Show Off 25G Cube adventure

[don_chuwish]

This project started in Oct 2019 with me thinking it'll be simple. I already had a tank, powerheads, heaters, ATO, return pumps, sand and rock on hand. I was smitten with the idea of the cube dimensions and dove in. The scope creep began almost immediately.
I put together a stand based on the dimensions of the Marineland cube I already had. Plywood and pocket screw assembly, adjustable feet, and water based polyurethane finish:



Then I drilled the tank:

well

So I bought a new Mr. Aqua 25G cube, much nicer than the Marineland anyway.
Drilled that one.... and cracked it again!

So I had a local glass shop make me a replacement pane and had them drill it. Not terribly pretty work but cheap and it's the back pane anyway.
Clamped it in position and injected the seems (Momentive). Coulda gone better but not bad for a first try.



Assembled the Modular Marine overflow and put in the return bulkhead. Leak testing was a success.



(continued...)

 

[don_chuwish]

Now that the stand and tank were sorted, I could move on to plumbing. I chose an overflow larger than I needed just because I wanted room for a 3 drain Bean Animal. I got an Eshopps Cube Nano sump at an LFS with my coral trade-in store credit.



The PVC is 1/2" but I converted to 3/4" for the flexible tubing - much less restriction:



After a bit of leak testing and Bean tuning in the garage it got moved upstairs:



(continued...)

 

[don_chuwish]

Another thing I got at the LFS with my coral store credit is an AI PrimeHD. Got the solid arm from BRS. But I didn't want to clamp it to the tank - the overflow is in the way anyway. Came up with a nicer solution.



I already had a Finnex FugeRay light and since the sump has a cleverly designed refugium area I decided to try it out.

it works great!

I discovered that none of the pumps I had on hand would work as a return pump. So I tried a Jebao something-or-other that was horrible. Couldn't maintain a steady flow rate. So I switched to a Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5. At first it was surprisingly loud. After two weeks it was STILL loud. So Sicce sent me a replacement. Still LOUD. So they sent me a 2.0 to try - still loud and too much flow. Then I wrapped it in a silicone hot pad and all the noise disappeared. The return chamber in this sump is very small and somehow just made the pump resonate. I stuck with the 1.5. Gotta love Sicce!



(continued...)

 

[don_chuwish]

February 2020: The uglies weren't too terrible because I had some well seasoned live rock to start with. But one tiny bit of ulva went wild:


The fish choice is regrettable. My wife loves the look of Maroons and we saw this pair, along with a pair of Neon Dottybacks getting along great in the LFS tank. I thought well, they're all a****** fish that I can't have in my other tank... maybe they'll balance each other out. Got them through QT and all was well... at first. One Dottyback jumped to it's death and the other is now in an endless battle with the female Maroon.

Chaeto doing well with the FugeRay stuck to the side of the chamber



October 2020 - the ulva just slowly faded away and I moved over a big frogspawn colony from my 120G



A few more photos along the way, and we're up to present day:

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks for sharing your build with us!

 

[don_chuwish]

I had originally set it up with an old JBJ ATO, dual float switch like:

But it kept giving me trouble and the float switches took up too much room in the little return chamber. So I upgraded to their new one, the JBJ Dual Sensor Nano. One little optical sensor unit and one tiny pump. No big controller box to mount. So far it's been perfect.

Someday I'll get around to the 120G build thread but it's quite a bit more to rewrite!

 

[don_chuwish]

These Maroons are quite the diggers!

 

[don_chuwish]

Well I found someone local with a larger tank in need of livestock to take the Maroons and Dottyback. It was of course an aquascape destroying process to catch them, so.... great time for a deep clean. Everything out, sand thoroughly rinsed, and at least a 40% water change all told. Also dipped a few parts of rock that had patches of GHA on them. Found out that bristle worms really don't react well to H2O2 dips!

Sand rinse water was NASTY

Good opportunity to thoroughly clean the glass, especially the back.

Rocks and corals got a bit re-arranged. I'm not 100% happy with the 'scape but I never am (light is just starting to ramp up).

- D

 

[don_chuwish]

Harry the Trochus snail: carrying an entire meal on his back that he can’t even reach.

 

[smsreef]

Really nice build! Loving the DIY stand too.

 

[don_chuwish]

Really nice build! Loving the DIY stand too.

Thanks! To be honest the stand could use some improvement. I either need to attach it to the wall with a bracket or add more internal bracing - it racks a little bit when pushed. Like when cleaning the glass. Not much, but noticeable.

 

[don_chuwish]

The cube is currently fallow while some new fish go through QT (A nice LFS visit). Unfortunately I have a bit of bryopsis growing - some on a snail shell and some on a rock of palys. I've already killed it with H2O2 twice on the paly rock. Nutrients are pretty low in this tank because of it being fallow so I'll probably not sweat it much but this is the first time I've ever seen it in person - kinda worrisome!

 

[don_chuwish]

Harry the Trochus snail: carrying an entire meal on his back that he can’t even reach.

View attachment 17825

Time for Harry the rebellious teenage Trochus to get a haircut. Pretty bad when your hair makes you fall over.

Much better:

 

[Max_nano]

The battlebrush is great for a snail wash. That green suit must be some badge of honor in the snail community, because it’s funny the other snails won’t clean it up.

 

[don_chuwish]

We finally have fish in this tank again. 2 clowns and a Citron Clown Goby just graduated QT. So far doing great!

 

[don_chuwish]

Managed to grab some decent photos this evening. Also saw the female Ocellaris take a few jabs at the anemone for the first time since going in the tank last Friday.

 

[don_chuwish]

I finally got around to putting in the Kasa power strip to replace the DJ bar. Before:

And I had an extra power strip as well:

Now it’s just the Kasa (I suck at cable management):

 

[don_chuwish]

We finally have fish in this tank again. 2 clowns and a Citron Clown Goby just graduated QT. So far doing great!

So the two ocellaris have officially taken the names Jon and Ygritte. Maybe a little too obvious but we like it.
Ygritte has fully adopted the anemone and is sleeping in it tonight. Apparently Jon really "knows nothing" because he's camped out in a corner of the tank sleeping alone. Those damn vows!

 

[don_chuwish]

The sand had started getting overgrown with hair algae and a little bit of bryopsis. So I siphoned out about 80% of it and rinsed the heck out of it. Rinse water started out brownish and slowly turned green. Then I hit it with H2O2, twice. After a final RODI rinse it is beautiful again!

 

[Count Krunk]

Looks good. How is the tank doing now?