Booms cube-80
 

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Well, i thought i would start a build thread for this tank, because im a little stuck on a few things, and opinions would be great, any even. Well i ordered the tank a while ago, and i should be picking it up on tuesday,
the tank is 28x28x24, with external 1.5" herbie overflow,
the return back through the overflow with a manifold system on top.
Also have 2 drains on the bottom and 2 returns for the CL.
Im going with a 2" SSB because i love the look of sand and also plan on building up the rock work in order to get a unique look to it rather than just a big island in the middle of the whole thing.
I ordered a vertex 100 for the whole thing.

A few problems i have run into is, the skimmer take up about half the sump( which i will be using a 20H and putting baffles in myself) but i would really like a fuge in the system. but it doesn't leave to much open for that.

The CL system, i was planning on using a QO 4000HH with a SWCD and the return a QO 4000 at about 5' of head.

i was reading about the Algea Turf Scrubber and thought that might be a good idea too to add to the system, im sure i can DIY something up for that.

For lighting i have a 250W lumex max 3 reflector powered by an icecap ballast. i will add 2 24W actinics later on.

Not really sure what to do for the stand or canopy though, i want to keep the cost down as much as possible and keep it a clean look. i was thinking MDF board paint it black with magnets or hooks on all 3 sides and the same for the canopy.

Any one know what type of paint i use to paint the inside of the stand so that water doesnt rot it. ive seen a few members on here do it. its some kind of white paint.

Here is a pic of the stand. for anyone to get an idea about it. with the skimmer in place too.

As for livestock, i will keep what i have now, but im giving away a damsel to anyone who wants it, your to take, he will eat anything you put in the tank as long as he can get it in his mouth (edmonton). and i might venture into some sps for this tank, probably more the easier ones to keep. looking at getting alot of smaller fish for this tank instead of 3 or 4 big ones.


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding421.jpg


Here is what i thought about doing in order to make more room for a fuge, but then i would have a hard time getting to the pump when i need to do maintance. of course it would be supported.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding423.jpg

Its final resting place, but just a little more over the the left where the current one is now.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding437.jpg


The new skimmer, my first in-sump skimmer
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding402.jpg


I had a problem it was producing to much foam, i know it has to break in but i had everthing fully open so i couldnt turn it down any and it was still pumping it out. I think it was due to the water level being to high.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding403.jpg


And of course me putting up the christmas tree for me and my wife. Our first Christmas together.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding417.jpg


Isnt it purdy!!!!!
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding426.jpg

Wow....a Christmas tree already!

The tank sounds great...I imagine the paint you might be looking for is Krylon Fusion. Not sure if it is water proof...whatever paint you end up using...watch out for it having anti-mold incredients which would be dangerous for your tank inhabitants.

Best of luck

Gonna be a cool tank man. If you are going to use mdf you will need to take a few extra steps than just paint. Mdf does not respond well to moisture. It will need to be sealed, primed, painted then possibly cleared with a marine grade finish. Mdf may be a cost effective material for other applications, but when you factor in the extra cost of finishing it properly, not to mention the time it will take to finish it properly, you may be better off using a wood veneered ply. Do let us know how the vertex settles in. We are thinking about bringing them in at the shop but they are new so......

wow got replies already sweet. yeah ive thought about sealing the mdf too and if it would be worth it. and i will let you know about the skimmer, from just opening it up, it seems well worth the price, the acrylic is really thick, it doesnt feel cheap.

Well i showed my wife the thread and she said " why am i not in there!" so here is a picture of us both, we just got married about a 1 1/2 months ago, so here is a picture of us. a happy wife is a filled fish tank. hahah


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...85/wedding.jpg

Well, it sounds like you have the main principle of married reefing down...a happy wife IS a filled fish tank! You can't get a better start than that!

I swear in that pic he's already planning his tank. I know the look. Trouble is so does the wife...

Today 10:06 AM
Parker Congratulations on the new tank and the new marriage!

why thank you very much. both bring me great joy, one more than the other, guess which one that is.

Today 09:58 AM
lastlight I swear in that pic he's already planning his tank. I know the look. Trouble is so does the wife...

i actually think i was already planning it too, hahahh maybe not at that moment though.

Today 09:47 AM
mseepman Well, it sounds like you have the main principle of married reefing down...a happy wife IS a filled fish tank! You can't get a better start than that!

i just thought of that while i was typing it, but hey at least i learned it early on.



anyone got any thought about how to put a fuge into the space underneath the sump area, without getting a custom sump made, maybe even a diy way or something,

i was thinking for the bulkheads for the CL that both for would thread x slip, is that the best way, and for the overflow, one would be thread x slip i was going to just screw a strainer into it and the other emergency bulkhead would be slip x slip, and for the return through the overflow it would be slip x slip. i read somewhere that have slip bulkheads are better than have threads less change of leaking. but will the plumbing glue get into the water after a while?? anyone got any experience on that.

Today 11:05 AM
Parker I can't quite tell the depth of your stand but what about pulling the sump all the way forward in the stand and having the fuge above and behind the sump? Would give you room to get at your pump and skimmer out front.

My sump area is a 24 x24 roughly its a little bigger but i need that space around it. i could pull it to the front, but then plumbing would become an issue, having the one tank slightly higher than the sump so that the fuge would drain into the sump. i wanted room for the ATO container in the stand but im thinking i will have to put it outside of it, it might make it easier to get at also to fill up. i have today and tommorow off work, so i will think about it a bit and play around with a few things, i might end up having another 20G in there for the fuge, but then i would have no room to add anything else to the sump, like a phosban reactor or one of these.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Carbon...duct_info.html

im very surprised at how fast the space fills up. of course this is my first sump. but i would like to fit everything in.

well i went to see how the tank was doing, and they havent even started it yet, they "plan" on starting this weekend. so who knows probably wont get it till after christmas at this rate. i wish they would have said that to me in the first place, instead of saying 2 weeks, says a month and a half, im fine with that. but to make me think it will be done sooner, i hate that. oh well gives me more time to plan and sit around.

a little update- the tank isnt even begun to being built, im pretty frusterated with them, i ordered this tank a 1 1/2 months ago, and they said that there isnt even a finish date on this thing, and that they will get to building it maybe by the end of this week. im really thinking about taking my 400 bucks back and going with someone else or just something else.

other than that, i just painted the inside of the tank white, and going to silicone it after to seal the bottom area in case of leaks. ive decided with a 25G fuge out front and a 20G in the back with the drain from the tank being t'd of into the fuge then flowing into the return section on the back part. i can still get to the skimmer and return pump from the sides.

im not going to bother posting pics as, its just the stand except with white now.

hey don't get upset man, its only time wait til you have the tank over flow on your floors and your misses finds out first hand, or the RO unit blows up. its sometimes slow, reefing has to be slow. it will come man. other then that lets see your progress the painted stand.. that is progress IMO

haha yeah, maybe i will show you a picture once i get the skin on it, think im just going to paint it black to hide all my mistakes. and im going to get going on making the sump, i show some pictures on that once i get them. anyone got any 20G and a 25G (same footprint as the 20 just taller) lying around that i can buy in edmonton.

wait the RO unit can BLOW UP!!!! not sure if i should get one, ive heard stories of it being left on but BLOWING UP holy cow. what kind of pressure are in those things :mrgreen:

well in waiting for the 80 i built a 10G AIO, for i dont know some kind of frag station and to put smaller corals and such, but here it is. there is more to do to it, maybe once im finished with everything i will show pics of it all.

p.s. i havent spend anything on this, it was stuff i already had.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding018.jpg



http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding026.jpg



and here are the teeth i did by hand with a saw



http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding023.jpg

i got most of my plumbing, all i need is 2 more unions for my gate valve and my gate valve, but i need to order the gate valve still, kinda waiting on the boxing day sales.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding448.jpg

its not nearly as much as other people, but i can really add up fast.

looking great man, I will be up in Edmonton for a Army Hockey tournment, like to stop by and see how your doing with the tank....

theres nothing really going on with it, i still dont have it, and im waiting on being able to get wood to my house, because all i have is a car. its hard to get an 8ft 2x4 in there. ive kinda neglected my 20, so im putting on my corals into the 10G, so that it smaller water changes. and have the 20 as a FOWLR. things are moving at a snail paces, i wish i had the tank, because i have only 1 more week off of work, and we all know that is the best time to get stuff done.

here are some pictures of my 10G AIO. for where all my smaller corals are going, which i have very few of.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding457.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding446.jpg


still working on the canopy. putting light i already have from my 20 into them. EDIT- oh yeah and i am in the process of painting that eggcrate black. its drying as we speak.

I have a beater pickup I picked up for doing my renos, I could haul some lumber around for you some Saturday. I don't plug the thing in so it's not likely to start till it warms up a bit.

thanks i appreciate it. i think im going to have to drag one of my friends into doing it for me. are you the person who gave me that ride to southgate one time?? :biggrin: i know asking a random question. i dont know many faces with canreef names on here.

Nope, wasn't me.

oh ok :biggrin:

GREAT NEWS, the TANK IS DONE!!!! yeah, now i just have to wait for it to arrive from calgary. WOOT WOOT! probably wont come in till after christmas because the lfs i bought it from doesnt go down there alot. but we will see.

so ive run into a little bit of a snag, ive gone out and bought 2 tanks for the sump and refugium, but the problem is that they dont both fit underneath, i measured for 12" for both tanks for 24 " but they have black trim which i didnt account for so now it totals 25, which is 1/4" to big, so if anyone has any ideas on how to do something else with them let me know,

i was thinking i just put the fuge directly under the overflow(its external) and the other in the tank, and just run it back into the return pump and back in, the only problem with that is that the closed loop pump would have to go into the fuge area so it would create heat to the system. which might not be a downside, not sure how hot it will get in the system yet.

anymore ideas are grettly welcome.

in total i will probably have around 110G system, with the fuge and the sump.

80 for tank, 10 for sump and 20 for fuge, ( the fuge is a 25G, sump is a 20G)

You can file the trim down where the 2x4, sit tight against the tanks. Just don't trim One tank do both and that should work for you.

sounds like a good idea. i will give that a try maybe i can get it down enough.

on a happier note but also a sad one. i received my 2 pumps in the mail today, a QO4000 and a QO4000 HH


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding491.jpg

the sad part about it was that one of the pumps wasnt put on properly i dont know what the heck these people were thinking when they did this. so all the inside parts were broken.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding487.jpg


so i opened it up and the whole inside was busted apart.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding489.jpg

but on the happier note, my tank is supposed to be in on saturday and i will finally have it YEah.

One step forward, two steps back?

isnt that how it always is in this hobby.

Well at least this step back wasnt your fault in any way.

the way this is going, i will get my tank and it will end up having a scratch on it or break the first day i will it with water.

Good news tank is in.

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding497.jpg




http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding493.jpg




http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding495.jpg



The happy owner finally has his tank.


http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...wedding498.jpg

Dude love your tank well done . i likes it alot...:biggrin:

thanks alot man, i design it myself, im glad i went with the extra 4 inches on all sides, it really makes it alot bigger. rather than just 24x24x24.

Sweet tank man!! Looks fantastic!

Your gonna need a ladder to do any maintenance tho! :lol:

i know what you mean i cant even get my arm in without a step stool. but man it going to be sweet.





on a side note, im building my sump and im not sure what water level to put my skimmer at, the book says 6"-8" but what is the best anyone else that has a vertex100 can let me know. or what works for other people. this is my first time with an in sump skimmer.

make your baffles to the height of 8" then you can always add a piece of plastic in there to rise it up. that is the standard for alot of the skimmers

I would go the other route. Make the baffles 10" to increase the volume of water in the skimmer compartment and lift the skimmer up. I used a shelf made from eggcrate with a few blobs of silicone to dampen vibration.