Falcon's Magnifica Cube.

[Falcon]

Hey guys decided the kitchen nano just wasn't cutting it anymore and the wife wanted more fish,lol I didn't need to be told twice

I love anemones,specifically the notoriously difficult magnifica's and since I have been keeping two for a while now successfully in my other tank I decided to give them a much safer home,suited to their needs,even if they decide to wander around.

I also love angels,so no risk of them nipping magnifica's,this tank will hopefully also house the fish that drew me into marines over six years ago.When I acquire one I'll fill you guys in for now it will be the mystery fish in the tank.

As for corals,well I'll try a few SPS and if they get nipped then I guess its bye bye SPS.

I'll also put in a few random mushrooms,rics,and softies and if they get nipped then tough luck they can also go.

 

[Nsteyn]

So its starting!

Let me know if you need a hand to hold on to something!

Cant wait.

 

[Falcon]

The tank itself:specs

I live in a flat unfortunately so space constraints meant that I was limited on size.
I found that the door way between the lounge and dining room was hardly ever used since they both have access from the passage,this was going to be the spot.

The tank dimensions are as follows:

80cm x 80cm x 65cm = 416lt and the sump would add in another 112lt so a total system volume of around +-500lts after water level losses.

I am relatively tall at 1.8m so I don't like to bend down to see a tank nicely hence I decided to make the stand a bit higher than regular at 1,1m high.
This also puts different perspective on things when you sitting as the fish now are above your level and I like this effect.

I'm still busy deciding on things like lighting and filtration etc but it will be a Low nutrient system and therefore I am leaving out a dsb this time although I believe they are quiet useful for low maintenance/bio load tanks.

I will most likely go for an over rated skimmer and 20000k mh lighting as I like the look of it and having a small footprint means that it will be easy to get access to the tank without moving it out of the way for feeding etc.

 

[dallasg]

Sounds exciting! My nano is made for nemmies, I use a SWCD for flow so now impellers
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[Falcon]

So its starting!

Let me know if you need a hand to hold on to something!

Cant wait.

That didn't sound right lol but ya I'll take you up on that offer sometime,thanks buddy.
Come around when you have some time....

 

[Falcon]

Sounds exciting! My nano is made for nemmies, I use a SWCD for flow so now impellers
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Thanks boet,yes I am excited also!This is actually the first marine tank I'm not getting second hand so everything can be done to my specs and thats cool :yeahdude:

As for making it nennie safe Ive come up with a nice idea together with Ernst at my LFS.Also trying to get him as a sponsor here as he has helped me alot in the past also.

Basically what happens with anemones is when they decide to wander they inevitably let go and drift into the current which always goes back to a pump inlet or an overflow.
The only way to stop this is make a box around the pump so that there isn't concentrated flow in any specific spot that can drag them in.

So what we have done is create a false back to house the flow pumps and overflows....BUT....instead of only being fed by a coast to coast overflow we've also incorporated slits into the back glass to create various inlets with very very low suction power,this should mean that there is no place that could overwhelm a wandering nemmie in the tank.

I'll post some pics later to show what I mean.

 

[dallasg]

Sounds cool, I will post a link to mine and the swcd when on my pc

That should work well, also if it stays there it won't stop the flow
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[Falcon]

Here are two sketch ups of what it should resemble from each ot the rooms,the tank will have three viewable sides effectively.

 

[dallasg]

Lighting? Filtration method?
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[Falcon]

Lighting? Filtration method?
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You want method to the madness?lol I havent gotten around to that yet...still two minded about alot of things...lighting will be either a 400w mh or a 250w with 2 x supplimental t5's to give more contrast in the 10000k range.(which will be enough for the magnifica's as they settle on higher rocks usually-so it will be directly above it,i'll set scaping with this in mind).

As for filtration,well Ive always used liverock/skimmer/dsb/gfo combo to keep corals happy and healthy,but with moderate to low skimming.Here i'll be skimming more agressively and live rock will be very open and sparse so I may add bio balls or something else to aid with aerobic filtration and as far as conrolling nitrates and phosphates well the jury is still out on NP pellets which seems to be the way i'm headed...

But since I'm two minded about filtration I will even go barebottom in the beginning and keep my parameters in check with water changes(very unlike me) until I settle on what I want.

 

[Kunhardt]

sounding good Ahmed...hope that orange isnt an actual depiction of your wallpaper though...

 

[Falcon]

thankfully not!I would have to wear sunglasses indoors then

The wife was just messing around with sketchup and i was too lazy to change it back to the standard white..

 

[Tremayn]

howmuch would a tank like that, stand and sump cost Falcon? A mate of mine is dying for a cube

 

[Falcon]

Not sure of costs yet as I'm still setting it up,will let you know once I have everything in place...basically I haven't even set up a budget lol.

 

[robertkukla]

i will be tagging along

 

[Falcon]

thanks for the interest guys,Hoping it will be worthy.

I'll post some progress pics later....some stuff has been done already.

 

[Nsteyn]

Cant Wait!

 

[KeeganP]

also cant wait to see....

 

[maxisoft]

Interesting... tagging along on this one...

 

[Falcon]

So the stand was done a few weeks ago and I made it to fit flush between the entrance,so at first it could not fit due to a few millimeters of the tiles edging.

the stand

the problem edging and wires...after this pic i took to a chisel and hammer to get it out.

and the stand in its place...waiting.....

I'm slightly concerned as the tank is made to fit as flush as the stand and as you can see the wall has little concrete dimples which if the glass gives enough way in the center once water is in could result in a pressure spot if the glass touches these dimples,so i might have to put something as a filler in between the tank and wall but lets see what happens when its filling up,then i'll decide if I need to take further action.