Marinland 60gl cube

[waldoz]

Picked up some Behr ultra white out door paint for the stand.  Rock is still chugging away.  It's sitting about 83 deg should be cooked pretty good.  Need to figure out the light situation. Probably end up going with the Hydra so need to make a mount for that, or just use the one off the 20L.  Was going to pick up a NIB older Hydra 62 but thought it's better to get the tank going.

Will try and post some pics when we get some more done.

 

Not looking forward to the ugly stage.

 

 

 

[waldoz]

Cleaning up the stand before painting.

 

Pulled all the hinges off and ordered some new ones.

 

 

Working on printing a mount for the Ecotech controller.

 

 

 

I'm running into the problem of where to put all the wires so they won't get hosed being in the sump area. I have a few ideas don't know how much work I want to do. There is not much space.  I also cut off 1/4  inch of trim so we could get the base through the door.

 

Hopefully start painting this week.

[waldoz]

The mount is done.

 

It's a little tight but I don't think it's going anywhere.

 

 

If you can't tell it's white but I am sure you guys figured that out.

 

[waldoz]

So figured I'd make some More room under the tank area.  The stand was already over kill.  So this is what I ended up with.

 

 

 

I mean they did a good job with lots screws.

 

Did I mention lots of screws?

 

 

 

I'm lucky whoever built this did not use liquid nails. 😂 More to come.

 

[waldoz]

Looking to get something other than the APzi test kit for the 60. A local had fairly new Redsea  Foundation kit and algae control kit. Bit out of my range but seriously thinking about the standard Redsea kit.  If you guy have any suggestions that would be great.

[waldoz]

Not much. 🙄 Painted first coat on the doors and painted the mount for the light.

 

Hopefully tomorrow more paint and finalize light height on the tank. More pictures to motivate me.👍

[waldoz]

So I figured I would use current mount on the 20 long. Hopefully the Razor will keep everything alive in that tank.

 

Mounted metal 1" tube to the back.  I really wanted to go different way but I would never get this done if I did.

 

 

 

Cut off the old location.

 

 

 

 

Figured out new hight and put it back on.

 

 

 

Drill new holes and mounted.

 

 

 

Funny thing almost broke the back wall on the tank. The mount tilted and hit the glass. It was stupid I just got lucky I guess.  Finally got it up so I can measure center and get the Hydra 26 fit up.

 

 

I think I ended cutting off 8" or so the end over the tank. I also had to figure out a better way to mount the light on the bar.  It will look a lot better than the last mounting I used I hope. Probably be few more days till I get back to it.

 

[waldoz]

Got some more time but not much. I finished cutting it down and welded tab on.

 

 

 

It still needs some grinding but it's working.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tab needs some more love and need to repaint the mount.

 

 

 

Back side lit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the front and it looks really clean.

 

 

 

 

Now I need to repaint the mount black and finish solid mounting the tube on the back. Going to give that another coat too.  Repaint the stand and put the doors on. It's getting so close.   The hydra 26 will be 12" off the water and still need to order replacement lenses.

 

 

 

 

[waldoz]

Got some paint done before the rain.

 

 

 

I had to do three coats on the doors but it's looking good.

 

 

 

Just need the paint done and finished. We hope to get this wet next week.  Also anyone have any good ideas to keep the hinges from rusting?

 

 

[waldoz]

Small update, need two more coats.  This taking forever 🤣.

 

[waldoz]

Got the 3rd coat done on out side.  Going to flip it and paint the inside top.

 

 

Wondering if I need some sort of mat material or not for the tank to sit on.

[waldoz]

Clear coated the hinges and screws with Mod podge and will Vaseline the inside of the hinges.  If those two don't work then I guess I will just replace them.

[waldoz]

Finally getting super close and almost time to move it into the house. Time to go make mashed potatoes!

[waldoz]

Just checked my rock and it's ice cold. Heater took a dump. 🤬 Two months of cycle down the tubes. Looks like will have to do it the hard way.🙄

[waldoz]

Printed out some brackets for the DJ switch panel. Going to mount that on the back.  

 

 

 

Also figured out the foam tor for the tank. I might have to drill some new holes to raise it after it's full. I think there will be 1/2 inch difference. Probably not a big deal and probably over kill on the foam.

 

 

I picked up a union for the return line too. I want to have the bulk heads installed before the tank goes on the stand. The last time it was a pain to install and it leaked wee bit.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Definitely a labor of love, but everything is looking good! Excited to see this thing get wet.

[waldoz]

I don't know about love but it seems every time I think I am about done there is something I forgot.  We are getting excited though but now we have to figure out how to make 70gl of saltwater when we only make 3gl at a time. LoL posting up keeps me motivated and going with a deadline.  My daughter is coming home on the 16th and it has to be done by then. We can't have two tanks setup at the same time. No room. 🤪

[waldoz]

Had to reprint a bracket because I tightened it to much and cracked it. Finally got it done though. Mounted the mp10 control too. Made it so I can pull it out to plug more things in if needed.

 

 

 

Door open and it cleared.

 

 

So this will be as close to the wall as we can but enough to run cords etc.

 

 

Printing the Ranco temp  bracket next and that's going to be a long print.

[waldoz]

Got the Ranco mounted.  I think I figured out how I am going to manage the wires also.  Everything has the ability to be taken off if needed with out moving the tank. 🙂

 

 

 

Might need to do something about the big hole.

 

 

If we ever find anymore mp10 cheap we will have room for those. At least this way it keeps all the controllers out of sump area.

[1891BroJr]

Kinda living vicariously through this thread at the moment. Maybe move things along. 

[waldoz]

😂 I'm pushing as fast as I can! I'm running out of time.

[waldoz]

It's moved in to the house!

 

 

 

Looks nice and even though it's larger it gives the feeling of more room.

 

 

Will work on mounting the brackets back on. There was only about 1/8 inch of room moving it through the door. All for now.

[waldoz]

Small update but still something.

Temp box wired!

 

[waldoz]

Leak tested fittings and we seem to be good.

 

 

First batch was 24 gallons and working on second batch of 28.  We don't have enough sand as it's on back order.  My di is also tapped out but ordered that should be here next week I hope. It's at 1PPM so still going to use it as I don't have a choice. LOL   When I first started up our 20l we got some  water at 15ppm and that tank did fine.  Normally I wouldn't but I have about 4 ppm going in 1 ppm going out.  It should be running tomorrow if all goes well.😁

[waldoz]

Mixing up the last 10gl hopefully to turn it on. Rock and one bag of sand are in.  I still have to dail in the heaters in a bucket. Right now I have 2-125w  and a150w trying to heat the water up faster to get it mixed.

So far we are at 48gl total and was hoping for bit more volume.