Philfree's 25g Angler Cube Build

philfree · May 27, 2015

Hey Gang!

So i decided to tear down and sell my 10g FW plant tank. Just over it. So in its place i decided to setup a cube tank. The "stand" its on is a dark cherry stained redwood cube chest. About 21x21. It's heavy and super sturdy. Never had any interest in putting anything in the chest so ive always used it as a stand for 10g aquariums.

Heres what i got ordered so far...
-Mr. Aqua 25g cube 18x18x18

-AI Prime LEDs
-25lbs of Key Largo dry rock from MarcoRocks
-Going to use a CPR BakPak i have lying around for a skimmer
-150w Ehiem Jager Heater
-Picking up 40 lbs of live sand from the LFS this weekend

Going to do mostly softies and a few LPS. In fact, i already have a few shrooms and LPS to transfer from my 29g Nem/SPS tank. But mainly this is going to be a home for a Wartskin Angler.
Hope to get wet this weekend

SeahorseKeeper · May 27, 2015

Looking forward to seeing this come together! I love wartskin anglers, but they don't go well with my current tank setups.

Shep · May 28, 2015

This is going to be awesome, what made you want to do an angler tank?

Daniel@R2R · May 28, 2015

Following!

joshbbert · May 28, 2015

Awesome cant wait!

philfree · May 29, 2015

Aquarium, lights, and heater arrived. Filled it up to do a leak check, all seems good. Was able take a couple pics before girlfriend got home. Unfortunately the rock won't be here till tuesday. Was hoping to get wet this weekend after picking up sand, but oh well.

philfree · May 29, 2015

Shep said:
This is going to be awesome, what made you want to do an angler tank?

I had one about 10 years ago in a 30g. Really enjoyed caring for it and keeping it happy. Unfortunately had to get rid of it when I moved up north. I was recently talking to someone about anglers. Googled it for them to show them pics of some. Was thinking about them the rest of the day. Woke up the next morning with ideas.

philfree · May 30, 2015

Things are happening...

SCMatt · May 30, 2015

Very interested in this. I'd like to update my small SPS nano to something larger so I'll have a small cube left over.....this build interests me.

philfree · May 30, 2015

Almost there...

philfree · May 31, 2015

As of last night.

philfree · Jun 1, 2015

Waiting...

philfree · Jun 4, 2015

Alrighty.
Update. Got it all filled up, got the sand and rock in. Thanks to Marco Rocks for the quality dry rock. It was surprisingly difficult to position the rock around in that small of a tank. Had to break a couple pieces. Was mostly looking to build nice little caverns and nooks for the angler to feel comfortable while also creating a good surface for future corals, as well as having good visibility from all sides. Using my old CPR bak pak i had lying around for a skimmer, although not gonna turn it on for a while, but its there. Currently using an Aquaclear to help take out the debris that was blowing around from the live sand and the rock. Will be taking that out soon. Mostly the flow is coming from one Rio 600 pointed at the surface. Will likely replace that with something else, not sure yet. Got some pretty fine sand in there so id have to choose wisely so things dont get blown around too crazy but yet gives a good flow. Also frogfish arent the best swimmers so i dont wanna blow him around too bad. The AI prime is pretty cool, i like it so far. Thats about it for now. Now i play the waiting game.....
LET THE CYCLE BEGIN!!!!!

philfree · Aug 14, 2015

Update.
So I've been flakey on updates. Mainly because I let the tank do its thing. Other than topping off and a WC here and there I usually leave new tanks alone, and let them do their thing. Recently put a few corals in there. Added my sand conch from the 29g nem tank, which has a 1" crush coral substrate. he thrived and seemed happy in there but I could tell he wanted to bury himself but really couldn't due to the coarseness of the cc. Anyways he's now in the cube with sand to bury himself to his hearts desire. Threw a Reef Octopus BH90 on it to replace the CPR bakpak. Night and day difference between the two

. Running BRS carbon in a Aquaclear 30 to keep things clear. AI Prime is running strong. Going to be mainly lps and softies, so it works. There's a small yellowtail damsel in there I used to cycle. Unless he's clever, he's likely to become a meal. And finally, I recently acquired a 2 3/4" yellow wartskin angler. He's doing well so far hasn't eaten, but he's still new and adjusting. I'll give him a few days till I put in a serious effort to feed him.

philfree · Aug 16, 2015

More pics

Tahoe61 · Aug 16, 2015

Very cool. Mr.Aqua makes some nice looking cubes.

WindeyD · Aug 16, 2015

Looking good!

philfree · Aug 17, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
Very cool. Mr.Aqua makes some nice looking cubes.

Thanks!
Yea, I was considering purchasing the "low iron" glass, but the cost was quite a bit higher, and they were sold out at the time. This one is still great. Very impressed with the craftsmanship.