Perry's 50Gallon AIO Waterbox Cube

[Perry]

nice cube perry,that's what af can do for an sps system.i'm lovin it.

Thanks Mike!!! I appreciate the kind words man, and yes I have used every program except RS, and AF is by far the best for me so far.

 

[Perry]

Good news,
CO2 scrubber in place, and already within a week, I have seen alk drop down to 6.5 now, when I was always rising from week to week, despite coral growth, coloration, this still was an unsettling experience for a few corals. Now I will begin Comp 123 on this system. Still going to allow alk to fall a bit more, just to be sure. Also using stack method again, with ZeoMix, AF Carbon, Phosphate Minus as well. Latest test results for nutrients... .25 NO3 and 0.00 PO4. Currently homing 7 fish, with plans to expand.
Unfortunately I have not seen Moyers Dragonette in a week or two, likely starved, and CUC took care of the rest. I did add a Canary Blenny, and very happy with this guy, such a cool fish

 

[120reefkeeper]

Good news,
CO2 scrubber in place, and already within a week, I have seen alk drop down to 6.5 now, when I was always rising from week to week, despite coral growth, coloration, this still was an unsettling experience for a few corals. Now I will begin Comp 123 on this system. Still going to allow alk to fall a bit more, just to be sure. Also using stack method again, with ZeoMix, AF Carbon, Phosphate Minus as well. Latest test results for nutrients... .25 NO3 and 0.00 PO4. Currently homing 7 fish, with plans to expand.
Unfortunately I have not seen Moyers Dragonette in a week or two, likely starved, and CUC took care of the rest. I did add a Canary Blenny, and very happy with this guy, such a cool fish

Glad to hear it’s working for you! Your welcome! [emoji6]

 

[Perry]

Glad to hear it’s working for you! Your welcome! [emoji6]

Thanks Michael,
This was the deal for sure, this was ongoing for months, you nailed in on a 30 minute call, LOL! Thanks again man, I have never been someone to focus on PH, and had never ran into issue with alk rising, but you got it man! Thanks again, you da man

 

[Chrisfish]

Very nice thread Perry, beautiful pictures of your tank and corals.

 

[120reefkeeper]

Thanks Michael,
This was the deal for sure, this was ongoing for months, you nailed in on a 30 minute call, LOL! Thanks again man, I have never been someone to focus on PH, and had never ran into issue with alk rising, but you got it man! Thanks again, you da man

Glad I could help

 

[Perry]

Very nice thread Perry, beautiful pictures of your tank and corals.

Thank You very much!

 

[Perry]

Always a nice start to the day when you find a missing coral. Had a beautiful Red Devil shroom dis-attach from plug, and wandered, it has been about a month or so, but finally saw a glow under the cave, looked closer with my readers on, and sure enough, there it was.

 

[Second Shot]

Always a nice start to the day when you find a missing coral. Had a beautiful Red Devil shroom dis-attach from plug, and wandered, it has been about a month or so, but finally saw a glow under the cave, looked closer with my readers on, and sure enough, there it was.

That’s like finding money in the pocket of pants you haven’t worn in awhile ha

 

[bubbaque]

Perry, are you back to full on AF again? How’s the tank been? Still running the co2 scrubber? So many questions, lol.

 

[GoVols]

Perry, are you back to full on AF again? How’s the tank been? Still running the co2 scrubber? So many questions, lol.

Tagging...

 

[Richard Cross]

Love the look of the waterbox! im loookin at getting one. Any hints or upgrades youd recommend?

 

[Perry]

Hey Bubba and Freddie!!! How are you guys, sorry to be so out of the loop, lol.

So, I have made some changes, I am rebooting the tank, I have had a climbing alk issue, not ph or CO2 related, as the alk continued to climb even after the installation of the CO2 scrubber. Obviously SPS could not handle this, so I decided to just go with lps and softies, they were doing well, but I also had a Red Planaria issue, and after several in tank treatments with Flatworm Exit, I decided to completely kill the rock and sand and start all over. The corals remaining are in quarantine, and will remain there until I cycle on the tank. I soaked the rock in muriatic acid, then bleach for 24 hours, then soaked in tap water for a day, then sprayed off and soaked in RODI for another day. The rock then air dried for 48 hours. I am currently using AF to cycle with BIO S, I will then make a decision to how I will run the tank. If the issue of rising alk is resolved, I will slowly gather SPS and run a mixed tank. Time will tell. Cheers

 

[jsker]

Sounds like a plan!!

 

[Perry]

So as the journey goes...
The corals and fish all moved over and new display is set with new scape, very similar though All fish eating no problem, skimmer pulling well. Corals are all opening and look healthy after their move back from quarantine. I pushed this process a bit quick, but no filtration on the q tank, and I really was impressed to see the help of Bio S and Life Source quickly cycle the aquarium. The sand was salvaged, I soaked in tap water to insure most pest died, as well as all the good too. I then soaked in RODI, and then dried. I then rinsed several time before adding back to the tank. I believe some of the death in the sand is what helped as well with a quick cycle. I did manage to save some rubble with sponges, micro stars, pods, worms, etc. that also contributed. They were treated in Flatworm Exit 5 times strength before going back into the tank, as were all corals and inverts that were in quarantine. I am still using Bio S, and will continue for another week. I will then convert to Pro Bio S and NP Pro for now. I may end up using an over flow and making that box a fuge with chaeto down the road, still unsure at this point. Thanks all!!!

 

[bubbaque]

Seems as things went fairly smooth for you. Do you know why your alk was climbing? Were you dosing anything?

 

[Perry]

Seems as things went fairly smooth for you. Do you know why your alk was climbing? Were you dosing anything?

No I could not find a point where I figured it out. I ruled out everything except a single piece of live rock from Fiji, I dosed nothing, I would rise from 7.5 to 9.0 dkh in one week. I battled with 25% water changes, but that is not sustainable. I tried the scrubber, it appeared at first to have resolved the issue, yet alk continued to climb. I thought maybe Real Reef Rock, but after removal still climbed. This was a process man, almost a year of trying to figure it out. I also have another suspicion, but am watching a thread right now where hazing/ or maybe calcifying hazing of some sort on a panel of low iron glass. Apparently it has an intended wet side and dry side. Sometimes manufacturers make mistakes, but still unsure if that would cause any leaching or rise in alk. it was only alk, confirmed with several different high quality test manufacturers as well. Soon I will begin monitoring alk, as to see if maybe it was the live rock, which is the only thing unconfirmed, it has been dealt with in a muriatic acid bath, and bleach bath to follow. It is dead, and I mean DEAD, lol.... We shall see. The return pump tubing on this prototype also was black in color, I switched it out, kinda never really saw black rubber tubing used in aqua, so maybe that as well.

 

[bubbaque]

That seems very unfortunate and odd. Hopefully you have fixed the issue now. I am waiting for the return of your glorious sps! I remember how you had your acid trip looking!

 

[Perry]

LOL,
If I resolve the issue regarding alk, no doubt I will be back to adding sps, just going to be 100% sure, if not, I will think about an all out only acro tank, that is how I am leaning. I have thought about 40 gallon breeder with 250 watts of halide, bare bottom, and only top notch acros. My wife really loves the tank the way it was with LPS and Softies, so we may have to just add another tank. My mushrooms are in heaven, my OG Bounce has doubled in the last month or so

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Dang sorry to hear about the alk issue. Seems pretty crazy that was the only thing going up. Hopefully you'll have it resolved after all the work you just finished. The tank was looking pretty good especially that red devil and bounce.