60G Cube Build a work in progress. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter noeldokken
- Start date
That would be awesome! :beerchug:
Last night I had applied on the last coating of paint and after it had all dried I semi had put things together again. I am really liking this eye-popping lime green. At first when I was painting it, it resembled baby S*** , but after it had dried...wow. I like. As I said earlier, I would like to take some Krylon Fusion and after a good sanding spray paint the pvc piping, but we'll see.
Super stoked! Just put my order in for the Apex light, WXM Module, VDM module, Bubble Magus NA-C7 Skimmer, Mounting rail w/hanging kit for the AI Sol. Next up is another vortech MP10 ES W and battery backup for those emergencies. :greenguy::greenguy:
Jboulerice
Senior Member
It may not be a bad Idea to use a blue LED rope light or a cheap home depot lamp with black light bulb to make the inside glow in the dark with the neon color.
That would be wicked cool! Thanks for the great idea!
Kepler
Former: Koletang
Get some stencils and spray paint some neon orange clownfish in there 
.
.finally got my filter sock holder, so I was able to dry fit the plumbing. I haven't glued anything yet. I'm looking for some suggestions in my plumbing for the drain. It is a standard 1 x 1" ...now I would feel more comfortable doing 2 drains, but I'm unsure if I can really drill a 3rd hole...anyway that's a whole different subject that I don't really want to invest the time right now to do.
anyone?:bln-confused:
...I'll glue it as is tonight, then.
That's going to be a pain in the butt if it ever gets clogged. I'd add a couple more unions if I were you.
didn't realize salty critter...the only retailer where I could buy EVERYTHING in one shot is only open 5% of a week. *sigh* Ordered monday, they're closed yesterday and today...REALLY? While I am a person of "If I can't have it now, I don't want it", I sometimes have to swallow my pride for something I really want. Also, since I couldn't rely on bulk reef supply for the life of me to stock the BM NA-C7 skimmer from bubble magus or at least give an indication when it's going to get stocked, I chose to bring my business elsewhere. Hopefully they'll ship out the items tomorrow. How sad is it that I can't even use this stuff yet until July but I'm really excited for it? Oh...boys and their reef toys..always a new contraption or device that sparkles like a gem. :gay1:
On a side note, already glued the pvc so it's too late for changes. It's not a hassle to take it semi apart. If there's a clog it's not impossible to get it since I can take the contraption down from a compression union...plus I've never ever ever had a clog in any of my pipes before. I am a fan of sponges.
On a side note, already glued the pvc so it's too late for changes. It's not a hassle to take it semi apart. If there's a clog it's not impossible to get it since I can take the contraption down from a compression union...plus I've never ever ever had a clog in any of my pipes before. I am a fan of sponges.
Jboulerice
Senior Member
Should have bought my schedule 80 check valve with double unions; I've had my system clogged by fish that get in the damn overflow; Its simply the easiest way to get them out by just draining the overflow and letting the get sucked down into the sump. Oh well.
A little update:
I have been working on the plumbing this weekend for the return. There is a cabinet I found at Ikea that will work perfectly to house not only my saltwater reservoir but also my external lifereef calcium reactor and co2 tank. The goal I have for the return is to accomplish 4 things with my mag 12 return pump.
1: to get about 350-400gph back into the display
2: feed a BRS biopellet reactor and then from that teed off into a carbon reactor
3: feed the calcium reactor
4: Emergency -- Running from the same line that is feeding the calcium reactor, there will be a tee and on that tee a ball valve will control the flow for the emergency. I'll then be able to attach a vinyl hose that I can easily bring to the sink. I'll have to do a slight modification to the return pump and attach a hose from the input and the other end of the hose I'll put in the display.
(After head, my pump has the potential to pump 900gph)
In case you were wondering, I did install unions so I can disassemble the plumbing
The other thing I wanted to do was to build an electrical panel to house my apex, vdm/wxm modules, and everything else relating to electric. I ended up finding out a really cool item called an Open House structured wiring enclosure. I bought it today on amazon after doing some research. There will be about 6 inches of depth with the optional expandable cover. You can check it out here:
http://www.amazon.com/OPENHOUSE-H318-Structured-Wiring-Enclosure/dp/B0002SPKS2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306790015&sr=8-2
Hopefully I can make a very nice/neat setup. Although I find myself creative, I'm not a good DIY building/fabricating person which sucks.
I have been working on the plumbing this weekend for the return. There is a cabinet I found at Ikea that will work perfectly to house not only my saltwater reservoir but also my external lifereef calcium reactor and co2 tank. The goal I have for the return is to accomplish 4 things with my mag 12 return pump.
1: to get about 350-400gph back into the display
2: feed a BRS biopellet reactor and then from that teed off into a carbon reactor
3: feed the calcium reactor
4: Emergency -- Running from the same line that is feeding the calcium reactor, there will be a tee and on that tee a ball valve will control the flow for the emergency. I'll then be able to attach a vinyl hose that I can easily bring to the sink. I'll have to do a slight modification to the return pump and attach a hose from the input and the other end of the hose I'll put in the display.
(After head, my pump has the potential to pump 900gph)
In case you were wondering, I did install unions so I can disassemble the plumbing
The other thing I wanted to do was to build an electrical panel to house my apex, vdm/wxm modules, and everything else relating to electric. I ended up finding out a really cool item called an Open House structured wiring enclosure. I bought it today on amazon after doing some research. There will be about 6 inches of depth with the optional expandable cover. You can check it out here:
http://www.amazon.com/OPENHOUSE-H318-Structured-Wiring-Enclosure/dp/B0002SPKS2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306790015&sr=8-2
Hopefully I can make a very nice/neat setup. Although I find myself creative, I'm not a good DIY building/fabricating person which sucks.
Kepler
Former: Koletang
Clownfish stencils (on bottom of page looks like more fish stencils) http://www.designerstencils.com/Clown-Fish-P12936_SKU_E179.aspx
(on bottom of page looks like more fish stencils) http://www.designerstencils.com/Clown-Fish-P12936_SKU_E179.aspxWell the build I would say is moving along. Got my Bubble Magus skimmer, got some more acrylic cement to fillin the gaps where water was leaking in the sump after the acrylic baffles were installed, and also got my apex.
Move date is coming up soon...very soon!
I need some advice, however. I had gotten some xenia's because I thought they were cool...but the problem is that they multiply very fast and I've been having to chop 'em down to avoid suffocating my corals as they're growing around some of them too. Also, some type of algae is present in my aquarium and I have a feeling the source is from the couple of pounds of LR that I got at something fishy a year ago. It's beginning to grow everywhere actually.
So here is a plan of action I have.
1 Monday June 27th I am going to demount my corals I stupidly glued to the actual rockwork on to rock rubble. I'm going to then cook all of my live rock with muriatic acid. I already researched this heavily. I'm going to soak them until i tno longer foams, then rinse them off well.
2 Once when they are rinsed I will let them dry and on tuesday after work, I am going to use marco rocks cement to begin building my rock tower I want for the 60 gallon cube.
3 On Wednesday June 29th I am going to tear down the 56 gallon and transfer all of my corals/fish into a 30 breeder I have that I use for mixing saltwater. I will save a cup of sand to seed the new system.
4 Thursday evening we get to begin moving our stuff. At the new place I am going to install the Reverse Osmosis and also bring over the livestock and the new 60 gallon cube where I can begin to set things up and hopefully begin making water
The only thing that conerns me is having all of my livestock in the makeshift aquarium. I know there is going to be a huge cycle and could take a few weeks. Hopefully by saving a cup of the old sand I can help the backteria get set up once again. I've moved an aquarium before, and am not worried about that, but cooking liverock while also moving while also building a new system is something I have never done before. Any tips/suggestions? As a side note:
If anyone has any bins/buckets I could borrow for the move I would greatly appreciate!
Move date is coming up soon...very soon!
I need some advice, however. I had gotten some xenia's because I thought they were cool...but the problem is that they multiply very fast and I've been having to chop 'em down to avoid suffocating my corals as they're growing around some of them too. Also, some type of algae is present in my aquarium and I have a feeling the source is from the couple of pounds of LR that I got at something fishy a year ago. It's beginning to grow everywhere actually.
So here is a plan of action I have.
1 Monday June 27th I am going to demount my corals I stupidly glued to the actual rockwork on to rock rubble. I'm going to then cook all of my live rock with muriatic acid. I already researched this heavily. I'm going to soak them until i tno longer foams, then rinse them off well.
2 Once when they are rinsed I will let them dry and on tuesday after work, I am going to use marco rocks cement to begin building my rock tower I want for the 60 gallon cube.
3 On Wednesday June 29th I am going to tear down the 56 gallon and transfer all of my corals/fish into a 30 breeder I have that I use for mixing saltwater. I will save a cup of sand to seed the new system.
4 Thursday evening we get to begin moving our stuff. At the new place I am going to install the Reverse Osmosis and also bring over the livestock and the new 60 gallon cube where I can begin to set things up and hopefully begin making water
The only thing that conerns me is having all of my livestock in the makeshift aquarium. I know there is going to be a huge cycle and could take a few weeks. Hopefully by saving a cup of the old sand I can help the backteria get set up once again. I've moved an aquarium before, and am not worried about that, but cooking liverock while also moving while also building a new system is something I have never done before. Any tips/suggestions? As a side note:
If anyone has any bins/buckets I could borrow for the move I would greatly appreciate!
Just FYI, I am also about to move and have already taken out a bunch of the rock work and "cooked" it in Muriatic acid (damn GSPs...)
Anyways, with the acid, take your time on getting those rocks back into any system that you plan on having critters in. I would really consider a few, fresh, baking soda baths for the rock work just to be sure the rocks are safe.
I'm sure you already know, but water stays trapped DEEP in live rock.
Better safe than sorry.
Anyways, with the acid, take your time on getting those rocks back into any system that you plan on having critters in. I would really consider a few, fresh, baking soda baths for the rock work just to be sure the rocks are safe.
I'm sure you already know, but water stays trapped DEEP in live rock.
Better safe than sorry.
I'm still going to go ahead with the nuking of the rock, but maybe I might do it a bit sooner.
Anyway, here are some updates with my system:
I had received my apex and have been spending a lot of time programming everything and drawing diagrams so I remember what types of equipment goes where on the EB8 as well as the DC8 that I am going to keep. I have the Apex, along with the VDM and WXM modules mounted inside of one of "Open Houses" control panels that is used for electrical, home networking and media storage and can be installed either on the wall or built in. Since I live in an apartment, it's going to be mounted on the wall. The control panel also has the optional cover expander to allow room for cords that are connected to the EB8's.
Here's a picture of the control panel:
And now with the cover open. I don't have the cords nice and neat yet but will be working on that soon within a few weeks:
Now I have thought real hard as to where I want to mount the apex display, and as you can tell from the first control panel picture is there is a tinted piece of plastic you can almost see through. Behind it, when you open the cover, the apex display fits in perfectly (I have it turned facing me just to give an idea)
Now all I need to do is cut a small rectangular hole in the *almost* transparent plastic so that it shows the screen as well as the buttons. Looks like I will need a dremel to do this...*Anyone care to help me out
It will look like this when closed
Moving along....
Did some more work on my sump. There were some leaks in the compartments from the filter sock housing to return, so I had gotten some more weld-on 16 and sealed up all of the joints. waited 24 hours and there were no leaks. Got my new float switches in a few days ago and got around to installing that.
After the 5/8" hole I drilled
now installed with the float switch
Last week I also received my Bubble Magus NA C7 protein skimmer. I am super stoked to see how this thing is going to work. The skimmer comparment is in 9 inches of water, and you know what the beauty is? I don't need to program my skimmer to come on after so many minutes if there was a power outage because the level inside the skimmer compartment will ALWAYS be the same level.
And here is a picture of most of the plumbing work completed for the return. I can't plumb the Mag 12 return yet because I'm still using it on my current setup.
I have the BRS bio pellet reactor hard plumbed directly from the return as I had mentioned what I was going to do previously. I haven't decided if I want to do a carbon reactor yet.
Anyway, here are some updates with my system:
I had received my apex and have been spending a lot of time programming everything and drawing diagrams so I remember what types of equipment goes where on the EB8 as well as the DC8 that I am going to keep. I have the Apex, along with the VDM and WXM modules mounted inside of one of "Open Houses" control panels that is used for electrical, home networking and media storage and can be installed either on the wall or built in. Since I live in an apartment, it's going to be mounted on the wall. The control panel also has the optional cover expander to allow room for cords that are connected to the EB8's.
Here's a picture of the control panel:
And now with the cover open. I don't have the cords nice and neat yet but will be working on that soon within a few weeks:
Now I have thought real hard as to where I want to mount the apex display, and as you can tell from the first control panel picture is there is a tinted piece of plastic you can almost see through. Behind it, when you open the cover, the apex display fits in perfectly (I have it turned facing me just to give an idea)
Now all I need to do is cut a small rectangular hole in the *almost* transparent plastic so that it shows the screen as well as the buttons. Looks like I will need a dremel to do this...*Anyone care to help me out
It will look like this when closed
Moving along....
Did some more work on my sump. There were some leaks in the compartments from the filter sock housing to return, so I had gotten some more weld-on 16 and sealed up all of the joints. waited 24 hours and there were no leaks. Got my new float switches in a few days ago and got around to installing that.
After the 5/8" hole I drilled
now installed with the float switch
Last week I also received my Bubble Magus NA C7 protein skimmer. I am super stoked to see how this thing is going to work. The skimmer comparment is in 9 inches of water, and you know what the beauty is? I don't need to program my skimmer to come on after so many minutes if there was a power outage because the level inside the skimmer compartment will ALWAYS be the same level.
And here is a picture of most of the plumbing work completed for the return. I can't plumb the Mag 12 return yet because I'm still using it on my current setup.
I have the BRS bio pellet reactor hard plumbed directly from the return as I had mentioned what I was going to do previously. I haven't decided if I want to do a carbon reactor yet.
suggestions are appreciated. Guess maybe if I have any questions I shouldn't post them in my build