New Waterbox Frag 105.4 Build

[elorablue]

23 days to cycle using Frtyz Zyme fishless fuel and and export media brick soaked in Microbacter 7 and daily doses of the same. Waiting to get a little more established to put in the Tangs and turn on the lights.

Question: one mega water change or wait til my nitrates drop on their own. Refugium is up and running…

currently 20ppm

At 20 ppm and definitely finished the cycle I would do your big water change and start adding some fish. Sounds like you’re all set!!

im seriously considering this tank or the 85 as I like the long and low look.

 

[Maxcmo]

Honestly I bought it bc at the time I ordered it was one one of the few options available but I am glad I did the look is amazing. Little shallow so keep that in mind tho but great for a lagoon look.

 

[dcal1985]

I also worked on the ATO after having left town last weekend. The water in my Waterbox sump evaporates out of the ATO reservoir in almost 4 days. No good I don’t want to be tied down to just 4 days so I ordered the Tunze switch, a float valve, and plumbed my RO water right into the sump into the return chamber. I have a 40 gallon water tank in the garage that I fill overnight and then shut off the RO to avoid TDS creep and to be able to monitor the filters, etc. I purchased an RODI system from BRS and it was incredibly easy to get this plumbed under my garage utility sink and then plumb it into my water tank. The water feeds into my sump using gravity coming out of the bottom of the water tank across and eventually thru my wall along the baseboard. I used clear tubing and held it in place using electrical cord clips in white to match my baseboards.

I strapped all my cords together for now this will be a future project to clean this up but for now its organized enough for me for now…. I am not a fan of having additional cabinets or what not when this tank is closed I want it to look as clean and pretty as possible so I need to find a solution for these cords at some point.

I pretty much followed the BRS guys recommendations in terms of using the Tunze ATO which has 2 sensors as well as the float valve. I also added a water sensor alarm which seems like a simple way to be alerted should something leak.

Do you plan on using the build in ATO chamber for anything? I just purchased this tank as well and I'm thinking about doing something similar to your setup.

 

[Maxcmo]

Do you plan on using the build in ATO chamber for anything? I just purchased this tank as well and I'm thinking about doing something similar to your setup.

I am dosing all for reef by tropic marin and I put the dosing container in there for now.

 

[Maxcmo]

Here is a current update:

Water Quality From and ATI ICP Test

Nitrates: 11ppm
Phosphates: .15ppm

Everything else is looking good except I have elevated zinc in my tank water not my RO water which I am suspecting is from a brass hose bib on my water tank that feeds my ATO so I am changing that to plastic. I have read not to really worry about Zinc but not taking any chances I would appreciate any input on this on how to get it out and if its dangerous or not? I also have low iodine which I have not yet decided how to address other than manual dosing for now.

Sump

I started up my refugium with an Octo aquatics divider and a Tunze 8831 refugium light and a large 2 handful amount of Chaeto and currently battling GHA in the refugium only. My Chaeto is living not growing profusely but its living and I have added a power head to get more flow in this chamber which will hopefully help me win the GHA battle. I have added a Ecotech dosing pump which is only dosing 20ml of Tropic Marin all for reef for now. My plan is to eventually get a little more technical on what I am dosing but for now I think this is adequate. I had issues with my skimmer I could not get it to be consistent and eventually figured out what I had eyeballed to be about 7-8 inches was really over 9 inches of depth so I moved my Xport Media brick under it and it has been working great ever since. Type for newbies use a tape measure dont eyeball your skimmer depth!

DT

I added in sporadically the following once the tank finished cycling thru today.

3 - 1.5" long blue chromis
1- purple tang about 2.5" long
1- Diamond Goby about 3.5" long
2- Clowns 1.5" and 2" long
3 - Small Hammer Frags
1 - Colony Of Zoas
1 - Rock I had in another tank full of Palys and Green Mushrooms.

Today I added:

The 70 gallon REEF Cleaner package with snails, and hermit crabs and I also added 4 pitho crabs. All of the fish are doing great and the Coral is all opening up nicely and have improved weekly in terms of how they look and size.

Lights

I ended up going with the REEF Dudes Ecotech Radion schedule which I am really liking so far. Currently I am only running it at about 53% of the 45% they are currently running theirs at and I will link it below. I started at 20 and have been going up a few % daily which I think has definitely helped with Algae but as many have predicted I am currently dealing with the "uglies" in the DT. Nothing crazy but all my rock have been covered with red, brown, and green looking algae but nothing is growing out of control or affecting any Corals. I had originally planned on waiting the 4 months and dosing vibrant but yeah no way I could stare at that tank with fish only and white rocks for 4 months! Hopefully the reef cleaner CUC package I added today keeps it all at bay.

Misc

I did a 20 gallon water change last weekend and I am waiting on my Nitrate Hanna Checker to come in to re-measure nitrate. I currently am using a Salifert test kit and its really hard to tell if I am at 5,10, or 25 ppm and same with my Phosphates but I am thinking that they will both move in the same direction so just testing Nitrates for now and I am hoping my Chaeto really starts to kick in and will report back how that goes but worse case I will do a bigger water change to get it down until I can start relying more on my Chaeto to be able to find that balance of food in versus nutrients out. I am hoping to keep the water changes down to hopefully once a month or so to start and eventually transition into the Triton method once I feel I am ready to take that on.

As a WARNING TO ANYONE CONSIDERING THE HANNA LR NITRATE CHECKER I originally ordered the lr hanna. WOW what a nightmare that is I literally repeated a test 4 times. I knocked over the vial twice and didn't hold down the button correctly the third time. The 4th time I got a reading of .60 which since I diluted my sample (another 3 or 4 steps) I had to multiple by 10. I am not feeling great about this number because there are so many steps its hard to have confidence everything went exactly perfect. So AGAIN after doing some after the fact research I realized a new version of the Hanna Nitrate (HI782) checker is out there and is much simpler and reads 0-50ppm without having to dilute anything and less steps. It is supposed to get here any time today so I will report back on that but wow the LR Hanna Nitrate is not for everyone!

I also want to add a note about the Waterbox Cabinet. I have read a few threads really thrashing them for the cabinet quality. This is not my experience at all my cabinet is extremely sturdy, was easy to assemble and so far is looking great. My only complaint is I wish I could stuff more Sh%t into it! haha

 

[Maxcmo]

I received the Hanna Nitrate Checker High Range version and the difference is incredible. 2 easy steps and I got a reading I am confident is correct. The bad news is my nitrates are at 12.4 up 1ppm in the last couple weeks. Im gonna do a 40% water change this weekend and hopefully that gets me to where I need to be. And my refugium starts kicking in!

 

[Maxcmo]

Its been a productive week! I removed all the metal out of my rodi water holding tank Im hoping that helps with my elevated zinc and barium levels. If not I suspect the octoaquatic magnets in the sump will have to go next!

I also re-tested nitrates today and they were down .6 ppm in less than 24 hours So Im going to wait til Saturday and see if that trend continues. I also ordered a second Tunze light an Eco Chic White this time to try and speed up Chaeto growth. I am going to hit it from two sides.

Edit: I ended up doing a 30% water change that got the nitrates down to 9.6ppm

 

[Maxcmo]

 

[Maxcmo]

Quick update: The uglies seem to be subsiding, corals are looking good, and fish are thriving. Thanks to the Reef Cleaners for my CUC crew that seem to be doing a great job so far. After lowering my all for reef dosing by 1/2 my dkh is 9 Calcium is 450 and my second Tunze Eco Chic White light has made a huge difference in my Chaeto growth. Between the recent water change and the Chaeto my nitrates are down to 8ppm I am shooting to get them down to around 5ppm by the weekend.

Update Video:

 

[dcal1985]

Great work! I hope mine is looking that good in a few months.

 

[Maxcmo]

Happy to report the addition of the second tunze finally got my Chaeto growing well!

 

[Maxcmo]

Heres a shot of the tunze of the Tunze eco chic white on the bottom and the Tunze refugium light on top and Chaeto is growing really well.

 

[Maxcmo]

Some new Corals a good friend of mine gave me can anyone help with some id’s?

 

[Maxcmo]

Update on the refugium. Still battling GHA but mostly on the glass. Even after cleaning most of it out (99%) in 5 days it was coming back on the glass and divider pretty heavy so I ran down the LFS and purchased a couple Mexican Turbo Snails and 3 Trochus Snails. All I can say is wow these guys dont play games they took 50% down in 12 hours. I may have to drop the count down to 2 snails but now I need to figure out which 2!? I am going to wait a few days and see how they do but does anyone recommend one over the other? Thanks...

Cheato still growing really well and Nitrates and Phosphates are 1.4ppm and .05ppm

 

[jhuntstl]

How have the Pithos been working out?

 

[Maxcmo]

How have the Pithos been working out?

Pithos have been great Im debating a few more

 

[Maxcmo]

Quick update: I finally got my chaeto to explode! Now my problem is to low nitrates (0) and high phosphates .13 which don’t make a lot of sense to me unless its coming from my rock which is dark dark brown with some coraline sprinkled in…. I just shut down the skimmer and feed a little heavier and knocked three hours off of the light schedule for the refugium. Lets see if that works I may put my skimmer on a timer as well for the nitrates for the phosphates I just popped two seachem phosguard hopefully that knocks it down a bit.

I did add a nice foxface which should help as well and I may add one more fish but not sure which one? Im thinking something rare maybe a blotched anthias or some rare tang. I lost a couple heads from two different hammer corals which I see my clowns rubbing on all day. Other than that switching the socks is becoming a pain they last a couple days at most. I tried cups with floss with the same result Im thinking maybe I packed them to thick. I may go two felt socks instead of 1 mesh and 1 sock the next go around. If I could get 4 days that would be ideal as I travel alot of long weekends and I dont want anyone sticking there hands in my sump!

Still a big fan of waterbox but in hindsight I should have bought the reef lx. I am to tall for the frag. I already prepped the wifey to not be surprised if one shows up next year . My best friends dad has a nice custom tank about 300 gallons built into his bar which is amazing but it three times as much as a wb reef lx 320 hard to justify. Here are some recent pics have a great night:

 

[Maxcmo]

Quick update: I finally got my chaeto to explode! Now my problem is to low nitrates (0) and high phosphates .13 which don’t make a lot of sense to me unless its coming from my rock which is dark dark brown with some coraline sprinkled in…. I just shut down the skimmer and feed a little heavier and knocked three hours off of the light schedule for the refugium. Lets see if that works I may put my skimmer on a timer as well for the nitrates for the phosphates I just popped two seachem phosguard hopefully that knocks it down a bit.

I did add a nice foxface which should help as well and I may add one more fish but not sure which one? Im thinking something rare maybe a blotched anthias or some rare tang. I lost a couple heads from two different hammer corals which I see my clowns rubbing on all day. Other than that switching the socks is becoming a pain they last a couple days at most. I tried cups with floss with the same result Im thinking maybe I packed them to thick. I may go two felt socks instead of 1 mesh and 1 sock the next go around. If I could get 4 days that would be ideal as I travel alot of long weekends and I dont want anyone sticking there hands in my sump!

Still a big fan of waterbox but in hindsight I should have bought the reef lx. I am to tall for the frag. I already prepped the wifey to not be surprised if one shows up next year . My best friends dad has a nice custom tank about 300 gallons built into his bar which is amazing but it three times as much as a wb reef lx 320 hard to justify. Here are some recent pics have a great night:

 

[Sgchick]

Thanks it wasn't as bad as we thought definitely doable by two average joes for a tank this size.

Good to know as my son will be helping me lift the tank onto the stand.

 

[Sgchick]

I saw the Octo divider and was wondering if any Waterboxers had used it. Was thinking of doing the same thing at some point...making a refugium by dividing the area with the skimmer. Sounds like a refugium was a good choice? And I'm only 5'4"...lol...so a perfect height for me!!!!