93 gallon cube project....

[whodeydan76]

Today I bought a used 93 gallon reef ready cube with plumbing and stand. The guy that had it bought it a year ago from dr fosters and smith and paid well over $1700 for the tank and stand delivered...I paid $700
In the deal I also got a 40 gal cube to use for a sump, a bubble magus 150 in sump skimmer with an extra pump and an extra collection cup, a Kent marine Hi-S RODI system with 4 extra paper filters and one of the mesh looking ones, a brand new (in the box) marineland maxi jet 1200, 3 different sized nets (2 brand new), 3 bags of red sea salt, and 3 bags of instant ocean salt, a big bottle of reef buffer, 2 turkey basters specifically made for reefing (2 diff types), a mag 24 return pump, a 250 watt and a 300 watt submersible heaters, ocean grade sand substrate that was in the tank, but I scraped the top few inches off and I am going to rinse this and most likely use it.
I am going to attach pics of the tank before and after I cleaned it and also the other supplies I got with the tank that are listed above. I plan to keep this post going as I get the tank up and cycling and so on... Hope everyone that cares to give it a look enjoys the thread and feel free to leave what ever comments you feel like.
Happy Reefing.

[whodeydan76]

here are a couple more pics... sorry if there are any duplicates.. Im pooped..lol

[whodeydan76]

Any lighting ideas guys? I had an offer of a 14000 k hqi fixture that has a brushed aluminum hood...a 400 watt halide pendant with ballast, an eco tech, a kessil.. I had t5s on my past reef yanks... but this is an open top (no canopy)

[jmifland]

I am planning on having a custom acryllic 30x30x24 cube built and I will be using an Aqua Illuminations Vega for lighting.

[apw63]

Looking good, should be a fun build, great start,

Andy

[whodeydan76]

Thanks guys! I love this tank so far..lol it is a big difference going from a 75 non drilled, no overflow or sump, to a drilled cube with a 40 gal cube as my sump.
My first roadblock was plumbing. The tank came complete but was filthy and when I cleaned it up I had no idea that the overflow box needed cleaned too. So when I reinstalled the bulk heads and stand pipes I didn't wash the minimal amount of sand out of the way so as soon as I poured water in the overflow I got wet and in a hurry! It turns out the tank manufacturer or bulkhead manufacturer one uses super slim clear seals for the bullheads and the slightest grain of sand makes the seals leak BAD! Lol
I finally figured out where my leak was...I figured I cracked the glass :$ but thankfully i was wrong.
I got my rock from my friends sump and added some dry rock i purchased at some point. I also added 4 cups of sand off the top from a friends tank to help seed the tank and sand bed. The same friend ( happens to be a good friend and he is a mod on this site...) has a bunch of my old corral from my old tank. He promised to hook me up with frags of any corral he has once I get up and running and established.. which is really cool IMO. He is also helping me pick my light...I think I'm trying less this go round...I hope I don't regret it..I really liked my Ati t5 I had on my 75... I love the way leds can be dimmed and controlled individually.
I will post pics later today or tomorrow as I decide how I am going to aquascape. I'm sure I'll change it 50x. Lol

[Mussin]

Looks good Dan! I like the cubes. I would go with LEDs since you have no canopy. You will have to come over some time and check out my 90 its really comming along nicely.


Jeremy

[whodeydan76]

Jeremy... id like to see your 90. I'm doing an 8 gal nano with dwarf sea horses for my kids and I am sure I'll add another tank of some sort..prolly a hex I've always wanted one of them...but finding a drilled one is next to impossible!
What lights did u run on your 90? I love my t5s I had but andrew on here and locally at PSP introduced me to a cheap led and i think I'll get 2 just to be sure i have enough light to grow whatever I wanna try.
Thanks for the compliment. I sent you a text recently...hit me up and I'll come by to see your tank. Did u sell your cube?

[Mussin]

Originally Posted by whodeydan76

Jeremy... id like to see your 90. I'm doing an 8 gal nano with dwarf sea horses for my kids and I am sure I'll add another tank of some sort..prolly a hex I've always wanted one of them...but finding a drilled one is next to impossible!
What lights did u run on your 90? I love my t5s I had but andrew on here and locally at PSP introduced me to a cheap led and i think I'll get 2 just to be sure i have enough light to grow whatever I wanna try.
Thanks for the compliment. I sent you a text recently...hit me up and I'll come by to see your tank. Did u sell your cube?

I have a TEK 6 bulb T5 fixture, Cube sold a long tim ago. Not sure I got ur text The LEDS will look killer, What ones are you going with?


Jeremy

[Super Bad]

Great tank!!!! I have the exact one up and running now for about three years. I have only one radion over it now and it works great. I kinda wish i would have gone with something cheaper because I have an apex now and dont really need the "self" programing system of the radion. Apollo reef makes really nice lighting systems for a great price. Good luck with the build and keep us up to date!!!! Check out my build thread if you want... let me know if you have any questions.
Patrick

[Occane5]

Nice tank and good deal on price!

[premilove]

nice start and not a bad deal at all!

[whodeydan76]

Thanks everyone. I've been slacking on pix. I'll post what I have soon. I love the tank and it is seeded and starting its cycle. I can't wait!
Jeremy...a friend told me about a led called ever grow I think. Its dimmable and like $160 shipped. I don't know if I should do 1 or 2? They are 55 bulb by 3 watts per bulb per unit. He has a 75 gal and is growing Lps and sps. Its Chinese made w American parts. I know I know but I am gonna try them I'm pretty sure.
Pics to come soon
I will checkout your thread too super bad. Thanks

[whodeydan76]

The friend w the 75 is running 2 lights same style at 60%. I'm leaning towards 2 but I'm not positive.

[whodeydan76]

Here are a few pics I have taken over the last week or 2. The light on the tank is a temporary until I can get my leds ordered. I am running the mh for 4 hours a day.. just to promote corraline growth on my rocks...as most of them already have some growth.

[whodeydan76]

and here are a few more.

[whodeydan76]

Notice how much turbulence is in the sump?? I would assume that the mag 24 pump has something to do with that lol. I tried to trade the guy for the 9.5 and he wanted to give me the 9.5 and $20... uh NO! lol. I made a place mat for the bottom of the return pump to prevent vibration since the sump is glass. Also I was told the motor would produce great heat.. I ran the tank the first 3 days with no heaters and it stayed a cool 70 deg F. When I plugged in my heaters I set both at 76 and have been monitoring them... they seem to be doing great. Plus here in the next couple days I will be adding a filter sock holder and sock. I think this will cut down on my micro bubbles greatly. Anyone have any other ideas I am all ears. I thought about baffles as I know there are some great underwater glues.. but I'm just not sure yet??? I am also adding a hob fuge but it will be hanging on the inside of the sump.
One downfall I have noticed to no canopy is I have a lot of noise at the overflow... I am going to cut a piece of acrylic to lay over the overflow to try to deaden that sound...once again I am open to suggestions. I love that people on here take interest in my build I guess I am easily amused.

[whodeydan76]

Hey guys... I did some aqua scaping the last couple of days.. I am 95% through my cycle and loving that idea! I got 65# of live rock from a guy about 45 mins away on thursday. I found it on craigslist and called the guy.... I went to see the rock and he said he wanted $1.50 a lb. I got there and he had the rock in a tote full of water with a heater and powerhead.
I started looking through the rock in the tub picking out pieces I liked (in my head) and this guy says "its a big cut on my price but will you buy it all for $75?" I was like man I really dont need all 65# and I dont have $75 on me. He goes ok how about $60? I checked my wallet and had a $50. I said this is all I have.. he accepted and I walked out of there with 2 five gal buckets full of LR.
The first pic here is of my tank with the first aqua scaping attempt... and the second is after I added the new rock and after I rearranged 3-4 times lol. Let me know what you guys think...