Journal Harry's 18" Cube

[HarryL]

Hi all, I joined the forum not too long ago and recently happens to start another tank, so I think it is good timing to start its journal now and follow along its journey.

Tank: Aquatop ultra clear 18" cube that I got at a clearance sale from LFS(They've discontinued this product at the end of 2023)

Light: Netlea AT545s, I measured 200+ PAR at substrate level with photone app, using 20lbs paper as diffuser.

Substrate: I plan on using small lava rock as the first layer to add height, then cover with Fluval Stratum

Filter: Sunsun HW302 with K1 filter media
Glass lily pipe in and outflow from Temu

CO2: 15lbs cylinder
Fzone Mini Series V3.0
Aquario Neo diffuser

Heater: Eheim jager 125w

Water: Tap water, our tap water is moderately hard, dKH 8, dGH 12, pH 7.8

This weekend, a friend offered to help make a stand since I don't have the tools and space to do it myself.
We used fir 2x4 and pine plywood to make a tabletop and and bottom shelf. Then spray painted the stand with satin black paint.
I intentionally made the tabletop longer (18"x24"), so I have space to work with when I'm maintaining the tank.


This is what it looks like sitting at where I want it, with the tank and light on temporarily. Still need to wait another day for the paint to cure.


I will update next week after I filled in water with hardscapes in. I plan to do a dark start for ~2 weeks before introducing plants. Want to see how that affect the amount of algae I get vs my first tank where I planted on the first day.

 

[Art]

Hey welcome to ScapeCrunch! Thanks for posting the journal. Following along and subscribed!

Love the idea of a ledge that will help with the weekly maintenance. Are you planning on leaving the stand open?

 

[HarryL]

Hey welcome to ScapeCrunch! Thanks for posting the journal. Following along and subscribed!

Love the idea of a ledge that will help with the weekly maintenance. Are you planning on leaving the stand open?

Thanks! Yes I will leave it open, too lazy to put on walls and doors and I'm ok with seeing the equipment below.

 

[HarryL]

So… I put the tank on the stand this morning, and noticed a tiny gap at the very edge between the tank and the stand. The table top is sanded and should not have bumps causing this, so I’m assuming it’s a slight warp on the plywood that’s causing this. Any idea on how to easy fix this?

 

[Schrute66]

My tank came with a dense foam “leveling mat” affixed to the bottom glass. Maybe something like that?

 

[Koan]

Any idea on how to easy fix this

Get a quarter inch neoprene yoga mat and cut a leveling mat out of that.

You absolutely have to have an adequate leveling mat, or your tank will torque.. and shatter
It's not possible to sand flat enough, a squishy leveling mat is a requirement for any rimless tank.

Also, if your tank is bigger than the base, have a piece of Lexan polycarbonate or acrylic plexiglass cut the same size as the tank or larger, to make sure the load is spread correctly.

 

[HarryL]

Get a quarter inch neoprene yoga mat and cut a leveling mat out of that.

You absolutely have to have an adequate leveling mat, or your tank will torque.. and shatter
It's not possible to sand flat enough, a squishy leveling mat is a requirement for any rimless tank.

Also, if your tank is bigger than the base, have a piece of Lexan polycarbonate or acrylic plexiglass cut the same size as the tank or larger, to make sure the load is spread correctly.

I am having trouble finding yoga mats made of neoprene, most are foam or some other materials. I'm thinking of maybe getting one of those large leveling mats made for tanks, but not sure what materials those are. I have an extra yoga mat at home, but its open cell foam and does absorb water, I'm assuming it's not safe to use it.

The tank is the exact same size as the stand, the side glasses are sitting on the side of the bottom panel instead of on top, and they sit slightly higher so they actually won't get in contact with the surface of the stand.

 

[HarryL]

My tank came with a dense foam “leveling mat” affixed to the bottom glass. Maybe something like that?

That's what I am thinking as well, but there are so many different materials out there and I don't know which to trust and get

 

[Koan]

I am having trouble finding

Yes you're looking for something in closed-cell like neoprene, here's an 18" x 1/8" sheet for example or in 3/16"

 

[HarryL]

Yes you're looking for something in closed-cell like neoprene, here's an 18" sheet for example

Thank you, to be on the safe side I went for this

 

[HarryL]

While waiting for the leveling mat to arrive on Wednesday, I continued to work on the hardscape for the tank. I'm happy with placement of the woods already, but not quite sure about the lava stones just yet.

I would be happy to hear some suggestions on how I might place the rocks to make it look more natural and appealing composition wise.

I've also filled up the filter canister. The canister has three compartments, each comes with a layer of filter foam. I placed two foams into the first compartment, K1 media 90% full in the second compartment, and some more K1 media in the third compartment capped with another filter foam. The first compartment is placed at the bottom where the water will flow through first and exit out the third compartment. I didn't fill the K1 media full because I heard allowing the media to move with water flow can increase its efficiency. I guess it doesn't hurt to try!

 

[Kwyet]

I wouldn’t use the filter foam. Sponge would work fine. Filter foam just gets dirty so fast that you’ll be constantly having to open the filter up and replace it.

 

[HarryL]

I wouldn’t use the filter foam. Sponge would work fine. Filter foam just gets dirty so fast that you’ll be constantly having to open the filter up and replace it.

It doesn’t feel like a fine pad, and is on the thinner side. I’m gonna use it first and if it requires frequent maintenance, I will throw them out and switch to coarser sponge.

 

[HarryL]

Terrible rookie mistake today... I left the woods drying for the past couple days(not sure why) and completely underestimated the buoyancy of both woods. I did glue the two pieces together ahead of the time, but was lazy enough not to glue them with the lava rocks.

As I filled the water close to half way, the whole piece of woods floated. In the middle of trying to push them back in the water, I also broke the super glue bonds between the two woods. So I had to drain the water and reconfigure the rocks so that they are in direct contact with the woods and can be glued together to hold them down. It was very difficult to work with because the woods are quite big and there are not much room for my hands to move.

After gluing as many points as I can, I let the glue sit to dry for 20 min before adding water again. This time I only filled 1/3 of the tank. I plan to let the woods soak overnight, then add some more water tomorrow morning to see how it goes. The smaller wood to the left is very buoyant to the point that glue points may be broken, especially with lava rocks being so porous and super glue doesn't work very well on them. If it still floats tomorrow, I would have to figure out another way to do this.

 

[Phish Tank]

I added driftwood for the first time recently, and was surprised how much rock I had to glue to it the get it to sink. Hope yours stays put

 

[GreggZ]

Back when I had some driftwood in the tank I would get a piece of slate, drill a hole in it, then screw it to the bottom of the driftwood. The slate would go under the substrate so not visible. Worked very well.

 

[Koan]

Filter foam just gets dirty so fast that you’ll be constantly having to open the filter up

Another option is to put an aftermarket pre-filter on the canister. Easy to pop off and flush out with every water change, like the built-in one on the Biomaster. NetLea makes one, Aqua Rocks has it

 

[Koan]

completely underestimated the buoyancy

Don't feel bad, I did the same thing with a whole sheet of cork on a back wall didn't quite think that through lol, the result was pretty comical.

Had to pull it out, put on a sheet of plastic backing, and then attach it with that. Lesson learned

If you're not getting the result you want, try burying a big heavy rock in the substrate behind the driftwood, and glue it down to that using cotton batting or cigarette filters. You may have to let everything drain and dry for a day, and use the Gorilla Glue gel rather than the cyanoacrylate liquid because it sticks to wet. It takes longer to dry but it works on wet driftwood.

 

[HarryL]

I added driftwood for the first time recently, and was surprised how much rock I had to glue to it the get it to sink. Hope yours stays put

It’s even been a pain to simply glue rocks onto the wood because I can only do so inside the tank instead of gluing outside. The woods and rocks need to be in a very specific position to not touch the glass and allow room for maintenance.

 

[HarryL]

try burying a big heavy rock in the substrate behind the driftwood

I glued rocks along the wood, but the front of the smaller piece is insanely buoyant. This morning I filled the water close to the half way mark and the hardscape tilted backwards because the front can’t stay underwater. All the rocks came off as well.

I ended up with zip ties but the lava rocks are not very heavy either and doesn’t do great in holding the wood down. I might have to get some more rocks or some metal strips to glue under the wood.