Back to the business reef - Waterbox 35.2

Erik the Red

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Hey everyone,

today I ordered my new tank, a Waterbox 35.2
30g/125L volume, 60x50x45cm or 23.6x19.7x17.7 inches.

The key equipment I’ll be using is:
-Skimmer Tunze 9001
-AI Prime HD light
-MP10
-Tunze Osmolator top up
-Circa 10kg of dry rocks, bare bottom

I am still undecided on the fish stocking list, since I would like to avoid high organic loads.
I really like the Gobiodon okinawae, as well as Pseudochromis paccagnellae, but I’m not sure they can live together, due to aggressiveness of the latest. My girlfriend would like to have some active fish swimming in the tank, compared to gobies, so I am open to suggestions. Blue Chromis are pretty cool as well, but I think they might need more space to swim, compared to 60cm/23.6”.

For what regards the corals the base rule is that they have to be photosynthetic...so no feeding at least for corals :)
I really like goniopora, but I’ve heard they don’t live for long in tanks.

I love also tube worms (Sabellastarte sp.) as they remind me of Mediterranean Sea...if only I could get Mediterranean fish and invertebrates here in Denmark, it would be a dream!!! I was also thinking to use the tank to make a Kattegat sea biotope, but won’t be colourful, so the boss said “NO”.

I’ll keep you posted, as i can see there are not many threads on the Waterbox 35.2 on the forum.

please, let me know if you have suggestions, in particular for the stocking list!

Be safe in these COVID times
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Hey guys,
Everything has arrived. I broke down the dry rocks and start with the aquascaping.
How does it look? The cardboard on the back is positioned as where the back glass will be.

I wish I was more creative...could you please help me?
image.jpg
image.jpg
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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I’m finally back with an update.
I got 3 cabinets from Waterbox, because there were some issues with the finishing of the wood, and it looked very bad, but at least I got them replaced :)

I filled the tank with RO water and after a couple of days I started pouring small amount of salt in the tank, with the powerhead turned on. I know it's not a good practice to pour salt directly in the tank, but I couldn’t do differently. It hasn’t been harmful for any living creature, since the tank has just water and rocks inside.

In any case, I have this weird “issue”...as you can see from the images, there’s a haze around the rocks and I can’t figure out why. Can anyone help me with that?

I will wait to start the dry rock cycle until I figure it out

thank you :)

2C9D22FD-374A-46D3-951E-932B2141B01D.jpeg FEAAC61C-AAD0-4054-B660-32C24D6D5CFD.jpeg
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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I have been inserting bacteria for 2 weeks now (1 drop per day), but I can’t see any changes in the values. The water got cloudy in these 2 weeks.

ammonia is still 1.5
No2 and no3 are both at 0 mg/l

I use salifert tests. Skimmer is off, heater is off.

Can anyone help me to figure out why the cycle hasn’t started yet?

thanks :)
 

ramona

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following along.....please keep up with your journal, and pictures, cause.... we looove pictures; i got a WB 35.2 also, it will take me a while to start setting it up.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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The tank looks exacly the same as in the previous images. After 2 weeks the cycle hasn’t started yet and I can’t figure out what is the problem...
 

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Brew12

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Love the rock work, you did a great job with that!

The cloudy water isn't terribly unusual in a new aquarium. If it is making a slimy film on your glass it is likely a bacterial bloom. If it's more of a fine suspended powder it could be from the dry rock.

Might want to double check your pH and make sure it is looking good.
 

melanotaenia

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You say you are adding bacteria to the tank, but with dry rock, what have you seeded into the tank for the bacteria to feed on?
 

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I have been inserting bacteria for 2 weeks now (1 drop per day), but I can’t see any changes in the values. The water got cloudy in these 2 weeks.

ammonia is still 1.5
No2 and no3 are both at 0 mg/l

I use salifert tests. Skimmer is off, heater is off.

Can anyone help me to figure out why the cycle hasn’t started yet?

thanks :)
What do you mean “1 drop” of bacteria? I’m on day 3 using brightwell and I had to add like 50mL microbacter start xlm on day one. Then I just added another 50mL today. I also went ahead and have been dosing microbater7 everyday with 8mL. This is for 40 gallon tank. My nitrites and nitrates started showing up today. “1 drop” of bacteria seems like practically nothing.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Love the rock work, you did a great job with that!

The cloudy water isn't terribly unusual in a new aquarium. If it is making a slimy film on your glass it is likely a bacterial bloom. If it's more of a fine suspended powder it could be from the dry rock.

Might want to double check your pH and make sure it is looking good.
Far too kind about the rock work :)
pH looks good for now. It’s stable at 8.0

let see what will change with some ghost feeding
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Bio S prescribes to use 1 drop of bacteria per 100 L, everyday for 2 weeks. The tank is about 100-110 L net volume.

don’t know what to say...
 

FortLivingRoom

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Bio S prescribes to use 1 drop of bacteria per 100 L, everyday for 2 weeks. The tank is about 100-110 L net volume.

don’t know what to say...
Ok, I see that now, I apologize. I saw your post about cycling issues and one drop seemed low. It’s hard to imagine they could concentrate enough bacteria in just one drop. One drop is roughly equivalent to 0.05mL. So adding 0.05mL of bacteria to 10,000mL of tank volume just seems way too low. I read the reviews on BRS and there was another guy who said it took a month to cycle. I guess eventually the bacteria will multiply enough, but will probably take awhile. Perhaps add a different product or increase your dosing?
 

Brew12

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Far too kind about the rock work :)
pH looks good for now. It’s stable at 8.0

let see what will change with some ghost feeding
I think ghost feeding will help, but I share the concern about the small amount of bacteria you are adding. I've never used Bio S but it is almost impossible to overdose nitrifying bacteria. Nitrifying bacteria reproduce much more slowly than the type that bloom in our systems and cause oxygen deprivation.
I am always very hesitant to go against manufacturers recommendations since they should know their product the best. I will say that if this was my system I would add 2 to 3 ml per day until for a few days instead of the one drop per day. With no livestock in the tank, I would consider the risk to be minimal but it is your system and a decision you must be comfortable with.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Thanks both for your replies.
I will add some more drops to the tank (and get a different inoculum as well). Moreover, I will turn on the heater as well, as it should help bacteria proliferation.
have justredirected the return pump flow to shake more the water surface to help with oxigenation, now that the skimmer is off.

I’ll keep you guys posted. I hope to be able to see some changes in about a week.

Thanks for your help!
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Since you’re here already, I’ll take advantage of that and ask another question on a different topic.
I’d like to have softies and maybe LPS in the tank.

at the moment i have a MP10 installed in the bottom corner, behind the rocks and i was wondering if it would be a good investment to have another on the other side, closer to the top, to create a sort of vortex and have the corals to be moved on both directions...

however, i am not really sure about how much soft corals would benefit from that additional pump.

Mind that the tank is only 60cm long and 40cm wide

any opinion on that?

thanks again!
 

FortLivingRoom

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Since you’re here already, I’ll take advantage of that and ask another question on a different topic.
I’d like to have softies and maybe LPS in the tank.

at the moment i have a MP10 installed in the bottom corner, behind the rocks and i was wondering if it would be a good investment to have another on the other side, closer to the top, to create a sort of vortex and have the corals to be moved on both directions...

however, i am not really sure about how much soft corals would benefit from that additional pump.

Mind that the tank is only 60cm long and 40cm wide

any opinion on that?

thanks again!
I’m a novice as well, but from what I’ve read I believe one MP10 will suffice unless you add some sps.
 

Kocodelux

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Hi Erik,

Nice looking tank!

I looked at the product you're using and it seems its only ammonia. That's food for the bacteria you want to cycle and I think your product would be great with live rock. But since you start with dry rock your tank is more or less without any biodiversity and the bacteria you want is lacking.

I would add either some live rock, buy actual bacteria or add a fish or two.

Cheers!
 

Brew12

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Since you’re here already, I’ll take advantage of that and ask another question on a different topic.
I’d like to have softies and maybe LPS in the tank.

at the moment i have a MP10 installed in the bottom corner, behind the rocks and i was wondering if it would be a good investment to have another on the other side, closer to the top, to create a sort of vortex and have the corals to be moved on both directions...

however, i am not really sure about how much soft corals would benefit from that additional pump.

Mind that the tank is only 60cm long and 40cm wide

any opinion on that?

thanks again!
I feel 1 MP10 will be just fine for anything you want in the tank. In a tank this size it will be very challenging to get both SPS and Softies/LPS to thrive. For long term success you need high flow zones for the SPS and lower flow for the others. That is hard to achieve even in larger systems.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Hi Erik,

Nice looking tank!

I looked at the product you're using and it seems its only ammonia. That's food for the bacteria you want to cycle and I think your product would be great with live rock. But since you start with dry rock your tank is more or less without any biodiversity and the bacteria you want is lacking.

I would add either some live rock, buy actual bacteria or add a fish or two.

Cheers!
Tack! (it means thank you in swedish, for English speakers)

Do you have any suggestion about good products? LSF here in the area have empty storages at the moment...so I will get it online from abroad.
 

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