New waterbox 20 cube

Sloth357 · Aug 11, 2021

Waterbox 20 cube
AI prime 16hd
AI Nero 3
Syncra silent 1.0
Aquatop 100 watt titanium heater

Water is going in tonight and kick-starting with one and only. Rock work was done with Marco rock and a hammer. This is 1 of 2 tanks that I'm going to start ( other is delayed till end of month

Cell · Aug 11, 2021

Welcome to the forum!

Sloth357 · Aug 11, 2021

Water in and light is only on to take the picture. Letting dust settle then starting the fun cycle.

Hurricane Aquatics · Aug 11, 2021

Looks great. You're going to love that Nero 3. I have one as well and it's a great powerhead.

Sloth357 · Aug 12, 2021

Jump started this morning and looking clear now. Only dumb question I have is about the water levels in the back chamber. Should all 3 be even or some lower than others?

Hurricane Aquatics · Aug 12, 2021

If your first chamber is your return, second and/or 3rd is skimmer or filter/bio ball media and last chamber is return, they will be staggered. The first return you can't set, the second should be a couple of inches or more below the first and the return (last) chamber should be lower than the chamber before it. So return will be lowest chamber.

If you fill return too much they will all be higher than they should. Not a huge deal, scoop some out of the display and then shut off return pump and let the air burp. Then turn return back on and it will level of you took enough. Might have taken too much and return is low, if so just add to return chamber a little.

When topping off, always add to return chamber where your pump is.

Sloth357 · Aug 15, 2021

Day 4 of one and only.
ammonia 1.5
nitrite 0
Nitrate between 0-5
and ph dropped to 7.6
As far as I've read it's going well. Water did clear up since I started and salinity is staying at 1.025 with top offs of rodi.

Gedxin · Aug 15, 2021

Tank and scape looks good! Excited to see what you stock with. Plans?

Sloth357 · Aug 15, 2021

Plans can change but for now.
1 ice storm 1 black storm clown
1 hector's goby
1 cleaner shrimp
1 nasarius snail
2 trochus snail
1 Halloween hermit
1-2 scarlet or blue

Sloth357 · Aug 15, 2021

As for corals it's going to be mostly softies zoa's, shrooms , maybe a nice leather.

Sloth357 · Aug 16, 2021

Nitrite .25 finally showed up and ammonia 1.5 is holding out. My 130.4 is shipping today too. This weekend will be busy. Hopefully the 20 cube will be cycled by Sunday so I can go to a frag swap near me and pick up something
( starter fish or tester frag.)

Sloth357 · Aug 18, 2021

Day 7 of cycle.
Ammonia 1.5
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 10
Think it's going well. Im hoping to go to a frag show in Lansing this weekend and getting a first fish or hearty coral. Only question I have is should I add anything before a water change? Dr tims directions say add fish and enjoy after cycle for few days but with my pH under 8 it seems better to change first or am I wrong?

Daniel@R2R · Aug 18, 2021

pH below 8 isn't too big a deal. The primary issue will be with any ammonia or nitrites. Let those get to 0, and then do a water change. Dr. Tim's One and Only is a great product. Follow the directions with that, and you should be golden.

commanderwho · Aug 20, 2021

Nice Tank. I hope you get an ATO, it will make your life so much easier. A invert you could add later is a strawberry/tiger conch snail? Since your livestock could change in the future...I recommend a Royal Gramma lol. They go nice with a pair of clowns.

Sloth357 · Aug 20, 2021

The wife already nixed the royal Gramma due to too much purple (she hates purple)..... Kinda limits alot of things. I'm all up for suggestions though. On a side note I got my other tank today and plan to either combine it to this thread or start a new one. Cycle is getting close too.

Gedxin · Aug 20, 2021

Oh bummer at nixing purple, you're really limited on smaller fish options! I just myself got a orchid Dottyback and an Exquisite firefish. Both are purple. A standard firefish is red though, so that's an option.

roosterreefer · Aug 23, 2021

Question about that Waterbox 20 (I'm probably going with that tank myself): Does it look like you could somehow remove the black from behind the center chamber to make it clear glass?