7.5-GA Cube DIY Build

[thatsrufff]

HI THERE!

 

During quarantine, I have decided to get back into reefing. Digging through forums again, seeing all the great tanks, and doing tons of research has been a really great way to keep my mind occupied and my stress levels down.

A bit of background: we got into the hobby in 2014 when my wife got a new job.

The job was helping to re-build the 200,000-gallon Giant Ocean Tank in the New England Aquarium. When they rebuilt the tank they removed the old fiberglass painted coral and replaced them with cast pigmented epoxy coral. She is a very talented designer and sculptor who was part of the team that sculpted, cast, and installed thousands of coral replicas into the tank. When they refilled the tank and reintroduced the animals the fish were so happy that many of them began spawning in captivity for the first time ever.

 

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2013/07/01/new-england-aquarium-reopens-renovated-giant-ocean-tank

https://www.facebook.com/NewEnglandAquarium/videos/10152347828805353/

 

 

[thatsrufff]

So, we had to get a little system for ourselves. We dove in head-first without really knowing what we were doing. She had learned so much about the wildlife and the ecosystems but, despite all the books we bought, we didn't know a whole lot about what it would take to keep a happy system at home. We got some live rock and some sand and some salt and threw it in a 29-gallon Petco tank.

 

Needless to say that we were chasing our tail from the start. I tried to add bandaids in the form of better lights, HOB Skimmer, QT system, and eventually, tried setting up a sump using a HOB overflow. We had some success and loved it while it lasted but we ended up losing everything and had to shut it down to move. At the time we didn't have either the resources or the know-how to keep it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We always knew that we would get back into the hobby once we got settled into an apartment/house that fit the right circumstances. And, so the addiction goes, while we had the previous tank I was dreaming about a bigger tank, primarily because I really want to keep Wrasses. I find them to be the prettiest fish in the hobby. So I knew the new set-up would be at least 50 gallons.

However, my wife was dreaming of a nano tank and a clam.

 

[thatsrufff]

That more or less brings us to a couple of months ago. Finally, about a week ago, it occurred to me that we might be able to pull off a nano tank, something like what my wife was thinking about. And what I could do with this tank is make it a scaled-down version of my dream tank. To test out my DIY abilities and get a fuller grasp of all the systems at play (though I know that the smaller system will be less stable than a larger one). And, if we have to tear this down in 6-ish months in order to move, I would be okay with trying that with a small system.

Bonus: we have most of the equipment to build this theoretical system, and that should keep our costs down some.

So here is the high-level plan:
- 12x12x12, 7.5 ga dt with 10x19x12, 10 ga sump. Total water volume probably around 14 ga.
- Drill tank, build overflow.
- Re-build sump.
- Plumb.
- Cycle in tubs using Zeovit additives.
- Transfer to tank, potentially with the first corals.
- QT then add fish: Pink-streaked Wrasse (if I can find one), Clown Goby, Barnacle Blenny, and maybe a sand burrowing goby.
- Once stable, start adding clam and sps coral.

Diagrams:

 

I still need to work my way through all our old equipment, that is my first task and probably will be my next post!