Waterbox Nano Cube 7

[WaterBoxer]

Hey guys, this will be my first saltwater tank so I figured I'd document everything as I go.

 

So far I've only kept planted freshwater tanks, so this is going to be a bit of a journey for me.

 

Equipment so far:

>Waterbox Nano Cube 7

>10 lbs Nature's Ocean Aragonite Sand

>8 lbs Aquacultured Rock

>50 watt Elive Heater

>Fluval Marine Nano Bluetooth LED

>Chemi-Pure Blue Nano

>Glass cover for display area of tank (I'm going with glass because I have 4 cats that seem to think screens are for chewing/scratching apart. I'm also going to get two pieces of glass I can swap out for easy cleaning)

> H̶y̶d̶o̶r̶ ̶P̶i̶c̶o̶ ̶E̶v̶o̶ ̶̶M̶a̶g̶ Cobalt MJ400 as powerhead

Planned equipment:

>DIY controller using Reef-Pi for ATO, temperature control, and possibly as a wavemaker for the H̶y̶d̶o̶r̶ Cobalt pump

 

For now the tank is cycling, and I'm just patiently waiting for my ammonia and nitrites to disappear. I was planning on buying pre-mixed saltwater from a LFS I've previously used for freshwater stuff. I finally got in my refractometer calibration solution, however, and it looks like their water has pretty low salinity. They said it was around 1.023, but I've just tested it at 1.021!

 

For now I'm topping off with saltwater to slowly raise my salinity, but I'm going to check out a saltwater-only store that's just 5 minutes away and hopefully I can get better pre-mixed water. If not, it looks like I'll be mixing my own. I'm not worried about having to mix it, but I was hoping to avoid it because my tank is so small.

 

EDIT: Current stocking

>Yellow Clown Goby

>Collonista snails that came in on my rocks

>2 nassarius snails

 

>Candy Cane Coral

>Unknown zoanthid

>Superman Mushroom

>GSP

>Hairy Mushrooms

[WaterBoxer]

I was playing around with the settings on my new light and with the tank illuminated I was able to make out all kinds of life moving around on the rocks and the glass. Most of it seems pretty tiny, but there's at least one snail that came along for the ride with my rocks!

I'm going to have to watch for it to come out so I can get a better look, but for now I think I'm going to start the lights at about 10-20% to get some algae going to support my tiny life.

[Gourami Swami]

Looks good! I like that rock on the right

[LogicalReefs]

This is a really cool looking tank. Keep the updates coming!

[Clown79]

Tank looks great.

[WaterBoxer]

Update on my water situation: I visited the saltwater LFS and discussed water with the owner. He was willing to show me his RODI setup and mixing tanks and seems really passionate. He also mentioned that the other store (I didn't say which store, but he already knew based on my issue) doesn't have a very good RODI setup and their water often contains ammonia and phosphates. I confirmed this after going home, so it looks like I'm going to do a 100% water change as soon as my ammonia and nitrites are gone. I decided to check nitrates again too and they're extremely high now, so another reason to just do a complete water change at the end of my cycle.

 

Some of his equipment selection isn't as large, but he only carries products he believes work well and aren't overpriced. His coral selection and prices are much better though, especially his multiple frag tanks. It looks like I've found a new LFS! Only downside is he's only open 4 days a week for 6-8 hours.

[WaterBoxer]

Picked up glass for the cover yesterday at Home Depot. I cut and sanded the edges (sanding took forever) and now it's on the tank. There's plenty of condensation on the glass, which I expected, but it does help diffuse the light from my LEDs nicely. I've also noticed a large drop in evaporation, which will help until I can get my ATO set up.

 

(That's Spice and he's one of the reasons I couldn't use a mesh cover)

 

My ammonia is gone and nitrites are starting to drop. With nothing to eat them, pods have been growing in number and they're covering every surface of the tank.

 

Today I also noticed what I'm assuming (hoping) is diatoms on the sand. I caught a better look at my snail and I'm thinking it's a Collonista, so I'm hoping the diatoms will give him something to munch on.

 

 

Lastly, I changed my mind from the Hydor Pico to the Cobalt MJ400 for a few reasons: 1) I want to place the powerhead behind my rocks, mounted on the back wall and that'll make it difficult to use the magnet to attach the Hydor; 2) the MJ400 isn't adjustable, but I still feel that it'll be strong enough; 3) I don't like the red parts on the Hydor 😋; and 4) if all else fails, I can always use the MJ400 as a nice utility pump for other things.

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @WaterBoxer! Your new nano reef is coming along nicely, the Waterbox AIO tank looks sharp. How do you like the Fluval Marine Nano Bluetooth LED so far? Nice work on the glass lid too, can you share what plastic clips you used on the edges?

[WaterBoxer]

6 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Welcome to the community @WaterBoxer! Your new nano reef is coming along nicely, the Waterbox AIO tank looks sharp. How do you like the Fluval Marine Nano Bluetooth LED so far? Nice work on the glass lid too, can you share what plastic clips you used on the edges?

Thanks!

 

So far I really like the Fluval LED. It gives me a lot of control of the color output/brightness and includes a customizable 24 hour cycle with the option to save different presets. It would be nice if it was wifi controllable, but that might be something I make a work-around for later with an Android emulator and Bluetooth module on my home media PC. For the price, it was really my best option.

 

I used these clips that I ordered from Amazon. The glass I got is just slightly under 3mm, but they still hold it in place really well. If I need to I may heat them up carefully and bend them a little smaller to grab onto the glass better. Or, if I can find some thicker glass for free/cheap, I may just make a new cover.

[Gourami Swami]

This light looks very nice, I was thinking about this one before I bought a hipargero. Will be interested to see how it grows coral

[WaterBoxer]

My nitrites had disappeared by Tuesday night, so on Wednesday morning I added pure ammonia to bring it up to 2ppm and by later that afternoon when I got home I was down to zero ammonia and nitrites!

 

I stopped by my SW LFS and when I got there the owner showed me a Yellow Clown Goby he had on hold for me! He's super cute and has tons of personality 😁. I picked up some saltwater and did a nearly 100% water change to rid myself of phosphates and bring nitrates down to between 0 and 5ppm. I'm good to go just in time for the Black Friday sale at the LFS; 50% off corals!

 

My plan for frags:

>Mushroom coral

>Zoanthids

>Green Star Polyps (plan on leaving these on a tiny rock in the sand)

>Candy Cane (wasn't really planning on any LPS, but this one looks pretty hardy and easy to care for)

[Tamberav]

Great start! Bring anything home today from the sale?

[WaterBoxer]

Brought a bunch home today, but I had to go to work before I could take pictures of everything after they opened up. In addition to the corals listed above and my goby, I got some hairy mushroom coral polyps that look really nice. I'll have to upload pics in the morning.

[WaterBoxer]

I got some pictures this morning and fed a bit of mysis shrimp. The corals pretty much all ate up the food (except for the GSP which hasn't come out yet), but my Clown Goby wasn't having any of it yet. I saw him eating at the store so I'm not too worried about it but I might pick up some cyclop-eeze this week.

 

 

I couldn't get any good pictures of my zoa polyp but it's bright orange and deep purple. I only got the one because that variety was much more expensive, but I'm hoping I can get it to produce more polyps and spread.

 

This is Clarence the Clown Goby and he's still trying to hide a bit. He's also a bit pale in this shot because the lights just came on, but he had lots of color yesterday before the lights started ramping down.

 

I ended up having to point the MJ400 toward the back wall because it was kicking up sand anywhere else. It does create some nice flow around the tank, but I'll probably mess with it later on to see if I can get it mounted on the back wall.

 

[JurisReefer]

How do you like the waterbox system? I ordered a 20 cube on black friday and it should be arriving next week. Haven't found many reviews on them since the company is so new, but also haven't heard anything awful about them just yet.

[Keeper of my nieces Ocean]

11 hours ago, LegalReef said:

How do you like the waterbox system? I ordered a 20 cube on black friday and it should be arriving next week. Haven't found many reviews on them since the company is so new, but also haven't heard anything awful about them just yet.

Did you find a deal somewhere? Im thinking about doing the deal for the 10g + AI Prime for $279 on the waterbox website.

[WaterBoxer]

20 hours ago, LegalReef said:

How do you like the waterbox system? I ordered a 20 cube on black friday and it should be arriving next week. Haven't found many reviews on them since the company is so new, but also haven't heard anything awful about them just yet.

I really like the waterbox and I think it looks just a little nicer and clearer than the IM tanks. The only thing that I think could be a little annoying is that the back glass is not 100% opaque. If you wanted to use a rear chamber as a diy algae scrubber or as a tiny refugium, the light would shine through a bit into the display area. It also means that before I put my powerhead in front of it, I could see the little LED from my heater through the back glass. Not a big deal, but something to keep in mind.

 

The only other issue I had has to do with the size of the rear compartment on the smallest tanks like mine. I really hope inTank comes out with media baskets for these tanks, otherwise I may have to build one myself. It was also pretty difficult to slide the return pump into place in the tiny space back there, but that's to be expected on a tank this size.

[JurisReefer]

13 hours ago, Keeper of my nieces Ocean said:

Did you find a deal somewhere? Im thinking about doing the deal for the 10g + AI Prime for $279 on the waterbox website.

Saltwateraquariums had it for $200, so no deal. I only chose them over waterbox's website because SWA had free shipping, free t-shirt, and I had to buy something else anyways. Plus, if you live in the NE PA, NJ, NYC area like I do, the free shipping from SWA is basically Amazon Prime.

 

BRS had the Nuvo 10 for $80 I believe though. That might be a better deal if you get the AI separately. I've found AI mounts on Craigslist and Letgo really cheap. 

[Keeper of my nieces Ocean]

On 11/25/2018 at 12:29 PM, LegalReef said:

Saltwateraquariums had it for $200, so no deal. I only chose them over waterbox's website because SWA had free shipping, free t-shirt, and I had to buy something else anyways. Plus, if you live in the NE PA, NJ, NYC area like I do, the free shipping from SWA is basically Amazon Prime.

 

BRS had the Nuvo 10 for $80 I believe though. That might be a better deal if you get the AI separately. I've found AI mounts on Craigslist and Letgo really cheap. 

I dont like the Nuvo's or IM corners. The Waterbox AOI is the only reason Im back into this godforsaken moneypit. Its too damn sexy. 

[Clown79]

25 minutes ago, Keeper of my nieces Ocean said:

I dont like the Nuvo's or IM corners. The Waterbox AOI is the only reason Im back into this godforsaken moneypit. Its too damn sexy. 

What do you mean by the IM corners?

[Keeper of my nieces Ocean]

5 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

What do you mean by the IM corners?

I like the corners as clear as possible. The IM's look like a picture frame to me, I know its a good tank, just doesn't fit my eye. 

[Tamberav]

I hate black silicon but no one had a tank like IM lagoon in low iron so I sucked it up.

 

I think waterbox uses black too but less but you do miss out on the fact IM is a bigwig and companies create stuff with it in mind.

 

Now the aquamaxx and Mr aquas ect are gorgeous...can't even see the silicon.

[JurisReefer]

19 hours ago, Keeper of my nieces Ocean said:

I dont like the Nuvo's or IM corners. The Waterbox AOI is the only reason Im back into this godforsaken moneypit. Its too damn sexy. 

Have to admit I've never really noticed the "corners" of an aquarium, but when I got the WB I was floored. Just looks pristine when the light catches them. The only downside is I can't find any 3rd party media baskets. Gonna check when I get home if maybe something for another AIO will fit in that sock chamber.

[WaterBoxer]

So, bad news:

On Sunday I got stuck out of town due to weather and wasn't able to make it back until the next day around noon. I returned to find my Superman Mushroom completely gone and the yellow clown goby recently deceased. My best guess is the mushroom died first and that's what killed my fish.

 

Thankfully, nothing else seems to have been affected and I was able to do a 50% water change to get nitrates back down. At this point, I'm going to let the tank settle in for at least a few more weeks before adding another coral. I'll see how that goes and after a while I might try another fish.

 

While I'm still really frustrated that I wasn't there on Sunday night to catch the mushroom's death and possibly save Clarence the YCG, I know there was no way I could have safely made it home in that winter storm. For now I'm just going to focus on making my current corals and snails happy and let my tank age a bit more.