Deane's Waterbox Frag 105.4 Build

[dcal1985]

It's pretty basic but I really love this green monti!

 

[Sgchick]

So pretty!!!

 

[Sgchick]

I'm waiting on the same tank! How many pounds of sand did you buy? I plan on a blue star leopard wrasse later on and they like to sleep in the sand.

 

[dcal1985]

I'm waiting on the same tank! How many pounds of sand did you buy? I plan on a blue star leopard wrasse later on and they like to sleep in the sand.

Sweet! Let me know when you start a build thread for it and I'll follow along.

I believe it was 60 lbs of the special grade live sand from Caribsea. My bed is a little bit on the smaller side though, so you might want 80.

 

[Sgchick]

Great!!! Thanks!! And I'll let you know when when I start a build thread!

 

[dcal1985]

This is my first RFA and I had initially placed it in an area with a decent amount of light. It stayed there for a week or two but eventually decided to wander to this shadier spot by a rock. It was really cool to watch it search for a location.

 

[Maxcmo]

Great!!! Thanks!! And I'll let you know when when I start a build thread!

Congrats I have built one as well and I am going to give you my biggest 2 cents in regards to my build....keep your scape low or raise up the cabinet about 6" if possible I had trouble seeing the back of my scape and I am only 5'10" I had to bend down so I literally just redid my entire scape which I have not posted about yet and sorry to derail this thread but had to throw this in here so you dont make the same mistake since the frag is only 16" tall.

 

[dcal1985]

Congrats I have built one as well and I am going to give you my biggest 2 cents in regards to my build....keep your scape low or raise up the cabinet about 6" if possible I had trouble seeing the back of my scape and I am only 5'10" I had to bend down so I literally just redid my entire scape which I have not posted about yet and sorry to derail this thread but had to throw this in here so you dont make the same mistake since the frag is only 16" tall.

Thanks for the heads up! I definitely tried to keep it on the lower side...hopefully that's enough. I am also about 5'10".

 

[dcal1985]

Got my first (of many I'm sure) order from @Battlecorals and I'm super impressed. Can't wait to get these guys acclimated and in their permanent locations.

 

[dcal1985]

I haven't posted a full tank shot in a while so figured I'd provide an update. I'm pretty happy with parameters right now other than some low nitrates/phosphates. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to add a couple more fish. Any suggestions?

ph: 8.1
alk: 8
nitrate: 0-3
phosphate 0.02
calcium: 440
magnesium: 1450

fish:
3 chromis
1 tomini tang
2 clownfish
1 royal gramma

 

[Sgchick]

Looks great! Love your scape! What fish are you thinking about adding?

 

[dcal1985]

Looks great! Love your scape! What fish are you thinking about adding?

Thanks! I’m not sure for fish honestly. Possible a couple of cardinals but I’m totally open to suggestions.

 

[Sgchick]

Love the wrasse family. Leopard wrasse?

 

[dcal1985]

This has been a really rewarding hammer coral. When I bought it a little over a month ago it was brown and quite small. The first placement was a bit too intense and it bleached a little, but after moving to the sand it has grown a ton and taken on a really nice green color with purple tips.

 

[dcal1985]

Just a couple of new additions from @Battlecorals.

 

[Maxcmo]

Just a couple of new additions from @Battlecorals.

Looks great have you resolved your low nutrient levels? I am adding a wrasse to deal with some flat words and also get nutrients up but after that I am pretty much at my limit I think at least with space not bioload for fish and still struggling to keep nitrates up. I am dosing NeoNitrates which has been helping keep me around .5 - 1.5. and I have my skimmer off which I only run every other day for the night. I have also dialed back the refugium lighting I may drop another few hours from there as well.....its only going to get worse I am thinking once all the coral really starts to take off.

 

[dcal1985]

Looks great have you resolved your low nutrient levels? I am adding a wrasse to deal with some flat words and also get nutrients up but after that I am pretty much at my limit I think at least with space not bioload for fish and still struggling to keep nitrates up. I am dosing NeoNitrates which has been helping keep me around .5 - 1.5. and I have my skimmer off which I only run every other day for the night. I have also dialed back the refugium lighting I may drop another few hours from there as well.....its only going to get worse I am thinking once all the coral really starts to take off.

I've gotten them up a bit without adding any more fish...just feeding more. Phosphate is now more consistently at .03 and Nitrate around 3. I think I'll likely go the wrasse route when I find one locally. Shipping has been getting pretty unpredictable as we near the holidays.

 

[Sgchick]

I worked for Fedex for 24 years as a driver and I always hated this time of year!! So much better now...hahaha..Love seeing both your tanks...finally started a build thread, but not much done yet. Have someone coming tmw to help with cabinet. It should move along a little faster after.

 

[dcal1985]

I worked for Fedex for 24 years as a driver and I always hated this time of year!! So much better now...hahaha..Love seeing both your tanks...finally started a build thread, but not much done yet. Have someone coming tmw to help with cabinet. It should move along a little faster after.

Oh awesome, I'll follow along!

 

[Eric R.]

Following, looking like a great start to your build so far! Not sure what the selection is usually like at Pet Advantage, but I'm planning to get a pink streaked wrasse myself once my build is complete. Have heard very good things about them, that they are well behaved and are good at pest control, plus I think they are a nice looking fish.