Chris George Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I've been putting this build together for awhile now and I'm finally starting my thread. I was a longtime poster over at RDO many years ago, and I've quietly been back in the hobby for the last year and a half with a BC14. I've always wanted to do a cube, but never pulled the trigger on that. After seeing all these shallow tanks and being totally inspired, I finally started my very first custom build. Updates should come quickly, I'm getting close. FTS 2/21/2012: Top View: Equipment Tank: Visio 28x28x12, 3-panel Starphire glass Lighting: Undecided, either Par30/38 LEDs or AI Sol Blue Skimmer: My old AquaC EV-90 from 1998 SWC Extreme 160 Cone Controller: Reefkeeper Elite NET Flow: Vortech MP10 es Return pump: Eheim 1260 Fish and Inverts 1 Ocellaris Clown 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Wanted: Banggai Cardinal, Fire Shrimp, Black Ice or Snowflake Clown Corals 1 Green Ugly Brown Echinopora sp. 1 Orange Monti Cap 1 Orange Montipora Digitata Many Various Zoanthids 1 Purple and Green Favia 1 Orange/Pink/Green Acan sp. 1 Green w/pink tips Frogspawn 1 Fuzzy Green Acropora 1 Blue Tort? (id pending) 1 Pink Stylophora 1 Blue Millepora 1 Large Mr Coral Zoanthid order (breakdown of all polyps coming soon) Cleanup Crew 4-5 Nerites (down from 25, very little algae to consume. They also jump) 60+ Dwarf Cerith snails 30 Nassarius Vibex snails 20 Dwarf Planaxis snails 6 Virgin Nerites (reproducing in tank, lots of baby virgins) 4 Red Scarlet Hermits 1 Blue Let Hermit Current Parameters 2/8/2012 Specific Gravity: 1.025 ph: 8.2 Ammonia: 0.0 Nitrite: 0.0 Nitrate: <5.0 Phosphate: not tested recently Calcium: waiting for new kit Alkalinity: waiting for new kit Magnesium: waiting for new kit Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 For the woodworking fanatics on here, a few work-in-progress shots of the stand: Link to comment
exigency Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 beautiful tank and stand this is very similar to my tank in progress, i'd like to see how our tanks turn out! Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Thanks a lot. I just subscribed to your topic. Proportionally, our tanks seem identical. Can't wait to see how yours turns out too. Link to comment
d9hp Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 That's a beautiful tank...and I like your hardware choices (especially that return pump you'll love it) Link to comment
ibis Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'll be following this one too. Don't let us down. Link to comment
Dasani Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Awesome tank! Never heard of Visio. Are they any good? Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 The quality of the tank is very nice. I'm more than satisfied. Visio tanks are made by Advance Aqua Tanks (The name of their original line of acrylic tanks). http://www.advanceaquatanks.com/vg.html Link to comment
exigency Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks a lot. I just subscribed to your topic. Proportionally, our tanks seem identical. Can't wait to see how yours turns out too. yeah, our tanks are virtually identical, but i'm like the big brother . looks like we're aiming towards the same livestock, but i might have to pull a shocker on you Link to comment
Psychosis Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Wow, spectacular. I can't wait to see this running. Your stand looks better than my entire tank. Link to comment
mike c Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Did you build and stain the stand yourself? It truely looks beautiful. I'll def be following your thread! Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks guys. Yes I built, stained and finished the stand by myself. I planned it out entirely in 3D first. I'll dig up some shots of those plans too. I hadn't done any serious woodwork since junior high woodshop in 1990, but I was really happy with the results. Link to comment
clowe18 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 the cube looks really chill. and i like the stand! keep posting more pics! Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 My plumbing parts came yesterday! Not shown are the Sch80 pipes. I know I didn't have to go with Sch80, but every part you could ever need is easily found on BRS and it looks so much more pro. Hopefully I can learn to be an amateur plumber now. My BRS Reef Saver dry rock and bulkheads came too. More pics to come. Link to comment
Chris George Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Here are the 3D mockups I did for the stand construction. I made some changes while building, but it's mostly the same. Link to comment
vanisher Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Subscribed Looks like a nice setup you have there. Any ideas on sump setup yet? Link to comment
Chris George Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 I just got my sump yesterday. I was going to DIY it with a cheap petco glass aquarium, but I can't get a 24" wide tank (20H) into the stand. I ended up going with the Berlin-style acrylic sump that MarineDepot sells (doesn't appear to have a brand name). They are 23" wide, and it fits perfectly. I'll start posting more pics of my progress. I have the overflow all plumbed now, with two standpipes for a Herbie-style setup. One of the bulkheads for the returns is leaking slowly, so I have to figure out what I did wrong there. Luckily, any bulkhead dripping just falls into the sump. Link to comment
donnieG Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I love the dimensions! Been wanting to do one of these for a future tank. I'll be watching in interest. Link to comment
Chris George Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 Overflow is plumbed, with no more leaks from the bulkheads. I've actually finished the drain plumbing under the tank too, complete with unions so I can take it apart (this pic is an older work-in-progress). BRS Reef Saver Rocks are in there just to see how much I was going to use. This is not the aquascape I plan to go with. I'm going to experiment with the rocks for quite some time until I find something I'm happy with. Link to comment
Arcus Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Great work. I like dimensions of your tank. Shallow tanks are best Watching you topic. Link to comment
gutterguy Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Great looking build. Stand looks good too! I had as much fun building my stand as I did the tank. good luck gg Link to comment
Chris George Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thanks everyone for following along. So I have all the plumbing finished, the tank has been filled up to test all the joints. None of the plumbing joints leak. However, all of my bulkheads have a very slow drip. They are all hand-tightened, and I have the gaskets of all of them in the overflow, on the flange side of each bulkhead. I will admit that the quarters are tight underneath the stand, so I might not be hand-tightening them enough. With the way my stand was built, getting a wrench in there is pretty much impossible. Aside from that, does anyone have any other ideas of what I've done wrong or possible solutions? It's really heartbreaking to see this constant dripping. Thanks. Link to comment
willyboy Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 It sounds like you're doing all that right. I can't think of anything except getting them tighter. I'm planning a tank with similar dimensions to yours. Tank and stand look great! I might yank your general plans for your stand cause it looks really nice and simple. Following along! willy Link to comment
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