My 90G starphire/rimless cube build thread

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I think the Eheim is like a $300 upgrade or something, which I didn't feel is worth it. Everything I've read through says the Sedra pulls 1000 lph without any mods, which is more than the Eheim, and up to 1400 lph with mesh. I mean, this is only a 90G tank and the AS-200 is complete overkill as is, lol.

the warner marine AS-200 skimmer with the sedra 9000 HO pump is awesome!!!
excellent choice of a skimmer!

definately mesh that puppy!!
 
I did get an extra impeller to experiment with so I'll see what the mesh can do. I have a dwyer and kill-a-watt as well, I'll be sure to post up my results.
 
It's not much to look at but here is the tank. It obviously isn't complete, it needs to be trimmed, overflow box attached, etc. But hey, it's progress!
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I picked the tank up yesterday and finally got it home. I will say this, if you EVER have to move a glass tank, those suction cup holders things are worth their weight in gold. It cost me a whopping $9 at an equipment rental store. This tank was heavy but my wife and I made it up the stairs and into the living room. Here is a shot of the whole tank:
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Here is the beveled edge of the glass. It's tough to tell in the pictures, but the silicon is a dark gun metal gray color and not black. The overflow box has a very thin layer of silicon on the inside to block off the box as well. I'm planning a false wall to cover the whole back so that isn't an issue for now but I figured I might as well get it covered while I had the chance.
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And of course this monster showed up. The build quality is impressive and I can't wait to see it getting dirty.
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I ordered 60 pounds of rock from bulk reef supply to build the base structure while the rock is dry and then I'll add my current rock once I make the transfer. Next up is the stand and starting the fake/foam walls. I'll post more pictures as I progress.
 
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Sounds like an awesome build! This is the tank I want to buy, but they wont ship it to Hawaii. I'll have to wait until I get back home to see what I can get locally. So what are you going to use to build the false wall?
 
Sounds like an awesome build! This is the tank I want to buy, but they wont ship it to Hawaii. I'll have to wait until I get back home to see what I can get locally. So what are you going to use to build the false wall?

I'm going to use pond foam and rubble rock to build the walls with and then coat it in epoxy/aragonite sand to seal it. I've seen quite a few build threads with this idea and I think it looks great. It will be nice to attach a bunch of corals to the back and side of the tank.
 
so how much does a custom starphire tank cost like this i am tempted to try and get one this tank is gonna be badass...i love the beveled edges do they have a website?
 
Rick - can't beleive I missed this thread until today. I love it. Love the cube. Love the hood. love that skimmer. Man, can't wait to see how this all comes together! looks like you are really going all out on this, great job!

Ben
 
so how much does a custom starphire tank cost like this i am tempted to try and get one this tank is gonna be badass...i love the beveled edges do they have a website?

Joel is the owner of Waves, his website is http://www.wavesreef.com/. Very nice guy to deal with. The tank cost me about $850. I know he has done quite a few 24x24x24 cubes and had a 30x30x30 sitting next to mine when I picked it up, they all look sharp.

Rick - can't beleive I missed this thread until today. I love it. Love the cube. Love the hood. love that skimmer. Man, can't wait to see how this all comes together! looks like you are really going all out on this, great job!

Ben

Thanks for the comments Ben. I feel that I've learned quite a bit about this hobby over the past 3+ years, it will be nice to incorporate some changes with the new tank. Plus some nicer equipment will be nice :)
 
Here is my progress up to date. I finished the stand yesterday except for some small touch ups and knobs. I used the plans as posted by RocketEngineer over of RC and it turned out pretty well. I decided to skip on the doors and make fully recessed panels. The panels are easily removable and will allow for better ventilation during the summer if I need. The stand w/trim is also wide enough that it can't fit out my front door, which was a bummer. My wife was very tolerant as I had to build this inside our condo :) It fits a 20L sump (that will hold my skimmer and Eheim return pump) and I'll plumb/drill an AGA 5G tank for the fuge.

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Here is the door on (knobs aren't drilled yet). The tank will sit in the 1/4" recessed top section, that will compensate for the foam that will be installed under the tank.
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The trim was pretty much a pain to do. I had to set all of the trim 1/2" off the frame so the doors would sit flush. A table saw was very handing for cutting the thin pieces I needed for that.
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Up next is building the foam/rock walls and aquascaping. Rubble rock will cover the whole back and hide the two Vortech's. Then I plan to build a cool branching section in the middle that will be secured by acrylic/pvc rod and foamed as well. Here is what sixty pounds of rock looks like from bulkreefsupply.com (the shelf pieces are sweet!)
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I'll post more pictures as I make progress on the wall/aquascaping.
 
Looking good!! Man you did an awsome job on the stand and canopy build all in your condo.

Thankfully I was able to do all of the cutting outside so there wasn't really any dust. Still a pain to have a tank and stand sitting in my living room, in addition to my other setup. It'll be nice to be back down to one tank :) (the cube of course)
 
The stand came out great! When do you expect to have this filled?

I'm shooting for next weekend but I'll just have to wait and see.

Here is progress from today. I cut the eggcrate, attached some rubble with zip ties, and foamed it all in. I'll do the main rock structure and apply some more foam if I need to and then epoxy/sand everything so the foam blends in. It looks a bit strange right now but I think the walls will blend in once I finish the main rock structure. I plan to add some bridge pieces to the walls to make some cool caves and such. (The tank is in a partial corner hence the two walls).

(the holes are for the two vortech's)
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Breaking up and attaching rubble rock for shelves
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I got everything trimmed up and it fits in the tank, just a few spots to touch up and add a bit more to the top to cover the white. I still haven't decided on how I will actually attach them to the walls of the tank, I might just add a little bit of aquarium silicon to keep them in place when the tank is filled.
 
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