starting an ADA cube

[cranbureefer]

here's my current 10 gallon...

I'm moving across town and getting married in a month. Here's the expected upgrade, an 18" ADA cube:

Here's my thinking on livestock:

transfer all inhabitants (birdsnest, green acro, orange monti cap, gsp, xenia, frogspawn, candy cane, two scolymias, and one newly-purchased clown who is currently in QT)
buy another clown or a six-line, plus a yellow watchman or a midas blenny
add 15 lbs. of live rock (hopefully going to be curing this over the next month on my porch) and about 5 lbs. of live sand
I'll have a total of 25 lbs. of rock and 10 lbs. of sand in the new tank

Here's my thinking on equipment:

closed loop powered by an Eheim 1250 (running my chiller)
2 koralia nanos
2 aquaclear 35's
small cpr aquafuge, powered by a maxijet 600 attached to a surface skimmer
20" 150W sunpod

All equipment will be off the back, which I'll paint black. The aquafuge will sit on a shelf behind the tank, so as not to stress the frameless ADA cube. Don't want any disasters in the new place!

I'm thinking that there might be a mini-cycle when I add all the stuff to the new tank. Should I keep the SPS in the QT tank until things settle, or would it be best to just toss it all in and hope for the best? Should I expect another diatom outbreak? Hopefully there will be no cyano this time... that took a long time to conquer in the 10 gallon!

Any advice or thoughts?

 

[Rehype]

Everything sounds like it going to be great. I really the love the slick look of ADA tanks. Id definitely wait before transferring any of your livestock over. Your more than likely going to have a small cycle so id just wait until all of your parameters are stable. I cant wait to see it filled with water.

 

[cranbureefer]

Thanks, Rehype!

I'm excited too. Glad I have one month of an overlap in my two apartments; gives me a chance to move everything s-l-o-w-ly... I guess I'll start curing the new live-rock soon, then when I move in, I'll fill the tank and add the cured rock and new live-sand, maybe seeded with some of my current sand. Then, the waiting game begins.

I'm trying to find out if the ADA is tempered. With a dry tank sitting here, I'm so tempted to get it drilled and "do it right", but I'm scared. This think was expensive, so I don't want to mess anything up!

 

[Rehype]

Unfortunately you cant drill ADA tanks :'(

 

[cranbureefer]

dang! :'(

 

[cranbureefer]

just got 12 lbs. of sweet liverock from Allquatics. Curing it in a bucket on my porch...

 

[cranbureefer]

Unfortunately you cant drill ADA tanks :'(

Not that I'm a glutton for punishment, but...

I just got an e-mail from the store where I bought my ADA tank. He says that the tanks are NOT tempered, but he had never drilled one and did not recommend doing so. Is he just covering his b*tt, or is there some legit reason why one should not drill these tanks? I recognize that the glass is thin (6 mm), and the rimless construction is precarious, but does anyone have any experience in this?

 

[Rehype]

I think he might be being legit because i have yet to see anyone drill one of those tanks. You know what you should do...email ADA directly and see what they say about it. That way if they say dont do it then you know its because it wont turn out for the best.

 

[MikeNapoli]

I think he might be being legit because i have yet to see anyone drill one of those tanks. You know what you should do...email ADA directly and see what they say about it. That way if they say dont do it then you know its because it wont turn out for the best.

I'm not saying I disagree and I don't want anyone to drill a tank that's not prepared for it. But.....

I did drill my Oceanic 29G Biocube and no one on the internet had done it before. I checked all the nano sites and everyone said they've never done it. I check everywhere for about a month and finally I had someone come by and drill it for me (Tom aka Ligershark). The tank is running just fine... actually I might have to make the drain a bit larger so I can put more flow through there.

But anyway I would agree with Rehype in that you should just call or email ADA direct. But just because it hasn't been done before it doesn't mean you can't be the first.

 

[MikeNapoli]

Also ADA is going to say that they recommend that you dont' drill it. Just ask them if the glass is tempered. If they ask if you are planning on drilling it then tell them the truth but ask if it's tempered first.

 

[cranbureefer]

...email ADA directly and see what they say about it. That way if they say dont do it then you know its because it wont turn out for the best.

I did e-mail ADA directly (well, actually submitted a question on their website), but no reply. They're based in Japan, of course.

Wouldn't they know why you were asking about the tank being tempered? If I was in the aquarium business, and I didn't want people whining to me about cracked tanks, I would tell them that they're undrillable.

Herein lies the problem: no one will tell me for sure if the tank is drillable, and I guess only I can be the guinea pig. $300+ is kind of a lot for a useless cracked aquarium, though. Maybe I should go HOB?

 

[MikeNapoli]

Go HOB to be safe. Nobody wants to throw away $300. I still think that in the meantime you can keep trying to contact ADA. You can try to ask the person that you got it from to call up the ladder and contact someone for you. Not sure how willing they'd be since they've already made the sale. But it's worth a try.

 

[Rehype]

Your right mike its probably possible but ada doesnt want to assume responsibility if something goes wrong. Since i dont own one of the tanks ill just pose a question as a prospective customer and maybe they'll be a little speedier in responding

 

[MikeNapoli]

Your right mike its probably possible but ada doesnt want to assume responsibility if something goes wrong. Since i dont own one of the tanks ill just pose a question as a prospective customer and maybe they'll be a little speedier in responding

That's a good idea.

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

That's a nice tank, but I would get rid of the piece of glass it's sitting on. Water will wick underneath the glass and never dry. It will just turn into a big mess.

 

[vangvace]

I've heard of rumors that it can be done... but have yet to see even a photoshopped peice of evidence to support the claims.

 

[cranbureefer]

That's a nice tank, but I would get rid of the piece of glass it's sitting on. Water will wick underneath the glass and never dry. It will just turn into a big mess.

I will have the tank on a mat over the glass. The glass is there to protect the stand, which is a custom built antique cabinet. I had a 10 gallon freshwater tank on it (that is, on top of the glass sheet) that didn't cause any problems. Think the saltwater will be an issue?

I've heard of rumors that it can be done... but have yet to see even a photoshopped peice of evidence to support the claims.

that's what I hear too: rumors! a guy on RC says that people who drill the bottoms of tanks temper them afterward. Is that possible? I would think not, unless I was then going to resilicone the piece back in.

Probably will do HOB if anything... anyone heard of lifereef overflows? (www.lifereef.com)

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

There are a couple of guys on RC that had their tanks on sheets or acrylic between the tank & stand. They said they regreted doing it because when they spilled or dripped water it would go under the glass and never dry. Salt water will leave salt creep behind after it evaporates as well.

 

[MikeNapoli]

Those lifereef products look just like the ones you can get on dr.fosters. Since Dr.Fosters is a more known company I'd just go with them. Just my 2 cents.

 

[vangvace]

Those lifereef products look just like the ones you can get on dr.fosters. Since Dr.Fosters is a more known company I'd just go with them. Just my 2 cents.

Chances are any of the local fishstores could order one in for you. Heck they may even have some in stock already.


If you're a DIYer you could make one like the one you linked.