Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

My new 3g Pico for AMEPR cube challenge


luisgo

Recommended Posts

As part of the annual show of the largest fish forum in Puerto Rico there will be a competition in November among the members of "AMPRE" (Acuaristas Metro Este de Puerto Rico). 3 gallons cubes measuring 9"x9"x9" where prepared and sold to competitors and for the next 5 months each competitor will prepare their cubes, saltwater or freshwater.

 

I will be documenting the progress of my cube here. Any comments or ideas are always welcome.

 

I purchased the cube for $30 on June 7 during the monthly AMPRE meeting. Here is a photo of the cubes at the meeting

 

200806075syn8.jpg

By luisgon

 

After reading about the required flow for a cube like this I finally decided to use this Marineland Bio-wheel filter. Nice flow, mechanical and biological filtration in one filter.

 

2008060759shz8.jpg

By luisgon

 

For the light I will use a Coralife Mini fixture with two 9 watts bulbs one daylight 10K and one actinic.

 

2008060720sae6.jpg

By luisgon

 

Substrate will be Caribsea Aragonite reef sand, about one inch.

 

2008060831slg1.jpg

By luisgon

Link to comment
  • Replies 57
  • Created
  • Last Reply

First thing that I did when I got home with the cube was to verify if there were any leaks. No leaks!!

 

2008060744smi0.jpg

By luisgon

 

The cube was placed close to my 125 reef in a well ventilated area. Heat is a problem with this kind of tank in summer. That is why a need a small fan.

 

2008060763sdk6.jpg

By luisgon

 

Next step was a series of test on the effect of the lights and filter on water temperature. There was a fluctuation between 79 and 82F with the fan on when the lights were on. Not bad.

 

2008060855swv9.jpg

By luisgon

 

Now the tank was ready to go! First I painted the back with satin black spray paint. Nice finish!

 

200806155sww1.jpg

By luisgon

 

Next I washed the reef sand and covered one inch of the bottom of the cube.

 

2008061528sav4.jpg

By luisgon

Link to comment

The two pieces of wood to hold the lamp was only temporary. The lamp was placed over two pieces of acrylic attached with weld on to the cube. Here is my neighbor working the acrylic.

 

200807023sit4.jpg

By luisgon

 

Here is the detail of the lamp over the new base.

 

2008070213stw6.jpg

By luisgon

 

This is after rock and some frags were introduced.

 

2008070210swe7.jpg

By luisgon

 

This is how it looks after a couple of hours.

 

2008070219sif4.jpg

By luisgon

 

2008070211scu4.jpg

By luisgon

Link to comment

What I add will depend on what is available at my LFS but I am looking for mainly soft corals and zoanthids with color. Red and yellow are missing so those are the colors to look for. I will try to find small pieces to have more variety. There is still some space in the front and attached to the rock with reef epoxy.

Link to comment
remedy00311

what brand model number is the marineland filter? i'm trying to put together a 5 gallon hex and was wondering if you can offer any help for me to get started.

 

thanks!

 

BTW. your cube looks GOOD!. i wish for mine to come out as clean as yours.

Link to comment

The filter is a Marineland Penguin 100 BIO-Wheel Power Filter. It produces a very nice flow for a cube this size without the need of a power head. Most important is that there is minimum heat transferred to the water.

 

The key to a clean tank is to start with fully cured live rock and clean the sand thoroughly before it is introduced to the cube. Because I used rocks and corals from my 125 tank which is side by side with the cube, everything was very healthy and clean.

 

Also I am changing water daily using the water from my 125 reef which has a very good filtration system.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Here is an update of the Pico. Additions include a frag of yellow polyps, green star polyps and some astrea and nasarous snails.

 

20080717sex9.jpg

 

200807174shj1.jpg

 

200807175sub2.jpg

 

2008071631sir1.jpg

 

2008071724snk6.jpg

 

My top-off chiller combo :D

 

2008071410srg1.jpg

Link to comment

hahha, I was thinking of doing something like that for a ghetto auto top off... if that just a bottle with a tube and something to control the drip?

Link to comment

For top-off is just a bottle with a valve to control the drip drop by drop. I noticed that when water was added to replace evaporation the Xenia closed. This way changes in salinity and temperature are more smooth. Also I freeze the water and slightly cool the water, which is around 80 and 82F.

Link to comment

Awesome. As I said I was considering doing that for a ghetto ATO. So I'll have to play around with that setup to find the right drop rate.

Link to comment

Very nice tank, and interesting challenge. Everyone provided with the exact same tank. You expecting any decent competition from any of your fellow AMPRE members?

Link to comment

There are eight AMEPR members inscribed in the competition. Of those only two are saltwater cubes. Some of the members are posting the progress of the construction of the cube in the AMEPR forum. The other saltwater competitor is very good at building this kind of reef cube.

 

There will be some vendors with their cubes out of the competition.

 

I think that what is important is to compete. I have seven aquariums and this one is a real challenge. Now everyday I wakeup and go directly to me new toy, my Pico cube.

 

The AMEPR site is in Spanish but you can see photos of other cubes here. Sam’s Cube is the other saltwater cube. Very interesting acrylic work.

 

http://www.createforum.com/phpbb/viewforum...mp;mforum=amepr

Link to comment

Here is an update of the pico. Some new frags, zoas, a Candy Coral and some relocations of the star polyps and Yellow polyps. Everything is looking good. Astrea snails are keeping everything clean.

 

2008072446sjg5.jpg

 

200807247sdp7.jpg

 

2008072418sni6.jpg

 

2008072413swg4.jpg

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Here is an update of my Pico. Now we know the date of the Cube Challenge, october 25 and 26. Getting closer! There is a new Yellow Clown Goby.

 

200808182slx4.jpg

 

200808186sga3.jpg

 

200808184svf7.jpg

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

An update of the Pico.

 

In the morning the Pico receives around 30 minutes of direct sunlight. That is the best moment of the Pico. All corals turn crazy! Here are some photos. Couple of new additions.

 

2008090513sml0.jpg

 

200809058sqk2.jpg

 

200809056sgd5.jpg

 

200809051sgx1.jpg

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...