HTown Reef - 200g Waterbox Reef LX 270.6 (SPS Dominant)

[Sean Clark]

Good eyes! I have...
- Yama 12
- Hakushu 12
- Hibiki 21
- Chichibu 2019 + 2020 (US Edition)

Those are the notables. I have things like Nikka 12 which isn't made anymore, but the ones above are the *chefs kiss* good ones

21 huh? My bet was on Hibiki Harmony

We are going to need to "calibrate" these salinity tools ASAP... at your place.

 

[Ugin]

21 huh? My bet was on Hibiki Harmony

We are going to need to "calibrate" these salinity tools ASAP... at your place.

Buahaha! Yeah, I have the harmony as well, but on a flight back from Tokyo 2 years ago I got a Hibiki 21 at the Narita duty free store at MSRP. It was pure luck.

 

[Sean Clark]

Buahaha! Yeah, I have the harmony as well, but on a flight back from Tokyo 2 years ago I got a Hibiki 21 at the Narita duty free store at MSRP. It was pure luck.

That is amazing. I only get leftover imports from blackwells.

 

[Ugin]

Nitrates/Phosphates

The tank isn't cycled yet, but I just did a check on my NO3/PO4 and they're on the higher end:

NO3: 20-30ppm~
PO4: 0.08ppm



I'm running zero nutrient export at the moment (no skimmer, no fuge, and no water change (yet)). I'm not super concerned about this, but I may as well get started at lowering these values early.

Skimmer: I ordered a NYOS 220 via Waterbox's website when I purchased my tank and the skimmer was back ordered. They said it would be available again around the 20th (2 days ago), so I'm going to contact their support on Monday for an update

Refugium: Algaebarn's clean cheato just came back in stock after being out of stock since I started this build. I put in a purchase order earlier today and it should be here early next week

Water Changes: As I'm still in the cycle and I've been dosing bottled bacteria/ammonia, I haven't done a single water change (per manufacture recommendations and just my personal experience). Once the tank is cycled, I'll be doing a large water change... well, as large as I can reasonably do with a tank my size (around 25-30%).

 

[Ugin]

Minor Sunday update! Ammonia tested 0 today which is great. Nitrites are still 1ppm+, but the cycle appears to be moving along well!

 

[Simon Reefing]

awesome tank!

 

[Ugin]

Lighting Schedule

I've been spending some time considering my lighting schedule for awhile now and I've landed on a plan.

What I have

• ATI Sunpower 8x80W (not dimmable)
  • 2 bulbs are on 1 channel
  • 6 bulbs are on the 2nd channel
• (2) XHO Reefbrite LED's

The plan

• 10am: XHO's turn on
• 11am: Channel 2 (6 bulbs) turns on
• 1pm: Channel 1 (2 bulbs) turns on
• 5pm: Channel 1 (2 bulbs) turns off
• 7pm: Channel 2 (6bulbs) turns off
• 8pm: XHO's turn off

This results in a 10 hour photoperiod with peak intensity lasting 4 hours. I still need to find a PAR meter to test what each of the cutoff periods are on the schedule, but because I don't have a dimmable T5 fixture, I feel like this is my best bet.

Thoughts?

 

[Ugin]

Whelp, BRS just had their 60-day return MQ-510 Apogee meters come back in stock, so I placed an order!

 

[Badfish405]

Are you pretty happy with 4x mp40? I'm debating having the same or 2x mp40 and 2 gyres

 

[Ugin]

Are you pretty happy with 4x mp40? I'm debating having the same or 2x mp40 and 2 gyres

I can't really speak on it in application as my prior tank had 2 gyres. The reason I went with 4 MP40's was so I can easily move my flow around if needed. I'll give feedback when I have coral in this tank

 

[Ugin]

Nothing really to share while I wait for my cycle to complete and my cheato to arrive (tomorrow), but I did to some cleaning around my tank to make the girl happy.

I really should fine some canvas art for the left and right side of the tank...

 

[Ugin]

Refugium Update!

The cheato is here! The heat pack was used up and everything was cold, so I let it float a bit.



After 15-20 minutes I set it in my refugium. The flow through the sump caused the cheato to tumble a decent amount and sending loose noodles of cheato into my mesh separating the refugium from the return pump chamber. To combat this, I put a bit of milk crate on top.



I'm guessing that after the cheato starts growing more the loose noodles will ball up/clump more making this less of an issue. Thoughts?

 

[Sean Clark]

Ooooooooo. The elusive clean cheato.

 

[kenbennedy]

I don't have anything to add to your chaeto question, but I have been struggling to contain what I would describe as "chopped salad" macroalgae that I keep receiving.

I am using this right now to contain the ulva salad in my refugium. For $24 it is a good value, if it doesnt work for this I will use it for an acclimation box for future new arriving fish.

[edit]
I give up, I have no idea how to link to amazon products... "ATPWONZ Fish Breeding Box, Acrylic Fish Isolation Box Aquarium Hatchery Incubator with Suction Cups for Newborn Fry Shrimp Guppy Clownfish Aggressive Fish, 11.5" x 6" x 6"

 

[Ugin]

I don't have anything to add to your chaeto question, but I have been struggling to contain what I would describe as "chopped salad" macroalgae that I keep receiving.

I am using this right now to contain the ulva salad in my refugium. For $24 it is a good value, if it doesnt work for this I will use it for an acclimation box for future new arriving fish.

[edit]
I give up, I have no idea how to link to amazon products... "ATPWONZ Fish Breeding Box, Acrylic Fish Isolation Box Aquarium Hatchery Incubator with Suction Cups for Newborn Fry Shrimp Guppy Clownfish Aggressive Fish, 11.5" x 6" x 6"

Thanks for the idea! I have a similar acrylic holding/acclimation box on the way. Could be a good solution to keep that area clean, though my hope is after time the cheato will ball up better so it's unnecessary.

 

[Ugin]

Ok so I figured I'd quickly record what my cheato was doing and had some fun with it... Sorry not sorry.

 

[Ugin]

My EShopps frag rack just arrived in the mail with.... no magnets.

 

[Sean Clark]

 

[Crabby48]

Cheato is a bit messy but once it grows it getters better. I had octo build a magnetic holder for filter pad but then got tired changing it every couple days

 

[Ugin]

Nothing new to report. Cycle is still not done -- Nitrites are still 1ppm+. Is there any reason I should phantom feed at this point as there's 0 ammonia in the tank? The bacteria should be consuming the Nitrites, no?

As a side note, I've got a bunch of goodies arriving today:
- PAR meter
- Acrylic acclimation box
- Hanna nitrate checker (high range)
- 2 more bags of sand. I underestimated how much I needed and there's a few spots I want more.