crabs new 24" cube

[i have crabs]

i while ago the wife gave the tanks the boot down to the basement except a 29g biocube which ive had for a few years, anyway since i can only have 1 tank on the main floor of the house i decided to replace it with a 24" cube and make it a sps only(mabey ill let some clams in though).
im starting this thread a bit earlier than i thought but id like some input on equipment and livestock.
as of right now i have the tank which is a starfire 24" cube with a internal overflow, 2 drains and 1 return all 3/4" bulkheads,




not too exciting yet but i know id get linched if i didnt have some pics

[i have crabs]

next step is getting a stand and canopy built, if their is someone good in the Calgary area that can build something nice im thinking oak or maybe maple with black or some dark stain, since its gonna be in the living room its gotta be nicer that im able to build,im not thinking my super sweet 2x4 special is gonna cut it.

for lighting im still very up in the air so the options i was goin over where

option 1- 8-10 ho t5's wich would give me lots of color options,not bad cost wise and not to bad for heat, these would be retrofits so the canopy would have to stay on

option 2- a mh/t5 fixture with a 250w and 4 t5s mabey a giesemann or aquaphoton not overly picky on brand but has to be nice incase i dont keep the canopy on the tank

option 3 lumen max 3 250w with 4-6 t5's

option 4 2x lumen max 3's either 150w or 250w's and 2-4 t5's im worried about heat with 2 mh's in a canopy though.

option 5 - solaris i-5, costs the most but gives a lot of options for day cycles and the ability to turn down the power when adding new corals and no heat issues

[Marlin65]

Nice tank my vote is for option #2
Love that Starphire look.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Marlin65

Nice tank my vote is for option #2
Love that Starphire look.

Oooooh nice tank man. With the tank being upstairs, unless you have central air or plan on a chiller I would opt for option 1 or option 5. As far as the tank stand goes....see my signature

[i have crabs]

ill send you a pm about the stand forshure,
ive never had a tank with a canopy so im a bit unshure if im gonna like it or not and if i mount t5's in thier im stuck keeping the canopy on the tank but i am happy with the 8 bulb tek i have on my other tank so im kinda leaning towards t5's cause the price vs. the solaris which would be about double.

might as well get some opinions on skimmers and return pumps while where at it, the return pump has to be quiet.. very quiet so does the skimmer, the tank is abou 60g and the sump will be mabey in the 30g range i think some thing in the 700-100gph range will work fine, id like a red dragon but might buy something cheeper to start off with and switch it later, the tank is only gonna have 3-5 fish so fairly small bio load but i might try out the blue coral method which will add alot of extra nutrients so i want a good skimmer that is quiet

[karazy]

just wondering where you got this made?

[i have crabs]

cant remember his name but the guy who builds tanks for golds. i wanted polished edges and a black overflow but things never seem to turnout exactly how they should for some reason

[Delphinus]

Those are some mighty nice floors ... I know what my wife would do to me if I spilled SW on a floor like that. (I'm banished to the basement too ever since we moved into our new place.)

Anyhow nice tank setup, should be a fun build.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by i have crabs

next step is getting a stand and canopy built, if their is someone good in the Calgary area that can build something nice im thinking oak or maybe maple with black or some dark stain, since its gonna be in the living room its gotta be nicer that im able to build,im not thinking my super sweet 2x4 special is gonna cut it.

for lighting im still very up in the air so the options i was goin over where

option 1- 8-10 ho t5's wich would give me lots of color options,not bad cost wise and not to bad for heat, these would be retrofits so the canopy would have to stay on

option 2- a mh/t5 fixture with a 250w and 4 t5s mabey a giesemann or aquaphoton not overly picky on brand but has to be nice incase i dont keep the canopy on the tank

option 3 lumen max 3 250w with 4-6 t5's

option 4 2x lumen max 3's either 150w or 250w's and 2-4 t5's im worried about heat with 2 mh's in a canopy though.

option 5 - solaris i-5, costs the most but gives a lot of options for day cycles and the ability to turn down the power when adding new corals and no heat issues

I say opt. 5.. Looks like a sweet tank..

[i have crabs]

well i finally have something to update.
1. got the stand which turned out great thanks to kevin and doug
2. sold the biocube that was in the space where this tank is going
3. bought basically all the equipment
even though the stuff has been bought im now stuck waiting for the sump which ended up being 19"wide by 20" long and 18"tall and is the biggest i could fit fairly simple design (i think so anyway) and im also waiting on the return pump which is gonna be a red dragon 4.5 so hopefully in the next couple of weeks the stuff will show up and i can get it cycling

for lights i went with 2x 24" 4 bulb tek lights im hoping this wasnt a mistake but i cant test the par numbers untill i get it running to know for shure, i skipped on the solaris because where the fans are located on the side and also the tank is 24" wide and thier has been some unhappy people with how the spread of light goes to straight down.at least with the t5's the entire tank is covered in lights except the 3 inches between the 2 fixtures

bought a vortec for flow, ive been very happy with the 2 in my other tank since the 2nd generation has come out and it eliminates any wires in the tank

for the skimmer i went with a bubble king 160, i could have gone with a 180 also but the 160 was in stock and the price was already high enough as it was and i think the 160 will do quite nicely