30g Oceanic cube Upgrade

[cgill311]

I started out with a 24g nanocube back in April and have been upgrading it ever since. I've come to learn this most fun thing about this hobby is that there's always some other gizmo you could add on to your tank. Knowing this, I jumped at the chance to buy a cheap Oceanic 30g cube that had a lot more options in terms of customization.

For the new cube, I built a custom sump, fuge, and ATO. Thought I'd share a few pics. I can't believe I stuffed all this stuff into my stand and everything is still fully accessable.

First 2 pics are of my current nanocube. As soon as I build my new canopy, all this stuff is going into the Oceanic cube.
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[cgill311]

Here's some full tank shots of my the Oceanic cube as it sits currently. The only major thing left is building the canopy, which should be done by next year hopefully! Oh yeah, I'm putting a 250W MH in there.
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[cgill311]

Here's a few shots of the stuffed stand. There's a 15 gallon sump, 7 gallon gravity fed ATO, skimmer, Mag 9, RK2, chaeto fuge, heater, and 20 lbs LR. The fuge light swings in and out for easy access to the pump and skimmer.

Seeing as how the Mag 9 is a little overkill for a 30g, I figured why not use the extra power to run a few current directing devices. The output of the Mag 9 feeds into a T. One split feeds a SWCD. The other feeds a Hydor rotating output. So at any one time, two of the return lines are running, and it provides for some erratic flow patterns in the tank.
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[tsciarini]

Very nice! Well done on the plumbing!

 

[johnqx4]

Nice :thumbs:

I see a lot of folks with stuff crammed into their systems... Ah, but to be able to get to it easily afterwards...

What kind of light are you using over the fuge? is it metal or plastic?

jg

 

[showtime305]

Nice tanks and work.

 

[kevin]

Very nice. I love the reefkeeper 2!

 

[cgill311]

johnqx4 wrote: Nice :thumbs:

I see a lot of folks with stuff crammed into their systems... Ah, but to be able to get to it easily afterwards...

What kind of light are you using over the fuge? is it metal or plastic?

jg

The light is a modded plastic desk lamp from Home Depot. The bulb is a 27W, 6700 K CF bulb. The chaeto grows really well under this light. If my sump ever did overflow (which shouldn't ever happen), the light is high enough that the water overflow the sump before contacting the light.

I measured the Mag 9 and skimmer to make sure I could get everything in and out before I built that ATO reservoir. And since the light swings in and out, everything in the sump is still readily accessible.

 

[cgill311]

kj_yoda wrote: Very nice. I love the reefkeeper 2!

Me too. It's the one thing that's probably totally unnecessary, but I can't imagine not having one. I really like how it has several different programs that can run each channel. When I first built the ATO, I was scared a snail would trip the float valve and flood my sump, leading to salinity change, tank crash, and general mayhem.

To get around that, I have programmed the RK2 to operate the ATO for only 5 mins twice a day at 10 AM and 5 PM. This way if a snail did trip the float switch, only a small amount of excess water would be added to the tank. Also, the solenoid valve is loud when it opens and shuts, and I'm usually at work at these times.

I have to thank mojo for the gravity fed sump idea via float switch & solenoid valve idea. I got it from your thread on useful aquarium supplies and suppliers. Works like a charm.

Oh yeah, I also can't wait for the software upgrade to be ready that will allow you to track pH and temp on your computer from the RK2. That is going to be sweet! Hopefully, I'll be able to nail down any swings that I'm not aware of.

 

[glxtrix]

may I ask why you didnt add any sand to the fuge?

 

[cgill311]

glxtrix wrote: may I ask why you didnt add any sand to the fuge?

Honestly, I never even thought about it. The LR and chaeto alone are enough to keep nitrates/nitrites at zero. Also, detritus seems to collect in the fuge chamber, which can easily be sucked up with a turkey baster.

Any particular reason I should add sand to it?

 

[glxtrix]

nah not really, other than a place for your pods and what not to live in, but the chaeto supplies enough room for that. It was just a random Q. Setup is lookin great tho!