# 60 Gallon Cube Build



## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

cool!! Do you think the 1 ray 2 will be enough light? 24 inches is pretty deep


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

I am concerned somewhat about the amount of light from the single ray2 and might purchase another Finnex LED light to supplement it. I have a dual t5 fixture I could supplement in the meantime from the 25 gallon tall I am breaking down.

Right now I think I have hit the max on number of aqauriums my wife can deal with. So I'm sticking with upgrading them from here on out. 
So the biggest issue is the game of musical chairs/aquariums I am trying to orchestrate. This tank is going in my great room as it complements the 150 gallon (24"x48"x30"tall) with a similar black stand on the other side of the cut out that opens to the kitchen. Currently there is a 20 gallon long there with Kribensis. I'll be moving that upstairs where the 25 tall is currently setup. All the fish (cardinal and rummy nose tetras will move to the new tank) and most of plants as well (rotala indicus, amazon frogbit (I've never seen anyone else with this large of amazon frogbit), pennywort, dwarf hair grass, and java fern). Most likely some of plants will go elsewhere, or to some of my smaller tanks that are waiting to be setup.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Welcome to TPT!
Following this as I just set up the same sized tank.
I have a feeling a single Ray 2 will not be enough as I get ~24 PAR at substrate from 4*t5ho.

v3


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

datsun,
I also see you are in columbus. I used to live in dublin but now live in canton. I used to love to go into aquarium adventure store is it still open? That was a nice fish store and usually had a good healthly selection, or at least they did 5 years ago.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Carpalstunna

Aquarium Adventure is still open for sure. Fairly expensive still, but they're worth the price and occassionally have good sales. I got that Fluval 406 for $140 or so the other week. 

I interned for a small company in North Canton several years ago and have quite a bit of family in the area. I personally prefer Columbus. Are there any good shops up that way. I know towards Cleveland there are quite a few store I would like to check out.

If you are free this Saturday the local fish club is holding their auction. You can get some amazing deals on some awesome fish and plants.

OVT,
I felt like I would be short in the amount of light. I would like to keep with another Finnex product to match aesthetically. Should I just keep it balanced with another Ray2 or would a FugeRay or MonsterRay complement it better?


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

datsunissan28 said:


> Carpalstunna
> 
> Aquarium Adventure is still open for sure. Fairly expensive still, but they're worth the price and occassionally have good sales. I got that Fluval 406 for $140 or so the other week.
> 
> ...


oh ya they arent cheap but they usually have pretty healthy stock. I also prefered columbus, but work and family brought me back. I have found NO good stores up here but havent ventured into cleveland on the search much. 

I would come down to the auction but Im gonna be in NYC. I am in shopping mode again to set up a new tank so I am on the hunt for stuff. Seriously considering 2 finnex ray 2 for my 55 gallon.


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## ganglere (May 7, 2013)

datsunissan28 said:


> If you are free this Saturday the local fish club is holding their auction. You can get some amazing deals on some awesome fish and plants.


This sounds awesome. Do you have a link?


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

http://www.columbusfishclub.org/auction_fall.php

Here you go for our local auction. If external linking to this is not allowable, I apologize and I will remove it. 

Did not get a chance to work on the new aquarium other than sizing the return and Loc Line.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

datsunissan28 said:


> ...
> I felt like I would be short in the amount of light. I would like to keep with another Finnex product to match aesthetically. Should I just keep it balanced with another Ray2 or would a FugeRay or MonsterRay complement it better?


IMHO, at least another Ray 2 for sure. Based on the plants and colors you want, ANOTHER MonsterRay in the middle might be in order.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=383889


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

That's some great information. I had never seen the PAR value with combination. I will go ahead and order another Ray2. Once I have it up and running I will keep the Monster Ray in mind as some of colors are amazing in that thread.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Tank is finally in place. Trying to juggle my job, graduate school, and my mother-in-law visiting put a delay on setting things up.

I used three and half bags of Eco-complete and have one more leftover for other projects. Since this will be viewed from two sides equally I sloped the substrate to the back corner with the overflow. 







By chance I stopped by my lfs right when the plants were delivered, so the HC was in prime condition.





Should I spread it into smaller lumps?







The top is currently saran wrapped to hold in moisture. 

This brings me to where I need some help. This is my first aquarium with CO2. I received the following in a trade and would like to know what I can use and what else I will need to purchase.

I appear to have a Mr Aqua MA 002 diffuser and MA 001 Glass Bubble Counter





A glass drop checker (4dkh bottle not shown)



And then this tank, regulator and solenoid.







The tank is empty, not sure on if the regulator works, the solenoid sounds likes it works when I plug it in. I don't see needle valve. I have one check valve and no tubing. 

Any recommendations on how to make this work for this 60 gallon cube will be appreciated, and I am open to buying all new if necessary.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nice tank and setup so far. That co2 tank and regulator looks vintage. I wouldn't know how to inspect it properly for safety. You probably should have a pro look at it and pressure test it or something.

When in doubt, I'd just buy a new co2 system. Like a GLA or Aquatek would be good.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

I think the HC has taken root and seems to be growing ever so slightly now. I have two Finnex Ray2s on there this week. They really are so much brighter than the current satellite plus I have on another tank. 




I did end up purchasing a new regulator/solenoid setup as I was a bit worried about accuracy with the current one. I will probably use the older one on a smaller setup with a paintball tank as it already appears to have some type of adapter 
(though it may be a European thread to CGA 320 adapter). 



I could not find anywhere close by that fills CO2 outside of M-F 8-5 so my wife graciously had it filled for me even though she was afraid it would explode the entire time she was driving with it. I got it filled at ABCO - they do fire protective systems and are located over by 161 in Westerville. They were very nice to my wife and she was able to use a fire extinguisher. I'm guessing they don't get a whole lot of ladies visiting.

I'm planning on adding some of the plants I purchased on the auction tonight and flooding the tank. I really like how the blyxa japonica is looking and it should really flourish with CO2.

Fish wise I can not wait to add the angelfish to this and get them out of the quarantine tank. They seem to have amazing personalities.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Got it all filled tonight. Only one section of HC did not stay rooted. I'm pretty happy with how it looks right now. I'm hoping it cycles quickly as the filter has already been running for over two weeks, but only in the overflow chamber.

Some items I still need to address are adding a prefilter over the intake as I don't want any fish getting pulled in if they make it into the overflow box. I need to fix how much water is flowing through where the loc line outputs are as I would like to raise the water line more. Lastly I think I need a better diffuser. Right now it seems quite a bit it just making it to the surface.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Chugging along. Interesting to see how HC will do in a 24" deep tank under Ray2 x 2.

v3


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Some updated pictures. I noticed some pearling yesterday on the blyxa and HC which I'll take as a good sign. I don't believe the reagant is working in my drop checker. It stays the same shade of light blue all the time. I'll be testing to see when cycling is completed. Also I am still looking into a better way of dissolving the CO2. Can I run an inline system attached the output of the canister filter? The only issue is it would have to be submerged in the overflow box.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

I've had some issues with getting a consistent day after day bubble count from my CO2 setup. The first week or so was fine; however, when I came home from a small weekend trip yesterday no CO2 was coming out. The lower pressure gauge seems to bob back and forth between 10 and 15 psi. Is this too low?

Some updated shots. I have a few Corydoras and Otos in there for five days and all water parameters are reading great other than the pH is a little more basic than I would like at around 7.5 which isn't bad for my tap water. I might have to look into RO system down the road.

Finally found the charger for my camera. So here a some photos not from phone.






I hope to start moving some more fish tomorrow. I am attempting to not overload the filter/bacteria by adding too much of a load all at once.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Fully stocked and looking back at the pictures the HC is definitely growing.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Some other projects.

Moved the Edge upstairs and setup for shellies



This is phase 1 of my next project. The plan is to build a single stand that will display my 12 gallon long, this new rimless tank, and a matching derimmed 10. 
Onto the pictures. I still need to setup the filter, co2 and heater.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Update. Two Ray2s are definitely sufficient to grow HC with a 24" depth. Definitely having some algae issues, but that is more of my father grossly overfeeding while I was out of town for a week and half and no water change (I guess hiding the extra food outside of the daily rationed pill container in the kitchen cabinet was not a good enough hiding space).

All of the photos are really washed out regardless if I use my camera phone or the point and shoot camera I have. I tried adjusting the shutter speed, but that only helped so much.

I really enjoy the view from the stairs and it really makes having rimless worth it.









My favorite angel


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## Bluebugs (May 1, 2013)

Beautiful! I think this is a wonderful lay-out.


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## vcp05 (Nov 15, 2013)

Outstanding!! Looks so alive and the fish so happy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks. I'm hoping to get all the algae under control. I increased the bubble count on my CO2 and all the new growth has been free of it.


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## datsunissan28 (Sep 27, 2013)

Alright here is an update. I took these this morning, before a 50% water change. I really need to trim everything. One nice thing is the overgrowth of stems has really cut down on the algae, plus the addition of 5 nerite snails a few weeks ago helped. Still fighting the BBA on Amazon sword. 









Pair of Gold Rams added two weeks ago. 









I'm really happy with how this tank is maturing. I do need to refill my CO2 tank already, but I fortunately had a backup paintball setup I could throw on temporarily.


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## 1995db7 (Jan 4, 2012)

tank looks amazing


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

So you have ottos, cories, rummynose tetras, cardinal tetras, angels, and a pair of gold rams? Nice. Very pretty tank!
Have you considered a twig catfish? They're really cool fish, very peaceful, and though they aren't too active they do tend to sit out in the open. I suggest looking them up to see if you like them.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Twigs are a cool fish, but regardless, I like your tank, although you maybe should trim it up a bit


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