New 130g cube build

[kingrowland1217]

Hello, I am new to the forum. I am almost done building my 130 gallon DIY cube tank. Did eurobracing on top with 1/2 glass for all the glass. I am using a 30 gallon tank as a sump( i have 32" under my stand). I have a couple  8 plug mountable outlets for power, Bought a Curve 5 skimmer,and a Jebao DCT-6000 return pump. I am doing a fuge on the end of my sump with the return line tee'd off to feed the fuge. I am doing 1 1/2" drain and a 1" return. Ill have pics of the plumbing when Im done. I am upgrading from a 55 gallon, so switching all the live rock and sand and adding a bit "dry". Any recommendations would be appreciated. I am still planning the water movement, some plumbing, coral selection and aquascaping. I got alot of my ideas from this forum. I tried to attach pics, not sure if they will come through. Thanks

[YHSublime]

Hello, I am new to the forum. I am almost done building my 130 gallon DIY cube tank. Did eurobracing on top with 1/2 glass for all the glass. I am using a 30 gallon tank as a sump( i have 32" under my stand). I have a couple 8 plug mountable outlets for power, Bought a Curve 5 skimmer,and a Jebao DCT-6000 return pump. I am doing a fuge on the end of my sump with the return line tee'd off to feed the fuge. I am doing 1 1/2" drain and a 1" return. Ill have pics of the plumbing when Im done. I am upgrading from a 55 gallon, so switching all the live rock and sand and adding a bit "dry". Any recommendations would be appreciated. I am still planning the water movement, some plumbing, coral selection and aquascaping. I got alot of my ideas from this forum. I tried to attach pics, not sure if they will come through. Thanks

Wow! I wouldn’t trust myself with a tank that i built! It’s looking great so far!

 

 

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[kingrowland1217]

Rock just added. Opinions? Didnt come out exactly like I wanted it.I like it, but feel like its missing something. Any ideas?

[YHSublime]

A lot of it comes up very high, and doesn't leave room for coral growth upwards, or coral placement on horizontal surfaces.

 

I'd lose some of the columns and bridges and try for something a little more organic. Just my 2c. 

[KyleGustafson22]

Wow man I hadn’t seen his thread before, building your own tank is awesome!

 

If you wouldn’t mind me picking your brain:

 

Where did you order the glass from and how expensive were the pieces?

 

How did you go about getting the silicone together onto the seams before the silicone started drying and made a film on the top?

 

Did the masking tape to hold it together for curing work well or would you use a wooden frame doing this again?

 

I’d love to put together my own cube aquarium in the future, I’d love to take a look at this some time and chat about it. Great work!

 

For the rock, you could look for some more natural shelf pieces so that the style rock you have in there now could be more of a base and have a smoother look on top with a reef edge look to it.

 

Post some pictures of the sump setup too, great work!

[kingrowland1217]

Thanks man. I appreciate it.

-Got the glass from Full Service Glass out in manassas. They were great to deal with, got everything exactly right. I did pay about 700 for just the glass but its 1/2" with eurobracing and 1 piece drilled. So 7 pieces total. Took about 2 weeks for everything to come in.  

-Its actually not as hard as you think, more intimidating than anything. Have to be ready once you start siliconing. Hold them together for a min, then have somebody put masking tape. Put about 4 pieces on each corner, worked well. Didn't need a frame. Once they're all set just get some clamp bars large enough to hold them together for about a week. Wait until its dry and cured before running the beads.  Its def a 2 person job though. The guy I had help me has built 3 tanks before this or I wouldnt have tried it lol. I live in Fred, Id be more than happy to show you my tank and go through the whole process Ive gone through.

 

-I added a few more pieces in last night, think Im going to take 1 of the pillars down. Problem is, 2 of the pillars are 1 rock, theyre just super tall. I think it looks a little more natural now, I like it more for sure.

Ill post some pics of my sump setup and plumbing tonight, pretty proud of it lol. I do have to figure out better cord management, its getting to be a mess and Im not even done adding 

 

[D805]

Wow!! Building your own tank, thats impressive. Awesome build man. Look forward to seeing where this goes.

[kingrowland1217]

Looking for suggestions/problems with my stock list. I have 6 chromis and a christmas wrasse in my tank for about 2 weeks now.

-Lyretail Anthias(single preferred,maybe a 3-4 if needed)

-Coral beauty Angel

-Flame angel

-Powder Blue Tang

-Blue throat Trigger

-Foxface rabbit

Am I being too ambitious for a 130g? I know some of these are cautionary with corals, but this s my ideal list. Any tips or suggestions as to what to get first, aggressiveness, or that kind of thing. Thanks 

[bigben1730]

really dig the rescape, cant wait to see updates on the tank!

[kingrowland1217]

Added a canopy for my LEDS, added a background that makes it look alot cleaner. Couldn't be happier with the setup right now. I bought some 'Stax" rock that Im thinking about adding towards the back as kind of a cliff look and add some real estate for corals down the road. Got a little hair algae problem but just ignore that lol

[kingrowland1217]

Finally got my stand finished. Looks like a real tank now. Still battling hair algae, but I think instant ocean was a big cause. Switched to marin tropic and its slowly but surely going away. Added a birdnest, frogspawn, and finger leather.

[kingrowland1217]

[Sneeze]

The floating canopy is awesome!


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[kingrowland1217]

Got a new camera filter so adding my new pics. Tank is doing amazing right now. I actually used Vibrant and it destroyed my hair algae problem. If you look at my earlier pics you can see my rock was COVERED. It did take about 10 weeks, but I was super impressed. My coral seem to deeper colored, growing faster, and healthier now that it doesn't need to compete for nutrients.Found a sweet spot for sure. Ive only been doing 10% water changes twice a month, but I blow the rocks off and use filter for a day before a wc. I was doing 20% weekly, but backed off. I have been feeding all my coral reef roids now too so Im sure that helped. Shootin for tank a month when everything grows out lol.

Edited August 24, 2019 by kingrowland1217

[kingrowland1217]

[kingrowland1217]

[kingrowland1217]

[kingrowland1217]

New updated pics. Everything is growing. Even had to start trimming the birdnest and mushrooms. Got a little aiptasia problem. But I have a peppermint shrimp in there now to try and help. Most are too low to try and cut out or treat with a syringe. Frustrating. Ill try a filefish next if I need to, but everything is so balanced right now with my fish I dont want to try and add. I have a foxface, 2 barred rabbitfish, tomini tang, xmas wrasse, clownfish, a goby/pistol shrimp pair, lyretail anthias, and a royal gramma. Theyre doing really well together. Still really want to add a trigger and/or a angel. We will see. 

[kingrowland1217]

[DFR]

That birdsnest sure has grown.  Tank is looking nice.  What is that yellow Acro in the lower left on the smaller rock?

[kingrowland1217]

Its supposed to be a walt disney. Jus cant get it to color up very well yet lol. Im about to do another teiton test and see what i need, none of my acros are very vibrant. They grow,and polyp ext is good, just not coloring up.

Edited September 8, 2020 by kingrowland1217

[epleeds]

FYI, with my Walt Disney it didn’t color up until I put it super high in my tank with a lot of flow. It was mainly green on my frag rack.