ocboat Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I have never done a build thread before so I thought this would be the perfect time. Most of you don't know me, but I have been in and out of the reef scene for over 15 years. My most recent tank was a 180 gallon All Glass that had been set up for 6 years but it had been over run with Xenia so I wanted to start over. I have always loved cube tanks so I had Wannareef build me a 36"x36"x22" cube using 1/2" thick acrylic with eurobracing and an external almost coast to coast overflow. Here are a couple pictures of the tank with the paper still on the tank. I have also just re-discovered home brewing after many years of being out of the hobby so I thought this would be a perfect time to combine the two hobbies. I have tied the tank into a 9 foot long bar that will house a keezer (kegerator/freezer) along with several feet of shelving for various bar equipment. The new cube with showcase my 6 year old Magnifica anemone along with various other corals and fish. Here is my temporary holding tank that has been housing just a few leftover items from my old tank. I about 20 pounds of live rock from my old tank that I am going to use along with 50 pounds of dry Marco rock that has been curing for the last several weeks. This rock has been tied into my temporary tank in a 30 gallon Brute trash can. I will be attempting to light the tank with a single 250 watt Radium powered by a M80 ballast using a large LumenArc reflector. I will be using a Super Reef Octopus 2000 internal protein skimmer and will try dosing two part this time using two Aquahouse dosers from Coralvue. I will be updating this thread as I progress through the build. Thanks for checking it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Sweet start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriz2fer Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 One 250w radium? I think a 400w would be just perfect for that using the lumennarcs. Is this a mixed reef or sps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Reef n' Brew, now your talking. Nice build and I like the hobby combo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 400 watt would be better but I already have the 250 ballast along with several bulbs from my previous tank. If it is not enough, I will switch to a 400. This will be a mixed reef with anemones, SPS and clams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriz2fer Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 The m80 ballast will push thy radium to the right spec so you will be getting really good par. The build looks nice so far, looks like you have put some thought into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I love the wood work thats goignt ot be one sweet bar with the reef at the end. Great place to relax and enjoy an adult beverage =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevApache58 Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Just what you talked about down at the end of the bar! Gonna be such a sick set up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuttleFishandCoral Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Looks great. Love the nem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Awsome!!!! Can't wait to see it come together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltygobie Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Looking awesome following along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 That's pretty cool David! awesome set up with the bar. There is nothing like a new tank still in the wrapper, keep us updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thanks Steve. I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to stop by this weekend but I still would like to sometime this week if that's possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Great start! Charles does great acrylic work and it's smart to have the live rock going. Love the woodwork and the bar! You need to host a meeting! (clap) (clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 that anemone is huge i am sure it will steal center stage.everyone will want to sit at the end of the bar.question?did you build your own keezer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 The keezer is just a 7.0 cubic feet chest freezeir from lowes. I'm going to build a wood collar for it and run the beer supply lines through the collar and then to a triple faucet tower mounted on the bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Nice build! What did you use for the top of the stand? Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 I used a piece of 3/4" plywood and then a 3/4" piece of pink high density foam from Home Depot. I read a ton of threads about using foam under the tank and there were pros and cons for both sides. James from Envision replied in a couple of posts from several years ago and said that foam is not needed but wouldn't hurt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 I've made a little progress on this project this weekend, mainly on the bar, but I did get some plumbing done and I hung my reflector. The keezer in its' home. The sump and the bean animal overflow. I don't have a lot of room to get a good picture of either. This is the large LumenArc reflector centered over the tank to the best of my ability. I plan on finishing the plumbing and then leak testing the tank in the next couple of days. If everything goes well, I will be filling with saltwater and transferring everything over from the rubbermaid tub later this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocboat Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 I finally moved everything from the holding tank to the new cube. Everything went smoothly and all tank inhabitants are doing well so far. Two of everything: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Looks good! There's nothing quite like a clean new tank. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuttleFishandCoral Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefStar Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Very nice aquascape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Awesome tank and awesome nem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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