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schg's ADA 30c reef


schgr.cube

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This thread is a journal of my ADA 30c, which originally started as a custom 10" starphire cube. I scrapped the cube, and decided to go with a very custom setup involving absolutely no visible equipment. This setup has been slightly successful, but I have also had a few problems getting it all to work right.

 

The ADA 30c was completed and filled on January 28th, 2010. It had a few lbs of live rock transferred in from a 10 gallon I had brewing with a few pieces of coral, so there was a very minimal soft cycle.

 

Equipment List:

-ADA 30c custom drilled for bottom overflow/return

-Custom black painted wood stand

-Custom acrylic sump built by Sammy113

-Vortech MP10 Pump

-FishNeedIt 150w Metal Halide with FNI 20k bulb, and custom mounted moonlights

-Reefkeeper Lite Controller

-Tunze 9002 Protein Skimmer

-Ice Probe Chiller

-Taam Rio+ 1400 Return Pump

-2x Hydor Stealth 50w Heaters

 

Stocking List:

 

Fish:

-Ocellaris clown fish (Johntherealtor - February 28th, 2010)

-Slight mis bar ocellaris clown fish (Johntherealtor - February 28th, 2010)

 

SPS:

-"Tyree Ponape" Birdsnest (World Wide Corals - February 16th, 2010)

-"ORA Chips" Acropora (MitchReef - February 21st, 2010)

-"ORA Hyacinth" Birdsnest (MitchReef - February 21st, 2010)

-"Chesterfield" Acropora (MitchReef - February 21st, 2010)

-"Pink Lemonade" Acropora (Sea in the City - March 5th, 2010)

-Blue and green Acropora (March 5th, 2010)

-Teal Acropora (March 5th, 2010)

-"Tricolor" Acropora Valida (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-"Sumperman" Montipora (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-"Rainbow" Montipora (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-"ORA Marshall Island Blue Bottlebrush" Acropora (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-"Purple Slimer" Acropora (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-"ORA Rose" Acropora Millepora (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-Red Montipora cap (MitchReef - April 21st, 2010)

 

LPS:

-Mini Frogspawn (Aquarium Fanatics - August 23rd, 2009)

-Green and pink chalice (World Wide Corals - February 16th, 2010)

-"Ruby Glow" Blastomussa (Sea in the City - February 27th, 2010)

-Orange Rainbow Acanthastrea Rotundoflora (World Wide Corals - March 6th, 2010)

-"Juicy Corals Aussie Rainbow Ultra grade" Acanthastrea lord (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

 

Zoanthids:

-"Kedd's Red" Zoanthid (World Wide Corals - August 28th, 2009)

-"Eagle Eye" Zoanthid (racechase - September 28th, 2009)

-"Lemon Lime" Zoanthid (racechase - September 28th, 2009)

-"African Blue Steel" Zoanthid (World Wide Corals - October 26th, 2009)

-"Blue Ice" Zoanthid (Aquarium Fanatics - February 13th, 2010)

-"Horizon" Zoanthid (Aquarium Fanatics - February 13th, 2010)

-"007 Golden Eye" Zoanthid (World Wide Corals - March 2nd, 2010)

-Purple and green Zoanthid (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-Red and blue Zoanthid (Sea in the City - March 8th, 2010)

-"Purple Heart"? Zoanthid (Sea in the City - March 18th, 2010)

-"Blue Shuriken"? Zoanthid (sageblade24 - March 19th, 2010)

-"Fruit Loops" Zoanthid (sageblade24 - March 19th, 2010)

-Neon pink Zoanthid (World Wide Corals - April 2nd, 2010)

-"Green Bay Packers" Zoanthid (Aquarium Fanatics - April 14th, 2010)

-"Spiderman" Zoanthid (Aquarium Fanatics - April 14th, 2010)

-"Mitch's Pinwheel" Zoanthid (MitchReef - April 21st, 2010)

-"King Midas" Zoanthid (Aquarium Fanatics - April 24th, 2010)

 

Palythoas:

-"Purple Death" Palythoa (World Wide Corals - February 17th, 2010)

-"Lord of the Rings" morph Palythoa (World Wide Corals - March 2nd, 2010)

-"Green Implosion" Palythoa (World Wide Corals - March 2nd, 2010)

-"Magicians" Palythoa (Aquarium Fanatics - March 14th, 2010)

-"Valentines Day Massacre" Palythoa (sageblade24 - March 19th, 2010)

-"Pink Elephant"? Palythoa (sageblade24 - March 19th, 2010)

-"Mohawk" Palythoa (Aquarium Fanatics - May 12th, 2010)

 

Soft Coral:

-Blue Mushroom (MitchReef - April 21st, 2010)

-Pulsing Xenia (Aquarium Fanatics - May 12th, 2010)

 

Invertebrates:

-Dwarf Cerith snails (ReefCleaners - August 18th, 2009)

-Florida Cerith snails (ReefCleaners - August 18th, 2009)

-Dwarf Nassarius snail (ReefCleaners - August 18th, 2009)

-Micro Brittle Starfish (MitchReef - March 8th, 2010)

-Blue Porcelain Crab (Sea in the City - March 18th, 2010)

 

Skip to page 4 for progress after the sale of the 10" cube.

 

Skip to page 13 for thread after the tank is filled.

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looks like you have a good plan

can't wait to see it progress

 

Thanks!

 

The tank will be shipping out tomorrow, but I don't know when I'll be able to get any of the parts for it.

014-3.jpg

 

I will at least start taking it apart and cleaning it up, not sure what I'm going to go with for seaming it yet (was thinking about attempting the Elos look.)

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here is the best idea I have seen for drilling one hole for a overflow/return

it all uses one hole, very efficient use of space

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20020

 

hope it helps

 

ps.

you could do two returns to create more turbulent flow

 

Hmm, some good ideas in there. I'm still not sure exactly what I'm doing as far as the drains/returns go (kind of hard to perfectly envision things without the tank being in hand). I know for sure I want everything total (including the stand and tank) to be no higher than 24" tall. Whatever I end up going with is going in a space that will be 10.2"x10.2"x24", and I will have absolutely NO visible equipment in the tank itself.

 

This may end up being the biggest PITA ever, but with a starfire pico, you kind of have to go all or nothing :P

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Got the tank in today. It definitely needs some work, but I can tell it is going to turn out great! It really feels like a solid little tank, and having it in my hands will speed my plans along. I still need to gather equipment (which is going to be a slow process it seems...) but tonight I will start taking it apart to re-silicone it.

 

I'm unsure as to wether I wan't to stick with black silicone, or go clear. Anyone have any quick input before I go pick some up?

 

Current FTS:

090409picogross.png

4 Gallon Rimless shot on September 4th, 2009

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11:15PM, it's a baby boy!

 

090509picobabyboy.png

 

Obviously I decided to go with the black silicone again, I taped it off this time so it will be a bit cleaner (oops, smudged a spot), and moved the chipped piece to a spot that will be hidden and hold up well.

 

The bad news is that the middle pieces were cut a LITTLE too short, so there is a 1/8" lip on the "front" piece (found out midway in) and because of this, my taping ended up being a bit off too. Some seams will be shorter than others, but honestly I'm not going to stress 1/8" problems.

 

My heatsink and LEDs should be here early this week, but on the wifes orders I'm not spending anymore money on this tank for a bit. It's an extra project, and I have to treat is as such -_- BUT, I think I have some extra bulkheads laying around so once I find my diamond bit, I can work on the plumbing!

 

Better pictures of the tank tomorrow.

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Okay, still need to clean it up a bit (need to redo the seams on the inside a little bit) but overall I think it's looking good!

 

Current FTS:

090609picoclean.png

4 Gallon Rimless shot on September 6th, 2009

 

I'm getting very excited about this project, I think it is going to look goooood.

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looks fantastic! glad it got their in one piece.

 

question: did you take it apart? or did you just strip it and go over it?

 

Thanks! I took it apart and flipped the chipped piece. The tank will be viewable from all sides so I wanted to make it nice and clean

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this is what I want to do for my next pico, a starphire cube with LEDs. I'll be interested to see how you handle keeping the filtration hidden, and might steal some ideas :ninja:

 

Did you make sure to silicone in between the glass panels as well? Only doing the inner fillets is usually not enough for good structural integrity...

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how hard was it to take apart? and how did you? I was having trouble with it when i was still going forward with it.

 

 

Also to the above poster, i think siliconing the seams only would be enough for a 4 gallon tank. Either way, it would hold IMO.

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Also to the above poster, i think siliconing the seams only would be enough for a 4 gallon tank. Either way, it would hold IMO.

 

It probably would, but why take such a risk when it is so simple to do it right the first time now that it is empty? Silicone in between the glass also gives you extra leak protection :)

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Okay to answer the questions:

 

1) Wasn't too hard to take apart, just took a razor blade and started to pry some of the more loose areas, and pulled carefully.

 

2) I siliconed in between the panes as well as corner seams, although when I did the first part some areas didn't fill out completely so there are visible spots where silicone is not present (will take pictures later to show)

 

3) I don't mind people stealing my ideas at all! That is the reason why I post things like this, otherwise I would just post pictures and keep everything to myself ;)

 

 

As far as plumbing goes, I decided I am going to do 1" bulkhead for the overflow (which will just be a straight PVC pipe inside the rock, no cap this time, and I will be drilling small holes in the top of the rock) and a 3/4" pvc for the return with a dual outlet hidden inside a rock. I will also be taking my rio mini 200 pump (which really is tiny, almost a 1" square) and trying to hide it inside of a rock as well for more movement.

 

Leak test tomorrow night once the silicone cures!

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Nice idea with the plumbing. The only problem is I suspect it will be very touchy to exactly match the drain and pump rates. If the pump pumps just a tiny bit more than the drain drains, the tank will overflow. But if the drain drains just a little too fast, the display tank will eventually empty and your sump will overflow.

 

I have the rates matched on my 90g right now like you are thinking of doing it, but I also have safeties for tank overflow and sump overflow hidden in the overflow. Even though I never touch the valves on the plumbing, sometimes the pump pumps just a little bit faster or slower and my overflow safeties kick in. You might want to consider building a black acrylic overflow so that you open up more options for plumbing :)

 

Another option: have the drain pipe an inch or so under the water line, so that it cannot drain the whole tank if the pump fails. Also have a float switch in the display so if it gets too full the pump will shut off. That setup would cover both bases :). However, if the power went out the water could still drain through the pump into the sump, so you might want to have your pump exit near the water line as well.

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Nice idea with the plumbing. The only problem is I suspect it will be very touchy to exactly match the drain and pump rates. If the pump pumps just a tiny bit more than the drain drains, the tank will overflow. But if the drain drains just a little too fast, the display tank will eventually empty and your sump will overflow.

 

I have the rates matched on my 90g right now like you are thinking of doing it, but I also have safeties for tank overflow and sump overflow hidden in the overflow. Even though I never touch the valves on the plumbing, sometimes the pump pumps just a little bit faster or slower and my overflow safeties kick in. You might want to consider building a black acrylic overflow so that you open up more options for plumbing :)

 

Another option: have the drain pipe an inch or so under the water line, so that it cannot drain the whole tank if the pump fails. Also have a float switch in the display so if it gets too full the pump will shut off. That setup would cover both bases :). However, if the power went out the water could still drain through the pump into the sump, so you might want to have your pump exit near the water line as well.

 

Good points, but I am mostly relying on having a large enough space to put a check valve for the pump in case of a power outage. The check valves I have on my 28G are VERY nice, I can turn the pumps on and off all day without having a problem.

 

I don't think I'll have room for a float switch, but if I do it will probably be for an ATO.

 

The sump is probably going to end up being 9 1/2" by 5" by 6" to allow for a power strip and access to plumbing.

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Check valves are good, but what would stop the tank from overflowing if the drain got blocked or the pump had a fast day?

 

I'm honestly just hoping that a 1" drainpipe is going to be big enough to drain a 4G fast enough for that to not happen, LOL. I have a 1" drain on my 28G and it really drains quite fast. As for getting blocked, let's just hope that doesn't happen.

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Well the thing is you are going to have to match the pump and drain rates exactly for the water to stay suspended, so you'll have to use a pretty powerful pump. If you use a smaller pump the water will just drain down to the level of the drainpipe near the bottom of the display and stay there, since the drain flows faster than the pump.

 

So if you are going to try to match pump and drain rates exactly, there is obviously a lot that can go wrong being in such a precise situation. If some rubble, a snail, or even some algae make it down your drain pipe, it will change the flow characteristics of the drain, making it flow less, and your pump will overpower the drain, causing an overflow. That's why I suggest an inconspicuous float switch in the upper corner of the tank that will shut off your pump if the water gets too high :).

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Well the thing is you are going to have to match the pump and drain rates exactly for the water to stay suspended, so you'll have to use a pretty powerful pump. If you use a smaller pump the water will just drain down to the level of the drainpipe near the bottom of the display and stay there, since the drain flows faster than the pump.

 

So if you are going to try to match pump and drain rates exactly, there is obviously a lot that can go wrong being in such a precise situation. If some rubble, a snail, or even some algae make it down your drain pipe, it will change the flow characteristics of the drain, making it flow less, and your pump will overpower the drain, causing an overflow. That's why I suggest an inconspicuous float switch in the upper corner of the tank that will shut off your pump if the water gets too high :).

 

I think I may not have explained my plan correctly. I'm going to be hiding the PVC in a piece of rock as a standpipe, so the water will only drain to where the top of the PVC is until the pump pushes enough back up (which I am planning a small aquaclear pump, so that should be powerful enough to match rates pretty easily)

 

Here is a really crappy paint image of what I am thinking of:

simplepaint.jpg

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Ah, perfect then! I was thinking you were going to conceal the drain under a low level rock, like the pump output pipe is. That should work great! Just looking out for ya :)

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