Tonyscoots84's very long 60 gallon cube tank thread

[Tonyscoots84]

hey guys just wanted to start off saying hello and I wanted to let all my friends here know that you where not forgotten :thrash:. Everyday i wake up and seriously miss the website, you guyz and especially my tanks.. So the reason of this post im looking to start getting stuff little by little for my future tank in 6 months (after i get married and move into my house) im planning on doing it all right from day one with alot of planning and research. Im going to have this tank consume little electricity while having the equipment not produce alot of heat. and note that i dont want to spend a ton of money on everything. i understand from being in the hobby that certain things will cost but keep that in mind that the fiance and I are paying for the wedding ourselves ive been out of the hobby for a little while so i need a little help from the people who know whats going on with good equipment.

Here is the list

Tank- 60 gallon RR marineland perfecto RR cube tank (Ordered) TANK IN THE HOUSE :biggrin:

skimmer - reef octopuse sro xp ssss 2000 (ordered)

lighting - 2 AI lighting sol blue 75 watt with controller (ordered)

ATO - reef fanatic level controller & Digital Aquatics ATO Float Switch Kit (Ordered)

ATO Bracket Holder for sump (ordered)

controller - neptune apex (ordered)

water flow - 2 vortech E10W (ordered)

sump - sump made by Rkaragozler (thanks rich)

Rodi - aqua fx barracuda 100gpd - (ordered)

heater - eheim jager 150 w - (ordered)

sand - 2 40lb bags carib sea pink fiji - (ordered)

reactors - 2 2 little fish. (ordered)

Pumps for reactors - 3 marineland 404 pumps - (ordered)

dosing - bubble magnus doser (Ordered)

return pump - eheim 1262 (Ordered)

Refractometer - Ordered

stand - Papa scoots is building it (In Progress)
Dead Rock - 57 lbs from (reefrocks.net)

Carbon - ESV carbon - Ordered
GFO - TLF Phosban - Ordered
4 hole magnetic Probe Holder - Ordered

Filter Sock Holder - Ordered
Filter socks - Ordered

BRS 2 Part Kit - Ordered

window screen for tank cover - Ordered
window screen frame/corners/spline and roller for the tank cover - Ordered

salt - reef crystals - Ordered

Mag Float medium - Ordered
Air line hose, fish net (big and small)

10 gallon glass tank for topoff Ordered

neptune apex 8 energy bar - Ordered

neptune lab grade ph probe - Ordered

Eggcrate

Algea Cleaner

Test Kits
Hanna Phosphate - Ordered
Hanna Calcium - Ordered
Hanna Alkalinity - Ordered

Salifert magnesium - Ordered

API Test Kit Ammonia
API Test Kit Nitrite
API Test kit Nitrate

2 Eheim 150 watt heaters (one for salt water and one for backup on tank) - Ordered

Salt Water & Rodi container pump - Ordered
2 quiet one pro 1200

3 - ph calibration 7.0 - Ordered
3 - ph calibration 10.0 - Ordered

1 - maxijet 1200 for salt water container circulation - Ordered

1 - Maxijet 900 for misc. needs - Ordered

Have to get

liverock - 20lbs live
pvc for plumbing
make 1" emt light fixture holder (got conduit)
Bayer Insect Killer
2 - 20 gallon brute containers
Frag Kit
Frag Glues
Epoxy Sticks

Fish List
2 clownfish
1 mystery wrasse
3 bangai cardinals
3 blue chromis
1 yellow clown goby
1 sleeper gold head goby

Clean up crew
Nerite snails
cerinth snails
trochus snails
fighting conch
tigertail conch
2 scarlet skunk cleaner shrimps
emerald crab
scarlet hermit crabs
sandsifting star

Corals

- Purple Bonsai
- mostly all ora sps corals
- Some LPS depending on what space will be left over


A Big Thankyou to Russ at Saltwater Critters. (Thats the place im getting everything from)

Whatever anyone can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

let the :birthday: start

:bunnies:

 

[Mike389]

i have an ehiem 1262.. its really quite you will love it

 

[thirty5]

Here is the list

Tank - 47-60 gallon cube tank - marineland RR tank or oceanic
GO BIGGER!! 75 gal min

skimmer - unknown
Reef Octo seems pretty popular, that is what i am running

lighting - leds (ive been seeing the AI lighting being a good choice)
AI Sol's sound good to me!!!

return pump - eheim ?
Not sure, I run Blue Line external pump

heater - unknown
Get 2 that are underrated for your system. So if it calls for 300w get 2 150's. Incase one gets stuck on there is a less chance to boil your tank.

water flow - 1 vortech with controller
YES!

controller - ? (if i get a controller can it control the vortech instead of
using the vortech controller)
I would leave the Vortech Controller to control the power head. I am looking at an APEX controller when I get one.

dosing - im planning on doing it manually everyday until corals grow
Dosing will be always!

sump - plan on building my own from a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tall tank
Sounds good, I would go as big as possible and add a fuge if you can.

Sand - unknown (if i go with sand something really white)
I would not worry about "really white" it is only going to turn colors anyway from age.

liverock - will worry about it when the time comes
Reefrock.net when you are ready!

stand and canopy - will build myself
Very Nice

reactors - one for carbon and one for phosban
Consider Bio-Pellets???

Glad that you are back.. No one can stay away that long!

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Sand: ESV is very white
reactors: BRS dual reactor is a good price. Quality is good too. Very compact for a cube stand.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

thanks alot thirty i appreciate all your responses...
thanks chem chef... ( dont you need different water pressure for different types of media?)

im not looking to kill myself with water changes thats why i was staying lower on the cube size. i was looking to do max 5 gallons a week lol i am lazy ...

I know about the dosing thats why i said in the beginning i will do it by hand then when they start to take off and require alot i will have a doser ..

anyone else with great recommendations

 

[NYreefNoob]

controller - ? (if i get a controller can it control the vortech instead of
using the vortech controller

dont waste the extra money per convo with ecotech, you still have to have the controller hooked up for the vortech anyways, so basically the add on for a apex doesnt really do anything the factory controller head does,

when really ready for a skimmer lmk the amount of space ya will have

personally i would do a diy led or the ecotech or maxspect, there isnt enough color spectrum in the AI's for me.

just buy a bubble magnus doser, they are dead on point with amounts dosed { love mine }

even though i have been using the bio-pellets for over a year i still dont reccommend them to people

 

[Tonyscoots84]

thanks alot noob. how the hell have you been buddy...

 

[Tonyscoots84]

thanks mike but im buying everything new

 

[thirty5]

Radions are sooooo expensive tho....

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

welcome back buddy

 

[KathyC]

Well it's about time Tony!

Colored sticks again, mixed reef or softies?

Tank - 47-60 gallon cube tank - marineland RR tank or oceanic - I have the 45g Marineland cube, love the dimensions and low height. Aquascaping...tends to look like a volcano unless you go with a 'C' shaped island. The 60G cube leaves more room up top to make the same sort of aquascaping but then it ends up looking like a 'C' shaped rock wall due to the height...imo Tougher to light that amount of depth evenly

skimmer - unknown - ask Rick, he has owned EVERY skimmer ever build ..lol

lighting - leds (ive been seeing the AI lighting being a good choice) Many threads on LED's, many opinions. You want one with dimmer capabilities near as I can figure (I still run MH's on 1 tank & T5's on my others, not ready to make the jump till the prices comes down)

return pump - eheim ? Always an excellent choice.
heater - unknown - as mentioned use 2 at half the power
water flow - 1 vortech with controller - Yep
controller - ? (if i get a controller can it control the vortech instead of
using the vortech controller) Use the controller for the lighting, heaters, probe. The Vortech should run off it's own controller.
dosing - im planning on doing it manually until corals take off then i will get a doser. Good plan
sump - plan on building my own from a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tall tank - easy enough, you know how
Sand - unknown (if i go with sand something really white). While I love all of the ESV products , I am still a fan of the regular old aragonite beige 'special' sized sand, looks like the floor of the ocean. The ESV reminds me of snow..and does get dirty, and then looks like dirty snow
liverock - will worry about it when the time comes
stand and canopy - will build myself - looking forward to this
reactors - one for carbon and one for phosban. Can go with the two little fishies and daisy chain them together and run off a MJ1200, or the BRS dual reactors. Run the water through the carbon one first but adjust the flow so the GFO reactor is operating at the correct flow
ATO - unknown. Many good ones to chose from.


Great to have you back ! :hug:

Try and make it to the swap!!

 

[Awibrandy]

Tony, welcome home young man!!!!!:hug:

Do not get the ESV sand!! I have it, and can't wait to dump it. I have never hated a sand before the ESV. It gets so ugly, and looks so unnatural....
What ever heater you get please make sure to run them off of a controller, and still inspect them ever so often. I've had 2 different brands explode in my sumps, and 1 got stuck on "On". One electrocuted my fish, and the other darn near electrocuted me. BTW the two that exploded were on controllers.

Congratulations on the up coming nuptials, and the home purchase!
Best wishes with your new life, as well as the build.

 

[prattreef]

 

[rkaragozler]

First off welcome back, I have read all your old tank threads. and all I can say is I hope this one turns out like them.
Tank - 47-60 gallon cube tank - marineland RR tank or oceanic
skimmer - Rick would be able to give you a better idea on this one
lighting - my choice is AI sol blues, I will be upgrading to these as well
return pump - if you have the extra cash, red dragon
heater - eheim, 2 pieces for redundancy
water flow - 1 vortech with controller
controller - neptune all the way
dosing - start out manual, then profilux, if you can swing it.
sump - let me know and i'll cur glass to what ever you want.
Sand - unknown (if i go with sand something really white)
liverock - will worry about it when the time comes
stand and canopy - will build myself
reactors - cant go wrong with deltec, or next reef
ATO - diy all the way

 

[masterswimmer]

Hey stranger, glad to see you back, and planning so many things in your life! Congrats on all of it.

Russ

 

[duke62]

scoots also look into acan lighting.i love mine and everyone who sees my tank before i show them the unit think i have MH and the customer service is A+++.AS FOR THE HEATER I LOVE MY VIA AQUA TIATANIUM HEATER.I HAVE HAD IT FOR 3 YEARS NOW ON ITS OWN CONTROLLER.DNT KNOW MUCH ABOUT DOSERS BUT IVE HAD MY CALCIUM REACTOR UP FOR 2 WEEKS NOW AND LIKE IT SO FAR.mini cal.i also heard bad things about esv sand.im using reef crystals righ now and so far my favorite salt out of every salt ive used.im also very happy with my vertex in180 skimmer.the only thing i have to say is its very sensitive during feeding.welcome back

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Oh great, there goes the neighborhood!

 

[Tonyscoots84]

thanks everyone keep the suggestions coming... i will update the 1st post as i change the tank around...

Jarrett im glad to be back thanks

Randy what is the for lol

rkaragozler all i can say is wow and thanks alot for that comment it means alot to me cause i tryed very hard on my other tanks that i had. and it was because of the great people here

I know kathy sorry i took so long lol. You dont know me by now. Majority very nice colored sticks with some select softies..

awi thanks a bunch feels good to be getting my head back in here. ive been missing something in my life and figured it out its the salt ...

chief im just gonna make a lil noise hopefully i dun get arrested :lol2:

 

[NYreefNoob]

same old crap chasing the impossible in the hobby.
truelly for lighting ive tried a few of the leds and always keep going back to my trusty t5's
was it your dad that helped with last stand ? might have to get him to help me if i ever find me a 120g i want
also congrats on the rest in your life, you still messing with comps ?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

same old crap chasing the impossible in the hobby.
truelly for lighting ive tried a few of the leds and always keep going back to my trusty t5's
was it your dad that helped with last stand ? might have to get him to help me if i ever find me a 120g i want
also congrats on the rest in your life, you still messing with comps ?

yea my dad helped me with that stand. i really think if there are enough leds i would hope it looks good. ive seen some tanks with leds and they look great. thankyou very much nyreef. not really i said hell with it and went with a mac. i hate microsoft lol