My 60 gallon cube build

russ13 · Feb 21, 2016

Water in. Rock in. Starting the Bacteria process. Can't get the skimmer to work right. There's always some hang up when you put a tank together. But nothing is leaking so that's nice. I'm gonna check the levels in a few days and start tossing in some cleanup critters

Still cloudy hopefully the sock cleans it up

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russ13 · Feb 21, 2016

Clearing up nicely

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Justkeepswimming · Feb 21, 2016

I recommend trying to spread out those rocks to open it up and get Flow through them. They will trap a lot of crap if they are tightly packed. Looks good otherwise!

russ13 · Feb 21, 2016

Justkeepswimming said:

They look tightly packed but there is a lot of room between them. If the light was on it would be easier to see. I was trying for a ledge type look hopefully enough water will flow through it. I may try to space them out a bit more.

russ13 · Feb 24, 2016

Got the fuge up and running. I went with rubble rock didn't want to use mud or sand rock just seemed easier and cleaner

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russ13 · Mar 3, 2016

So my sump is all taken care of now. I'm running a fuge,algae scrubber,TLF 150 reactor and my new skimmer. I really like having a DC pump on the skimmer you can turn it way down while breaking it in and it lets you really fine tune the level. Next project will be getting a controller for the tank. I'm not sure what I'm going to go with yet. Reef keeper lite or apex Jr. Time to do some research

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scsmith2002 · Mar 4, 2016

All the research I have done points to the apex being the better of the two... More versatile and better support.... But it is hard to pass up on some of the reef keeper deals that I have seen lately... All depends on what you plan on running with it...

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scsmith2002 · Mar 4, 2016

Btw sweet build

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russ13 · Mar 4, 2016

scsmith2002 said:

i think the reef keeper will do what I need it to but I'm not the smartest tech guy in the world. Everyone says the apex is more user friendly. Also being able to hook it up to the wifi is super cool. But yes it's much cheaper to go with the RKL.

Paranoiattack91 · Mar 4, 2016

russ13 said:

Go with the apex, so much easier once you have it set up. I wish you would have told me that you were considering one when you were at my house, I would have given you the rundown and showed you the app on my phone.

scsmith2002 · Mar 4, 2016

IMO if you have the money the Apex would be the way to go.... It would be something you could take to the next tank or an additional system... Everyone I have talked to that has started with RKL has moved to the apex... They like what the RKL provides but out of frustration and/or need have changed over... Has anyone owned both?

russ13 · Mar 8, 2016

Made my stand for my pump in the ATO reservoir. Kalk should be here Friday

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russ13 · Mar 21, 2016

Good news and bad news
Good news
My SPS are doing great so far. My digi is already growing new little nubs and my Garf Banzi is starting to encrust the plug. I'm already getting coralline growth and my levels seem to be doing good. I picked up an apex Jr with a eb8 for a really good price. I have a pm1 and PH probe on the way. I should have it all set up this week. I picked up a Hanna checker for phosphate and I can't believe I never bought one before. They make testing so easy I think I will order the calcium and alkinity next.
Bad news:
I picked some cheto for my fuge and after I had been in my tank for a while I saw aptasia in it. I didn't even know that aptasia could grow on cheto. Live and learn. So now I have found two in my main display. I'm going to use some kind of aptasia killer to keep it in check but if it gets bad I will look into a filefish or some other means of annihilation.
I'm using the kalk at a very low level until my ph probe comes in then I can increase it until I find the right amount. Also going to start using acropower, everyone that is using it has had great success so I figured I would give it a try. I will update on I start using it with any results. I through some pictures up when I have time

russ13 · Apr 3, 2016

I didn't plan on having an SPS dominated tank but there's so much beautiful stuff out there at great prices. I do have a few zoas and some LPS. Still want to get a few chalices. Really want some my Miami if anybody is cutting one up. Also looking for some sunset monti and rainbow monti. Maybe a few more milli's. Apex is working perfectly and I'm so happy I picked one up. Next project will be putting some fans on the tank and sump to get ready for summer.

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russ13 · Apr 14, 2016

Added a bit more and moved the rock around a bit to get more flow through the back

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xmiles213x · Apr 14, 2016

Looks awesome

Tyrone · Apr 15, 2016

Nice journal. I have a few questions. You mentioned In the beginning, that you were using an "algae scrubber," I don't see it in any of your pics. Also, is it's purpose similar to a refugium?

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christian7144 · Apr 15, 2016

russ13 said:

Good news and bad news
Good news
My SPS are doing great so far. My digi is already growing new little nubs and my Garf Banzi is starting to encrust the plug. I'm already getting coralline growth and my levels seem to be doing good. I picked up an apex Jr with a eb8 for a really good price. I have a pm1 and PH probe on the way. I should have it all set up this week. I picked up a Hanna checker for phosphate and I can't believe I never bought one before. They make testing so easy I think I will order the calcium and alkinity next.
Bad news:
I picked some cheto for my fuge and after I had been in my tank for a while I saw aptasia in it. I didn't even know that aptasia could grow on cheto. Live and learn. So now I have found two in my main display. I'm going to use some kind of aptasia killer to keep it in check but if it gets bad I will look into a filefish or some other means of annihilation.
I'm using the kalk at a very low level until my ph probe comes in then I can increase it until I find the right amount. Also going to start using acropower, everyone that is using it has had great success so I figured I would give it a try. I will update on I start using it with any results. I through some pictures up when I have time

I have the same problem. I found one in my tank n debating to buy apt killer or put a peppermint shrimp n hope he eats it lol live and learn

Tyrone · Apr 15, 2016

I'm new, but I've just read that peppermint shrimps could be of use to controlling aptasia.

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russ13 · Apr 15, 2016

Tyrone said:

I took down the algae scrubber for two reasons.
1: I didn't have room for it. My sump is pretty small and there just wasn't any space for it with all the other equipment. I'm trying to fit one more reactor on the tank now so I can try bio media.
2: salt creep.. The are bubbles create salt creep and I just put in a brand new apex system. Before I had the apex I didn't care much about it but now I don't want to risk getting any on my apex.
A refugium and a scrubber work very similar the difference being one uses macro algae and the other uses micro algae. I think in most cases an algae scrubber will out preform a fuge in exporting nutrients. Micro algae is easier to grow than macro and a scrubber creates a very high oxygen rich environment that helps it grow even faster.

My 60 gallon cube build

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