PupChow's 45g Cube - Trying to Do It Right - Setup

[PupChow]

This is my third reef tank set up after a break in the hobby. Due to experience, impatient, lack of budget in the past, my tanks have always been pretty low-tech (no sump, no skimmer) and haphazard. I pretty much dubbed myself as an Inappropriate Reefer and recently started a YouTube channel documenting my new tank build.

On 1/22/2015 I picked up a very clean 45g rimless with a ~10g custom sump & cabinet from a local reefer that is moving. The setup is attractive because all the plumbings are done and well thought out. Here is a picture of the tank in the living room with it's first inhabitant.

[SVTour]

Look like a nice cube to work with. Best of luck with your build

[yellowRubi]

Looks nice, what lights you gonna use?

[joshky]

Your dog is really cute but I think it's too big for that tank.

[PupChow]

Thank you guys! I think posting a build thread here is so much more efficient than starting a blog on the side. My tank has actually been up and running for about 4 months, so right now I am playing a little catch-up in this thread. Things definitely started getting way more interesting recently, so I will quickly fly over the early stages!



The tank came with a Radion XR30w Gen1, which was the newest LED out right before I left the hobby a few years back. I have always liked the look of cable mounted LED but after realizing that the power cable would still be dangling down from the light, I opted for a tank mount arm instead. However, at ~$90, that mount is quite overpriced.

A few weeks in during the leak test, the fan on the Radion failed. I saw this as an opportunity to just upgrade the whole unit to a Gen3 for around $150. Since the tank's dimension is 24x24x20, I did not opt for the wide angle lens nor Pro. The whole upgrading process sounded dreadful on paper, but EcoTech Marine's customer service was top notch and the whole ordeal was actually painless, they get a two thumbs up from me! So now this 45g cube is sporting a Radion XR30w Gen3.

PS - Does anybody know how to embed YouTube video in a larger size? I am using the [youtube] tag.

[moondoggy4]

Nice tank, I hope the dog did not scratch the tank, I have a nice scar down my leg about 6'' from our dog swimming in the pool and got me.

[PupChow]

Yikes moondoggy4, my Shiba hates water, if I take him swimming I'm pretty sure I will get a lot of 6" [intentional] scars from the ordeal as well.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the hobby for me is aquascaping. In the past I have only used live rock so I was limited to what was sent and I had to do most of the aquascaping in a filled tank. For this tank I decided to try the dry rock route and I think the pros highly outweighed the cons.

I ordered 50# dry rocks from ReefCleaners.org since they came highly recommended. They actually asked me what sort of aquascape I have envisioned and they sent me appropriately sized / shaped rocks. I won't go into too much details since I know most of you already know how great ReefCleaners rocks are.

Here is my finished rock work outside of the tank, I was able to spend a week just tweaking it and coming back to it every once in awhile. Having the luxury of working on the aquascape dry is amazing. Initially I was going to drill through them and tie them together, but since they locked together so well that I just ended up leaving them as stacked.



And here are all the leftovers that was sold to a fellow reefer. Apparently 50# of rocks is a lot for a 45g tank!

[Big_Boss_77]

I think you're gonna need a bigger tank if you want to keep that husky in it 😉 looks sharp though. Rock work looks awesome too

[PupChow]

Thanks Big_Boss_77, I almost went with a new 90g cube which would at least fit my dog short term, ultimately went with this used 45g since it's a complete package and I didn't need to try and figure out plumbing, lol.

In the past I have cycled my tank with damsels before, also throwing in clean up crew at the first sign of aglae, mostly to have something to look at while the tank cycles. Bad, I know. Since I am trying to do things a little bit more right, I held out until green algae appeared before I ordered my first batch of clean up crew.



6 weeks later, tank is cycled and ready for critters!

[PupChow]

[delete]

[Big_Boss_77]

Is that a vortech I see in the background?

[PupChow]

Sharp eye! That is a MP40 I held onto since my last tank break down. It's a bit strong for a 24" tank so it's running at about 50%.

This time around I tried to be patient and waited until week 5 - 6 before I added a cleanup crew. After doing some research, Reefs2go.com seems to have the best price around and decent reviews.

I ordered a small collection of snails, hermits, conchs. I did not want to overload the system where animals would starve once the initial algae is gone, so the numbers were pretty conservative. One of the Tiger Sand Conch was sold once the sand bed is cleared. I also went light on the crabs because they seems to have a tendency to get a little nasty when the opportunity arrives.



The CUC arrived late and the east coast was hit by a random cold front. While everything looked decent in the unboxing video most of the animals were DOA but here is where Reefs2go.com stepped up big time. They replaced all the animals no questions asked (well, they did ask for a photo) and shipped everything out without me having to pay for shipping again. Pretty much all animals arrived safely the second round and have been living in my tank since with 0 casualty (yes I counted all my snails & hermits )

[Big_Boss_77]

Glad to hear it, sometimes weather ruins the best laid plans. Just glad the vendor did the right thing, too many don't anymore.

About the vortech, I love those little things. I have 2 in my tank and if I'm not careful they'll blow the water clean out. They are super powerful and very useful, in my humble opinion.

EDIT: got distracted and forgot my main question. Have you been thinking of what live stock you're going to add in a few weeks?

[PupChow]

I actually have 3 Bangaii Cardinals in there right for 4 – 5 weeks already. I have been debating between the Bangaii vs. Threadfin Cardinals while I was setting up the tank. When I came across a tank full of aquacultured Bangaii Cardinals at my local PetCo for $15 each (with additional 30% off that day), that kind of sealed the deal.

PetCo has a pretty rough rep when it comes to saltwater fish so I was a bit iffy, however this particular store seems to be pretty well maintenance with mostly healthy fish; also knowing that they recently acquired LiveAquria gave me enough faith to try a trio from there. I am glad I did, they are still super healthy and bold!



When the time is right, I think I will add a pair of MochVinci clowns to round out the fish list!

[PupChow]

The most dangerous thing to a reefer's wallet is a newly cycled tank that is ready for livestock. In the span of 3 weeks after the tank is cycled, there have been a few tank breakdowns and big sales happening locally so I was able to add some hardy corals to the tank.

At the moment I am focusing on Zoas since they are hardy and appropriate for a new tank. If everything looks good, I plan to start moving towards the more delicate corals. What is up with all the crazy names for the Zoas?

Here is a snap shot of what's in the 45g cube tank at the moment.

[PupChow]

It has been a few months and figure I should pop in with an update! Everything are growing in nicely and I picked up a few more corals along the way.



During my trip the MP40 failed with a propeller stall error. While I fixed the MP40 issue (opened up the wetside and saw that there was "shaving" of the ceramic jamming things up, cleared them out and it seemed to work again), I may look into getting a new wet side or spring for two MP10wes instead to finally get a little cool wave action. Do the two powerheads have to point at each other, or can they both originate from the corner overflow column pointing at different part of the tank and still achieve the same result?