Sean's Waterbox 130.4 Mixed Reef Build

[aresangel]

Coming together nicely. I like the fish list. I like zebra goby and purple firefish I’d you are looking for some dart fish types.

 

[hurdbird]

Coming together nicely. I like the fish list. I like zebra goby and purple firefish I’d you are looking for some dart fish types.

Thanks! I’ll have to check them out.

 

[hurdbird]

It’s been a while since I posted so catching up... tank has been up for 2.5 months or so now. All levels have stabled out nicely. Clean up crew and blood shrimp still going strong on ghost feedings. Whitetail Bristletooth Tang has completed quarantine and will be going into the DT this week!

Few changes and tank updates:
Added a set of gyres to the back wall to take care of dead spots below the rock structure.

Added an older iPad I had and a new mount in the controller side of cabinet for easier adjustability and control while working on the tank. Cut a piece of acrylic to keep the salt creep at bay above the filter socks. Still working on a better way to level it off.

My new lid is cut and shipping out this week. Fabio and the guys at Safe Top Lids were great to work with! I’ll post more pictures when the final product comes in.

Can’t wait to get another round of fish into QT and keep this going forward. Slowly but surely... enjoying the ride!

 

[Cheddah93]

God I love this build, definitely a dream tank one day. Great job man!

 

[Slombardi]

I just read through this thread. Everything is so clean and well thought out. Impressed with your patience! It looks awesome! Great job!

 

[hurdbird]

Thanks guys! Appreciate it. Definitely not trying to rush it this time around with an SPS goal in mind.

 

[hurdbird]

First fish, whitetail Bristletooth tang made it through QT and into the display tank. He’s loving it and doing well!

Made up a piece of acrylic with some feet to control salt creep above the filter sock section.

New lid arrived and it is awesome. Glad I waited for this Safe Top Lid. Fits like a glove.

Off to vacation in NH at a lake house for a week and time to restart QT process on the next back of fish when I return. Added an AFS, larger 10 gallon tank for additional ATO and set up a cheap webcam to monitor the tank.

 

[hurdbird]

Lights have been on for about a month now, ramping up slowly. Haven’t tested par yet but will be in the near future. Have a good amount of bright green algae building up but I’m letting it ride and keeping the AWC going / testing.

I have some new additions in QT, pair of Onyx C-Quest clowns. I’ve always been a sucker for the darker colored clowns.

And my new Geo calcium reactor and secondary chamber came in today! Had them change up the colors to better match my color scheme and this thing is a beast!

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Looking good Sean, wicked inspiring.

 

[hurdbird]

Life’s been a little busy between the little one, work and traveling with the paintball team but I’m getting back on the tank grind. Pumped to watch football in my man cave with a perfect view of the tank and the TV haha. Accent lighting on the TV matches the tank pretty well too. Hopefully going to get my calcium reactor set up this week as well.

 

[hurdbird]

Lights have been on for about 2.5-3 months now. Tank has been up for almost 6 months. Clowns are out of QT into the DT with the Whitetail Bristletooth Tang. Had a bright green algae develop all over the rock but it has started to subside. Starting to get some hair algae going and diatoms from the looks of it now on the top center rock. The purplish tint is the hair algae popping up. Should I just wait it out on the hair algae too or start trying to get rid of it?

Nitrates - between 0-5
Phosphates - between .08 - .1 (RODI filters got a little dirty and pushed this up I believe)
Alk is around 7 because I haven’t started running Calc reactor yet
Starting to get good coralline algae growth

Looking to get some more fish in over next month or so and start to add some tester corals. Happy reefing!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Looks like very well thought out rockwork - excellent caves and surfaces to work with.

 

[hurdbird]

Looks like very well thought out rockwork - excellent caves and surfaces to work with.

Thank you! Hopefully going to fill the top shelf with SPS eventually.

 

[hurdbird]

Here’s a video with an orange lense on. Throws the colors off a bit but you’ll get the idea of what I have going on in the tank. Any ideas what it is and if I should be doing anything?

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[hondo898]

Maybe I missed it, but what light are you using in the sump? Also what is your control system screen?

 

[hurdbird]

Maybe I missed it, but what light are you using in the sump? Also what is your control system screen?

Waterproof LED strip lighting in the cabinet. Remote fuge with AI Prime fuge light. Control screen is an older IPad I had.

 

[vinny]

Wow very neat and organized, Nice!

 

[hurdbird]

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Added my first few corals and have been temporarily dosing to lock my alk, calcium and mag levels in before I start my calcium reactor up. Everything is doing really well. Should have the kamoer dosing pump and carbondoser regulator in this weekend to get the reactor up and running. Built a small stand / tray for my reactor set up. Need to rework some of the power blocks to make some more room still.

Have some chaeto / pods coming as well so I can fire the fuge up and some more fish coming over from QT in the next week or so.

Need more coral! Happy New Year and happy reefing!

 

[hurdbird]

Calcium reactor is up and running in test mode / air removal mode. I went with the two little fishies reborn media. I bought the two little fishies remag aa well and forgot to put some in... definitely glad I decided to rinse all this media again even though instructions tell you it has already been pre rinsed with RODI water. It was very dusty

Algae Barn fuge start up kit came in with the clean chaeto, pods and phyto. Chaeto and pods are in. Directions say to feed 5ml of phytomagik per 20 gallons of tank water per day for the first two weeks. I have the AI Prime Fuge light scheduled to run the entire time my DT lights are off currently on 60% intensity but have turned on acclimation mode for the first 10 days. Anyone have expertise with good settings for this light by any chance?

Happy reefing!

 

[hurdbird]

Got some corals placed finally and the coralline algae is growing rapidly now. Battling low nitrates 0-2 no matter how much I feed. Phosphates have been consistently between .08-.1 Debating turning the skimmer off periodically until I get more fish added over the next few weeks. I ordered a nitrate supplement from ME Corals in case it’s needed. Anyone have experiencing dosing nitrates? Best ways to increase nitrates (IE: more fish, What food, Etc.)?

I have also still been dealing with the green film algae all over my rock work no matter what I do. Can’t really manually remove so after a lot of back and forth, I am going to try a vibrant treatment. First dose is in. Hopefully all goes well! Anyone have experience with vibrant?