Waterbox cube 20 - Chapter 1

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1 hour ago, Daan6661 said:

I was just kidding dude, cool tank!

No problem dude, was just playing ya 😉

Subscribed to you instagram 👍 Beautiful tank!

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9 hours ago, PicoSavvy said:

That ikea stand turn out great

Thanks! I like it aswell 😀

[Daan6661]

2 hours ago, TheonlyDaan said:

No problem dude, was just playing ya 😉

Subscribed to you instagram 👍 Beautiful tank!

haha lol. Thanks dude, it's been idle for a while as the business is busy as hell so I couldn't give the tank the time I wanted. 

Long story short; moved everything into a new tank at home for the whole family to enjoy again. 

I try to maintain this thread at least every couple of weeks.

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New day, new modification 😊

Following the advice of brs on skimmers and the importance of controlling the air intake of them... I installed a controllable air nozzle on the air inlet of the new Bubble Magus skimmer.

 

Planning on adding a overflow drain to the skimmer cup and taking the risk of cracking it.... 

Has anyone done this before? I see a lot of people adding it to the bottom of the cup, but I might need to add it to the side of the cup...

 

Thanks for the advice!

[farkwar]

My skimmers come with some form of valve on the air intake or airline

 

I only use it when the skimmer is overflowing, say when I change out socks

 

I run them full open normally, why wouldn't you want all the air the skimmer can suck in?  More air, more bubbles, more area for the junk to bind and get into the skimmer cup

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On 11/14/2020 at 8:10 PM, farkwar said:

My skimmers come with some form of valve on the air intake or airline

 

I only use it when the skimmer is overflowing, say when I change out socks

 

I run them full open normally, why wouldn't you want all the air the skimmer can suck in?  More air, more bubbles, more area for the junk to bind and get into the skimmer cup

I totally agree with you farkwar! More air means more surface area for junk to be removed BUT in my opinion it also means that the skimmer will overreact to every change in water chemistry.

For example the new socks,  the addition of extra food or bacterial cultures or other elements will change the water chemistry significantly and will eventually result in a overly active skimmer, and skimmer cup rapidly overflowing. As I learn from BRS, Reefbuilders and other forums, an optimal water-air ratio is 1:1. Since I have a AC skimmer pump, the only adjustments I have on the Bubble Magus are the water intake/outflow and skimmer depth... We shouldn't underestimate the importance of controlling the air intake of a skimmer.

 

Time will tell if this air valve has its usefulness, but for now, I really think it has it's purpose.

 

 

 

 

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Hi all,

 

Small update on the skimmer cup of my new Bubble magus BM QQ.

I can't take the risk of letting the skimmer cup overflow and spill all over the floor and electrical cables behind the cabinet so I had to do something...

 

Call me crazy, but I managed do drill a hole in the skimmer cup without breaking it and wasting 100€ 😅😋

I positioned the hole about halfway up the cup. That way I can clearly see how the consistency of the skimmate changes before it overflow into the container in my cabinet.

 

I made a video of me drilling the hole in skimmer cup and the tools I used to make it. Feel free to watch the video if interested:

 

 

Try this at your own risk 😜

In part 2 I install the actual drain hose from the cup to the skimmate container. The video will be up soon.

 

Cheers!

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New update,

 

I installed the drain on my skimmer cup going to the skimmate container.

So far, the test with water was succesful ☺️

 

 

 

Next week I'll be placing my last order to get the tank started before the end of the year.

Cheers!

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Question: will the Tunze 3155 unit fit in the return chamber of the Waterbox Cube 20?

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Hi Everyone,

 

New update on the tank:

 

Enjoy!

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Hi everyone, 

 

I need some advice:

 

Two days ago I noticed my hammer coral curled up, almost no polyp extension and really looking not that fluffy/happy...
The next morning the situation was unchanged but I noticed some of the polyps had let go, or were letting go at the moment.
Sorry for the bad quality picture, my iphone has some troubles with these close ups. You could also see the mouth very clearly, something I didn't notice before:
 

 

On the picture above you can see some of the hammers polyps have let go and it's mesenterial filemants are coming out...

The hammer was the first coral I bought and doing absolutely fine. It's been in the tank for almost 4 months, with no problems so far... The tank is up and running for 7 months so far. Beside some mild dino outbreaks, nothing 'bad' happened at the moment'. (ps. all other corals are doing fine, this is the only one showing signs of stress )

This picture shows how the coral normally looks when its happy.

I have absolutely no idea what caused this problem.
I performed my typical waterchange the day before, 25% on my waterbox cube 20, with Tropic Marin reef salt pro.

This are the water parameters I have at the moment:
salinity: 35 ppm
pH: 8.15 pH
alkalinity: 6.4 dkH (bringing it up to 8 dKH, dosing around 0.25 dkH daily)
ammonia: 0 ppm
calcium: 450 ppm
magnesium: 1380 ppm
nitrate: 2 ppm ( dosing 1 ppm daily with KNO3-solution)
nitrite: 0 ppm
phosphate: 0 ppm ( dosing 0.01 ppm daily with KH2PO4-solution)

I run carbon, no gfo, no skimmer.

Can anyone help me out?

 

ps. 

I have this daily morning routine when I add nitrate, phosphate and alk to the tank.
On a daily base I manuelly add 2 ppm of nitrate, 0.01 - 0.02 ppm phosphate, and 0.25 dKH alk every morning at the same time in the back filter chamber of my waterbox. And I add 4ml of Aquaforest NP PRO (carbon dosing)

I this 'cocktail' of additives to much for the hammer (and maybe other corals), causing them to stress out?

And what is the reason that the mouth of the hammer is showing so clearly? Especially in the morning?
Is this also a stress reaction? (ps. the mouth is closed, not open)

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Anyone?

[mitten_reef]

the entire head is “the polyp” - your tentacles have damages to them, but your polyps had not let go, at least not yet. What’s mounted on that red putty?  Is there potential stinging/fighting going on from that coral?

Any new shrimp or crab that might be picking at it?
Any changes in lighting, the overall shape of euphyllia, hammer in particular, seems to be related to the lighting condition in my own experience. 

 

 

 

 

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Update:
Strange things are happening with this hammer coral.
Today I noticed the shape of the hammer tentacles is changing.
The typical 'T' shape is mostly gone on the larger tentacles...

Anyone noticed this before? What could be the reason?
 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

if all else seems healthy about it (no tissue recession, no lightening of color, no mucus, etc), then it's probably pooping....💩.   they tend to be more dramatic with the expand and contract movement when they're about to poop.  if you see a big brown string comes out from the mouth (yes, the mouth is also the butt) later, that's coral poop.

 

*so many poop words in one post, lol.

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12 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

if all else seems healthy about it (no tissue recession, no lightening of color, no mucus, etc), then it's probably pooping....💩.   they tend to be more dramatic with the expand and contract movement when they're about to poop.  if you see a big brown string comes out from the mouth (yes, the mouth is also the butt) later, that's coral poop.

 

*so many poop words in one post, lol.

Seriously, pooping?! 😅

I don't know... This looks like very odd behaviour (shape-changing) for pooping? 

 

Will the typical T-shape of the hammer return?

Water parameters are OK for me, tested them last evening:

7.5 dKH

3 ppm nitrate

0.015 ppm PO4 (Hanna ULR phosphorus)

1.026 Salinty

25.5 degrees temperature

 

Lighting hasn't changed since the beginning (setup +7 months ago)

No carbon, no gfo

 

I paused the carbon dosing untill nutrients levels are 'stable'.

All other corals looking pretty happy to me.

 

The hammer was the first coral I added to the tank about 3 months ago.

Polyp extension was very good in the first 2 months, last month things changed with the results showing in the photos above...