My new 60g cube

BMartabano · 10/18/2012, 09:11 PM

Hello everyone,

My name is Brandon and I recently moved to the treasure coast where I am finding many great locations to feed my aquarium addiction. I got started keeping aquariums about 8+years ago when a friend showed me the hobby. At the time, my wife and I were living in Tampa and my buddy needed a place to live for a few months. We took him in and he ruined my financial future forever......I was hooked on aquariums.

My first tank was a simple 40g, I kept a few fish, a carpet anemone and some softies. I though I was king of the world. I later added a 29g biocube due to its AIO nature and loved it. I began to focus mostly on corals at this point and did fairly well with LPS and softies but I was still relatively new to the hobby, maybe 1-2 years experience. I sadly later experienced the "bad times" and being inexperienced, grew tired from the hassles so I retired from the hobby for about six months. I later bought (used) a 150g system and had it running for about 6 months but it was loaded with pests and other irritants (equipment problems) that led to me shutting down and selling the tank off. Months later I got the itch but decided to "do it right", I thought hard on what I wanted and made a plan. I did weeks of research(technically i never stopped, and never will) and planning but ultimately decided on a PICO sps reef. I went with a 4g system and for almost 2 years ran an amazing (believe it or not) micro reef. To this day that has probably been my favorite tank. Then came the move. We moved from Tampa to Port Saint Lucie Fl, and although the tiny tank survived, it clearly became stressed. Plus the tank was bursting with coral already so it was time to expand. Our living situation was temporary at best at this time but I wanted to upgrade anyway. I built a custom 15g tank into my office desk with a central plumbing system that allowed the tank to be viewed from all sides with out any obstructions. Worked great a gave me room to expand. that was over a year ago....the itch returned... My local fish shop is owned by a good friend and an opportunity came up to buy a DeepBlueProffessional 60gRR Edgeless Cube for about 50% retail. YEA NEW TANK! so here it is. This is where I intend to document my journey (hopefully its a good one) while I build my new SPS dominant reef system.

My plans are to strip the majority of the equipment from my desk build to cut cost and only have to maintain the one tank.

The tank- 60G RR cube 24x24x24
The stand- custom built to hold tank and large sump,ato, all equipment 37tx30wx30d
The lights- currently just one AI Sol Blue.
The pumps- 2xMP10w's and a Mag9 for the return
The filtration- I run a stage 3 sump by aqueon with a Reef Octopus 6 skimmer
I also run a dual chamber BRS reactor with GFO and Carbon
My current sump setup is with a refugium in the middle and skimmer at the end, but im thinking of losing the refugium and just having the skimmer in the main chamber, any thoughts?

My entire system is controlled and will continue to be controlled by an APEX Neptune system with a Tunze ATO and a Bubble Magus Doser handling Calc Mag and Alk

Any suggestions/criticism are always appreciated. Im very excited about this new tank and cant wait to get started.

post photos soon

Jon B · 10/19/2012, 06:32 AM

I too tend to like the idea of these modest size tanks, and even your Pico tank sounded awesome. I myself was thinking about a modest custom tank; a small 24 inch half cylinder.

Good luck to you.
Jon

BMartabano · 10/19/2012, 07:28 AM

The half cylinder sounds nice. I love tall tank. You can defiantly create some cool aquascapes with those. Can't wait to see it! Pm me when you got a thread started for it

. And Thanks, good luck to you as well!

corpjet1 · 10/25/2012, 11:48 AM

I too just recently returned back to the SW business after just having a 180 gallon African Cichlid tank. I have a 60 gallon RR cube that I love.

I look forward to your blog on your reef!

dc · 10/25/2012, 05:25 PM

This thread has been moved to the current forum....

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 02:12 PM

wow it has been over a year since i updated this, well ive moved a few times but the tank has come along nicely, i suppose i should update with photos

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 02:53 PM

front tank shot. this is current as of 11/7/13

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 02:55 PM

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 02:57 PM

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 02:58 PM

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 03:00 PM

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 03:02 PM

hotobucket.com/albums/tt315/ittlcoscha/20130829_171307.jpg[/IMG]

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 03:04 PM

BMartabano · 11/07/2013, 03:06 PM

whew.. and thats only a fraction of what i have over the last year

Well the tank has come a long way since last october. Its been moved twice to new residents as i was not settled at the time. The build stand wise was built for this and worked out wonderfully. The tank cooked for about 3 months before i started to stock it so the cycle was aged perfectly. there have been some ups and downs but i love the tank and what it has grown to become. i look forward to watching it grow even more

10/18/2012, 09:11 PM	#1
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	My new 60g cube Hello everyone, My name is Brandon and I recently moved to the treasure coast where I am finding many great locations to feed my aquarium addiction. I got started keeping aquariums about 8+years ago when a friend showed me the hobby. At the time, my wife and I were living in Tampa and my buddy needed a place to live for a few months. We took him in and he ruined my financial future forever......I was hooked on aquariums. My first tank was a simple 40g, I kept a few fish, a carpet anemone and some softies. I though I was king of the world. I later added a 29g biocube due to its AIO nature and loved it. I began to focus mostly on corals at this point and did fairly well with LPS and softies but I was still relatively new to the hobby, maybe 1-2 years experience. I sadly later experienced the "bad times" and being inexperienced, grew tired from the hassles so I retired from the hobby for about six months. I later bought (used) a 150g system and had it running for about 6 months but it was loaded with pests and other irritants (equipment problems) that led to me shutting down and selling the tank off. Months later I got the itch but decided to "do it right", I thought hard on what I wanted and made a plan. I did weeks of research(technically i never stopped, and never will) and planning but ultimately decided on a PICO sps reef. I went with a 4g system and for almost 2 years ran an amazing (believe it or not) micro reef. To this day that has probably been my favorite tank. Then came the move. We moved from Tampa to Port Saint Lucie Fl, and although the tiny tank survived, it clearly became stressed. Plus the tank was bursting with coral already so it was time to expand. Our living situation was temporary at best at this time but I wanted to upgrade anyway. I built a custom 15g tank into my office desk with a central plumbing system that allowed the tank to be viewed from all sides with out any obstructions. Worked great a gave me room to expand. that was over a year ago....the itch returned... My local fish shop is owned by a good friend and an opportunity came up to buy a DeepBlueProffessional 60gRR Edgeless Cube for about 50% retail. YEA NEW TANK! so here it is. This is where I intend to document my journey (hopefully its a good one) while I build my new SPS dominant reef system. My plans are to strip the majority of the equipment from my desk build to cut cost and only have to maintain the one tank. The tank- 60G RR cube 24x24x24 The stand- custom built to hold tank and large sump,ato, all equipment 37tx30wx30d The lights- currently just one AI Sol Blue. The pumps- 2xMP10w's and a Mag9 for the return The filtration- I run a stage 3 sump by aqueon with a Reef Octopus 6 skimmer I also run a dual chamber BRS reactor with GFO and Carbon My current sump setup is with a refugium in the middle and skimmer at the end, but im thinking of losing the refugium and just having the skimmer in the main chamber, any thoughts? My entire system is controlled and will continue to be controlled by an APEX Neptune system with a Tunze ATO and a Bubble Magus Doser handling Calc Mag and Alk Any suggestions/criticism are always appreciated. Im very excited about this new tank and cant wait to get started. post photos soon

10/19/2012, 06:32 AM	#2
Jon B Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Greenfield, WI, USA Posts: 70	Sounds like an exciting plan I too tend to like the idea of these modest size tanks, and even your Pico tank sounded awesome. I myself was thinking about a modest custom tank; a small 24 inch half cylinder. Good luck to you. Jon

10/25/2012, 05:25 PM	#5
dc Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Wyoming Posts: 44,684	This thread has been moved to the current forum.... __________________ Debi ~60 Cube~ Why? Because I said so of course. -Sent via Tapatalk Smoke Signals-

10/19/2012, 07:28 AM	#3
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	The half cylinder sounds nice. I love tall tank. You can defiantly create some cool aquascapes with those. Can't wait to see it! Pm me when you got a thread started for it . And Thanks, good luck to you as well!

10/25/2012, 11:48 AM	#4
corpjet1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 30	I too just recently returned back to the SW business after just having a 180 gallon African Cichlid tank. I have a 60 gallon RR cube that I love. I look forward to your blog on your reef!

11/07/2013, 02:12 PM	#6
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	wow it has been over a year since i updated this, well ive moved a few times but the tank has come along nicely, i suppose i should update with photos

11/07/2013, 02:53 PM	#7
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	front tank shot. this is current as of 11/7/13

11/07/2013, 02:55 PM	#8
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14

11/07/2013, 02:57 PM	#9
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14

11/07/2013, 02:58 PM	#10
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14

11/07/2013, 03:00 PM	#11
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14

11/07/2013, 03:02 PM	#12
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	hotobucket.com/albums/tt315/ittlcoscha/20130829_171307.jpg[/IMG]

11/07/2013, 03:04 PM	#13
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14

11/07/2013, 03:06 PM	#14
BMartabano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 14	whew.. and thats only a fraction of what i have over the last year Well the tank has come a long way since last october. Its been moved twice to new residents as i was not settled at the time. The build stand wise was built for this and worked out wonderfully. The tank cooked for about 3 months before i started to stock it so the cycle was aged perfectly. there have been some ups and downs but i love the tank and what it has grown to become. i look forward to watching it grow even more