Planning a 12'' ADA Cube

[nick021892]

Hello everyone.

First off I would like to say that I only have a small amount of experience with saltwater aquariums, since we have only had our biocube 29 set up for about five months now. None-the-less everything is doing great, now that the red algae has been treated, and the fish/corals/shrimp all seem happy.



I recently took down my old eclipse 3 and now with my extra time I would like to set up a 12'' cube.



I really like the ADA aquarium's overall appearance and want to keep the look as "clean" as possible. For this reason I was wondering if a (hide-a-way) Eheim 2215 canister filter (163gph) would be sufficient? I have heard that they can be "nitrate factories", but since I plan on cleaning it every two weeks I don't think that will be a problem. I have seen them run with a few pounds of liverock rubble (is this effective if the inside of the canister has no light???) along with standard carbon/filter floss/ etc. But does that sound like a good plan if I want to keep the tank really clean?

Also I was wondering what lighting would be most appropriate. I found a 36W dual satellite that seems like it would work but it prevents the viewing of the tank from the top and is quite ugly. I also found the Viper 70W MH Clamp-on, which I am leaning towards because it looks a lot better and has more watts, but it seems to have some negative reviews. Anyway, would that be too much light and cause high temps or would it be just right?

[MissT]

First off, welcome to MAAST!

Concerning the lighting question- what kind of corals are you planning to keep? If you only want to keep softies and LPS, the PC light would be okay. If you want to do more demanding corals, I'd look into metal halide lighting.

As far as filtration, the preferred method is running a sump. If that's not an option, and you really want to do the canister filter, pretty much what you described above is the best way with those.

[copperband]

welcome to MAAST and i definetly agree with MissT

[apedroza]

MH is your best bet if you plan on keeping sps. Your only concenr would be temp issues.

[Ross]

I'd drill it and use a 10g sump. It will give you better filtration, more water for more stable conditions, more flow, and it wont be as obvious.

[RayAllen]

Drilling would be the best thing to do. As for lighting a Clamp 70watt MH would be great.

[nick021892]

Thanks for the quick replies. I know that you cannot drill these tanks however and while it has been done its risky. I'm kind of leaning towards the canister like I described above, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should go with the 2217 (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...03&pcatid=3603) since it would hold a bit more water and provide a lot more flow. Does the media I described above sound like a good plan? And will the liverock really be beneficial if kept in there as well?

I also think I'm going to go with the viper, even though I probably won't keep any SPS.

[JimD]

Personaly, I would choose T-5's over PC,s, they last longer and more bang for the buck, the clip on Halide would be even better!

[erikharrison]

Ace's wife has a viper on her tank, and it looks great. You would be fine with a canister, but it would be a pain to do sps with it. Typically in canisters they use some type of biomedia, and I have heard to put live rock rubble in it's place. Personally I would choose as nature has I just had the mechanical filtration (pads) and in the other basket I filled it with carbon, and spread a thin layer of pillow batting over that before securing the lid. It worked great, but it's a mess to clean. If you are up to a rigid maintainence schedule, this tank should be perfect for you. Sumps are easier, and you could glue in an overflow chamber in a corner and do as Ross stated minus the drilling. Sumps are just easier, and you have more versatility. You could set one up in a day with the pressure locking sump baffles. Easy is better for me!

[cpreefguy]

I have always wanted to do a 12" ADA cube, glad someone is doing one!
As Ross said, drilling it and adding a sump will make it a lot more stable and give you more options as to how you want to filter it.
Lighting is going to be the trickiest part since you only have 12" to work with.