Fortunato's 150G Marineland Cube

[Adamc1303]

I like black. It gives a nice contrast with the colors in the tank.

 

[reefs4life]

Went with Navy Blue

 

[usctom]

Looking good!

 

[reefs4life]

Looking good!

Thanks! Tomorrow I'm building the canopy with my dad. Then I should be receiving my flex pipe on Monday so hopefully I can get the new plumbing done next week. The sand is also coming next week, Wednesday, so I'm really shooting for the transfer to get done next weekend. So excited!

 

[polywise]

Fortnato,
go black to match the overflow. It will make the tank look larger vs. a blue background with the black over flow in the center of it.
I have had blue with black overflow in the past, and wished they were all the same color.

This time around I did mine black, but if you don't plan on keeping the 2 walls cleaned on a regular bases, in the end they will just be covered with coraline alge anyway....

just my opinion

 

[polywise]

OK - I see my post was totally late.
nevermind

 

[reefs4life]

So here's the next dilemma...my brother just made a suggestion to put the sump and the complete opposite side of where I was thinking which is actually only a couple feet from where it is now. I should probably explain the pictures.

So this first picture shows what our disgusting basement looks like as soon as you walk down the stairs and my poor 210 in the midst of it, which is the reason for the transfer.

This second picture shows a closer view of the distance between where the tank is now and where the new pipes are.

This next one is the mess that I've built up to and that I basically plan to keep (of course some serious organization needed) with a little bit of tweaking here and there to make it work. It also shows the distance between where the tank is now and where the sump may go(brother's spot)

This one shows, generally, how far the new pipes are from the spot that the sump may go (brother's spot)

This is the spot where I initially intended to move the sump to which is directly under the new tank.

This one shows where the sump would go if I decide to put it where my brother suggested. In terms of plumbing, it's about 12 feet of extra tubing which shouldn't be an issue.

Now the question is, should I put the sump directly under the new tank and take up some potentially usable or move it about 13 feet away (which is only a couple feet away from where it is now) and deal with the extra plumbing?
The other thing in question is, I have a Reeflo Hammerhead as my main pump which is more than enough to pump directly up but am I pushing it to have it pump from the other side of the basement?

 

[reefs4life]

On a brighter note, here is the beauty upstairs with newly acquired sand (CaribSea Seafloor Special Grade Reef Sand)

 

[lnevo]

The horizontal length wont make any significant difference. It's height (fighting gravity) that is the issue. If it puts the sump where all your existing stuff is and makes it easier then go for it. If it takes away the reason to clean that ish up then don't. lol

 

[xxxAngeloxxx]

Holy sh** looks like a mini marine lab in your basement lol

 

[n3hihz]

Holy sh** looks like a mini marine lab in your basement lol

I thought it was a breaking bad meth lab when I looked at it.

Tank looks great. I love the fit in the corner. Making me rethink my tank choice.
I personally would have used plasti-dip I love that stuff.

Can't wait to see the tank in action stocked and all.

 

[reefs4life]

The horizontal length wont make any significant difference. It's height (fighting gravity) that is the issue. If it puts the sump where all your existing stuff is and makes it easier then go for it. If it takes away the reason to clean that ish up then don't. lol

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I was just trying to find an excuse to not do the extra plumbing but it seems like a better idea to just do it. Cleaning shouldn't be any different than what it is now, I'm really aiming for easier though lol

Holy sh** looks like a mini marine lab in your basement lol

Haha I wish lol it used to be even worst, had an octopus and seahorse tank on top of the remote fuge

I thought it was a breaking bad meth lab when I looked at it.

Tank looks great. I love the fit in the corner. Making me rethink my tank choice.
I personally would have used plasti-dip I love that stuff.

Can't wait to see the tank in action stocked and all.

Love that show! And yeah that's exactly what that is, a meth lab to help offset the cost of keeping a reef lol I'm just doing it for my fish!!! Thanks for the compliment too, I can't wait to see it finished myself. And you know, funny thing is that I was thinking of plasti dip myself since it's probably so much easier to apply and remove. I had to do 3 coats on each side to get this result, talk about PIA lol

 

[Gancoob]

Mangrove

Might sound like a silly question, but how did u get ur mangrove that big?

 

[reefs4life]

Might sound like a silly question, but how did u get ur mangrove that big?

Perfectly acceptable question, no worries...honestly I haven't done anything special in my eyes. But here's what I've done ever since I had it. I've sprayed it with RO on a routinely basis, kept them under cheap red/blue led panels from eBay, they crapped out and now they're under purple, roseate and actinic T5s. I also keep them in CaribSea Mineral Mud and trim them here and there so they don't get super tall.

When I transfer them, I'm thinking I'll trim the roots a bit as well since that is a technique used in making bonsai trees

 

[reefs4life]

So after a long and treacherous journey, the tank is finally up and running in the living room. Loving it like never before!!! Here's a tease

 

[thirty6]

Looks great

 

[lnevo]

Looks awesome!!!

 

[edd]

do you think the blue makes the black over flow stick out? debating on a color for mine.
looks very nice. those mangroves look like trees.

 

[Zuska]

Nice looking good so far

 

[reefs4life]

do you think the blue makes the black over flow stick out? debating on a color for mine.
looks very nice. those mangroves look like trees.

To be honest with you, when it was just an empty tank I thought it was sticking out a lot and regretted painting it blue. Now that it's filled I'm glad I painted it blue because from my dining room and even when I'm close to the tank, the blue gives it a deep water feel as if you're looking into deeper water giving the tank a sort of infinite effect.

Yeah I love my mangroves, definitely one of my prized possessions in my system. I have to take a picture of the new fuge/sump so you can all see their new home, they're now in about 120lbs of black sand with a 2 inch layer of mud up top. Hoping the deeper substrate will now give them a chance to grow some more.