WaterBox 20 LPS KZ system

[Coolbreeze]

{Place Holder for FTS}

Place Holder - Will Update later today

[Coolbreeze]

 

 

Current Specifications

 

Display:          Waterbox 20 gallon
Heater:           Finnex Titanium 100 watt connected to Inkbird ITC-308 Wifi
Skimmer:       Tunze Doc Skimmer 9001DC
Light:              Kessil A360W
Wave Maker: Icecap 2K Gyre
UV:                  NA
Sand:              Fuji Pink 10-12 lbs.
Rock:              Caribsea Nano arches (4)
Stand:             Custom with built Fireplace

Pump:             Innovative Marine Mighty Jet (326)

Controller:     Apex Classic Lab Grade.

                         Modules: EB8 Energy bar

Accessories:  InTank Chamber 1 Media basket.

                                        

 

I based on current selection on what I have found to be the better systems for my needs. The waterbox is a nice size for a cube which will fit what I wanted the tank to be capable of. Nice size with depth to show off the custom rock work (Pictures soon). Heater I already had from a previous build and I always had great luck with them. I wanted a DC skimmer and the ones that I had were too big, so I went out and got all the dimensions of the tank from Waterbox and started looking for what would fit. After some time and reviews I really liked the Tunze model and it will fit perfectly in the second chamber.

 

For the lighting I pick up and new Echotech Radion G5 XR15 pro. I understand most will say it is overkill but with the spread it has and the two moon lights it was actually cheaper then purchasing other units and trying to retrofit something to make it look right. I have already created a support out of clear acrylic for it to be installed into a custom hood.

 

The gyre I believe is a perfect wave maker to move water from the top of the display to the front and back again. I have used these in other builds with great results. Again, looking for movement on top of the display as well as below and around the rockwork. Plus, I needed it to blend into the scene without making it look awful. My other requirement was it needed to be able to have a battery backup in case of power outage.

 

UV will be used only after the initial startup phase to help control algae, then it will be removed and sit on the shelf until needed. 
 

[Coolbreeze]

Concept and Design

 

Back in the early 90’s I took my two young daughters to Disney in Orlando and while we were their I was inspired by a Safari we did. It was called a bug’s life and out in the middle of know where this large tree with leaves on it and it was surrounded by grass and wildlife.

 

So back in January I started to work on this concept of creating this in a reef system for my home den. After designing this for 6 months I decided to create this in my home office as I spend most of my day their now, at least until the end of the year. I also wanted to reveal my plans here on nano-reef.com

 

During my initial plans I always wanted to do a full Zeovit system but was talked out of it from my LFS that has since gone out of business. Since I no longer have a larger aquarium and no room to put one, I thought that this would be perfect time to start one at a smaller level.

 

So basically, the concept of this tank will be a custom rock formation that will somewhat resemble a large tree that will sit in the middle of the tank and have encrusting sps for the leaves, hopefully using many colors as if it was fall time.

 

I plan on using about 2/3 of the bottom with fuji pink sand and the last third I was looking for GSP in blue, which I have found some that is dark blue with a few white spots in the middle. Hopefully this will emulate running water with white crust waves as the GSP is moving by water movement.

 

My concept of the bugs is really by using snails, crabs, copepods/amphipods and a blooded red shrimp. I believe the shrimp will look really cools crawling around the tree as well as the snails and crab as if they were bugs.

 

I do have a list of livestock but I am not ready to reveal at this time as I am still working out a few details and I will start revealing the hardware list as I have everything at this time.

I can reveal at this time that the stand is custom and when I mean custom it was built with ½ oak plywood. The stand was designed by me and it is a fireplace with two glass doors on each corner. It will be delivered late next week so the build will be able to start then, in the meantime I need to prep my room before it gets here. Also, the rock work has been shipped today so I will have pictures of it soon.

 

I really hope that this project attracts many users here as I think that this project is very unique in design and if it all works out it should be stunning to look at. Plus, I wanted some suggestions on any improvements.
 

[jackson_998]

What furniture do you have this tank on? Any idea what it weight roughly when full? Not sure if my dresser will do the job 

[Coolbreeze]

3 hours ago, jackson_998 said:

What furniture do you have this tank on? Any idea what it weight roughly when full? Not sure if my dresser will do the job 

For this project I have built a custom stand out of 3/4 oak plywood for the sides and top and 1/2 oak board for trim and stain it to my liking. Because of Covid-19 my nephew who owns a cabinet shop had finished it for me as we were to work together on it.

 

As far as the weight of the display I have used the following as it will give you the maximum weight with equipment (Heater, Skimmer, Rox 0.8, etc). Not sure if your dresser will do the job, but you have the numbers so you can test it. If I was you I would search here for Waterbox 20 and Innovative Marine 20 systems and read their journals to see what they have done. There are a lot of talented people on here. 

 

[Coolbreeze]

 

Zeovit – The holy grail of reefing. Well not really, but you cannot argue the results

After watching @nanotopia on here as well as @cannedfish and reading their journals these systems are really amazing as both of them had one or two TOTM and that one thing that I learned is that you can use the whole system or just parts of it and have an outstanding system.
I also just found @Kmitch here on Nano-reef is using the system in his IM 20 peninsula.

 

Myths

 

So many comments that I have read say that it is expensive. Now as far as costs go, I created a spreadsheet of the costs of current systems and this one and found out the cost is close to the same or a little less as you do not need all the other supplements. They do sell many different supplements, but you only need a few of them which I will go over here and the others are for correcting other issues that may arise.

 

You cannot automate the everyday tasks. Well for the automation part this is not part of this display goals, actually it is more of a hands-on approach and only automate what is needed and you need to feed your fish everyday so adding a drop of each supplement should only add an additional 3 minutes for me to enjoy my display.

 

Basic Zeovit System

 

The basic system is really only a few items.

 

ZeoBak – This is the main bacteria that you will be adding twice a week to your display. It takes 1 drop per 25 gallons of water twice a week. You want to buy this in a small amount as it does have a shelf life. If you refrigerate it then you can get 6 months to a year out of a bottle so you will only buy what you can use in this timeframe.

 

ZeoStart3 - is a carbon food source that promotes the reproduction of bacteria. The bacteria will help maintain ultra-low phosphate and nitrate. Dosing is 2ml per 250 gallons daily. So here just take some basic math to figure out what you will need in your display. In my case it will .15 ml a day.

 

Zeofood plus - is an amino acid and vitamin additive designed to provide nutrition to corals and increase the beneficial bacteria populations. Dosing 2 drops per 100 liters three times a week. Here I will start with 1 drop per week as the 2 drops is too high.

 

Zeovit Media - Zeolites are a group of natural occurring minerals that exist worldwide. Our mix consists of three different zeolites. These zeolites were chosen because of their ability to reduce certain toxins in a balanced manner. The functional life of the mix is limited and has to be exchanged every 6-12 weeks depending on the tanks nutrient load. The amount of ZEOvit® used is 1 liter per 100 gallons of water. I will be using 1 cup in a mesh bag and shaking it once a day just before feeding the fish or before bedtime. I will be putting the mesh bag in the second chamber in a modified Intank media basket that I bought for my IM 20 concept display. Yes, it fits in there just right. Will be showing pics soon on how it works. I have seen that some users have used Brightwell NeoZeo, I have not tried it but the claim is that the rocks are more uniform and fits into a mesh bag and reactor better.

 

The other four supplements that I will be using I will be going over them when it is time to use them.
 

[mystersyster]

I'm about to switch over to zeovit for my aquarium too. Sick of fighting algae. I'll be using a mesh bag for the stones as well. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Coolbreeze]

 

 

 

 

Today I received my new custom rockwork formation. Still have the light and pump coming and should be shipping the beginning of next week.

 

I still need to properly fit the piece, but I wanted to get a general idea of what it will look like.

 

[Gaze]

I just got the Nuvo 20 Peninsula and was wondering about the effectiveness of ZEOvit in nanos. I saw they used to sell a "Nano Power Pack" but its out of stock at most places and I'm not sure if they discontinued the 4x10ml bottles but that looked like a great deal. 

Excited to see your progress!

 

[Coolbreeze]

16 hours ago, reefsenpai said:

I just got the Nuvo 20 Peninsula and was wondering about the effectiveness of ZEOvit in nanos. I saw they used to sell a "Nano Power Pack" but its out of stock at most places and I'm not sure if they discontinued the 4x10ml bottles but that looked like a great deal. 

Excited to see your progress!

 

HI @reefsenpai thanks for following my journal. Currently the Nano Power Pack is out of stock and will be still available, but keep in mind that is for trying out the product. If you like it then you should look into getting the larger bottles as it will be cheaper in the long run. Only Zeobak has a shelf life of 6 months to a year if kept in a refrigerator.

 

Since you do have Nuvo 20 Peninsula look at this journal as he has the same model as you and is currently using the full Zeovit system.

KMitch's IM Peninsula 20 Zeovit

[Coolbreeze]

 

 

Since I will be trying out ZEOvit for the first time I needed to upgrade my testing game. So for the cycle I will use Red Sea Ammonia and Nitrate test kits. For ongoing testing, I will be converting from Red Sea to Hanna Calcium, Phosphate, Alkalinity checkers and Hanna Salinity and Temp checker.

 

Both Alkalinity and Phosphate readings need to be more accurate and consistent on order to take full advantage of the system.

 

Still waiting on light, pump and stand to be delivered, all three are behind scheduled and should be delivered soon. In the meantime, I ordered DR. Tim’s One and One and some Ammonia to start the process and waiting for delivery date. I have filled a tube full of RODI water and spare Neotherm 75-watt heater and IM 20 concept pump to start the process going. As soon as the bacteria arrives, I will add to the rock and wait a month for it to mature as it is a requirement to have live rock for starting the system.

 

I did receive my Fuji pink sand today and I have cleaned it as ZEOvit does not recommend using live sand. Now it is a waiting game for the rest of things to arrive and put into place.
 

[Coolbreeze]

Link to Enter

 

@Waterbox is giving away a 10g cube with light. Ends today at 6:00 PM ,must watch either Facebook live or Youtube live today at 6:00 PM EST. Click link above to enter and hurry.

[Coolbreeze]

 

My little Innovative Marine pump just arrive and I installed this little guy right away. Fits like a glove. Now to do some water testing and making sure it does not leak.

 

Radion XR15 G5  will arrive by the end of this week, have the tracking number and looking to be on time.

[Coolbreeze]

 

It has finally arrived and now I can start designing and building the canopy.

[Coolbreeze]

More items have finally arrived. 

 

 

So I was doing some testing on my 30L with the ALL-In-One and decided that I will be going with it on both displays along with Pro Reef salt. Buying in bulk this way is .06 cents a day for the 20 g display for all-in -one and .56 cents a gallon for salt. All pharmaceutical grade is not a bad price and I have seen some really nice results. Will pair nicely with ZEOvit system that I plan on running with this system and maybe the 30L.

 

 

As a test this is okay, but for long term it is very expensive to use. The above bulk items you make it yourself is very affordable.

 

Yes this build is going slow, but this is by design. I really want to do this right. I am one week in of getting the new rock work seeded, three more to go 😞

 

[Coolbreeze]

 

After reviewing many options for a canopy, I have decided to just go with a sleeker design by just hanging the EchoTech XR15 Pro above the display and put a diffuser on it. So, I have ordered both items and I will have hanging kit this week and the diffuser will be shipped at the end of the month.

 

We are coming up on the close of the two week cycle and things are looking good, keep in mind that when I put the rocks in the new display I still need to go through a cycle again as ZEOvit wants you to use live rock and since I had this handmade I need to get it alive. After the cycle is completed, I will be taking a couple of the rocks and place them in my IM 30L to keep the cycle going and to hopefully add additional beneficial bacteria.
 

[Coolbreeze]

Just a quick update as the past 6 weeks has been very hectic. I have placed all the flat top pieces into my IM 30L build to get it really seeded. On hold for adding water as contractors as falling behind in their work. I need them to finish the electrical work before I can setup the stand and put water in it.

[debbeach13]

That rock work design is unique. Looking forward to seeing it when coral is added. I will be following this build and wish you success with your new tank.

[Coolbreeze]

Well I have not been able to update this for a while so I figured now would be a good time to update it.

 

I guess I made a few big mistakes in making my theme and some hardware choices so now I need to correct them. First off is my aquascape, it is too big for the DT and I guess I did not measure my aquarium correctly. It does fit in the display, but you have no room to clean the glass or move things around if need be. I will be removing it and thinking of something else to put in here.

 

My lighting choice I thought again would have been a great choice and I am sure it was at the time of purchase, but I have already sent an email in to return the EchoTech radion XR15 Pro and replace it with a Kessil A360W light hooked up to a Bluefish Aquarium controller as I do not plan on hooking this up to my Apex. Trying to hang the light seem to be more of a challenge then what I thought it would be and hooking it on the back of the DT is not an option as there no room for the radion brackets as they are too large to get them in there, so I will be replacing it by using the smaller and thinner Kessil mounting bracket. I am looking forward to using all the features of the bluefish controller.

 

A finally I will not be using the full ZeoVit system, but most of their add-ons as they are not requiring full ZeoVit system to use them. Mainly the reason for changing is that it does take too much time to get the doses right and if you make one mistake it can takes weeks or months to correct. One example is Zeofood Plus. I was dosing this to their directions in my IM30 build and not very long after starting the dosing regimen I started getting Cyno and now I have been fighting to fix it, which cost more money for products and water changes. I will continue with the rest of their products as I do see some color and growth advantage’s to using them with no side effects.

 

I have received delivery of the stand and it looks really great, but still waiting on getting power brought to this side of the room. Hopefully I can find someone before the end of November.
 

[Matteo]

This is some hardcore doing from the start type shit right here 👆

 

Excited to see what kind of results you get and maybe I'll try some of this product out. 

[Coolbreeze]

23 hours ago, Matteo said:

This is some hardcore doing from the start type shit right here 👆

 

Excited to see what kind of results you get and maybe I'll try some of this product out. 

Actually my Dream Build is really hard core. Just wait to see this build as I spent a lot of time measuring and figuring everything out. This has been something I dreamed about for a long time. I will need help from the community on coral placement has I do not have that down yet.

[Coolbreeze]

Today I received my email that the Bluefish Aquarium controller shipped and will be here soon and I also will be receiving my new light and mount tomorrow. Still working on what to do with my Aquascape. Been reviewing many DT on here to get some idea's.

 

One of my best news that I got is that I have a nephew that is a certified electrician so when he gets back into town he will be taking care of running some electrical wiring for this tank as well as for my Marine X.

[Coolbreeze]

Today I made some progress on cleaning the sand and putting it in the display along with some basic modifications on my custom rock work and now I have room to clean the glass as needed and the fish and inverts will have room to go in and out of the cave.

 

I have mounted the Kessil and like the looks of it so far and I also received an updated  email on the delivery date of Bluefish controller as it will be delivered by October 21st ,2020.

 

I will need to modify the protein skimmer so it can be adjusted better on water height by moving the magnet from the side to the back. Here is an updated picture of what it will look like.

 

 

[Coolbreeze]

I did received my Bluefish controller and tried to get it connected to my wi-fi with zero success. After reviewing my router/firewall I will need to make some major programming changes in order to get it connected. Will look further into getting this done this weekend.

[Leo_ian]

Any updates?