The Tree of Life🌱 - Waterbox Cube 10

[Lebowski_]

Wait, you have 2 Nero 5's on your 10g now? Or on the JBJ 45?

[MrP]

2 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

Wait, you have 2 Nero 5's on your 10g now? Or on the JBJ 45?

They are in the JBJ 45. I have an MP10 in the 10g.

[MrP]

I ordered some Real Reef small mini fancy branch rock to add to the rock mound. I'm not sure what look I'm going for but it will be fun to add something different. I'm also going to add some feet to the mound to slightly raise it so the shrimp/goby have more room under there to do whatever it is they do under there. 

[Woodini]

12 minutes ago, MrP said:

I ordered some Real Reef small mini fancy branch rock to add to the rock mound. I'm not sure what look I'm going for but it will be fun to add something different. I'm also going to add some feet to the mound to slightly raise it so the shrimp/goby have more room under there to do whatever it is they do under there. 

That’s a great idea! Got me thinking 🧐 maybe some trimmed down little things that come in pizza boxes to prevent the lid contacting the cheese

[MrP]

32 minutes ago, Woodini said:

That’s a great idea! Got me thinking 🧐 maybe some trimmed down little things that come in pizza boxes to prevent the lid contacting the cheese

Good idea but it's been a long time since I've got a pizza that had those on it. I have some leftover flat-cut rock that I'm going to break up and use. 

[Woodini]

I’m still thinking of ideas, that might best. You’re right about not getting one of those in a while. You doing rock first then sand?

[MrP]

1 hour ago, Woodini said:

I’m still thinking of ideas, that might best. You’re right about not getting one of those in a while. You doing rock first then sand?

Rock before sand for the safety of my cave-dwelling creatures. 

[Woodini]

I’m glad my friends way later

[Lakeshow24]

From someone in their second month of a 10 gallon mixed reef, you have a breathtaking tank brother! 

[MrP]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:38 PM, Lakeshow24 said:

From someone in their second month of a 10 gallon mixed reef, you have a breathtaking tank brother! 

Thank you! Unfortunately, this little tank will be dismantled in the next few months. It's looking like I will probably be moving the contents of my Innovative Marine 10 to the Waterbox 10 which consists of a bunch of small anemones. Later on I will likely upgrade the Waterbox 10 to a Fijicube 38 I've had sitting here for a few years now and then the Waterbox 10 will be permanently closed for business. 

 

On to other news... My branch rock has arrived and it sure is purdy!

[MrP]

One of nine of my family of Anemones.

[MrP]

I placed the five pieces of branch rock in the tank and decided it's not enough so I ordered another 5 pieces. Saltwateraquarium only sells them in multiples of 5 for some reason. I doubt I'll use all 10 pieces so any left overs will be placed in my anemone tank. I don't want the tank to look too cluttered with branch rock. 

 

The rock should be here by the end of the week and hopefully I'll have some spare time this weekend to pull out the main structure and get the branch rock glued to it. I can then start gluing some coral down.

 

I'm thinking about getting some pieces of encrusting coral to glue to the branches. Maybe Psammocora on branches higher up and Cyphastrea on lower branches. 

[MrP]

A few photos of my little reef.

 

 

[MrP]

I was using the JBJ 45 as a holding tank for all of the coral frags that were in my frag tank that I shut down. I reached out to a local reefer too see if he wanted any more coral and he decided to just take all of it. The JBJ 45 is once again a blank slate. I'm sure the coral brought in some much needed biome but I'm glad to see it all gone. 

 

I've been soaking the branch rock in saltwater this past week to prepare it for the tank. I'm going to pull the rock structure out and begin attaching the branch rock to it. Exciting. 

[MrP]

Ugh..... what a chore!

 

I finally got the branch rock glued into place. I ended up using 8 of the 10 pieces I had. I removed quite a bit of sand as well. The pistol shrimp was having too much fun with it. 

 

Next step is measuring the par to see if I need to make any adjustments to the lights and to have a general idea on where to place the corals that are ready to be glued down. 

[banasophia]

18 minutes ago, MrP said:

Ugh..... what a chore!

 

I finally got the branch rock glued into place. I ended up using 8 of the 10 pieces I had. I removed quite a bit of sand as well. The pistol shrimp was having too much fun with it. 

 

Next step is measuring the par to see if I need to make any adjustments to the lights and to have a general idea on where to place the corals that are ready to be glued down. 

Can’t wait to see some pics! Do you have your own PAR meter?

[MrP]

1 hour ago, banasophia said:

Can’t wait to see some pics! Do you have your own PAR meter?

I have a Seneye Reef that I use. I use it for my freshwater tanks as well. 

[MrP]

It's been a while since I've gotten some new corals. 

 

 

[banasophia]

Nice choices!! When do they arrive?

[MrP]

5 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Nice choices!! When do they arrive?

I'm not sure. Hopefully sometime next week. I bought a jar of Maxspect coral putty from the Coralvue outlet which I received today along with an Icecap skimmer. Hopefully this weekend I can find the time to get some corals off of the frag racks and mounted. I'm tired of seeing the frag racks in the tank. Pictures coming soon!

[banasophia]

3 minutes ago, MrP said:

I'm not sure. Hopefully sometime next week. I bought a jar of Maxspect coral putty from the Coralvue outlet which I received today along with an Icecap skimmer. Hopefully this weekend I can find the time to get some corals off of the frag racks and mounted. I'm tired of seeing the frag racks in the tank. Pictures coming soon!

I’ve never used that putty… I’d love to hear how you like it. 

[MrP]

1 hour ago, banasophia said:

I’ve never used that putty… I’d love to hear how you like it. 

This will be my first time using it. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a tube of Oceans Wonders Epoxy that works great but it has a strong odor that lingers across the house. The Maxspect putty doesn't have that strong odor which is nice. 

[MrP]

I got several euphyllia, acans, and mushrooms glued in place. I'll get some photos tomorrow after everything is settled in. 

 

As for the Maxspect putty... I didn't use it. I kneaded a ball of it last night and left it sit overnight. It didn't harden like epoxy does. It was firm but squishy similar to silicone once it dries. I don't trust it to hold larger branching LPS colonies in place. I'm sure it would work great for small SPS that will eventually encrust over it which is what I will use it for so it don't go to waste. 

[MrP]

Corals arrived today!

 

I placed the acro in one of my established tanks until I feel the JBJ 45 is ready. The tank is only 2.5 months old and I've been wanting a shortcake acro for a while so I better not risk it. 

 

Hopefully the acans are quick to settle in and puff up. Online photos almost always never accurately represent a coral and I'm curious what they look like in person. Acans are at the top of my list of favorite LPS. 

 

As for the scroll coral, meh. It's very small and is likely going to take quite a while to become anything to look at. Disappointing for sure. 

[debbeach13]

Glad to hear that everything arrived in good shape. I hope they all do well in their new home.