ScubaSteve's new Tank Build - The Coral Cube Redux

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by reefwars

i got mine in edmonton for 120 or 140 and it basically was a tank but not siliconed, i got the five panes,3 holes,3 bulkheads,and 1 large piece of black acrylic for i think it was 140, and it was all beveled and polished 12mm glass.silicone was only a few bucks, your gonna need tape,razorblades,clamps,and rubbing alcohol as well.not to mention the tools plus drillbit if you plan on drilling it yourslef.

That ain't half bad! I'm planning on having someone local cut and polish the glass and do the notch of the overflow weir. If they can drill the holes for me to save time, Awesome; if not I've got no problem doing it. I've been trying to find a ballpark figure to know what's a fair price.

[ScubaSteve]

Glass has been ordered! It'll be here Friday so I'm building a new freakin' tank over the long weekend!

I decided that since I am going to do this, I'm gonna do it right and go all out. 3/8" glass all around and I've asked for all visible edges to be polished and for the supplier to cut the overflow notch and drill the holes in the back glass and the overflow. Yes, I could have done those cuts myself but the way I see it, my time is worth X dollars and I have to go buy the tools to do it, so really... it makes sense for me to have them do it. Plus they'll make it way prettier than I can. So all said and done, it's more than I was first planning in my head, price-wise, but it's still not half bad.

I went with a 20" high tank, so that'll be a 50G plus a 15G sump. I'll be covering the back of the tank with a sheet of 1/8" acrylic. I decided on a beananimal-style overflow (1 full siphon plus secondary open channel drain plus emergency drain). I have designed the overflow system to handle well over 800 gph (can go as high as 1400 gpm if for whatever reason s*** goes really sideways) but I plan to operate it down around 500 - 600 gph.

I'm going to be shoehorning a Vertex IN-80 under the stand and am looking for an ATO and a carbon reactor. I don't plan on going any more complex than that because, well, I am poor and I want it to be as simple as possible. If I can find affordable 2-part dosers, that'll be it.