Putting together Waterbox 230.6 build

[Mark Waltermire]

I would suggest that you might want to look at the BRS 4 month cycle they just put a video out about on Friday. They suggest going no lights for a couple of months and this will allow the good non-photosynthetic algae to take over and have a better change of outcompeting the bad photosynthetic algae like diatoms and cyano better.

 

[Grigs]

Would have been great if that had come out a week earlier... lol. Already have a few LPS in there. Thanks for pointing it out, though! Next tank... lol

Couldn't resist 2 acans, a frogspawn, and a lont tentacle plate coral...

Bad fish daddy, I know...

Will be ok, though. Tests are spot on and algae is just barely starting, rocks are tinged brown and green, not covered

 

[Grigs]

Installed the DOS pumps. I decided to mount them over the ATO reservoir to ensure that any potential leakage would be over water, not in my electrical cabinet, and I chose over the ATO to minimize clutter in the sump area. I still have to run the tubing, but here is what I did.

First, I had read about the noise of these pumps, and remembered one member stated that he had significantly reduced the noise by using rubber grommets... SO...

I went to my local hardware store and looked for rubber fittings and put together a "Franken-Bushing"

Here are the components.

The long fitting was a compression bushing that I cut the brass threaded piece off of so that I could pass a 1" zinc coated wood screw through. I passed a grommet over it, followed by a neoprene washer. Both the grommet and large end of the compression bushing JUST fit through the large part of the keyhole on the DOS. These will be what holds the DOS up and against the neoprene washer, preventing any solid contact between the DOS and the cabinet. I also inserted a smaller rubber grommet into the manufacturer's screw holes and put a self stick cork pad on the bottom edge of the pumps.

I installed them towards the front of the center support on the wall of the cabinet and ensured that I left enough room to be able to remove one without having to mess with the other.

Now to run the plumbing and calibrate them! Gonna find out just how far this thing can draw water... my saltwater and RODI tanks are approx 50' away. You also may have noticed the John Guest fittings installed on the pumps. I sealed these with pipe joint compound and hope this will preempt the loss of suction experience...

More to come...

 

[Grigs]

Finally finished dosing "Medic" per lfs recommendation after adding Powder Blue and Clowns 2 days ago. Tonight spotted this...

To the QT they all go...

On the up side, thus will crush the algae battle in the DT as it sits fallow for the next many weeks...

 

[Grigs]

Looong overdue update...

The tank has been up, down, and all around as far as condition goes. I had an alk accident where I inadvertently set my DOS to "ON" instead of "AUTO". That sent me for a solid 3 month loop as the tank recovered. All occupants wound up in QT for 76 days twice now. We added a FAT, very healthy looking mandarin without QT, which, you guessed it, died several days later. BOOM! Ich bomb...

Lately things have been looking up. Finally getting coral to encrust and SPS is starting to really color up. After fighting cyano I had a dino outbreak, which led to 48 hrs lights out, TONS of bacteria (used Dr Tim's regimen). I pulled all of my cheato and culerpa, all of my refugium rockwork, and let a couple of doses of Flux Rx rip. I have to say, the tank has never looked better. The frag of Cheap Date is particularly stunning, but it doesn't take a picture worth a darn with this stinking cellphone...

I am having to dose phosphates to keep them up now while Dr Tim's chews away at dead organics and breaks up dino mats. Believe me, I have had worse problems! : )

The current fish load consists of:
Pair of Davinci Clowns
Powder Blue Tang
small Powder Brown Tang
small Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Purple Tang
Foxface
Melanurus
Pinkface wrasse
small Mystery Wrasse
very small neon blue goby
and a single remaining lyretail anthia

Everyone seems to be happy (except Powder Blue and Purple) who have had roughly 160 gallons of display nearly to themselves until recently. Added the other tangs, the foxface, and mystery wrasse a few days ago during lights out. There has been a little chasing, but the new guys are small enough to hide in the caves and it has settled down very significantly. I'll attach a few pics below. Sorry for the poor quality, but the cell is all I have at this time.

 

[NIWID]

Awesome tank Grigs!! Just starting a WB 230 build myself. Curious to see how your PBT and PBrT end up getting along. I would love to have both but worried they wouldn't play nice together.

 

[Grigs]

Awesome tank Grigs!! Just starting a WB 230 build myself. Curious to see how your PBT and PBrT end up getting along. I would love to have both but worried they wouldn't play nice together.

I was concerned too but have seen several tanks where they cohabitated, so I decided to go for it. Right now they just swim right by each other, but the little guy is showing a few spots where he got a talking to when he arrived. I also have a Red Sea 250 that he can hang out in for a little while till he gets bigger. Still trying to decide what I will ultimately do with the 75G QT, too... So many options... so many $$$$$ to pursue them... lol