# 30 Cube Construction journal - Updated 04/04/2006



## Guest (Feb 22, 2006)

I traded in some Xenia corals to a LFS and picked up this nice 30 gallon cube with stand. 

Of course with all the bad influences around here I decided to ruin it by drilling holes and gluing stuff inside! I will post some pictures and try to keep this updated with my progress. I think it will make a nice new home for my Azureus and his mate to be.

First shot, I have silicone coated the back, sides and front.










Uh oh! Someone has a drill!










Not bad for my first glass hole










Three holes made.










First setback. I siliconed in a plate of glass just inside the front to try a vapor barrier. Through discussions it seems the vapor barrier that I was attempting to build will not work. 

Tonight I will pull out that pane and hope to start in on adding bulkheads and a false bottom.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

What's that attachment called for your drill? Where did you get it? I've been looking for something like that. Does the bottom part suction to the glass?


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2006)

It is a drill guide from Sears. 

It doesn't have suction cups, just 4 small rubber feet and a handle.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...73000&subcat=Drill+Doctor+&+Drill+Attachments


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Did you have any problems with the glass plug "splintering" the glass of the tank as you were finishing the hole? I'll try to find a link with a picture. I've heard this can be an issue but your plugs look clean so I wanted to know what/if you did anything to prevent that.



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## fleenor1 (Feb 18, 2005)

What is the Silly Putty used for?


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2006)

I think the main reason why I didnt have any splintering was the layer of black silicone on the inside held the glass in place even after the cut was complete.

As far as the silly putty goes, I used it to make a moat to hold water around the drill bit to keep things cool. It was an easy pick for being non-toxic and highly shapable.


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

Good call on the silly putty. I would have never thought about that. I used to use clay. I would shape it in a rope fashion and then make a circle out of it (''the moat''). You fill this with water and then make your cut. This is much easier and cleaner than the old backyard hose method.

-J


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## DaSlackMan (Feb 3, 2006)

Nice tank. I have that exact same drill guide and tank. Though my 30g Oceanic cube is being used as a saltwater reef tank. I personally don't have the confidence to drill glass without using one. It looks as if you made a pretty clean cut...


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

First where they heck did you find Silly putty? 

I use duct tape on the inside prior to my drilling. Also for anyone doing a number of more holes a drill press is a great investment. Most drills will not run at a low enough speed to do the job just right which can wear out the bit very early. For glass you want to be 300rpms or lower.

As for the fogging take a small piece of pvc at and "L" and then cut a whole in the plastic in the back and silicone it in. Then add screen over both ends that will not allow ffs. Then buy a 40mm computer fan and put it on the outside with a AC\DC converter slowing it down to about 1/4 or less speed. Oh ya make sure to angle the PVC to the center of the glass on the inside. Put this on your light timmer and you will have fog free glass. The key is to keep just enough airflow to keep the fog off. you can limit this on the pvc with tape or anything that can block 3/4 of it. So thats a very small fan at 1/4 power, and then letting in about 1/4 of that air. Just a very small breeze that works very well on fog.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2006)

Silly putty, I picked up at our local hobby chain "Hobby Lobby"

I'm going to be running an aquarium air pump and line inside with nozzles pointed at the glass to try and control condensation. 

Duct tape would have been a good idea, though I was fortunate that the silicone was already there to hold the plugs from breakin under its own weight and falling in.

I am terrified of trying to use a fan for ventilation.  

Not much accomplished tonight. I pulled out the second glass pane and cut eggcrate for the bottom. My light kits and bulkhead fittings should be in by Friday. The rest of the landscape material should be in sometime next week.


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2006)

Oak canopy after 4 coats of stain


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2006)

Nice job on the canopy, do you plan on adding a fan to it to vent out the heat?


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2006)

Yes the canopy has a fan.

Heres the latest progress.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2006)

oooh, looking good


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## Juan-Carlos (Jan 14, 2006)

Looking great!! 
I'm working on a Oceanic 30 cube at the moment aswell, I've been giving myself a headache OR debating for a few days now heh, Where to drill the tank, and what bulk heads to use.

For my 30, I have planned:

A drain (1/2") bulk head
A closed loop with a Mag 2 pump for a water feature (two holes one under the drain, and one up top for the water return) I was debating making a top hole for the return of the pump with a John Guest 1/4" bulkhead fitting. In that case reduce the output of the pump to a 1/4" John guest, and have 1/4" tubing in the tank directing the water instead of 1/2" PVC. This will vut some flow, but I dont want splashing anyways, so it would better this way.

At the same time, I was kind of debating making the drain a 1/4" john Guest bulk head... i'm so undecided here on this.... the tank wil have a mist king mister which will top off the evaporation.

Are you going to have any other ventilation in the tank other than the air pump? I was thinking of useing a small 2" comp fan that is not too strong as to dry out everything but wil give nice circulation inside the terrarium.

Do you know if the top lid is drillable?

I'd love to chat with you about this setup if you can message me you'r AIM screen name or MSN messenger Screen name.

Any advise any one can give would be great!!


PS. Xenia huh?! what type of corals do you keep? if you have frogs breeding and have froglets, i'd love to trade you for Rare frags Zoo's, SPS, or LPS. Check out what I have here http://www.ReefEnvy.com That goes for any other reefers out there 

Kindest Regards,

Juan-Carlos Munoz
Miami, Florida
AIM: Cujox7


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2006)

Juan-Carlos said:


> Are you going to have any other ventilation in the tank other than the air pump? I was thinking of useing a small 2" comp fan that is not too strong as to dry out everything but wil give nice circulation inside the terrarium.


I'm working this out now. I have a humidity temp logger and will be adjusting the ventilation to suit a stabe environment




Juan-Carlos said:


> Do you know if the top lid is drillable?


No I don't. I cut my own



Juan-Carlos said:


> I'd love to chat with you about this setup if you can message me you'r AIM screen name or MSN messenger Screen name.
> 
> Any advise any one can give would be great!!


Im open to questions in the forum, I dont have MSN or AIM.



Juan-Carlos said:


> PS. Xenia huh?! what type of corals do you keep? if you have frogs breeding and have froglets, i'd love to trade you for Rare frags Zoo's, SPS, or LPS. Check out what I have here http://www.ReefEnvy.com That goes for any other reefers out there


Ive got a 120 that is a plauge of pulsing pink xenia, only exteremely aggressive LPS corals have survived the choking pink mass. But its quite lucrative.


Heres the latest shot of the tank, Im waiting on more plants today.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2006)

Complete. As soon as I am sure of the environment stability I will add my frog.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> I have a humidity temp logger and will be adjusting the ventilation to suit a stabe environment


SERIOUSLY coulda fooled me. I'd digress but this is a family forum. 

Looks great.



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## Juan-Carlos (Jan 14, 2006)

Looking Great!!

Could you shoot some pics of the back plumbing, and maybe the bottom of the front, to see how the false bottom looks. 

What species are you going to keep in there? They sure are gonna be happy! lol

Regards,

Juan-Carlos Munoz
Miami, Florida


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2006)

I will try to find a spot to host a picture of the back plumbing, I'm out of space in the gallery. 

As far as the false bottom goes, you cant see into it. I squared a layer of black silicon at the front bottom so you cant see in.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

http://www.imageshack.us Free and no bandwidth limits.



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## Juan-Carlos (Jan 14, 2006)

Cordite said:


> As far as the false bottom goes, you cant see into it. I squared a layer of black silicon at the front bottom so you cant see in.


NICE! Thaks for that idea, I'mdeffinatly going to try that. How deep did you make your false bottom? 

Kindest Regards,

Juan-Carlos Munoz
Miami, Florida


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2006)

Thanks!


Here is the back before I put on the vinyl 1/2" feed from the pump.

On the back top, the white striped hose is the mist feed.
The bottom black hose is the drain. And the white fitting is the waterfall feed.

The waterfall is hard to see in the full shot as it comes out in the dark area beneath the ghostwood.









Here is a full shot of the tank with false bottom in. There is about 3 inches between the eggcrate and the bottom glass.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Wow! It came together VERY nicely!


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2006)

Dang-ya didn't waste any time gett'N this viv together! It looks good.


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## Juan-Carlos (Jan 14, 2006)

Awesome! Thanks for those pics buddy! 

Regards,

Juan-Carlos Munoz
Miami, Florida


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

Make sure you have good air movement or those T. usenoides and other Tilly's may not make it.

Looks Awesome!

-J


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## Jesse (Sep 19, 2005)

*Great viv...........*

GREAT VIV  Especially for your first one...

Jesse


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2006)

Is there any way you could post a picture of you water feature?
Thanks


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2006)

The T. usenoides was already dead, I bought it in the dry bag form.



froghopper13 said:


> Is there any way you could post a picture of you water feature?
> Thanks































I just got a couple Leptotes Bicolor today. Now to find some room in there!


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

Pic as of 4/1


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: 

WOW!!!! That looks GREAT!!! Nice work!!


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

MAN I LOVE CUBES!!!! They seem to be so suited for frogs. Here's the 50g cube I just picked up. Pretty soon I'll get busy with this beast. BTW I'm a huge fan of mossy clearings. GOOD JOB!


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## Jesse (Sep 19, 2005)

*WOW*

Wow the tank relly looks good  

Jesse


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

Cordite- That is beautiful!!! I love the way you set that up!


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

awesome, cant wait to see how the neew tank comes out!


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