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Grimm_Medic

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Grimm_Medic

Hey everyone! Im new to this site and nanos in general and figured I would share my progress (hopefully) with you all. A little background about myself, I have been in the SW hobby for a little over five years now and currently have a 75 gallon mixed reef which is quickly becoming SPS dominate and a 40 gallon BTA tank. I have had my eye on the Waterbox AIO tanks for a while now and after seeing some of the builds on here I decided I needed to blow some money and get one for myself! 😉

This will be a new build from the ground up, but I will be moving the livestock from the 40 breeder into it once it has cycled.

 

Equipment 

Waterbox 20 gallon cube AIO 

AI Prime HD

Stock return pump (will upgrade to sicce down the road)

Hydor nano powerhead 

ATO from 40 gallon

Apex Jr from 40 gallon 

 

Getting this tread started a little late, but here are a few pictures to get started!....I may have forget to take pictures while I was building the cabinet. I placed an order for 25lbs of live rock from Tamp Bay Saltwater which I am really looking forward to getting. The supplied bioballs are marinating in the the sump of the 75 until the rock arrives. 

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Not too shabby for a DIY stand, need to build the door....eventually 

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amazed by the clarity of the starfire glass. 

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Kicking things off with the good stuff! 

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Grimm_Medic

After waiting what felt like an eternity its finally here! I dont think I have ever been excited to open a box of rocks 😂More pics to come. 

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Grimm_Medic

My TBS order arrived a few days ago. This rock is nothing short of amazing, its packed with biodiversity. I plan to do a full unboxing review once the tank settles down. 

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Tank is coming to life..(literally) I must have had a pistol shrimp hitch a ride on the rock because I now have a very distinct clicking sound coming from the rocks...have yet to find him though. No ammonia or die off from the rock to note. No3 has held steady at 10ppm. Po4 is beginning to creep up despite several small water changes, may have to address it if it rises any more. 

 

Hacked up a quick mesh top today. It will have to do until I can bring myself to get a safe top lid. 

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Tomorrow will make a week since adding rock. Things appear to be settling down, No3 has been holding steady at 10ppm and Po4 has been ranging between .04 - .15 with daily 5 gallon water changes. I added some phosguard today so we will see how it does. I also began basting the rocks which has produced an ungodly amount of detritus! I also finally had a chance to play with aqua scapes, I'm pretty happy with how it came out for now. Excuse the cloudiness, just finished blasting sediment and changing water. 

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Grimm_Medic
On 8/4/2019 at 5:50 PM, ninjamyst said:

great aquascape!  and so much life on those rocks.  be careful with striping phosphate too fast and too much.  10ppm nitrate and .04 phosphate is actually pretty good.  

Thanks for the feedback! So as of this morning the P04 was reading .16 with the phosguard added. Blasted the rock and did a 5 gallon water change and is now reading .08 at lights out which I can live with. I need to get a hanna ULR reader for more accuracy. Going to recheck in the morning at see where it is at. 

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Grimm_Medic
On 8/4/2019 at 6:01 PM, Elizabeth94 said:

Sweet rock! Are you planning on adding new sand or going bare bottom? 

Thanks, Im loving it! I plan on staying bare bottom in an attempt to keep the tank and its maintenance as simple as possible. 

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Grimm_Medic

Swapped out the stock return pump for a cobalt mj600 today. The stock pump was getting louder by the day and wasn't too great at circulating water. The mj was a perfect fit with the stock tubing. Flow is great now, what it should be out the box...oh and the tank is DEAD SILENT now! 

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Started migrating some corals from the 40 as well, everything started to open up immediately. If all goes well the clowns will have their new home tomorrow! 

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Started a whelk collection after they had one of my turbos for dinner (tried to give them the benefit of the doubt before pulling them out). Thankfully these are the only pests I have come across. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Time for an update! 

Its been two weeks since moving everything over from the 40 and tore that tank down. Everyone seems to be adjusting well. Im really starting to dig the look of this tank now that it has some color in it! Water changes have been reduced to 10% a week. Im still syphoning and blasting detritus form the rocks every other day (theres no end in sight 🙄) Speaking of the rock, all sponges and corals that came in on them are still going strong and showing growth! Still pulling whelks out daily as well..

 

Current Params 

Sg: 1.026

Ph: 7.8

Dkh: 8.0

Ca: 410

Mg: 1200

No3: 10

Po4: 0.06-0.09 being managed via water changes and phosguard

 

I have nothing but great things to say about the AI Prime so far. Im using the AB+ schedule BRS developed and everything just pops under it, all of the corals and nems are loving it too! Wayyyy better than the black box I had over the 40! My 75 is lit by T5s so this is my first "real" led fixture 😆

 

Enough rambling for one post...pictures incoming 

 

Had a local cabinet shop build me a door 

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