Joe's 60G Reef Cube!

[Jflip2002]

How can I tell if the back is tempered? This actually ran through my mind. Im thinking Im going to have to skip on the whole sump set up for now. We're planning on moving to a nicer place, and by the end of summer I will need money for school books. So Im not sure if its going to really be reasonable.

I think Im gonna relcoate the overflow box in the left corner, have the superskimmer there, and have the clean water tube going into some generic HOB Fuge, where it can just trickle into the tank.

And due to the recent performance of my CPR skimmer, I was actually debating putting that on the 60g. Im not quite sure yet.

But Im with you on the dimensions, I really like em. It almost makes the tank seem larger than it is. considering 36x36x36 is something like 210 gallons. Which doesnt even seem like that much more room. And this is a REAL CUBE not 24x36x36 lol.

[Wiskey]

The only way you can tell if it's tempered is to contact the MFG and ask. They will normally be able to tell you. I really do reccomend a sump, it will make your life much easer in the long run,.. Or at least drill if you can, that way you can easilly add one later. I didn't spend the time to drill my 125 and I'm really regeretting it now. I hate HOB overflows.

Whiskey

[Jflip2002]

I will eventually get it done. When Im ready to drill it, I'll lower the water level down to below the overflow. Then I can drill it. I think it'll be fine for a while though.

[Wiskey]

I thought about drilling my tank with water in it,.. but I don't think I have the guts to do it,... I've seen them crack,.. and 100G of water on my floor would be devistating.

Whiskey

[Jflip2002]

Ok, so Im pretty sure of my set up. The new set up will be BB with a FSB, and a HOB Fuge. The fuge will indeed have the clean water from the skimmer going into the HOb fuge, trickling in the exact opposite side of the tank as the overflow.

Now Im going to look for some ways of making a FSB, while keeping it white. Im thinking maybe Plaster of Paris. I gotta see if that'll work, and if its safe though, so Im sure I'll be doing some experiments.

And Im at 1000 posts, yay

[fish.freak]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

The only way you can tell if it's tempered is to contact the MFG and ask. They will normally be able to tell you. I really do reccomend a sump, it will make your life much easer in the long run,.. Or at least drill if you can, that way you can easilly add one later. I didn't spend the time to drill my 125 and I'm really regeretting it now. I hate HOB overflows.

Whiskey

I agree, have it drilled near the bottom and put in a stand pipe it will make more sense in the long run. I wish I drilled my tank before I rushed to transfer everything in it, oh well I'm going to rip it apart when I move and drill it out and maybe go bb or add a new dsb.

[Jflip2002]

Ive just thought about a potential problem. 2 actually...

1) I came home today, and my house was so hot inside with these MH. The tank was about 84 degrees, which Im imagining is hot. I really really dont want to run a chiller, but it looks like I may have to now.

2) the more pressing problem. Im running this built in overflow, and plan on just having my skimmers pump in there. Well, will my water evaporate too much each day if I top it off when I get home? I mean I dont want there to not be enough water to fall down into my overflow, and burn up my skimmers pump. Thats just a thought I had.....

[abigtroutt]

Originally Posted by Jflip2002

Ive just thought about a potential problem. 2 actually...

1) I came home today, and my house was so hot inside with these MH. The tank was about 84 degrees, which Im imagining is hot. I really really dont want to run a chiller, but it looks like I may have to now.

2) the more pressing problem. Im running this built in overflow, and plan on just having my skimmers pump in there. Well, will my water evaporate too much each day if I top it off when I get home? I mean I dont want there to not be enough water to fall down into my overflow, and burn up my skimmers pump. Thats just a thought I had.....

Try a cheep 4 or 5 inch clip on fan on the top of the tank between the water and the MH it will reduce the heat issue several degrees

[Jflip2002]

The sand thing is I have this huge floor fan by the tank. It only goes high enough so the top half of it is hitting the water, but still. I gotta move my tank, and mount a stronger fan right next to it I think. I dont think 84 is hot enough to harm the fish though, I hope...

[Jflip2002]

So here are some pics. my FSB, and my sketch of my fuge/sump to go in the back of the tank, along with the stand sketch. This is the plan Im giving to the tank place.
http://www.thereeftank.com/photopost...hp?photo=10166

http://www.thereeftank.com/photopost...hp?photo=10165

http://www.thereeftank.com/photopost...hp?photo=10167

[Jflip2002]

So after thinking I had this whole behind tank refugium planned out, and fine tuned, I was wrong! I ran across a problem. I need the tank to be 29" tall, in order for the bulkhead outlet, and an extra inch or so above that. Well my skimmer outlet wont be 4" off the top of the water! I thought about maybe cutting/drilled a spot for my skimmer outlet to go into, but then my skimmer outlet (inlet to the fuge) needs to be higher than the outlet of the fuge. I dont know how to get around this, so I guess its back to the drawing board again.

[Jflip2002]

Ok, so we paid for the stand today, so that'll be two long weeks I gotta wait for it! I didnt get the behind tank refugium deal, since I was able to adjust the bubble diffuser so there arent any bubbles in the tank. I may still build a small little in tank diffuser, than I Can throw some macro in. Maybe 16" long, 3" tall, maybe 3" deep. That should help diffuse the bubbles as well.

So heres my stocking list now that IVe thought about it.

My now 60 or so real small crabs, with about 5-8 snails.
Current pair of percs
Current LMB
Current Damsel (Might put him in the 29)
Some sort of wrasse
Scribbled Rabbitfish
longnosed hawkfish

I have a skimmer rated 2x over what my tank is, IT hink that'll be enough for the detritus removal.

[Jflip2002]

OK, so stand will be in monday/tuesday. I broke the built in overflow I had, so I had to buy some new acrylic, which will also be in monday/tuesday. In one of my posts, I mention how I used the wrong silicone, so this has been a delay, which sucks. I plan on trying to silicone things down this week, hopefully sealing ever ything off thats harmful. I added another fish which will be in the tank. Its the scribbed rabbit, and hes in my other FOWLR tank, waiting to go into his new home.

So thats my update.

[Jflip2002]

OK, so today Im building the "overflow" for my skimmed water to flow into, to avoid the bubbles. I tried to keep it as small as I possibly could, so my tank doesnt get cluttered. I broke the acrylic of my original overflow, trying to tear it apart since I used the wrong silicone! So now Im using the broken pieces to make a black overflow thing/bubble diffuser.

And now Im in a little bit of a tough place. I need a new 250w DE Halide bulb soon hopefully. Im just tired of the ugly yellowish look of the current usa 10k bulb. But the XM 15k is apparently worse than the 20k as far as par goes. So Im trying to find something that'll work well, growth wise. And Sanjays site is great, but since the PARs change based on the different ballast,and my current USA ballast isnt shown, it doesnt help much.

PIcs today of the new overflow thing I built.

[crvz]

Sounds great, looks like your moving along nicely! I look forward to seeing some pictures, and don't forget to show us the stand in a few days...