Jake's 150 Gallon Cube Build

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I have a Marineland/Perfecto tank with the same overflow setup. Mine did the same thing...it sprayed water all over the place. What I did was made a small rubber plug and jammed up that hole. I have the black locline outlet about 1" below the water (just about even with the bottom of the overflow grate) so when I shut the pump down the siphon breaks there.

If you have the crushed coral mixed all in with the sand, I wouldn't worry about it. The problem is when that's all you use or it's in a pile where it can trap all kinds of crap and possibly start nitrate issues.
 
Last edited:
Some updated photos with 100 pounds of live and base rock. I will be adding a similar stack on the right side, as well as a very small island in the hole near the middle. I wanted the concave look as I think it is the nicest for aquascaping.

There should be lots of room in the middle of the tank for the fish to swim around, plus putting the rock on the back will force the fish to the center of the tank when swimming for good viewing.

img_1082931_0_c6b4f530aa70f653002d0b62f8e244f9.jpg



Now for some questions on hitchhikers. I got the rock at two different places. One place claimed it was live cured rock, which I think they mean came as dry base rock that they let cure for a while. Nothing living on it at all. The other place that I got rock from had so much stuff growing on it I was skeptical if it was a good idea to put it in the tank.

So, here are a few photos of some things that you might be able to help me identify:

This looks like a clump of pink bubble algae. Is my novice guess correct?

img_1082931_1_3e64b35c48349b9457e5c7428f691074.jpg



Then I have these clusters of what look like partially open zoanthids in multiple locations. They have what looks like a stony base, but don't open flat like a zoa. The tenticles open almost straight out of the base and a very short distance. They are densly clumped like you would expect a colony to be. They are brown in color. Any ideas?

img_1082931_2_cad91e01bf0ca6ad746249446766008a.jpg


img_1082931_3_ea48d502f82e36d15459e135f9ec250f.jpg


Last picture out of focus but good for the color. I have multiple colonies of this stuff so I really hope it isn't bad. I know what aptasia looks like, but the base is much thicker than what I have seen with aptasia before, so I am pretty confident that isn't what these are.

Got all of the eletrical done with exception of the ATO. Gotta get some tubing for the little azoo pump.

My protein skimmer should be in by Saturday.

And lastly... my helper telling me where the rocks should go. "A little to the left, no more right":

img_1082931_4_15d2ca7c279ba5d5e917da180211c11f.jpg
 
Yeah, the top is bubble algae. Is the rock small? If it is remove it, and put into a tub of water and scrub it nice and hard with a scrubbing brush or metal scourer. Then rinse it well and I mean really well. If it isn't and it's in the pile and you can't remove it you can pick them off with tweezers (despite appearances, they are actually hard). Be careful not to pop them as that will release spores, which will spread it all around. ;) Not sure but those things do kinda look like Zoos, but then again they don't. They look like a half-breed. :D Sorry I can't help you with them. Nice aquascape, I think it will look pretty good once your done. :D Whats all over the sand? Are they snails?
 
lol, the cat is funny. I like it, but is that the rubble all over the sand? because it looks strange.
 
The red "bubble" algae in the 1st pic isn't the bad valonia bubble algae. It's a type of red macro algae, possibly botryocladia.sp. Some fish, especially tangs eat it. I wouldn't bother it unless it gets out of control. That same rock also has some halimeda.sp macro on the right. It's a calcium based algae in that it uses calcium like corals do.
Here's a good Algae ID page.

The polyps might be zoas or palys.
 
Last edited:
The red "bubble" algae in the 1st pic isn't the bad valonia bubble algae. It's a type of red macro algae, possibly botryocladia.sp. Some fish, especially tangs eat it. I wouldn't bother it unless it gets out of control. That same rock also has some halimeda.sp macro on the right. It's a calcium based algae in that it uses calcium like corals do.
Here's a good Algae ID page.

The polyps might be zoas or palys.

Definately bortryocladia. 100%. Thanks. I am going to do some research on it.

There is a bunch of other stuff in the tank too I am going to try and figure out what it is.
 
Alright its been awhile since I posted an update. So much news.

I got the protein skimmer installed two days ago. Its an Eshopps PSK-200. So far, I really like it. Easy enough to set up, has a small profile, and already it is pulling some yellow/brownish skimmate.

I also purchased another 40 pounds of Bali live rock. That is some great looking stuff. I had to mix it in with the figi and cultured stone I already had, but once mixed up and reaquascaped, I really like how it looks (will post more pictures soon).

I am still using purple up every morning and am seeing coraline growth already. Is that possible? Some of the base rock I have is definately getting pink, and I know it isn't cyno.

Diatoms hit full force, but seem to be dying back now. I pulled what was left of the raw scallop out that I had in there. It was in the way of aquascaping in the back of the tank and when I tried to remove it, it basically fell apart. Thus, I think the cycle will be ending soon.

Have been taking regular tests, and here are the latest results.

PH - 8.0 (little low, need to do a PWC when cycle finishes)
NH3 - .25 PPM
NO3 - 0.0 PPM
NO4 - 15 PPM
PO4 - 0.0 PPM
KH - 7 Degrees (Also a little low, PWC at cycle completion)
Calcium - 540

I expect in a week, maybe 2, the tank will be all ready for the clean up crew. Ill post pictures later.
 
New Photos:

New Skimmer

img_1085716_0_a1a1cdfe4ec82c5abdeb264a8da3e93a.jpg


Overall stand area. Its a tight fit for everything:

img_1085716_1_5796b24cab931528c49305090bb34c8f.jpg


Overall tank with no flash. The 14K HID makes everything look very blue:

img_1085716_2_561465496abac0234e9b851286ad55b1.jpg


Full aquascape with flash on (true color):

img_1085716_3_52d8ef8ead8f8ffb6dcbf8272761c857.jpg
 
I like it as well. That tank is gigantic, and it looks really nice. Love the rockwork. Maybe later on down the road when it's time to replace the bulbs you can get some different bulbs that will make the tank look more white than blue. Assuming you want something different..
 
My wife says "thanks" about the rockwork. She tore down what I had done and redid it. She said mine didnt look fengshui... she is asian. "Whatever" was my response.
 
My wife says "thanks" about the rockwork. She tore down what I had done and redid it. She said mine didnt look fengshui... she is asian. "Whatever" was my response.

HAHAHA!! Just made laugh a little. She definitely has some nice aquascaping skills. You're a lucky man. ;D
 
Nice. She does indeed Zero. Hows the cycle going?

I haven't seen much progression to be honest. I am not sure if the live rock I bought was seeded enough to kick start it and negate the traditional roller coaster sequence, but it appears that way.

I put a live scallop in early last week and never really saw ammonia spike above .5 PPM. Nitrites never registered. Nitrates have been steadily increasing to about 15 PPM as of Wednesday.

I will do another full test today, and I expect ammonia and nitrites to be zero and to see significant readings for nitrates. If so, I will assume that it cycled as much as its going to.
 
Back
Top Bottom