60gl cube owners, what would you change?

[waldoz]

Thinking about a 60gl cube it has almost same foot print as our 25 lagoon. What mistakes or changes would you do differently?  Be honest now.🤭

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 hours ago, waldoz said:

Thinking about a 60gl cube it has almost same foot print as our 25 lagoon. What mistakes or changes would you do differently?  Be honest now.🤭

I have a 60G cube. It's actually okay, but I wish I had gone with a longer tank as opposed to a deeper one (mine is 2' × 2' x 2'). I'm short so it's quite difficult to scrape the glass or stir the sandbed - my whole arm is usually soaked all the way up trying to clean it. A longer, shallower 60G would have been much better & easier to maintain, but I was restricted by space, so I picked a cube. 🤔

[thecoralbeauty]

I just transferred my 50 gal cube to a 50 gal lagoon.

I second what @Snow_Phoenix said- not only do i prefer the aesthetics of a more shallow tank, working with the vertical depth wasn't as exciting as i thought it would be over the last 5 years i had the cube running. Shallower tanks mean better light overall. If you have a variety of corals with really differnt light requirements, a cube could be fun, but since i tend to like mostly LPS, i didnt make as much use of the depth of my cube as i thought i would. 

 

I'm tall, so scraping the glass all the way to the bottom wasnt an issue for me as must as just being annoyed by it. 

 

My cube also had the overflow box in the center back (it was one of the original starfire SCA cubes) which made aquascaping and negotiating my flow sort of irritating. once i got it figured out it was fine, though. 

 

One upside of a cube is you essentially have 3 different views since all sides have the same dimensions. But, overall, i wouldn't pick a cube again for the kind of reef that I like to keep. 

 

 

[waldoz]

I think space wise 2x2 is pretty much what we have to work with.  Don't you guys use a flipper for cleaning your glass?  I see what you are saying about depth though, might have to get a box and cut it up to the size and test it out. I mainly thought 3' was deep and really don't want to go down the trash tong road.😂.  Right now we only have one sps and mostly softies.  The main pull is more variety off fish.  I like the AIO we have and the sump stuff seems like a lot more work though I might be lazy as my son likes to do most of the maintenance.👍 I'm more of a kiss guy and like basic tanks with low maintenance.  Going from a AIO to a sump, would be interested in your thoughts and experience with that too.

[thecoralbeauty]

1 minute ago, waldoz said:

I think space wise 2x2 is pretty much what we have to work with.  Don't you guys use a flipper for cleaning your glass?  I see what you are saying about depth though, might have to get a box and cut it up to the size and test it out. I mainly thought 3' was deep and really don't want to go down the trash tong road.😂.  Right now we only have one sps and mostly softies.  The main pull is more variety off fish.  I like the AIO we have and the sump stuff seems like a lot more work though I might be lazy as my son likes to do most of the maintenance.👍 I'm more of a kiss guy and like basic tanks with low maintenance.  Going from a AIO to a sump, would be interested in your thoughts and experience with that too.

I use and love my flipper cleaner, but im always careful around the sand bed to avoid scratches, and inevitably, my arm was in the tank on maybe a monthly or bi monthly basis. 

 

I used to think a sump was complicated, but now that i've had one, i dont ever want to go back. its limited my maintenance over the years and has simplified and provided more space for a better skimmer, better biomedia, etc. an AIO might be quieter, but the herbie drain i have now is pretty darn quiet. the durso drain i had in the cube was not. 

[waldoz]

4 hours ago, thecoralbeauty said:

 

 

My cube also had the overflow box in the center back (it was one of the original starfire SCA cubes) which made aquascaping and negotiating my flow sort of irritating. once i got it figured out it was fine, though. 

 

 

 

 

Is it preference on drain location or is corner ideal?  Seems there's a lot more corner drains.

[thecoralbeauty]

can't say. corner drain might have been nice, but i still would have gotten annoyed with all the extra depth that i didnt capitalize on, but thats personal preference again. 

if the cube were IN a corner, definitely the corner drain would have been great.