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OTF's Waterbox Marine X 90.3


onthefly

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April 5th, 2020

 

After my SPS 20L died in 2007 from A/C going out while we were on vacation (day time highs were 105F), life was way too hectic to start a new tank back up.  Fast forward 14 years, my wife says to me, "wouldn't a reef tank look good there?".  Like the roadrunner, leaving a little dust cloud behind....I moved quickly before she could change her mind!  So, I'm finally in a place (and with consent!) to build another nice tank, but this time I finally have money (and patience) to do it right...So, welcome to the my new tank build.

 

Man, how things have changed in 14 years!  When I left...LEDs were just starting to be talked about (people were building DIY set ups, etc.), but anything other than MH/T5 on an SPS tank was heretical. Now, I can't give away my 250w PFO pendant and 14k Phoenix bulbs.  Seems as though the sand vs bare bottom debate has become more civil, with both having their place in the hobby.  Reef Central has been all but replaced with Reef2Reef. The cost of a hammer or frogspawn...WTH?  Yet, somethings never change.....Nano-Reef looks better than ever!  And, the "how many tangs can I kept in my 20ga?" posts are still full of awesomeness!

 

This time around, I'm thinking of a tank that has something for everyone.  So, a mixed reef with SPS up high...LPS and softies down low...the usual suspects for fish: Clowns, Chromis, Fork-tail Blenny, Gramma Loreta or an Orchid Dotty, Diamond Watchman Goby, etc

 

With all that said....while I painfully wait (starting week 8 now) for my shipping email...here's what I have so far:

 

Equipment

  • Waterbox Marine X 90.3 (DT=65 ga; Sump=25 ga)...fits the space perfectly.
  • Lighting: 2x EcoTech Radion XR15 G5 Blue
  • Return Pump - Jebao DCP-6500 with Neptune Flow Sensor
  • Flow - 2X RedSea Reefwave 25 Gyres on IceCap V3 backup
  • Natural Filtration
    • ~20lbs Marcorocks Reef Saver
    • ~15lbs Marcorocks Shelf
    • ~15lbs Marcorocks Foundation
    • ~20lbs of "good ol' fiji" (by old I mean from 2007...still had the SPS skeletons on it!)
    • ~50lbs Caribsea special grade (dry)
    • 10lbs Miracle mud in containers in the sump
    • IceCap 20W Algae scrubber
    • BRS mini BioReactor (running ~ 1/3c biopellets)
  • IceCap K1-130 skimmer with CO2 scrubber
  • Custom Control Panel housed to the side of the waterbed stand
  • Controller - Neptune APEX EL
  • Heater - 2X Bulk Reef Supply Titanium 300 watt (running alternating 12hr cycles)
  • Dosers - 2x Kamoer X1 pro wifi (for All-for-Reef and ReefEnergy AB+)
  • ATO - Neptune ATK...running from a water station in the basement
  • Tropic Marin Pro-Reef Salt
  • BRS 5-stage RODI (with Booster pump and XP Aqua RO/DI Flood Guardian)
    • Keeping ~30ga of RO/DI and mixed saltwater on hand (basement)
  • AWC - Neptune DOS
  • Auto Feeder - Neptune AFS

 

Aquascape --> BRS thick SuperGlue + Accelerator to start, then Marcos E-450 mortar, and finally covered up the mortar with thin superglue and sand.  

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  • 4 weeks later...

Few updates:

 

Aside from the FTS above....

 

ATK installed and running beautifully...

Leak detection installed...

Miracle Mud and Extra LR frags in the sump...

Cycle started today....

 

Cabinet built & Sump is in:

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Apex is on-line:

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I had an "inkling" that household CO2 would be an issue....

 

Tank started at 8.2, and over 3 weeks slowly dropped down to 7.8.  I'm not too concerned, since I'm only cycling.  That said, decided to hook up a skimmer and run it at night (9p to 9a).  pH is back up to ~8....right now I just have the cup drain back into the sump.  I'll eventually have a recirc. CO2 scrubber on there and I have my Apex programmed to turn off if the pH goes above 8.4. 

IMG_5723.jpg

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On 3/8/2021 at 7:20 PM, growsomething said:

Always wanted to try mud from a local backwater flat, not sure how muddy it should be.  What benefits are you expecting from it?

I'm not one to buy in to the "full story" of trace elements, and all that.....but the size of the particles, does suggest a denitrifying zone.  I'm going to seed the sump with pods once my NO2 levels drop, so the substrate will also help promote microfauna growth.  The one thing I see as a benefit with your idea....TONS of biodiversity (potentially some harmful, but worth a try) would come in with mud.  In fact, Paul B recommends this!

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Loooong cycle with dry rock and dry sand.  Microbacter 7 is starting to grab hold....With the NO3 levels starting to rise....I decided to plumb in my IceCap 20W ATS.  Right now running it 24/7 to establish, but once I have a nice lawn going, I'll run it reverse cycle.  Everything is controlled from the APEX.  Hopefully, I'm a couple weeks from CUC, pods, and couple fish.

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17 hours ago, Nano_Addict said:

Looking good! Funny, I use the ATO chamber for storage too 😆

 

Any pictures of the display?  I like the additional sand in the sump, is that tray homemade?

Yeah...the ATO chamber is uselessly small.  I thought about drilling it and putting a bulk head in and running a small fuge there!  Display looks the same as the FTS above LOL...no lights no nothing yet.  I did start seeing a nice biofilm on the glass, hopefully it's grabbing a hold of the LR as well.

 

That's the miracle mud! I got the 12x6 acrylic trays off Amazon, then made some PVC stands to allow for water flow between them.  Normally, you're suppose to run macro algae with it, but I'm running the ATS.  I might add a small ball just for pod habitat.

Edited by onthefly
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Todays Update:

 

Installed the recirculating CO2 scrubber!  Even though its still cycling....curiosity was killing me!

 

IMG_5737.jpg

 

Anyone care to guess when I turned it "on"?

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Nano_Addict

I just put a CO2 scrubber on my tank as well haha.  It's not recirculating, but I was shocked at how instant the change in pH was.

 

The miracle mud stands are a great idea.  With the 60.2 sump I definitely don't have the room for them, but like you mentioned the ATO is useless.  I'm thinking of cutting the silicone and using it for extra water volume... might even give me enough space for some of the mud trays. 🤔

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  • 2 weeks later...

Phase 2 of the 4 month cycle...some livestock!  All are from TSM Aquatics, I'm lucky I can do curb side pick up, and skip the QT.

 

Added 2 Ocellaris "Darwin" clowns

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An Orchid Dottyback....already found a suhweet cubby!

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Added the AFS...works perfectly with TDO boost pellets!  Everyone ate really well......Ignore the "ghetto" lid...waiting for the custom TopLids to come inIMG_5780.thumb.jpg.24151db408501803291d2b5430064346.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

May 16th UPDATE:

 

Old LR was leaching some PO4 (0.32ppm), but it's coming down now (0.2ppm)...

 

Dealing with the dreaded diatom bloom.....not too bad compared to others...slowly crept up after I turned on the lights at month 2

 

Added CUC today:

20 Nerites

10 Nassarius

5 Ceriths

30-40 Dwarf Ceriths

5 Trochus

1 Brittle star

 

Already started to clean up the diatoms

 

 

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June '21 UPDATE

 

"Let there be Corals!"

 

Before the livestock...I got the Neptune DOS on-line for AWC and manual WC's.....I'm running 10% change every week.  Water parameters have been trending in the right direction for a while now:

Temp: 78

pH: 8.4

Alk: 8.3 dKH

NO3: 5ppm

PO4: 0.07 (down from 0.3 2 months ago)

Ca: 425ppm

Mg: 1400ppm

 

Dosing: I'm currently dosing 5ml TM All-For-Reef...waiting to see what the demand will be and adjusting accordingly.  If Alk drops, then dosing Balling B as needed. Still dosing MB7 and Clean 2x/week

 

Live stock:

 

My first tank was straight softies...then I went full crazy and ran the SPS nano...these are my first LPS corals!  Scored all from the Memorial Day Sale at Corals Anonymous

 

3 head Duncan, Gold Sky Hammer, couple Acans in the back

 

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Green Hammer, Gold Sky Hammer, Roe

 

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The Acan's, Duncan, and one of the hammers fed well today (Fauna Marin LPS pellets)...I'll let them hang out on the sand bed for a few more days, then cut the plugs off and move them into final position.

 

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Nano_Addict

Looking great!  Interesting to hear you're still using the MB Clean.  Did you ever get an ugly stage?  I was using it 1X per week and ended up with 0 NO3 and 0 PO4... and cyano and what I think are dinos... Feeding and supplementing with NeoPhos and NeoNitrate currently to get those levels back up.

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4 hours ago, Nano_Addict said:

Looking great!  Interesting to hear you're still using the MB Clean.  Did you ever get an ugly stage?  I was using it 1X per week and ended up with 0 NO3 and 0 PO4... and cyano and what I think are dinos... Feeding and supplementing with NeoPhos and NeoNitrate currently to get those levels back up.

Very little!  Had a light diatom "dusting"....added a CUC and in 2 weeks or so, it just burnt out.  I now have the start of GHA....the bright side (if there is one), is after 2.5 months of NOTHING growing in my ATS....now it's seeded and growing well.  My LR was leaching PO4, I think that's subsided now...and PO4 is coming down into a manageable range.  My experience with GHA is once you nit the sweet spot for nutrient...it just dwindles away.

 

Yeah....I'm trying to stop the reduction measures at ~0.3 PO4 and 2-3 NO3.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/1/2021 at 11:12 AM, Nano_Addict said:

How's the tank doing these days?

BETTER!!   Sorry was away with work stuff...

 

In about June I had a massive Dino outbreak, then Bryopsis....I now know that PO4 and NO3 bottomed out causing the Dinos, and the algae came in on some Trochus Snails.  

 

Spent the next 4-5 months dealing it all (fluconazole, UV, dosing nutrients, feeding heavy, silicates, bubbling, NO W/C's for 5 months, etc), and think I finally have it beat.  Lost 3-4 frags (e.g. BOP, one Can, two hammers), I assume with all the dosing and fluctuations that occurred.  I also took a lot of the filtration methods off line (ATS, bio pellets, carbon dosing) Everything over the past month has started to really color up and growth is back!

 

On the back side of it all, I ran and ATI test on my water....Only thing off was silicates were high (obviously) and Iodine was low.  Every other parameter was rock solid.....There's my plug for TM's All-for-Reef!

 

I need to get some after pics and post.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Sorry for the long delay....

 

I've been holding my breath waiting for Dino's or Bryopsis to come back....but 3-4 months now, seems stable.  The only filtration I've added back was the ATS (just went on last weekend) because I can control the export.  Everything else is in the closet still.

 

Details:

Temp: 77.5F

SG: 1.026

NO3: try to keep it around 10ppm

PO4: try to keep around 0.1

Alk: 10dKh

Ca: 425ppm

Mg: 1400

I: 0.06ppm

 

Dosing:

15ml TM All-for-Reef daily (over 16 hrs)

1-2 drop lugol's daily

8ml Neo Nitro (2ml on 4 days/week)

NeoPhos (ass needed..when it gets below 0.05ppm)

KZ products (Aminos, Coralvitalizer, Pohl's Xtra) on M-W-F

 

Live Stock:

Kermit the Acro - TG (Tidal Gardens)

Gold Hammer - CA (Corals Anonymous)

Rose Hammer - CA

Purple tip/ Green Hammer - MR (Maria's Reef)

Orange cap - MR

Spongodes- MR

Forrest Fire Digi - MR

Neon Green Digi - TG

Peach Digi - TG (turned Red)

Hot pink Stylo - TG

Neon Green Stylo- TG

Scarlet favites- TG

Fire and Ice acan - CA

Watermelon acan -CA

Duncan - CA

Bam Bams - MR

Coronas - MR

Fruit loops - MR

Purple monster - MR

Pink BN - TG

Purple Polyp BN - WWC (World Wide Corals)

Muy Verde BN - WWC

Silver Fox Favites - WWC

Rainbow Monti - WWC

Tyree Red Cyphastrea - WWC

BoP BN - TG

Jingle Bells Cyphastrea - TG

Rainbow Stylo - TG

Mytho Acro - TG

Pink Krak's - TG

Citrus - TG

Bob Marley's - TG

Fire and Ice - TG

 

 

Time for pics...

 

Dino's...man they suck!  If you want to hear more about my fight, just ask!

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Then Bryopsis....before and after Reef Flux

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Now some good stuff...

 

Scarlet Favites

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Duncan and BamBam's

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Monti's (Orange Cap, Rainbow, and Spongodes)

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BOP to replace the one I lost to Dinos

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Muy Verde BN (looking across the tank)

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