Katchupoy's 30g Cube Nano...

[Katchupoy]

Hello to all,

Few months back, I had a bacteria bloom in my 75g tank and almost wipeout more than half of my corals. Although they are just common corals and nothing high end, they are still very dear to me. And I told myself, I think I probably need a break.

Yeah right!

So, I dont know if its a more of a call for challenge or not, I ended up using up my 30g Oceanic cube that has been sitting in my garage for the past 4 years. Maybe a scale down from 75g? we will see.

So I need to start from scratch and need to do a DIY stand for the tank. I really need it to be as simple and as cheap as possible. So if I decided to really quit the hobby later, It wont be that bad.

So here is the design from SketchUp. Very simple, I only used 3 pcs of 2x4 by 8 ft long thats also been sitting in my garage.

Then I have some left over Birch 3/4 plywood that is also a left over. I plan to seal it clear for water protection. Just dont know what to use since I dont know anything about sealing or painting it clear or staining, etc etc.

And here is the final sketch with the simulated tank on top.

 

[Krish]

Simple and sweet!! Good for you for sticking it out! I'll tag along to watch the build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tamarindthai]

looking oood cesar,,, ,,proceed it opcorn:

 

[user 26995]

Well do you have this built yet?
just kidding.
Tagging along too. Take your time and have fun with it. And keep the progress posts coming.

 

[Peppie]

Nice little project.
I tag along. Be sure to brace your stand for racking purposes.

 

[Maxx]

Sorry to hear about your losses Cesar, but I'm glad you're staying in the hobby.

I'd be lying if I didnt say that I hadnt thought of getting out from time to time as well.....fortunately, its just a phase for me...hopefully, the same for you as well.

Nick

 

[blk822822]

Sounds like a good build...is that the tank you had at the end of the big tank in the living room? I'm tagging along to. And make sure to post some pics. We all love pics.

 

[Katchupoy]

Apology for the delay. So here is the finish product.

Its really to make a straight cut if you dont have the correct tools. My target height were cut short because I keep on correcting my cut because its not square. I really need a chop saw or a miter saw. Oh well. You just need to adapt to what ever you have. Thats the reason why you see polystyrene (styro) in there to even out the imperfections.

Painted flat black and used varathane clear polyurethane for the table top to make it water proof. i also added some plyedge hot melt edging to make it a little bit nicer. To be honest I really like it. Not a show table/cabinet but i think it came out ok.... haha compared to my first one i created for my 75g.

Hope you like it.

 

[blk822822]

Looks good......are you tieing it into a sump from another tank?

 

[Katchupoy]

A special shout out to Deborah (AQUANAUT) for the wonderful SPS corals and Dang (TAMARINDTHAI) for the dry rocks.

@ Bill, yes you are correct, Im going to connect this to the existing 75g tank so I can eliminate or lessen the curing time. Im not sure if I can even fit a sump below it? maybe a custom tank? or a 10 gallon glass sump? Im not sure if it will fit.

So its been weeks now that the rocks have been curing with the water from the 75g. What I did was, to do a large water change from the 75g, and all the old water goes to the cube. They are not plumb or connected right now. The cube is on its own with a filter floss.

I apologize for the clown being there. Not my intention but instead of him in the sump, I think he is better off here in the cube. History, I just got a pair of clown and the poor guy is being bullied to death.

 

[blk822822]

Good idea on the floss filter I see its a bottle on a power head full of floss.

 

[tamarindthai]

i love it nice and cleaned as Cesar spec,,,looking great ,too bad i do not have any animal to dec your cube,,,but cheer,cheer:becky:

 

[Katchupoy]

For years now, even if I wanted to add another tank (which I have too many), I cannot because I dont have a way to plumb them together via overflow. Yes i can drill the tank, but this Oceanic cube I have right now is part of the first gen tanks that they overbuilt (not intended) I believe because they have really thick glasses. Compared to the later generations, where you can really see the difference. The glass they used in this cube is thicker than the one I have on my 75g, go figure. So drilling is out of the question, besides I am scared.

Anyways, so I came across J-Ranko's tank build years ago and wonder how beautiful he did his overflow via pvc pipes "MAME" style.

the original mame overflow

and J-Rankos version

 

[Katchupoy]

So here is my own version. You saved two elbows on this version and I believe it is more compact, in terms of what's inside the tank.

The big difference is the black pvc pipe is fully adjustable. This pipe is what dictates the water level inside the tank.

Here is how I did it adjustable... First i have to make sure that the white pipe will always be at the center of the black pipe. So I cut some 1/2" inch flexible hose (the one we uses for our return pump etc) and zip tied them together like the picture below.

Then I added another one on the lowest part of the white pipe like so...

another view

and here is the complete assembly.

and another one.

So actually, that 1/2" clear hose that we cut is the only thing that holds that black PVC in place. So you can easily drag it up or down as you wish.


So here it is in action....

 

[Katchupoy]

Good idea on the floss filter I see its a bottle on a power head full of floss.

Yes it is actually a soda pop bottle cut in half. The mouth sits perfect with maxijet pumps. The floss I got from walmart for 8 bucks i think, big enough to use as pillows. This is temporary or when i feel like flossing, turkey basting etc....

 

[Katchupoy]

i love it nice and cleaned as Cesar spec,,,looking great ,too bad i do not have any animal to dec your cube,,,but cheer,cheer:becky:

Thanks Dang, you already helped a lot!!!

 

[BCT182]

Hey man I have a diamond bit you could borrow. A few years ago Todd (disturbedreefer) and I drilled an oceanic 30 with no problem. Actually thick glass is more forgiving than thin. I can help you do it of your interested.

 

[Katchupoy]

Brett, thanks for the offer, I will remember that... Now i know who to call.

 

[Katchupoy]

Do you still remember the DIY LED i did awhile ago?

Well this time Im doing it differently. Based on the newer affordable technology called "multichip" leds, I thought I should try it and see if its really has some merit to it...

Just for reference....

Here is my linear LED build.

Here is the multichip example.

You can have it now for 10, 20, 30, 50, 60 and 100 watt equivalents. I have decided that Im going to try the 10 watt versions bought from ebay with free two weeks slow shipping, and I ordered two types. Hybrid Royal Blue with Cool Whites and 20k multichips.

They are tiny... even the drivers are so small. It looks like they are 1 x 2 inches, very small drivers.



Also went to RE-PC, where you can buy scrap PC parts and materials, and bought heatsinks with fans for 3$ each.

 

[Katchupoy]

So here are the 20ks looks like...

and here are the hybrids ones... notice the 1:2 ratio? 1 white to two royal blues?

ok done gluing and soldering.

drivers laid out with mechanical timers... They are not dimmables. One thing I will add that these drivers that comes with it are really warm. Maybe 10 second tops to the touch. So i added a fan.