FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 I got a 55 gallon cube, cabinet and some equipment locally and will be working on setting it up as a sps dominant tank. I hope to have a lot of fish movement and color from the coral. So far I have:Bubble Magus Curve 5 skimmerMaxspect led light (planning to add 2 t5 bulbs for supplimental lighting)10 gallon sumpDIY media reactor3 Koralia powerheads (planning to upgrade to a Tunze 6040 or the new Waveline Wave Puck)BRS 5 stage RO/DI Jeabo 8000 dc controllable pumpNext to get:Icecap auto top off, Dead rock/live rock, Coral pro salt, the replacement powerhead, t5 retrofit kit, supplements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 The tank as I got it....yuck! Diamond in the rough though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 Here it is after refinishing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 Painted the bottom white for a nice bare bottom. Still need to paint the back flat black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Wow, you just pulled the whole tank out of the 80s with just paint! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 Going to run a full siphon with a backup. Hopefully it will be fairly quiet. Pump is controllable to help dial it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 12, 2017 Author Share Posted December 12, 2017 20 minutes ago, FarmerTy said: Wow, you just pulled the whole tank out of the 80s with just paint! I know right! Gotta love/hate the 80s! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 I know right! Gotta love/hate the 80s! I was born in the 80s so not everything that came out of it was terrible. [emoji4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 Got the dry rock in today. Now comes the fun not so fun part of trying to figure out the aquascaping. I'm wanting to go a little more simple this time but still with a little overhang and an island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Great start! It looks like you're going with a Herbie overflow. Using a ball valve is a real pain to get those dialed in! Which method of aquascaping are you going to go with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 6 hours ago, Sascha D. said: Great start! It looks like you're going with a Herbie overflow. Using a ball valve is a real pain to get those dialed in! Which method of aquascaping are you going to go with? Yes Herbie it is. I have never used that method. I'm hoping it isn't too difficult. I am leveling off the bottom of some of the rocks with chisels so they sit flat and stable. Planning to have a central back wall of rock with an overhang on the right. Then an island with a little overhang on the left to give some depth. I like using superglue gel to hold everything together. Sometimes I put the epoxy putty if it needs to be really strong but I put it on the back so you can't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Yes Herbie it is. I have never used that method. I'm hoping it isn't too difficult. I am leveling off the bottom of some of the rocks with chisels so they sit flat and stable. Planning to have a central back wall of rock with an overhang on the right. Then an island with a little overhang on the left to give some depth. I like using superglue gel to hold everything together. Sometimes I put the epoxy putty if it needs to be really strong but I put it on the back so you can't see it. It's easier to tune the Herbie with a gate valve. I've tuned mine with a ball valve, but it took a few tries. Having the adjustable return pump will make it easier. Herbie requires some readjustment as water naturally slows through the system. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 I just made a sizable contribution to BRS and get the rest of my equipment that I needed, salt and supplements. Getting closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefpuck Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 15 hours ago, FishShrink said: I just made a sizable contribution to BRS and get the rest of my equipment that I needed, salt and supplements. Getting closer. BRS is awesome. I've ordered from several other companies but keep going back to them. Have you thought of what color T5s you're going to add? I have 2 AquaMars on my 90g...and am going to supplement with T5s. Love the LEDs...just feel they're missing that one color to make the colors pop to their potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Dang! What a great job on the resto! Good luck w/ the rest of the build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Refinish came out really well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 14, 2017 Author Share Posted December 14, 2017 5 hours ago, Reefpuck said: BRS is awesome. I've ordered from several other companies but keep going back to them. Have you thought of what color T5s you're going to add? I have 2 AquaMars on my 90g...and am going to supplement with T5s. Love the LEDs...just feel they're missing that one color to make the colors pop to their potential. BRS forever! It took me a quite a while to decide about the bulbs. I ended up going with 2 ati blue+. I want the growth and the glow. If it is too blue I will increase the whites on the LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 BRS forever! It took me a quite a while to decide about the bulbs. I ended up going with 2 ati blue+. I want the growth and the glow. If it is too blue I will increase the whites on the LEDs. Nice start! Any way to get a slightly more gentle slope on that back rock? I'm just thinking about shadowing with SPS colonies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Make sure to leave room for the algae magnet to clear on all sides... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 14, 2017 Author Share Posted December 14, 2017 Ty, I am going to work on it tonight. I wasn't fully happy with it and needed to step away and get some more inspiration. Will try to get the slope. I like the island and was to keep that but may have to cut it down a bit. Bobcat, I have to the outside of the tape so I should be good but I will have to double check! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Ty, I am going to work on it tonight. I wasn't fully happy with it and needed to step away and get some more inspiration. Will try to get the slope. I like the island and was to keep that but may have to cut it down a bit. Bobcat, I have to the outside of the tape so I should be good but I will have to double check! Thanks! I actually like the scape a lot. I was just worried about the cliff since sps can be easily shaded out.I like the island too and agree with you, maybe just make it smaller to leave room for the sps to grow in and fill some of that vertical height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 14, 2017 Author Share Posted December 14, 2017 15 minutes ago, FarmerTy said: I actually like the scape a lot. I was just worried about the cliff since sps can be easily shaded out. I like the island too and agree with you, maybe just make it smaller to leave room for the sps to grow in and fill some of that vertical height. Cool, I will work on the slope and cut down the island. Then glue it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 I agree with Ty on the vertical. I made that mistake in my first rockscape and really regretted it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 I agree as well. I try to keep 6" on all sides of the rock. This gives you enough space to scrape algae and for water to move around your aquascape. No flow = detritus trap. It looks like a lot of space when the tank is empty, but will quickly fill up with sps growth. Small tanks and cubes can be challenging.Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishShrink Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Sascha, I'm finding the cube to be little more difficult that I was expecting. I changed the design a little to try and open it up and give more room for growth. Also tried to incorporate a gradual slope to help with coral shading. The plan from here would be to build out an arm on the right side of the left island extending behind the right island. I will probably still cut down the right island but haven't done that yet. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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