111g Diamond Cube

[InsaneClownFish]

The Build:
111g Cube
40x40x17
Smoked Glass inlay eurobrace
Smoked Glass Corner overflow
2 drains 1 return
Reinforced bottom
Vertical Reinforced Seams
Viewable from 4 sides
2 front panels starphire(90%viewing angle)
Built by CDA

The Stand-
40x40x35 tube steel build by CDA
Custom 4 piece paneling in birch and poplar built and finished by me

Lighting-
Single Philips Coral Care Gen 2
TBD- Kessil supplement
Light box built and finished by me

Filtration-
Bashsea Cube sump
Bashsea Bioreactor
Nyos Quantum Skimmer
Bio pure
Aqua forest and seachem carbon

Flow and return pump- TBD

ATO- Bashsea reservoir and Tunze Osmulator

Temp Control- 3 Finnex Titanium HMA heaters

General Control- shadow boxed DJ switches-TBD

Location- Breezeway

The Goal- LPS Dominated Reef

Enjoy the mock up video. I finished one stand panel tonight(still needs to be sanded and finished).

The Space- more to come!

 

[ReefLegends]

Nice teaser video, I am sad your not using sicce contactless heaters on your build thanks for the phone call last week.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Nice teaser video, I am sad your not using sicce contactless heaters on your build thanks for the phone call last week.

Anytime, it was my pleasure.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[kevgib67]

I was expecting a scary clown to jump out! Looking forward to this build.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I was expecting a scary clown to jump out! Looking forward to this build.

Hah it’s my original handle from reef central

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Before I get into the build, I think it would be helpful to go over my experience in reef keeping, my inspiration for this build, and what brought me to where I am now.

Buckle up and come take a ride with me!

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I’ve kept aquariums for over 40 years, and I’ve kept reef tanks of some sort for well over 20 years.

In that time I’ve owned and set up a variety of reefs, but I really kept three worth mentioning.

My first real reef was a sumpless 40g Breeder with T5s and lots of Live Rock

My next reef was an 8ft shallow acrylic reef that also ran mainly with T5s and a 100g stock tank sump. It also had a show fuge plumbed upstairs into the living room. I lost this tank during Hurricane Irene, and I’ve since installed a generator. The tank saw a few iterations and at one point ran as a giant BTA farm- I had over 45 rose BTAs- if not 60
I broke the tank down after 12+years after it started to form a small corner crack.

My last tank was a 167g CDA
It was a 5.5 foot tank. While it was a beauty of a reef in the making, I decided to break it down and sell it because it just wasn’t meeting my lifestyle, not did it speak to what I ultimately wanted to accomplish.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

My 8ft Softie Reef- affectionately dubbed ICF’s Ultimate 8ft Softie Reef. At one point the yellow Fiji Leather was the size of a dinner plate. I had a Duncan colony that was nearly the size of a soccer ball. The frag came directly from Julian Sprung when he first brought in some Aussie specimens. I believe these were the first Duncans state side. I had a hot pink chalice the size of a small plate, and a massive colony of Anthelia hosting my clowns. I would guess that the Duncan Colony and Fiji yellow were the largest stateside at that point. The tank was featured in Scott Feldman’s talks on aquascraping. Here’s a video of my old reef.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

The learning experience continues-
Here’s my 167g Reef- this was my most recent tank. It was really starting to look nice, but it wasn’t without its problems.
First, the tank suffered from a Valonia outbreak which I struggled to properly quell.
Second, I’m 6’1.5” and I would still need to get on a step stool for most tasks. How I began to miss my shallow reef.
Third, it was the second tank I did in our finished basement, and unfortunately no one saw the tank. So, I struggled to stay connected.
Finally, I feel I rushed some of the little things. It was a nice tank, but I wanted something with a more finished look. I’ll make a very long story short- I got an amazing deal on the tank, so I took it with some “things” I didn’t want- mainly the obnoxious, off center overflow.

This time around, it took me significantly longer to pull the trigger on a deposit because I was very careful with deciding on location, size, and specs.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

It has begun! Cue Mortal Kombat music…

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Gorgeous Sump- Tippy approves

 

[InsaneClownFish]

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I worked a lil bit on the stand skin tonight.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Oh so pretty- I actually wanted the black, but I got such a good deal on the reactor and the sump I’m perfectly fine- it’s growing on me and I like the contrast. They sold out immediately after my order, so I’m sure they sent me what they had.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

A bit more work on the paneling-

 

[Korrupt]

Gonna follow along. Working on a 112G Cube myself. 36x36x20. I almost went CoralCare Gen2 also. Very curious how it works out for you. Light box looks phenomenal btw. Scrolled up looking for a link and saw. Very nice

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Gonna follow along. Working on a 112G Cube myself. 36x36x20. I almost went CoralCare Gen2 also. Very curious how it works out for you. Light box looks phenomenal btw. Scrolled up looking for a link and saw. Very nice

Thank you! At some point I’ll post some pictures of how I built it. The Coral Care Gen 2 are phenomenal lights. The build quality and blanket light are top tier. Zero noise. The only downfall is they are very heavy. It’s been speculated they weigh more than the specs, but I haven’t actually weighed them.

 

[jp_75]

Sweet! What kind of lps you plan to keep?
Btw im getting tank from Cda in December!

 

[InsaneClownFish]

Sweet! What kind of lps you plan to keep?
Btw im getting tank from Cda in December!

Oh very sweet!

So for LPS
Maybe one Torch and one or two hammers

Lots of chalice
Lots of acan lord and micromusa
Some Favia and Favites
Aussie Bowerbanki

Lots of blastos- love them

Wellso, Trac

I’d love to get my hands on some branching chalice again

For softies- Some small leathers and Ricodia- maybe some small flower nems

Might do a WWC Hawaiin Punch BTA