lastlight's 101 half cube

[lastlight]

Before I get into the details let's get down to brass tacks.

Brianne was moved down to floor 4 yesterday while I was busy ripping apart that OTHER tank at my house. I guess the floor she WAS on is for the sickest patients. So good news! Today we find out she can go home to see the kids for a few hours. YAY. Now they just came back and told her she can sleep overnight at home! Yahoo! Her cell counts are kickass right now...must be a good sign that her body can handle the chemo.

I couldn't post this in that OTHER thread. That thread is dead to me.

Now that that's out of the way here are some extremely tentative details. Please note this build starts when I've moved and when I'm into the groove supporting the family on my income alone. I'm racing tony again but he's got one hell of a head start (with my rock!).

Tank - 30x30x18 half cube. Starphire 1/2". Ground and bevelled. Black silicone. External overflow with tinted black wall.
Return pump - Eheim 1250 I forgot to list for sale

Everything you can't see will be non-high end. No more losing my shirt. Eqiuipment will somehow be in another room or closet so I don't need silent (expensive) equipment. I'll know more about this when I've actually moved.

Lighting - 6x24W Reefgeek retrofit in a DIY floating canopy

The rest TBA.

I will need suggestions for economical skimmers that perform at this load.

[Myka]

Good news Brett (both your wife and the tank)!!

How about a trusty ole EuroReef or Vertex?

[Leah]

That is Wonderful! Glad Brianne is doing so well and you get a tank!:biggrin:

[JDigital]

Don't you mean 2.5x2.5x1.5? :wink:

Awesome to hear about Brianne man, that's great news.

[Lance]

Great News! :purplebananna:

[Skimmerking]

awesome man Let me know if you switch to go to MH I have 1 xCoralvue 2x Galaxy ballasts with bulbs and reflectors if you want to run 1 MH in the tank say the word. i will give it to you to get you started we can work out hte shipping if you want no biggy.

just let me know and right on with the great news like I stated you made my day Brett.

[christyf5]

Great news about Brianne! She sounds like a tough bird :wink:

Glad to hear you're sticking with us :biggrin:

[lobsterboy]

respect

[rjengen]

I was watching the other tank, and I can't wait to see this one come to life. I have a vertex and I have to say it's a really good skimmer for the price...just my $0.02 :redface:

[andestang]

Wow, this is good news. Really glad to hear about your wife. How much of bioload/stock are you thinking of having ? I have a small in-sump Euroreef skimmer kicking around here somewhere's. Building your own stand again ?

[karazy]

good to see your back in. whos building the tank anyways?
also, SWC makes some wonderful low priced skimmers, take a look into that maybe.

[lastlight]

I'll have Elite build it but it won't be for a while that's for sure.

[Snappy]

That's fantastic news

[Delphinus]

You want some of your rock back? It's just sitting in my front entryway anyhow until Linda lays down the law and asks me to put it somewhere else. I'd be thinking spare bedroom but I don't have one.

Good news about Brianne.

[lastlight]

No way Tony deal's a deal!

It was sort of funny in a way the other day when you referred to the rock as a christmas present to yourself. That's exactly what it was for me when I bought it haha.

My new tank's gonna be small man. I'll just buy some live rock when the time comes and call it a day.

[JDigital]

You want some of your rock back? It's just sitting in my front entryway anyhow until Linda lays down the law and asks me to put it somewhere else. I'd be thinking spare bedroom but I don't have one.

Good news about Brianne.

Wanna sell a bit? :mrgreen:

[bvlester]

I don't know you man but it is always good to hear some good news these days.
I'm sure that you know most of the skimmers out there. I'm kind of stuck on aquamedic's right now as I have posted mine will pull really dark brown to black smelly skim. If I was to buy anouther Aquamedic it would be a 5000 shorty.

Bill

[lastlight]

Ok so this is still in the 'plan your tank build when you have more pressing issues' phase but hey why not? I reserve the right to completely redesign this system until nobody cares. How am I doing so far lol?

The tank suffered from only minor sizeCreep. It is now going to be:

- 30x30x24

Lighting will be a 250W MH in a LumenMax Elite reflector. Flanking the light on all 4 sides will be one 24" T5 for a total of 4.

Flow

Using my little eheim 1250 as a return pump. Nice low turnover rate with sump etc in furnace room or some closet etc.

Oceans Motions for some turbulence. In the pic my return line comes up through the centre hole in the overflow box an will t-off into two outlets aiming down the back of the tank. The 4-way will alternate flow between the back elbows and the front 45s to have the current go down, forward and then over the reef towards the overflow. Paul from OM recommends it and I'd like to try.

Leaning towards barebottom for a number of reasons. Space will be ltd and as corals grow I'd rather not deal with trying to clean sand under branches etc. Also with the closed loop...I'm committed after I drill. It won't be a realy adjustable setup so I don't want to worry about sand blowing or getting into the OM drum.

Live rock will be on pegs to allow flow under them. Will also core out some pieces to hide the front returns.

Stand will be nice and low this time. 30" or so. The canopy will go right to my ceiling and I'll have to come up with a way to access the tank.
http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/render1.jpg

Two nice big CL intakes (1.5") on back wall.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/render2.jpg

[lobsterboy]

sick diagram, looks killer.

[kien]

sexy! Love the white stand and seating :biggrin:

Isn't a cube 30x30x30?

[globaldesigns]

Awsome design... You said you weren't going overkill, I don't think you can do it. Those images are killer and I think it will look awesome. You have some great talents with DIY Aquarium setups.

Also great news on the wife... If you ever want to talk, PM me anytime... Cancer runs wild in my family, and I have lost many family members to all types of Cancer... My mother left us a couple years ago.

FYI, My wifes father has lung cancer, and he never smoked and is health contious... Go Figure!!! Anyways he was suppose to be gone several years ago now, but has been taking this miracle drug. I can't remember the name, but my wife will know it. It isn't something that is covered by medical, and will cost about $3K per month, but it is like he doesn't have cancer and has given him more time... Now in saying this, he was just delivered some bad news that the drug is starting not to work and the lung cancer is progressing again, but hopefully he gets another 1-2 years he didn't have before. AND REMEMBER HE GOT 3 YEARS, that the doctors said no way to.

Our thoughts are with you, Have a great holiday and cherish all the time that you all have together. You never know what can happen.

R

[andestang]

Great drawings:) Are you making your own stand again ?

[Delphinus]

Make sure you put tile over EVERYTHING. In fact even the white couches so that they'll match. :) Comfort? We don't need no steeeeken' COMFORT man. (Put it next to the badgers..)

[Lance]

Hey Brett, for access to the tank, you could do the same thing with those killer sliding doors like on the old build. Those were sweet! Two 15" doors would work ok don't you think?

[Dez]

I'll have to admit Brett, I'm quite disappointed that you didn't include pheasant balls as part of the decor, and the twigs in a vase thingamagic....

Although the rest looks sweet. Hurry up and sell your house already so I can drool over some real pics instead of fantasy google sketch pics :biggrin:

[JDigital]

131G to go.. ;)

[Funky_Fish14]

I saw on the home page '94 cube' and thought wtf how did I miss this? Only to realise it was 'sizecreep' from the 70.

"Stand will be only 30" this time".... Lol! And weigh only 300lbs instead of 400? :razz:

Good luck with this Brett! Its going to be stellar!

Hope Brianne is still doing better!

Cheers,

Chris

[Palmer]

good to see your back in. whos building the tank anyways?
also, SWC makes some wonderful low priced skimmers, take a look into that maybe.

+1 To the SWC skimmers I just set up an Extreme 200 and the bubble production is awsome. I am really happy with it so far.

Congrats on the news Brett

[muck]

Sweet new design Brett.
You need to put the top canopy on a delorean gullwing system.. :razz:

[lastlight]

Thanks everyone for compliments on the plans and kind words for my wife. She's kickin' butt. She's going to be home until Jan 5th, tumour is much smaller, lungs are rockin' and I gave her a killer haircut. All been good news lately.

Great drawings:) Are you making your own stand again ?

Yeah definitely. I'd love to use white acrylic for the skin but I'm not sure how to do that having never worked with the stuff before. I don't think a glossy paint is going to cut it for me. My budget may force me to go the paint route tho.

Make sure you put tile over EVERYTHING. In fact even the white couches so that they'll match. :) Comfort? We don't need no steeeeken' COMFORT man. (Put it next to the badgers..)

Tile may still happen wiseass! I'd likely wreck a bunch of plexi...but a nice white marble or something would rock ass. Thx dude lol. I'm having dreams about a white marble that comes in 30x30 pieces...I need to see if that is possible!

you could do the same thing with those killer sliding doors like on the old build

Those won't work because I want access to the whole top of the tank. The slides would mean maybe 20" of centered access but I want to access all 3 sides. I'm in the basement so I probably won't have a very high ceiling...but if I could have the canopy slide up into a recess on a lift...

Not budget friendly. Magnets on all 3 sides may be the answer if I go plexi. Tiles...no idea yet.

I'll have to admit Brett, I'm quite disappointed that you didn't include pheasant balls as part of the decor, and the twigs in a vase thingamagic....

Although the rest looks sweet. Hurry up and sell your house already so I can drool over some real pics instead of fantasy google sketch pics :biggrin:

Google sketchup stinks. If I wasn't on a mac I'd fire up 3ds max or something and make it more pretty. I gace up on piping etc...I'm used to 4 viewports! And our house listed today and we had our first showing tonight! Still sitting here hoping we hear an offer...but it's a GOOD sign! Then it is ON.

I saw on the home page '94 cube' and thought wtf how did I miss this? Only to realise it was 'sizecreep' from the 70.

"Stand will be only 30" this time".... Lol! And weigh only 300lbs instead of 400?

That is the creep limit I promise you that. I have to make this tank budget proof or something. It needs to HAPPEN. The 18" height still sounds good but I want big colonies. Formosa Forest dreams have I.

+1 To the SWC skimmers

I really have no clue about skimmers. In choosing the skimmer and light for the last tank I basically asked myself which looked the best and was considered THE SHIZZ. This time around I'm asking myself what's pretty cheap and not too many people rag on. It's between the Vertex IN-100, Bubble Magus BM160 and the Octo Extreme 200. I'd likely get the BM160 but the other vendors I'm more familiar with...not sure yet.

[lastlight]

Ok I'm another step closer to the rebuild.

Sold my house as fast as I sold my tank. 24 hrs. Now we're on the hunt for a new place to call home.

I've been looking for 30" x 30" tiles. Anyone know of a place that has these? Or a site that shows any? My last tiles were from Ames tiles but I scoured the site and found none larger than 24x24.

[Funky_Fish14]

Brett, congrats on the sale of your house so quick! We were pooping ourselves... our last place took almost 4 months to sell at below market value.

About the tiles, you mentioned marble... I know of a store in Edmonton that specializes in marble/granite finishes and stuff like that, countertops, flooring. I will go by tomorrow and take a look and see if they have 30x30" tiles or can make them, and I'll get back to you. PM me if you have a preference or any sort of colour or price or whatever you are looking for.

Cheers man,

Chris

[lastlight]

Chris if you just let me know which store it is I can do the grunt work =)

But the new stand needs to be white. Either white acrylic or a white tile. I think I'd prefer a marble. My last tiles I *think* were $20 ea. I'm buying fewer this time so maybe if they're more than that it's ok. Still dreaming right now.

Thanks man =)

[Delphinus]

Wow that was fast!! :eek: Um .. Congrats? I have no idea what to say that sounds appropriate. Where are you looking for a new place?

PM inbound about someone who might be able to help with the tile..

[lastlight]

We have a few townhouses in both Queensland and Woodbine we're hoping to see soon. Thanks for Pm man.

[JDigital]

Congrats on the quick home sale Brett. Good luck in your search for a new one!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Wow that was fast! I thought when we were talking yesterday it wasn't even on the market quite yet. I know you really didn't want to sell the place so maybe better to get it over with quickly :neutral:

I just built a new stand for my tank today and was thinking of white tile actually. Was going to start looking tomorrow but it would be small 1"x1" tiles :) Might just do a white laminate veneer if I don't find tiles I like.

What is the acrylic idea you have?

[Funky_Fish14]

Chris if you just let me know which store it is I can do the grunt work =)

But the new stand needs to be white. Either white acrylic or a white tile. I think I'd prefer a marble. My last tiles I *think* were $20 ea. I'm buying fewer this time so maybe if they're more than that it's ok. Still dreaming right now.

Thanks man =)

Well, im going to have to drive by anyways to find out the name of it. :lol:

[lastlight]

If anyone's keeping track there was just a tiny 7 gallon size creep since my last brain dump. Not bad really.

Tank details as of today:


36x36x18


2 sides viewable in starphire (will be in corner of my new basement against both walls)


2 other sides painted black


canopy to ceiling


stand and canopy part of walls, drywalled. Entire L-shaped canopy will be on heavy duty hinges to swing out in one piece


External overflow will be on other side of wall under stairs. Back of tank will be totally open to the space under the stairs.


Pair of Vortech MP40w rather than closed loop


wall under stairs will be insulated to keep sump and vortech dry side noise out of the tv room


Sump and equipment in a back room on other side of the stairs. Using my little Eheim 1250 as a return might not work?


lighting to be all mh for replacement economy. dual 250w phoenix in lumenmax elites arranged L to R


skimmer still unsure. vertex in-180, octo extreme 160, or bubble magus 160


Obviously nothing here is real and if anyone has anything to suggest, debate etc I'm all ears.

[Dez]

I think Leducreef has a Vertex 180 for sale here in Leduc for cheap. If you want it I can always get it and bring it up for you when I head to Calgary. Love the L shaped canopy swinging open!

[kien]

101g??? Dude, that is so not a paradise :-) Personally I'd go 36x36x20 :biggrin: 20" height is nice. 18" is a little weird to me... not quite shallow, not quite tall ? Not that 20" is tall, hehe. Mind you, any depth we give our tanks is pretty much "shallow" compared to what the inhabitants are probably used to in the wild (save for those tidal pool critters I suppose).

Anyway.. congrats on the sale of the house! Looking forward to seeing your thread title change again soon! :lol:

[lastlight]

Thanks Dez. Def still a little early for any purchasing but this is really solidifying in my head. Skimmer is my last hurdle and to be honest the Vertex is last in the running. It's the cheapest I think but I like the pump (Aquabee) on the BM and the proven design (bigger bubble plate) on the Octo. Tough call but not TOO worrisome as this time around I'm not selling my soul (and entire music collection) to buy a fish poo taker-outer =)

Yeah the canopy swing should be rad. If weight is a concern the L may need to be split at the corner and swing out like suicide doors but I want a really sharp and clean looking corner so we'll see.

[JDigital]

Like I said... 124G go to man... 48"x48"x22.5".. ;)

[kien]

Like I said... 124G go to man... 48"x48"x22.5".. ;)

Let's not get crazy now!! haha. Those are sweet dimensions, but I'm finding that in my 48x36x14 tank that I'm having a hard time reaching the back of the tank :lol: Thank god it is shallow. Another inch or two higher and I don't think I'd reach the back-bottom. I have short arms :cry: I suppose if you had long arms or if you're not inside the tank often that'd be okay..

[lastlight]

I'm not built like t-rex Kien. I'm just built long what can I say?

[Snappy]

Glad you're still planning a reef.

[Nate]

Just throwing this out there.... But I am going to be changing some things around ad will be getting rid of a 36x36x 21 or 22 in the near future it has a stand and Canopy made by marineland the deep dimensions... Pm me if you are interested

[Palmer]

Not to over promote the octopus/SWC extremes but I hooked mine up to my tank before it had anything in it but the sand you gave me and it started skimming gunk out of the water within the first day I set it up. Now I have live rock in the water and am starting to cycle and it is working really well. Come on come to the dark side and go with the Octopus.....


http://www.fantasiafest.com/_media/dynimages/call_web.jpg

[Funky_Fish14]

It's the cheapest I think but I like the pump (Aquabee) on the BM and the proven design (bigger bubble plate) on the Octo.

Brett, I have an aquabee on my deltec and it is an awesome pump. It does make a tad bit of noise though but I dont think its much louder than a vortech. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Cheers,

Chris

[lastlight]

Thanks Chris.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/new_basement.jpg

My tank is going in the corner at the far back with the vortech dry sides under the stairs and equipment under the stairs along that back wall. Am going to insulate that wall so I don't expect to hear much when I'm watching my tank or the tv.

In other news my wife vetoed a shallow tank so I know 2 things at this point. footprint will be square and the height will be 24". Whether I end up with the 94 gallon or something slightly larger remains to be seen. My tank builder also talked me out of starphire so again I'll be building 'green' and using my magfloat with confidence.

[Lance]

Hey, that will make a cool fish room inside the stairs. Too bad there isn't any water supply nearby.

[lastlight]

I'm going to run some pex from where the washer and dryer will be over to that spot under the stairs for a wash tub. Then plumb a drain with pvc back around that room to the washing machine drain. I don't intend to finish that side of the basement so it's free reign!

[Lance]

I'm going to run some pex from where the washer and dryer will be over to that spot under the stairs for a wash tub. Then plumb a drain with pvc back around that room to the washing machine drain. I don't intend to finish that side of the basement so it's free reign!


Excellent! A fish room with no water is almost as bad as a bar with no water.:lol:

[shrimpchips]

Hey Brett, how is the wife doing? Hoepfully the new year sees her getting much better :)

Just curious as to why the builder talked you out of starphire glass? Is it the scratching of the glass, or other factors?

I just got a quote for the 120 (48 x 24 x 24) I want to build this year and the price was pleasntly lower than what I had expected.

[andestang]

I'm betting on Colby :) He tried talking me out of starphire for mine. Say Hi to wife and family and hope all is well ;)

Hey Brett, how is the wife doing? Hoepfully the new year sees her getting much better :)

Just curious as to why the builder talked you out of starphire glass? Is it the scratching of the glass, or other factors?

I just got a quote for the 120 (48 x 24 x 24) I want to build this year and the price was pleasntly lower than what I had expected.

[lastlight]

Wife is doing great guys thanks for asking. I'm Mr Mom here at home and I'm busy but we're enjoying each day together at home and the kids are getting even more attention than before. I never thought that was possible! Reality is I need to get myself back to work because I have a mountain of work to catch up on.

I was actually speaking to Jason over at Elite today about my build and he spoke about how much softer low iron glass is. That as well as me remembering I want to keep this build reasonably priced lead me to scrapping starphire once again. I had been considering a DIY tank but after our discussion I'll be taking my business there again. Jason's not only a nice guy to talk to but I trust his work to be both safe and dead sexy.

[kien]

Wife is doing great guys thanks for asking. I'm Mr Mom here at home and I'm busy but we're enjoying each day together at home and the kids are getting even more attention than before. I never thought that was possible! Reality is I need to get myself back to work because I have a mountain of work to catch up on.

I was actually speaking to Jason over at Elite today about my build and he spoke about how much softer low iron glass is. That as well as me remembering I want to keep this build reasonably priced lead me to scrapping starphire once again. I had been considering a DIY tank but after our discussion I'll be taking my business there again. Jason's not only a nice guy to talk to but I trust his work to be both safe and dead sexy.

If I ever did a tank again (and I probably will) I would definitely take it to a pro like Colby (or Jason or Gary). Slapping my 104.72g was kinda fun but I'm not sure I would want to do it again for anything larger than a sump :-) It was rather time consuming, but I did save buckets of money, but opportunity cost and all that jazz right?

When I was getting quotes for my 150g pretty much everyone I talked to told me not to get starphire because scratching issues. I have seen starphire side by side with regular glass and I can't honestly say that I can tell the difference :noidea:

[Delphinus]

I think in <1/2" glass you don't really need go to low-iron. At 1/2" it's 50/50 and if you're going >1/2" then it's probably worth it. I notice the difference in 1/2", but that's me.

If clarity is really an issue then you should consider acrylic because it's even more optically clear than low-iron glass. But it's even softer, so will scratch way easier. And you have to brace the heck out of the tank. But on the plus side you can buff the scratches out of acrylic.

[lastlight]

I'm fussy and see the difference even in glass thinner than 1/2" but after we build these tanks we fill them with blue light. I don't know when I forget myself for a second I auto-steer to whatever people consider the cadillac of whatever. In this case I think starphire makes little sense to my wallet or my eyes.

[burrows14]

I see your thinking about going with a bubble magus! I ordered one a few weeks ago and should have it up and running later this week. Ill keep you posted

cheers
Ray

[Skimmerking]

SO hows Brianne doing Brett have nt heard from you in awhile. I hope all is good. hows the new house. I take it that you ae moving in OH ya RIGHT. I forgot about that .

[lastlight]

She's getting a bone marrow transplant on Feb 24th thanks for asking Mike.