The 60 Rimless Cube Adventure

[inkTheory]

Hi everyone! Welcome to my little big upgrade thread.

(Picture heavy, love to observe my ecosystem. Sadly they're taken with my HTC One M8 until I can get a better camera)

Intro

First let me introduce myself, I'm Brian go by inkTheory. Been keeping nano's for the past 6 years and it all started with a 10 gal my freshman year of college. My tale of fish keeping actually starts with a red mail veiltail betta that I got for Christmas. As most of you know, it quickly got out of control haha. From my humble 10 gal I moved up to a biocube 14 which I loved and still run as a supplemental refugium for micro fauna and various algae. I then pushed my college's 10 gal limit to a standard 29, it's incredible how by placing a distilled water gallon jug next to the tank you can argue it's not that big. Kid you not, a CA said "Oh, that must only be like 8 gallons." I went with it. I graduated in 2014 and as I settle in and continue save I found my first larger tank. So here we go

The Tank & Equipment

60 gallon Marineland Rimless Cube with corner overflow (24"x24"x24")
Durso overflow (looking to eventually swap this out)
30 gallon sump
Bubble Magnus Curve 5
Aqueon Pro 250 heater
1/10hp JBJ Arctica Chiller (set at 78.6)
2 x Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6045
(1 MaxSpect Gyre XF130 currently in the 29 I'd like to try)
ATI 6 bulb T5 system with blue leds (going to be upgrading to a kessil 360we)
Refugium light: Kessil H150 Purple
75 GPD Ro/di unit
Salt: hw-Marinemix Professional Salt Mix

Refurbishing

The craigslist gods were on my side and allowed me to find everything but the chiller, Kessil H150, and heater for a great price. But as with everything you find at a great price my list of things to do would keep growing.

To-Do List:

- Replace return plumbing
- Plumb chiller
- Clean tank and overflow
- Clean sump and skimmer
- Replace the silicone
- Water test
- Build light holder
- Figure out aquascape
- Wash substrate
- Cycle
- Begin stocking

Let's get started!

[inkTheory]

I picked up the tank and goodies on 8/19 and loaded it into my 02 subaru outback, please try to control yourselves I know it's an attractive car haha. I got home and moved everything into the garage while I would determine where the tanks final home would be. Please enjoy the HTC's terrible low light camera, but this will give you an idea about the state of the tank.



Oof, not a looker, but I could see the potential. That weekend I got to work cleaning the tank. First I cleaned the tank out, removing salt creep, algae, and any other debris in the tank.



I wanted to start fresh with the tank so I used vinegar soaked paper towels to dissolve the dead coraline algae. I set the tank up outside on a recycling bin to wash it out. It was at this point I could truly see that I wasn't happy with the state the silicone was in. Add it to the list.



Next up was cleaning the sump up, smaller skimmer bodies are still the biggest pain to try and clean. I managed to only snap this picture before cleaning it out.

[inkTheory]

Resealing the beast. I went back and forth with the girlfriend a few times before I finally decided to go with black over clear. I had a tube of each so worst case I just reseal it. Begin the removal of the old beaten up silicone.



About 4 razor blades later I would finally have it all out. I had no idea how long and tedious it would be haha. With my now deformed claw I wiped the tank out with rubbing alcohol to disinfect everything. I laid out my tape lines to serve as a guide for the silicone.



As this is my first time resealing a tank I definitely learned a few things. Should have gone with painter's tape. Thankfully the masking tape only left bad lines on the bottom edge of the aquarium in the back. But being a designer it still irked me it wasn't perfectly straight, so I cleaned it up. I had called the manufacturer and set up camp for the next 10 days of curing.

[inkTheory]

After the 10 day cure I set the tank up for the all important water test. Filling the behemoth up to the overflow I kept checking the tank whenever I could for the next week.



Next on the docket while the water test commenced was to build something to hold the lights. Due to the height of the ceiling (sloped 12 foot high) there would be no using just the hanging kit. After seeing a few builds that included the manufacture of support arms I went to the home depot with my list of materials. I was going to build it out of 3/4" electrical conduit with an elbow that would stretch out over the tank where i would drill and suspend the light using the hanging kit. After cutting the pipe to length and assembling the fittings I set out to paint it using black glossy rustoleum. This would not only provide a polished but also protective finish to the conduit and fittings. I used some left over copper pipe and fittings to create a rig to allow me to paint all sides of the conduit at once. I applied three coats and was extremely pleased with how nicely it came out.



Now while the light support was curing and the tank was testing I decided to make progress with my aquascape. I had my current live rock but I wanted something different, with this larger tank my rock would look small and inadequate. I was talking to a friend who runs an aquarium maintenance company on the side and he said I could pop over and cherry pick any pieces of dry rock I'd like. Beautiful stuff. I was obsessed with this awesome ledge piece, but sadly I would find that it would not fit in my tank and I couldn't bare to break a rock as beautiful as that.



Now for a puppy break, meet Milo the monster. Thankfully we seem to be past the stealing shoes phase but dishtowels and water bottles are still fair game.

[inkTheory]

One night I got the idea to create mock dimensions of the tank and start playing with rock structures. I measured out my safe zones and started playing with different scapes. After many trials with the shelf rock I found this form. Looking at it in hindsight it kinda gives off that Lion King pride rock vibe. Two important things to me were, minimalist design and minimal dead zones. I love this rock. All the holes, caves, and how it seemed to come together so easily made me a happy camper.



After I was happy, I took my cherry picked pieces and began the cleaning process. Thoroughly cleaning the rock I blasted out all the gunk, garbage and scrubbed off any build up. After multiple cleanings it dried and I started the next phase. I knew I wanted the safety of egg crate to protect the bottom as I knew my rock work sat on points. One of the other problems would be my love for sand and the creatures that sift it.



The designer side of me took over and I wound up taking measurements and detailed sketches of the rock work and the tank to help me get an idea of the final look.



Luckily I had enough egg crate to try two options. The traditional entire foot print style and experimental specifically trimmed version. This would allow me not only to keep the rock supported but also leave any sandsifters and area to move sand to their hearts content but never threaten the stability. I finally got the rock into the tank.

[inkTheory]

Since I knew I had established seed substrate in my current tank I decided to go with dry sand. After a thorough washing I added my initial sand bed. I went with sand as opposed to the crushed coral in my current display because I wanted an orange spotted diamond goby and would also be mixing in some of the crushed coral to create different textures for the inhabitants. Now for the fun part. Thank tank fill. Enjoy the next three progression shots





When it was finally filled with saltwater measuring in at 1.026ppt, I added Biospira and waited a day. I then added some seed rock and a cup of substrate from my display to get the ball rolling.

[inkTheory]

So cycling began. Nothing super exciting here. Just watched my levels and everyone's favorite, the diatom bloom Enjoy some surface agitation and the bloom itself.





At this point we begin a little side tale. I went to the local Petco to pick up some seaweed for the display and look at the fish. I'd been watching two midnight clowns they brought in a few weeks ago. Midnight's will always have a special place in my heart, freshman year I saved up money after seeing one at Absolutely Fish. I love oddballs and individuals, that's how Cadillac came into my life. At just about an inch the little black bodied orange faced clown captured my affections. Made only stronger by a bout with brook brought on by the LFS by my school's clown. The two clowns went through the hospital process with rounds of antibiotics and prayers. Cadillac and Bentley were a power couple, until hurricane sandy .

Fast forward back to present day, I went look a the two clowns and to my horror found them covered in what looked like brook or velvet. Laying on the bottom and hovering right above it they looked terrible. I hate seeing animals struggling like this, so after some choice words with the manager she accepted that I would pay $30 for the pair, not the $99.99 each they had them listed for. I took them home and brought them to ink's hospital. They went through the gauntlet: methelyene blue, quick cure (formalin & malachite green), and melafix for the feel good vibes. This was the one - two punch I'd used when Caddi was sick and knew it would be effective. Through diligence and hope the two clowns made a full recovery, one only shows slight discoloration on it's tail. The larger female is named Areefa Franklin but I need help with the male's name

Here they are in the miserable bag

[inkTheory]

After a month the 60 had fully cycled, thanks largely in part to the seeding with live rock and sand. I knew exactly who I would add as my first fish to the system. The two midnight clowns.



Here they are in the Ritz enjoying what will become a little slice of the ocean. Over the course of the next few weeks I'll be slowly bringing friends over from the current display to the new digs. I'm very excited to watch this tank mature and grow.

[kaxt]

Nice build so far- I love your rock work.

Will you be breaking down your other tank completely, or just transferring some of the livestock from it? When you get a chance, post a close up pic of the clowns, I don't think I've ever seen midnights before.

[inkTheory]

Originally Posted by kaxt

Nice build so far- I love your rock work.

Will you be breaking down your other tank completely, or just transferring some of the livestock from it? When you get a chance, post a close up pic of the clowns, I don't think I've ever seen midnights before.

Yeah they're awesome, here's a pic I just snapped of them. Excuse the hand and the fact they move all the time haha.



And since I was chasing the clowns here's a side shot of the tank. The darker rocks are seed rocks, the spire has colonies of feather dusters and sponges that I'm hoping will spread around.

[treedog5]

Nice start, can't wait to see the progression.

[inkTheory]

Originally Posted by treedog5

Nice start, can't wait to see the progression.

Thank you, me too

[Cliving1]

Looks great! I agree the rock work is well placed. I had looked at a pair of those a while back and never pulled the trigger, I am glad to see you fought for the clowns and they stuck it out, great success story. Any plans on where you will go next?

[inkTheory]

Originally Posted by Cliving1

Looks great! I agree the rock work is well placed. I had looked at a pair of those a while back and never pulled the trigger, I am glad to see you fought for the clowns and they stuck it out, great success story. Any plans on where you will go next?

Thanks! I'm very pleased with how it came out too. Can't wait for it to mature.

Yeah the clowns were in extremely bad shape, you could see the heavy mucus on them both. Midnight's are sweet, especially when people see the regular orange ocellaris and you explain they're the same species.

Future plans, move my population from my 29 over to the 60. From there I'd love to have a great showpiece. I imagined a ritteri anemone showpiece after I upgrade my lights and the system matures. I also thought about doing some plating montis on the overflow or perhaps a zoa garden. Corals on the main rock would be great as well but I worry about anemone movement.

Any suggestions for coral design would be greatly appreciated.

[Cliving1]

I used to have a nice rose anemone, although it did do lots of running. I think it depends on the anemone they can be so touchy. I bet all your 29g tank mates will love the upgrade! Montis plates are great the red ones always catch my eye. Remember you have alot of depth which is great for different coral types as long as you can also combine that with the flow they want. That cup/hole area you have in the middle might be a great place to set a nice frag in? I think whatever you put there is kind of a statement piece (or thats how I would see it). A nice hammer could work for the clowns.

[RGS2]

Tank is looking very nice. You've put a lot of work into it and it shows. I just set up a 60 rimless also. I like the footprint of the tank a lot. I will look forward to more updates!

[adddo]

Very nice aquascape!

[reefervanwinkle]

Any updates? Great looking tank!

[inkTheory]

Hey everyone! Been a crazy few months but I finally got some time to sit down. Putting together an update. Should be up later today.

Cheers!

[Hentz]

Jeez, we've all been waiting. Get too it!

[inkTheory]

Okay so I started with 70 pictures to tell this story and have managed to bring it down to 53 or so haha. Please hang with me until I finish posting everything

Now some of the specific dates of things will be a bit fuzzy but everything should be in chronologic order.

This was the beginning of my transition to a full LED system. And it started in the sump, I was looking at the standard clip on bulb with reflector to grow my chaeto but I'd seen BRS's clown tank running a magenta light and was able to find a cheap Kessil on ebay. When it arrived I was hooked. I've always admired the Kessil's design and aesthetic and the reviews from those who had them seemed to be pretty stellar as well taking into account the bias. Using some impressive budget engineering I found a way to suspend the light over my chaeto chamber and added a nice softball starter clump. I've been blown away, as you will see I've gotten explosive growth from the light and the sump is flourishing.



At this point the display was still lit by the t5 fixture, I hit my first hiccup. The long tentacle anemone I had in my 29 was going through a rough patch and wasn't doing well under the t5's in the 29 for whatever reason. I'd managed to bring it back from the bleached anemone I had received and I wasn't ready to lose it. I took a huge risk and decided to add it to the 60. My diamond goby Digger was also called into action to start working the sandbed. Yes I know it was quite early but with the seed sand and my feeding regimen i knew he would do quite well after the move. Here you can see Anemone floating in its transfer cup before I started drip acclimation. Digger also took no time at all to start piling up sand around his new burrow location. Here you can see him looking a little skinny.



Digger also took no time at all to start piling up sand around his new burrow location. Here you can see him looking a little skinny.

[inkTheory]

The anemone would start to work his way around the tank as they often do looking for their favorite spot. Little did I know my LTA anemone would trek up the rock and take my reserved seating for a future trophy nem. Little did I know he's grow to be a beautiful centerpiece. He plopped down in this opening and set up shop never to move again. You can see another seed rock dropped in there with the fuzzy algae and worms. The nem would go through some shrinkage due to the new system but bounced back and flourished.



One of the ideas when I set up this tank was one that not many people like the sound of. Natural sunlight, I know very scary, the idea of scary algae blooms were real. Regardless, I love the look natural sunlight gives the tank. The warm glow and the colors that come out on fish and coral alike are second to none. Here's a glimpse of the LTA enjoying some of the sun. It was also now that I decided I didn't like the loud whirr of the fans on the t5 fixture and the eye sore that was the hanging rig. I found a great deal for an A360WE with gooseneck and snatched it up. I love these lights.



Here's a full tank shot after the rehoming of the nem and diamond goby. Stock list as of this picture: 2 Midnight clownfish, 1 orange spotted goby, and a Long Tentacle Anemone (plus the clean up crew) Single A360WE hanging over the tank

[inkTheory]

Some time passed as I continued to watch how the 60 would start to take shape. I looked at the nooks and crannies and the general emptiness and I started to get an itch. Luckily Jamie would approve of the two cute purple firefish I picked up. The nice thing was, these two seemed to tolerate and actually enjoy each other's company.



It was at this time that a mean little blood orange occ started giving my little darwin trouble. Not willing to lose the black and white I pulled him over and he was happily reunited with the anemone he had lost. This would be a huge step as the midnights would not only accept the little clown but also realized their are better places to live than a tunze haha.



It's now around Halloween time and decorations were being setup, of course Milo had his feelings about being left out.

[inkTheory]

We caved, Jamie put on his fashionable harness and decided she would try to take him for a run. Now for those of you who don't have beagles, that nose makes walks and runs an absolute nightmare. They have an urge to smell absolutely everything haha. This run is important because Jamie had somehow convinced me to do a tough mudder with her. Fun fact. She had to pick him up and turn him around so we could get this picture. She'll also probably kill me for posting this haha.



The first harvest, this was about half the mass that had grown in the chamber. I left the half behind as I wanted the bugs and critters to have free reign to continue to multiply.



Moving day for everyone came a few weeks later, this is also a new FTS with everyone in the 60 now. This includes: One Spot Foxface Rabbitfish, Scopas Tang, Solans Fairy Wrasse, Pair of Bloodfire cleaning shrimp (who actually clean, hallelujah), ever growing clump of gsp, and the coolest mini-max carpet I accidentally found for $10 at Petco. Flow was still being figured out and Digger wasn't helping anything haha.

[inkTheory]

Diatoms and algae, everyone's favorite. In my mind a money cowerie was exactly what I wanted. Trying to find those in New Jersey, specifically my area is next to impossible as the LFS is not so great at actually being helpful. I picked up this cowerie, mislabeled of course, and a blue tuxedo urchin. I would later find out it was a tiger cowerie and it could possibly decide to eat things other than algae. Oh boy. Happy to report he is still in the tank and continues to be a model citizen. Plus everyone loves his shell when he sleeps during the day.



The tough mudder arrived in November and for the sake of the two of us, let's enjoy this start of race picture and speak nothing more of how sore I was for the next week.



Milo was of course the best medicine and football. He seemed as exhausted as we were.