Brad's 60 Cube.

[Ichthys]

well of course it looks cheap... thats cause it is cheap...
thats the whole point behind that skimmer...
its a cheap skimmer that actually works quite well.
.......................

I was leaning towards Bubble Magus or a SWC mini cone in my 11.4 gal nano until Skimmy turned me on to the Model# SCA-301. I have done some reading and think thats the route I'll go, for the price who can beat it? Sort of the same theory as your lights Brad. Sure you can pay 6 times more for Radions but is it really necassary? I read the RC thread you referenced about the chinese led's and its the same theory. Just because its cheap does not mean its junk. In the early 70's an asian company came out with a cheaper product that did what the larger american models did only cheaper. People laughed and ridiculed it. 35 years later Honda eats Detroit for lunch.

 

[bradreef]

I have looked at a lot of options for flow. the final thing that made me decide was watching the koralia (cheap not expensive) wavemaker at work.

I purchased the jbj wavemaker. 2-1600 gph for $90. arrived at work today. hopefully it is good when I install it tonight.

 

[bradreef]

so far these powerheads are working well. not as much flow as I would like but they will work for this small of a tank. I wouldn't do just two of these on 120 though.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Brad? Wow, a name from the distant past! OK, just a few years but in this hobby, time sure flys
Welcome back pal, hope life is treating you well or better...

 

[bradreef]

Life is good. I have been able to start back up and do it for a reasonable cost. Wife is happy so far with the tank. She has named the fish after disney princess names.

 

[bradreef]

Update. Not too much but the flow is going well. I don't have dead spots in the tank and there are tons of pods. I feel the base rock and a little bit of live rock has worked out very well.

Skimmer- pulling out plenty of nasty stuff . So far I'm happy with it.
Lights- working well.
powerheads- recomend for the price on smaller tanks like mine
sump-cheato is growing well (doubled in size) with the $10 fixture and a 27 watt 5k Cf bulb.

 

[tike]

WOW! Blast from the past! Good to see you on the boards again. This thread is actually making me start plans on re designing my 60 cube. I have been neglecting it for a while.

What brand are those lights you are running?

 

[bradreef]

The lights I am running are the china black box led's. basically 120 watt bridgelux fixture. i added 60 degree optics to the outside rows last week and like it. I am running at half power and seem to be doing well with that. (if I did it again I would get 5 violet bulbs and 90 degree optics which would have put the price around $180)


Update. coraline spots are popping up here and there.
- i cleaned out the sump a bit and rearranged it as detritus was collecting in places.
- running gfo and carbon through a reactor which seems to be working well.
-skimmer is doing well. pulls out plenty of crud.
- Stock list right now ----- flame angel, royal gramma, cleaner shrimp
- I am using brs two part if I haven't mentioned that prior

I added coral a month or so ago and then had a fish picking at it so he was replaced (with a flame angel that will possibly end up doing the same)

so far I have 8-12 frags and I'll get a picture one of these weeks.

 

[pandora32]

Glad tour tank is doin good. Did you ever get your temp stabilized? I use brs 2 part also. Recipe 1. Hows it working for you?

 

[bradreef]

I don't have to add much brs yet but seems to be working well. I have two heaters in the sump to keep the tank warm and I actually moved my chiller inside the house for the next couple of months since the garage isn't insulated. it has been up to 92 degrees and the garage get's 10 degree's hotter. I can keep the house cool.

 

[bradreef]

update.
I have been adding coral and frags are encrusting and growing well. calcium and alk are at good numbers and I am getting spots of coraline algae on the bottom. I will post some pics in the upcoming weeks but I don't have a camera other than my phone.

 

[Scooterman]

sounds like your doing something right to get her going good like that, congrats!! pics pics LOL!!!

 

[pandora32]

+1 on pics!...lol

 

[Krish]

And not a single picture was posted on that given day!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chichas01]

pics or ban!!

 

[pandora32]

All the pictures i post are from my phone. No excuses!

 

[bradreef]

I will get a few today. Try getting pictures from MOJO. That guy is impossible.

 

[bradreef]

full tank shot from a couple weeks ago. ignore the plumbing on the left side that is because the garage has been getting too hot. will move it out in a month. Some algae but getting better.

a close up a a couple corals. Green has encrusted nicely, the middle is an enchinata that had browned out so I bought it for $15 The stage is Teal with blue tips. standard stag. not great pics and 1-3 weeks old.

chalice borring green frag. browned a bit and coming back now.

 

[Scooterman]

That's Bacon!!!!

nice!~

 

[bradreef]

In the next few months I think I might add a reef Angel controller. It will get me something to really work on with all of the programing options.
I want to controll
-Temp , heater and chillers
- dosing , simply dripping 2 part
- ATO

probably that's it. Dont care about PH much but i'm sure we will find more things to mess with.