more members than a couple nassarius snails, a fighting conch, and an emerald crab or two? Thinking specifically with regard to grazing snails. My experience is conventional wisdom with stocking them (1 per gallon) leads to a lot of dead cerith and astrea snails after a month or two. Further, they appear to have limited effect as glass scraping is still required every so often.

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I don't really like ceriths on rimless tanks same with nerites. A few astrea would probably be fine or a turbo or two. I really liked my turbos the best, they can be bulldozers but they are long lived and do a decent job.

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What's your plan for light?

 

Trying out his new fangled LED thing... Kessil a350

I don't really like ceriths on rimless tanks same with nerites. A few astrea would probably be fine or a turbo or two. I really liked my turbos the best, they can be bulldozers but they are long lived and do a decent job.

 

That's a good point about the travel habits. Forgot about that since I haven't dealt with it before. Turbos do a pretty awesome job with algae but man I hated the coral devastation in their wake!

 

 

 

In other news, my BRS rock arrived today. All very high quality and it would be great in a bigger footprint. As it is, I think I'm going to need to get creative with a hammer. Always some excitement!

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Aaron, beautiful 47g. I just set-up a the 34g 20" Cube. I have a little bit of a halfmoon/cave in the middle type scape. When I set the tank up again though, I'm definitely going with more of a single tall island/column though. The way to make this happen is to get a really long drill bit and an acrylic rod to fit through your holes. With that method you can get a pretty sharp single tall island.

 

IME, the hard part with scaping these tanks is getting enough height to not make it look like a little rock pile. Hard to do without acrylic or other support.

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Depend on what u wanna keep or go dominated!

 

2 words on scape is: Open Space!

 

Completely agreed! I want to keep a lot of movement so I'm going to end up with some LPS and 2-3 choice colonies of SPS. I don't like the 'collection of twigs' look, vastly prefer a couple larger SPS pieces. We shall see, though. I'm a fan of more minimal aquascapes - no pile 'o rocks here.

 

Aaron, beautiful 47g. I just set-up a the 34g 20" Cube. I have a little bit of a halfmoon/cave in the middle type scape. When I set the tank up again though, I'm definitely going with more of a single tall island/column though. The way to make this happen is to get a really long drill bit and an acrylic rod to fit through your holes. With that method you can get a pretty sharp single tall island.

 

IME, the hard part with scaping these tanks is getting enough height to not make it look like a little rock pile. Hard to do without acrylic or other support.

 

Thank you! I had pretty good luck doing doing this with my 30" column you see in my original post. Lotta epoxy in my case - managed not to drill anything! What I'm struggling with right now is that the column look seems weird in the cube space... may just be that my BRS shipment is all pretty large and so it fills too much, in which case it's hammer and pray time.

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Now thats what I like to hear! That's the way to go and it will be easy for you to move corals or some rocks around. When I do water change I can move my 3 big scape around to get in underneath the hard to reach spot and just slide it back to where it was before. Simple and clean!

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A quick update since I don't have my SD card with me to upload pics but I've been steadily receiving packages all week. Everything has arrived exactly as expected, which is great news!

 

I drilled out the tank yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I was most nervous about expanding the existing 1" hole to 1.125" to accommodate the return line bulk head. I figured I ran the least risk of cracking anything by starting the new hole flush with an existing edge of the 1" hole. Not sure if this was necessary or even a good idea, but it worked for me :)

 

Advance Acrylics turned an awesome custom sump around for me - ordered it Tuesday, Dave shipped it Friday. The craftsmanship is superb and it fits my needs exactly - the skimmer, return pump, heater and probe holders are all accessible and fit well. It also includes a 3gal topoff reservoir and bubble traps (here's to hoping they're effective - I hate micro bubbles.

 

Unfortunately, my RO/DI filter from BRS doesn't arrive 'till Monday, so my goal of getting wet on Sunday won't happen, but early next week isn't bad!

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