Cincy_Reefer's Waterbox Marine X 90.3 Build

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 28, 2022

Oh also, my BRS DIY Mesh lid kit arrived today. I quickly realized it wasn’t going to work before even attempting to put it on.

Still rocking the egg crate and probably will be for another 6-9 weeks.

Because of my AI prime mounts and the Nero 5 cords - I’m going to order a custom made acrylic lid from Tyler over at TopLids. We had an introductory call this afternoon and I plan to move into the design phase of my purchase early next week!

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 29, 2022

Moved where my Nero 5’s are.

Put the right one lower and towards the front, left one higher and towards the back - hopefully creates an elliptical flow pattern.

The parameters are all looking good still.
happy Saturday. One more day until The Who Dey’s

SRCLeal · Jan 29, 2022

Ok wait a second, so from order date to your door was 9 days? I’m on 12 weeks and was told not expected until maybe end of February…

Great looking setup though, just got through the full read and can’t wait to see that thing stuffed with corals!

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 29, 2022

What tank did you order???? / Where are you ordering to?

yeah tho… mine was on backorder the night I ordered it, was super stoked when I got the notification that it had shipped.

Sorry about your luck mate :/

Thanks for reading and me too, pumped to get corals in it.

I would, without question, recommend using Fritz Zyme 9 to cycle your tank. Put my clowns in 1 day after dosing with Fritz and the basic parameters have been testing great ever since. (Other than ph)

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 29, 2022

I’ve been feeding my orang storms about 2-3 pellets each, once per day.

How often do others tend to feed their clowns? / how much do you feed them?

A quick google told me 1 pellet each per day, and that I could skip a day every now and then if I wanted to… ?

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 29, 2022

Also I was looking through the “what fish would you not get again after having them” thread, or whatever it was called.

A lot of people mentioned clowns, mostly maroons which is good since I got the Orange Storms lol

But I was curious about if anybody has experienced issues with keeping clowns?

Hoping that once the system is ready to introduce new fish I won’t have trouble with the clowns targeting the newbies.

The biologist at my LFS was telling a customer about how she had a pair of clowns who would bite her anytime she put her hands in the tank and would kill any other fish she put in the tank hahahaha she was telling this story as I was buying my orange storms lol

so it’s been a thought on the back of my head.

The two I bought aren’t a true pair but they were in the LFS tank together for 30 days together. They haven’t exhibited signs of pairing yet and are swimming on opposite sides of the tank generally, but I’m curious how this will play out once I get around to the rest of my stocking list.

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 29, 2022

I really want a mandarin of some sorts so I need to start introducing pods and developing them into the ecosystem. I have no algae yet, can I introduce them and dose with phyto although I have no algae yet?

SRCLeal · Jan 29, 2022

I ordered a Marine X 60.2, I guess it’s just that much more in demand that they’re behind? Who knows. Had I known there was a difference in order receipt time maybe I’d put the work in to convince my wife the 90 was a better buy. I live in Vancouver BC Canada so not FL but not Cambodia either. I started my cycle in a Rubbermade already, was done in 9 days with the same FritzZyme 9. It worked like a charm.

I had heard a lot about maroons and Clarkii’s and such being aggressive, was hoping maybe feeding by hand or getting them used to me being around would get them less aggressive but who knows.

A mandarin is definitely on my list as well though will likely be the last add since I’d like to have a healthy pod population first. You could go with tank bred with a chance that they accept frozen food though I don’t believe frozen is enough to keep them thriving.

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 30, 2022

The driver who delivered my tank mentioned how difficult it is to get good from the states into Canada right now because - and I’m quoting the delivery driver on this - Canada is requiring all truckers to be Vaxed in order to cross the border. ????

So maybe your delay has something to do with that.

I sense your frustration though, being fully cycled and ready to rock and roll but no tank must be agonizing.

Good call on the feeding by hand!

And I agree with what you said about mandarins. I wouldn’t want to starve him out from an ethical perspective because I know I wouldn’t be able to supplement his dietary need with frozen food spot feeding.

Have you seen any waterbox build threads where people have refugiums in their dumps? I’m limited on space in the 90.3 and I’m exploring a potential external refugium in order to get my pod population established

SRCLeal · Jan 30, 2022

I’m actually in 3PL shipping of truckload goods. It’s a concern, sure, but definitely overstated. Being a Canadian I use primarily Canadian carriers and we see about 10% of drivers not double vaccinated and being affected by this. The rest is drivers on vacation (Jan/Feb are very typical rest months). Not to get into too much of the politics of it but it’s a lot of salesmanship.

Your sump is definitely bigger than mine but I’ve seen some people cut the baffle out of the ATO chamber, turn that section into the refugium and use a remote ATO reservoir. The other option is a remote refugium but I don’t like that idea as much.

Gedxin · Jan 30, 2022

Great write up of the install and your struggles. Lots of chuckles too as I ran in to many of the exact same stuff you did. My advice: Strap in cause things will continue to throw curve balls at you! Staring at the beautiful tank makes it all worth it though.

Looking forward to seeing your tank grow and mature!

Cincy_Reefer · Jan 31, 2022

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Here's an update on my tanks's parameters. I put them into excel charts for easier viewing.

Thanks to everybody who has been following the thread and offering advice!

you guys rule!

oh ... and I have to give one big obligatory WHOOO DEYYYYY!! Bengals are going to the Super Bowl babyyyy !!!!!

Just shot my LFS staff biologist an email with the same screen shot of my tank parameters and asked her about adding pods / my future goal of having a mandarin and whether or not I will need a refugium to sustain a pod population.

Will update when I hear back.

Cheers!

Cincy_Reefer · Feb 1, 2022

The replacement controller for my Innovative Marine Helio 400W PTC smart heater arrived yesterday.

I reached out to the IM and BRS support teams on Monday the 24th and communicated primarily with the IM support/warranty team.

7 days after I first reached out, a brand new replacement controller arrived at my door and it works perfectly.

Going to send the defective model back to them today along with returning my BRS DIY top kit and HOPEFULLY will get around to talking through the design of an acrylic lid with Tyler from TopLids who I spoke with over the phone on Friday.

Cincyreefer513 · Feb 2, 2022

Still following. I really like the internal lighting in your stand idea.

Do you have a tentative livestock wish list yet? The majority of fish we want are out of stock anywhere around here.

Cincy_Reefer · Feb 2, 2022

Thank you! I got the idea from other build threads/YouTube videos.

As for a tentative stocking list - all I know for certain that I want to have is a mandarin.

I’ll probably build out a list in the near future but for now I’m content with the clowns as I begin to allow my pocket book to recover lol

I know that AA places their orders on Tuesday’s if you have any special requests you want to put in, they can usually get it for you.

Cincyreefer513 · Feb 2, 2022

Good to know, thanks! I'll have to ask them next time I'm over there.

Cincy_Reefer · Feb 9, 2022

Last night was a sad one over here for me as a newbie to the saltwater hobby. One of my two clowns had been struggling lately, Saturday night was the first time I noticed it.

I posted in the emergency thread but wrote the symptoms off as the clown just doing what clowns do, weird goofy things.

I wasn't certain before I went to bed that night that it was going to be okay because of the heavy and rapid breathing I was observing while struggling to swim.

Sunday though he seemed completely normal. Monday too. Eating fine on both days.

Tuesday I got home from work and he was laying on his side on the sand bed in the dead center of the tank and I knew it wasn't a good sign.

I tried to spot feed him but no success. Called the LFS and explained the situation and talked about FW dipping. (4:00p)

I decided the FW dip was my only chance at saving the clown, and although there was risk of death from added stress due to the FW dip - there was also the chance of saving him. Better than sitting idle and watching him die in the tank, or having to euthanize him.

After the FW dip I found no traces of fluke in the water - but he is a tiny little fish so perhaps it was in there and I couldn't see it.

Immediately after returning him back to the tank he was swimming very aggressively and jittery. Eventually finding his way back down to the sand bed.

I turned the lights on to get a better look at him and he was looking very discolored.

I tried spot feeding pellets again and he didn't show interest so I went out to buy some frozen brine shrimp ASAP

When I got back from PetSmart his color had started to return a bit, but he was still on the sand bed breathing heavy and struggling to swim.

I thawed the brine and tried spot feeding, still no interest.

At this point I knew his chances of survival were pretty low due to the fact he wasn't eating and was struggling so much physically. (probably freaking out mentally too, stressed out)

I turned all the lights off in the room and the tank and went to make dinner, hoping he would be able to rest easier in the darkness. I had checked on him after eating dinner, and he was on a spot of rock where seemed to be a flow dead spot. Still breathing heavily.

Said a few prayers for him and went on with my night.

Came back in to check on him but couldn't find him, the noticed his dead body suctioned to the back of a powerhead.

I took him out and said my goodbyes. That was a tough one, especially so early on.

All my parameters had been stable for 2 weeks. I tested everything before I dipped him and nothing was unusual.

I wish I knew what caused his death. RIP.

I changed out the filter socks before I went to bed b/c there was a lot of brine that had made its way into the overflow box.

Today I spent some time cleaning up the cables behind the system, pretty much completed my cable management work.

Also checked parameters and they're still stable.

Anybody else ever had a clown die on them like this? I felt pretty helpless and that was brutal.

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Tough to capture an image of the cable management lol but it looks way better now.

My car battery died on me on Monday, my clownfish died on me on Tuesday. Wednesday has been good so far

Hope to keep the trend going lol