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Journal of my Cube

Bazil

Bazil

Member
Joined
14 Feb 2013
Messages
52
I had this tank made in August 2012. Dragged my feet with it and finally got round to build a bupboard for the tank. So following will be the build.
I used 16mm Supawood to build the bupboard for the cube.
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I built this cupboard 600mm x 600mm x 1m high. Nice height to work in the tank. It is heavy as hell though.
 
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Drilled the holes for the canister pipes.
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Hanged the door to make sure everything aligns well before I put a layer of primer on it
 
Finished cupboard
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Next was a coat of primer. Had to remove the door so I could paint all the corners etc.
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Next stage was starting the spray job. Used 8 cans of Black spraypaint on this one and 4 cans International orange
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After some heavy lifting I got the tank in place.
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Started on some scape ideas
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After some thinking this is what I came up with
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For the carpet plant I chose Utricularia graminifolia. This will be planted on Sunday. At current I have planted some Staurogyne repens, Blyxa japonica and Hairgrass at the back of the rocks. Running a Co2 reactor on the setup now so the difuser is outof the tank. Next on the list is Hydor inline heater, Lilly pipes and kessil 150w Amazon Sun Led. The current light unit is a 28W quad Odyssea unit with 4 8800K T5 tubes. The substrate is Flourite Dark mixed with some gravel.
 
great build cant wait for the UG to get planted and some little critters to get into that tank
 
Yeah me too, been long enough. Not in too much of a hurry but it needs to happen now... Just hope I get the UG to grow. Don't want it to fail like the emersed attempt.:what:
 
Nice progressions there mate, nice little read. I'm currently designing my own cabinet soon. I'll get a journal up soon!

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Thanks. Looking forward to seeing what you have done. Tank already running? Or only starting when the cupboard is done?
 
Bazil said:
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing what you have done. Tank already running? Or only starting when the cupboard is done?
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Taking my time getting it right I have a drawing of my design I whipped up the other day followed but a nice sturdy unit to follow, I went ott with construction as I like bit fattness :) I'll get some photos up to show u later. My mate builds custom furniture for private boats so this was a doddle for him. I designed it he is building it :)

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I was also thinking about my design too.. as you see below I have cut slits into the back of the unit. This is for ease of access with the pipes etc. easily movable and accessible. Are you worried your small circular holes will be enough? here is my sketch drawing :)

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IMG-20130213-WA0032 by Jack Dicker, on Flickr

as you can see I aim to have a sliding top drawer.. Im hoping this is doable but hope its not too much bother, I love how you have painted the inside of your cabinet a real rich tomato red. Im going for a gloss white finish, im trying to imitate the NA 450mm cabinet. I saw it only for about 100 quid but cant bring myself to pay that for it. Was there anything you wished you had of done but is now too late? Im very keen to find out what you recommend?
 
Well basically the holes are twice the diameter of the canister pipes. So no problem moving and I drilled them high enough to fit the canister perfectly. The inside of the cabinet is actually International Orange. Only my sucky phone camera that makes it look red. Nothing I would really have changed on the cabinet except for a shelve inside for the fertz to sit on.

Your design looks great. The other way you can do it is to make the cabinet 100mm longer at the back and drill your holes through that piece. So basically your pipes will go straight up from your canister throught these holes and not through the back of your cabinet.
 
Bazil said:
Well basically the holes are twice the diameter of the canister pipes. So no problem moving and I drilled them high enough to fit the canister perfectly. The inside of the cabinet is actually International Orange. Only my sucky phone camera that makes it look red. Nothing I would really have changed on the cabinet except for a shelve inside for the fertz to sit on.

Your design looks great. The other way you can do it is to make the cabinet 100mm longer at the back and drill your holes through that piece. So basically your pipes will go straight up from your canister throught these holes and not through the back of your cabinet.
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Ohh I really like that idea! I'll see what my Mate can do. It's going in the corner so two touching sides will will have black film backgrounds so either way it will be hidden. But I do like that method. I would like to keep all my options open if I'm ever thinking about moving the tank in the future, or removing the film backing.

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Thanks Ian. I had some UG that I tried to grow emersed. But it melted. So I am really nurvise about the UG as this is a new tank as well.

jack-rythm said:
Ohh I really like that idea! I'll see what my Mate can do. It's going in the corner so two touching sides will will have black film backgrounds so either way it will be hidden. But I do like that method. I would like to keep all my options open if I'm ever thinking about moving the tank in the future, or removing the film backing.

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Click to expand...

Think hat way you can have your tank in the corner. I have seen this done on the ADA style cabinets on the side as well. This way you accentuate the lilly pipes as they sit on the side of the tank and not at the back. Advantage with doing it that way is you have no hardware visible at the back.

You have options. ;)
 
Disadvantage is I would need to clean them every 2 weeks otherwise they will become brown and horrid for everyone to see :(

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jack-rythm said:
Disadvantage is I would need to clean them every 2 weeks otherwise they will become brown and horrid for everyone to see :(
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Ha ha. True. But that's not too much of a hassle seeing they are supplied with the wire brush. I am going to keep my pipes at the back when I get the lilly pipe set. Don't want to put too much attention on any hardware in the tank. That's why I am looking for the Hydor inline heater as well.
 
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