LCR's Waterbox 20 Cube

[Lou City Reefing]

following though this build and it looks amazing! exactly what im looking for starting out. If i could ask a question , what is the purpose of this item on your build list ? "Trigger Systems Crystal ATO 5 Gallon", and is it necessary if im just starting with live rock and soft corals but no fish?

I’m glad this thread could help you!

It definitely is not necessary. It is just a container to hold my ATO water instead of a hardware store 5 gallon bucket

 

[Shannon3095]

I’m glad this thread could help you!

It definitely is not necessary. It is just a container to hold my ATO water instead of a hardware store 5 gallon bucket

thank you ! that makes sense, i haven't pulled the trigger yet but i was going to get the 32g biocube but i think 20g aio might be more my speed to start out so this thread was very helpful .

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’m glad this thread could help you!

It definitely is not necessary. It is just a container to hold my ATO water instead of a hardware store 5 gallon bucket

thank you ! that makes sense, i haven't pulled the trigger yet but i was going to get the 32g biocube but i think 20g aio might be more my speed to start out so this thread was very helpful .

Both are great options honestly! Let me know if you ever need anything. Feel free to ask on this thread or PM me!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve finally gotten my auto feeder setup. It’ll be feeding at 11:00a, 1:00p, and 3:00p. I plan to feed frozen when I get home and I’m hoping this will slowly raise the nutrients in my tank.

I really plan to start stocking up with corals now that I’ve gotten my gear setup to how I want it.

The RedSea Nano Mat is working EXTREMELY well. I’m glad I went with that instead of staying with filter floss. I would say get one if anyone is thinking about getting one for their WB.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Parameter Update:

Ca - 400
dKH - 7.9
PO4 - 0.33
NO3 - 1.0
Mg - 1335

I know calcium is slightly low, but I feel my weekly water change could help that. I’m stumped on my phosphate and nitrate levels. I’m feeding TDO-C2 Chroma BOOST 3 times a day 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 3:00pm. Should I feed less pellets and start to incorporate frozen as a meal later in the day? What’s the best way to raise nitrates?

Not too much algae in the tank. My tiger conch randomly passed so I’ll be getting another to keep the sand band cleaned

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’m having a TON of coralline algae growth, so I’m guessing it’s okay to start adding a lot more corals to the system. I’ve never been great at keeping coral alive but I really want to focus in on that and have a nice thriving reef.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

My PH is slowly declining. During the day it's topping out at ~7.86. A few weeks ago I was seeing ~8.06. I have a Sicce Shark 150 protein skimmer that I haven't used, and I was thinking about running that with a CO2 scrubber attached to the air intake. Anyone have any suggestions on this?

 

[dvgyfresh]

My PH is slowly declining. During the day it's topping out at ~7.86. A few weeks ago I was seeing ~8.06. I have a Sicce Shark 150 protein skimmer that I haven't used, and I was thinking about running that with a CO2 scrubber attached to the air intake. Anyone have any suggestions on this?

Skimmer would increase PH, I recommend always having it on for oxygen benefit

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve been having some serious hair algae problems. I believe it’s due to raising phosphates. The phosphate has gone up .14 in two weeks from 0.33 to 0.47. I do weekly water changes but it doesn’t seem to help the phosphates. To tame the hair algae I’ve gotten a Molly and 2 Mexican turbo snails. Hopefully that helps.

Although, I’m trying to figure out how to bring the phosphates down steadily. I was originally thinking Phosguard but I’ve seen it may release aluminum in the water column and GFO is a mess using it in a mesh bag in the back of the AIO.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve been having some serious hair algae problems. I believe it’s due to raising phosphates. The phosphate has gone up .14 in two weeks from 0.33 to 0.47. I do weekly water changes but it doesn’t seem to help the phosphates. To tame the hair algae I’ve gotten a Molly and 2 Mexican turbo snails. Hopefully that helps.

Although, I’m trying to figure out how to bring the phosphates down steadily. I was originally thinking Phosguard but I’ve seen it may release aluminum in the water column and GFO is a mess using it in a mesh bag in the back of the AIO.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Any thoughts on best way to remove phosphates in a 20 gallon AIO? I was feeding pellets three times a day but brought that down to once per day via an auto feeder. I’d appreciate your feedback!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Bump on phosphate issue

 

[dvgyfresh]

I’ve been having some serious hair algae problems. I believe it’s due to raising phosphates. The phosphate has gone up .14 in two weeks from 0.33 to 0.47. I do weekly water changes but it doesn’t seem to help the phosphates. To tame the hair algae I’ve gotten a Molly and 2 Mexican turbo snails. Hopefully that helps.

Although, I’m trying to figure out how to bring the phosphates down steadily. I was originally thinking Phosguard but I’ve seen it may release aluminum in the water column and GFO is a mess using it in a mesh bag in the back of the AIO.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Chemi pure elite or LaCl in skimmer

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve been having some serious hair algae problems. I believe it’s due to raising phosphates. The phosphate has gone up .14 in two weeks from 0.33 to 0.47. I do weekly water changes but it doesn’t seem to help the phosphates. To tame the hair algae I’ve gotten a Molly and 2 Mexican turbo snails. Hopefully that helps.

Although, I’m trying to figure out how to bring the phosphates down steadily. I was originally thinking Phosguard but I’ve seen it may release aluminum in the water column and GFO is a mess using it in a mesh bag in the back of the AIO.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Chemi pure elite or LaCl in skimmer

I wouldn’t need to run carbon separately with Chemi Pure Elite, would I?

 

[dvgyfresh]

I wouldn’t need to run carbon separately with Chemi Pure Elite, would I?

Correct it is also a carbon source

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Are Mollies the tangs for nano aquariums? I just got one that was acclimated for saltwater and it’s going CRAZY on the hair algae. I’m thinking about getting a few more of these little lawnmowers lol!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I wish I would’ve taken a before picture. In the red areas was THICK hair algae. I added 2 Mexican turbo snails and the molly on Friday that came from @TopShelfAquatics. They have picked clean and removed all of the tuff hair algae and the molly is going to town on the rest of the rock work.

A lot of my corals suffered due to a heater failure I was late to fix.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Honestly, I’m feeling pretty discouraged.

I can grow coraline algae in my tank no problem, but I can’t grow corals for some reason. I’ve wanted corals for so long but have always been unsuccessful in growing them.

Monday parameters check

DkH: 11.5
Ca: 450
Mg: 1325
P04: .37
N03: .9

Going to keep cracking at this until I figure it out. I guess it takes some longer than others to figure this all out.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Honestly, I’m feeling pretty discouraged.

I can grow coraline algae in my tank no problem, but I can’t grow corals for some reason. I’ve wanted corals for so long but have always been unsuccessful in growing them.

Monday parameters check

DkH: 11.5
Ca: 450
Mg: 1325
P04: .37
N03: .9

Going to keep cracking at this until I figure it out. I guess it takes some longer than others to figure this all out.

IMO your alk is way too high for your nitrate levels , while it is in acceptable range it’s very high , this causes corals skeletons to want to grow without the flesh causing them to die - but what corals are you trying to go ? This will help with what levels you should aim for

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Honestly, I’m feeling pretty discouraged.

I can grow coraline algae in my tank no problem, but I can’t grow corals for some reason. I’ve wanted corals for so long but have always been unsuccessful in growing them.

Monday parameters check

DkH: 11.5
Ca: 450
Mg: 1325
P04: .37
N03: .9

Going to keep cracking at this until I figure it out. I guess it takes some longer than others to figure this all out.

IMO your alk is way too high for your nitrate levels , while it is in acceptable range it’s very high , this causes corals skeletons to want to grow without the flesh causing them to die - but what corals are you trying to go ? This will help with what levels you should aim for

Yeah, I’m trying to raise my nitrate without raising phosphates lol.

I did not know about the correlation between skeletal growth without the flesh. That would make sense!

Outside of the heater accident the corals do well enough to stay alive but not actually grow, which obviously I don’t want to JUST keep them alive. I want them to grow!

I’m using Red Sea Coral Pro because that’s what I was suggested to use by my LFS 4 years ago when I started. I’ve ALWAYS had this issue with my corals though, since 4 years ago.

Should I move to a salt with lower Alk?

 

[dvgyfresh]

Yeah, I’m trying to raise my nitrate without raising phosphates lol.

I did not know about the correlation between skeletal growth without the flesh. That would make sense!

Outside of the heater accident the corals do well enough to stay alive but not actually grow, which obviously I don’t want to JUST keep them alive. I want them to grow!

I’m using Red Sea Coral Pro because that’s what I was suggested to use by my LFS 4 years ago when I started. I’ve ALWAYS had this issue with my corals though, since 4 years ago.

Should I move to a salt with lower Alk?

I would say so , maybe get water from LFS for a bit . I’ve always used instant ocean so can’t speak for other ones. What foods do you feed? Maybe they have more phosphate concentration and I’d recommend to stick to mysis only for a bit if possible , are you going for softies , lps, or sps? You can also just dose neo nitro