New cube up and running

[tecsavi]

Well I finally have some pictures of my new cube tank now that it's up an running. I moved everything over from my hex tank and I am so much happier with this new tank. I am looking forward to letting everything settle in on this tank as I have unfortunately as this is the 2nd move in 6 months. It also went through very high temp issues when my A/C went out this summer for two days.

 

I wanted a minimalist aquascape and now plan to add a small column on the left hand side of the tank for more SPS. I am using about 95% man-made rock and the remainder is small peices that came with coral attached. This small amount of live rock has seeded the man-made rock with featherdusters, forams as well as small patches of coraline are starting to form. My last tank had all live rock so waiting for this rock to grow coraline will take some getting use to. I was able to build 3 small caves and 6 holes in the rock structure and the wrasse loves swiming through them all. These holes also allow for lots of flow through the rockwork.

 

The majority of my corals are either captive rasied frags or corals that were given to me by a reefer who was moving (thus some of the LPS corals). Looks like a bunch of colored sticks right now but I enjoy watching everything grow into colonies.

 

I just added two Ecoxotic Stunner strips (453nm & 403nm) to the tank last night but didn't get as much blue as I thought I would when the halide is on. They look spectacular when the halide is off though. I am probably going to add either two more 453nm strips to hopefully get more blue in the spectrum.

 

The tank came pre-drilled with a corner overflow but I ended up capping in off until I can get my custom sump built. Once that is done I plan on adding an Avast skimmer and a refugium into the mix. I am seriously not liking all of the gear hanging off the back of the tank but I'll have to be patient.

 

 

 

[Incredible Corals]

Wow looks awesome! Welcome to the cube club!

[roni]

very crisp and clean layout!

[tecsavi]

Wow looks awesome! Welcome to the cube club!

 

Thanks. I have to say that I have wanted a cube for a while and I really love this new one. We have a pretty modern living room and it fits the room perfectly. Now I am wishing I had bought the second tank he had for sale that matches it. Have one on either side of the couch..lol

[tecsavi]

very crisp and clean layout!

 

Roni, Thanks. My old tank was chocked full of rock and I was trying to avoid that with this tank. Sometimes less is more.

[Chad]

It looks very nice. I am a big fan of the less is more approach to tanks like yours. Good job.

[roni]

Roni, Thanks. My old tank was chocked full of rock and I was trying to avoid that with this tank. Sometimes less is more.

 

yeah, i've been inspired by some of the clean tanks i've seen to change up my aquascape as well.

[trockafella]

I am a big fan of less is more, and this is more.! I think it looks great, very nice job. As for the LEDs, get one of the panorama modules, it is much stronger than the stunner strips, and will cost the same as 2 more stunners.. Excellent job though, looking forward to seeing the progress.

[tecsavi]

Thanks for the great comments, much appreciated.

 

Trocafella,

 

Even though the stunner strips don't put out as much light as I like they still are very impressive. I have been holding back on going LED for quites some time now because I have see so many fads in lighting come and go in the past. Halides always seemed to be the tried and true champion. Now that I see these stunner strips I can tell that LED is the way to go. I am sure that you will soon see the halide on my tank replaced with an LED setup. I still see a lot of improvements in technology like dimmable drivers and people adding different color emmiters to get the sweet spot on spectrum with the LED's. Believe me, I've been sold on LED, just waiting for the dust to settle a bit.

[trockafella]

I was saying using a panorama in combination with the halide.. Halides and T5's are tried and true, no doubt. Your lighting is great for that tank, I dont think you need to change a thing, just recommending the panorama over the stunners due to your wanting more blue.. Im sure you will consider many types of lighting ideas for your tank, we all do. It can take months to decide on lighting. Take some trips out and look at others lighting and see what works for you.. I'll bet one of the panorama fixtures would look great over that tank..!

 

 

[khalid]

Looks great! Nice job.

[tecsavi]

I was saying using a panorama in combination with the halide.. Halides and T5's are tried and true, no doubt. Your lighting is great for that tank, I dont think you need to change a thing, just recommending the panorama over the stunners due to your wanting more blue.. Im sure you will consider many types of lighting ideas for your tank, we all do. It can take months to decide on lighting. Take some trips out and look at others lighting and see what works for you.. I'll bet one of the panorama fixtures would look great over that tank..!

 

 

 

 

After you mentioned the Panorama strips I went and looked them up again. I didn't realize they have a all blue 453nm strip that's 12w. I accidentally looked into the 6w stunners and saw blue spots for about 10 minutes. Those 12w strips would probably burn a spot on my retina..lol The one I saw before was a mixture of blue and white LED's. I can see how two of those blue strips would be much better to augment the halide. I was thinking on setting up a little pico tank in my office, maybe I can retask the stunners for that tank.

 

I think you are right about seeing other people's LED systems to help me make up my mind. This tank is in my living room and it would be really nice not to have to hear the fan for the halide even though it's pretty quiet. There is that huge plus of reduced power consumption, being able to change the spectrum dynamically, not having to replace bulbs and being able to maintain the spectrum for so long. I am seeing some great growth and stellar colors out of the tanks I have seen online running LED's.

 

Are you running a halide/LED combo on your tank?

[tecsavi]

Looks great! Nice job.

 

 

Thanks Kalid, It's always good to hear people are liking my tank.

[trockafella]

I currently use halides/vho's, as of tom I will be using a new T5/LED unit. I agree with the noise/heat/expense of halides, but they are great lights, and have been for a long time. I know there has been shown success with LEDs, but time will tell more on them. I think your lighting is good, no need to change anything, except maybe for a panorama module.. As for looking at tanks, you should look at steven (forrealb50) and Rob (zygote) tanks, both use LED and seem to be successful. I know there are many others too.. And most people on here would be more than happy to have you come by and take a look..

 

What are your other future plans for this tank.? Equipment or livestock.? There is a lot of potential infront of you.!!!

[overklok]

You should check out the Aqua Illumination Sol Blue modules, you could get away with one or two modules. Customizable light scheduling, color intensity is adjustable. Another plus is minimal heat generation from the lights.

[tecsavi]

You should check out the Aqua Illumination Sol Blue modules, you could get away with one or two modules. Customizable light scheduling, color intensity is adjustable. Another plus is minimal heat generation from the lights.

 

Great points on the Aqua Illumination modules. The adjustable color intensity kind of ties in with one of my next purchases, a controller. Does anyone know if these types of features are programable through a controller like an Apex or a Reefkeeper?

 

Man, you guys are a such a bad influence. I'm trying to justify spending another $1000 for a controller, upgraded skimmer, custom sump and return pump. Now I am considering going to an all LED lighting setup..lol. I think that's why I come on here to validate my reef addiction. Thanks for being my enablers.

 

I can hear it now "New lights? What new lights? I got those things a long time ago. You just noticed them?"

[trockafella]

Yeah, couldnt agree more.. Definitely not going to be any interventions on here.. I bought new lights and did the smart thing, bought the gf a trip to the salon, then I wasnt thinking about just myself.. Hopefully it will work.. Good luck with the same thing.. Take my advice, buy there happiness.!!

 

Also, those AI modules are super nice, and state of the art technology, you get what you pay for.

[Incredible Corals]

You are welcome to come check out my tank. I have a 60 gallon cube with 8 panaroma strips above it and 1 stunner. All ecoxotic.

[tecsavi]

Yeah, couldnt agree more.. Definitely not going to be any interventions on here.. I bought new lights and did the smart thing, bought the gf a trip to the salon, then I wasnt thinking about just myself.. Hopefully it will work.. Good luck with the same thing.. Take my advice, buy there happiness.!!

 

Also, those AI modules are super nice, and state of the art technology, you get what you pay for.

 

 

Actually I have to admit my girlfriend is very supportive of my addiction and she is getting interested in the hobby too. We are finishing off the basement and she already designated an area for a new 36' X 36' cube tank. I have to say I was shocked the other day when she asked for a clam for Christmas though. She oogles the fish in the store while I am checking out all of the corals. An expensive LED fixture might be another story though. I see a trip to NY and Tiffanys in the near future...

[tecsavi]

You are welcome to come check out my tank. I have a 60 gallon cube with 8 panaroma strips above it and 1 stunner. All ecoxotic.

 

 

I saw a picture of your tank when I was browsing a thread on RC last night. Great looking tank and amazing color! I might just take you up on that offer and also swing by BRK for the first time while I am down there. Your tank appears to have very simlar dimensions to mine so it would be a good compairson.

[Incredible Corals]

I saw a picture of your tank when I was browsing a thread on RC last night. Great looking tank and amazing color! I might just take you up on that offer and also swing by BRK for the first time while I am down there. Your tank appears to have very simlar dimensions to mine so it would be a good compairson.

 

No problem, I'm only 15 minutes from BRK.

[Amuze]

Tank looks good. Can't wait to see it in a few months time. I almost picked one of his cubes up too.

Edited November 19, 2010 by audible

[overklok]

You can control the AI units through an Apex or a Profilux controller. The profilux is more expensive, but has a more flexible, intuitive interface. With the Apex get ready to do little coding (more like scripting).

[tecsavi]

Audible,

Thanks. I can't wait until this tank settles in and I really start getting some growth out of it. It's a catch 22, get a larger more stable tank but you have to wait for it to mature all over again. I am really wishing I would have bought two of these tanks, they are very nice. My ultimate goal is a rimless 36"X36"18" tank so there's no budget for 3 tanks.

 

Overklok,

I like the ability to be able to script on the Apex but man those things are pricey when compaired to the reefkeepers. As with everything I lean toward the cheaper units at first and then want more capability in the future and upgrade eventually (you would think I would have learned by now). I like to tinker so I should just bite the bullet and get an Apex unit.

[zygote2k]

Welcome to the Cube Club! Tank looks nice- can't wait to see what it looks like in 6 months...