LCR's Waterbox 20 Cube

[Lou City Reefing]

Picked up a handful of corals from a local reefer tonight! My favorite has to been this TINY green mushroom on a piece of rubble with some zoas.

Any idea if the one that is fully open is a zoa? I’ve never seen one like it.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Picked up a handful of corals from a local reefer tonight! My favorite has to been this TINY green mushroom on a piece of rubble with some zoas.

Any idea if the one that is fully open is a zoa? I’ve never seen one like it.

The one next to the zoas looks like a Duncan coral to me

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Picked up a handful of corals from a local reefer tonight! My favorite has to been this TINY green mushroom on a piece of rubble with some zoas.

Any idea if the one that is fully open is a zoa? I’ve never seen one like it.

The one next to the zoas looks like a Duncan coral to me

I was thinking the same! I’ve never seen one so small before though? Could it possibly be a palythoa?

 

[dvgyfresh]

I was thinking the same! I’ve never seen one so small before though? Could it possibly be a palythoa?

Could be , if it has a hard calcified base it’s a Duncan , squishy no base likely something else

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Update! Tank has been doing well! I’ve added a few more mushrooms and a disc of zoas that a local reefer was getting rid of! I’ve also started to fall in love with toadstools so I added one to the tank! The picture was of the day I added it but it’s fully extended now and is super happy!

I’ll have to take pictures of the other corals that have been added as well

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Cyano is clearing up nicely. It has a few months in the making to clean it up, but I really did NOT want to eradicate it using chemicals. I upped my nutrients (nitrate and phosphates) a ton. Well, at least readable lol. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather run a higher nutrient tank and adjust downward, if needed, than to have to raise them.

Added the Red Sea Nano Filtermat again. It’s helped a ton

Lastly, I’ve added a CO2 scrubber …. Gosh, has that helped. I’ve found it’s easier to keep PH up in the summer but not so much in the winter. My PH would be between 8.1-8.2 in the summer and then dropped significantly in the winter, obviously with being home more, and the house closed up (windows not open). The CO2 scrubber had revived my PH from a low of 7.73 to a new (regular) low of 8.05 at night and a height of 8.21 during the day.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Cyano is clearing up nicely. It has a few months in the making to clean it up, but I really did NOT want to eradicate it using chemicals. I upped my nutrients (nitrate and phosphates) a ton. Well, at least readable lol. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather run a higher nutrient tank and adjust downward, if needed, than to have to raise them.

Added the Red Sea Nano Filtermat again. It’s helped a ton

Lastly, I’ve added a CO2 scrubber …. Gosh, has that helped. I’ve found it’s easier to keep PH up in the summer but not so much in the winter. My PH would be between 8.1-8.2 in the summer and then dropped significantly in the winter, obviously with being home more, and the house closed up (windows not open). The CO2 scrubber had revived my PH from a low of 7.73 to a new (regular) low of 8.05 at night and a height of 8.21 during the day.

Tank is looking very well! Love you besting things the natural way as it’s really the only way that works long term. I am also in the higher nutrients boat

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update! The tank has been thriving.

I went to my first coral convention called ReefingUSA. They had some amazing vendors and it was a ton of fun!

My green mushroom has since split, which is super exciting! I’m finally seeing progress in my tank and my corals are thriving as of now!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

What I have learned after my first REAL year of success in this hobby:
(This is my own opinion and how I felt)

The first 8-9 months SUCKED. I had Cyano(?), although, never technically confirmed via a microscope, for roughly that whole period. It really just came down to my low nutrients. I started dosing Ammonium Bicarbonate via Randy Holmes-Farley's guide and did 5-10ml/day just to see a raise in nutrients. I stopped doing weekly water changes and only started doing them once my nitrates/phosphates were out of a range.

On that note, I stopped chasing exact numbers and started focusing on ranges.

The cyanobacteria started to slowly fade and I knew it was time to start adding corals. Therefore, I figured it would be best to go to my FIRST ever reefing event, which was ReefingUSA. It was a total blast and I gathered a TON of new and beautiful corals for the tank.

Some of the corals have already grown considerably since adding them at the end of January.

It was definitely a process but I'm glad I stuck with it to reap the benefits of having a piece of the ocean in my house.

I'm definitely leaving out a ton of details throughout this process but I just wanted to do a small recap as a time-capsule I can come back to and look at when needed!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Update!

I've been having a TERRIBLE outbreak of bubble algae! (I'm probably overplaying how bad it really is). I've gotten two emerald crabs who seem to manage the small clumps of it, but for the clumps on frag plugs they haven't seemed to touch.

I've been experimenting with hydrogen peroxide dipping my corals who have infected plugs. I first scrape off as much as possible and then dip the corals according to a table I saw on here with ratios. It seems to really work and all of my corals have been doing well after the dips!

I went to RAP Orlando 4/26-4/27 .... It ... was ... AMAZING! We had the upgraded tickets to get in an hour early, at 10:00am, and it was totally worth the extra money for the tickets. The first day was just my wife and I and we really enjoyed spending time looking at all of the corals, gear, custom aquascapes, and talking to others in the hobby. The second day my wife and I brought out two kids and they had a BLAST

One thing is for sure, when I think I know something - there is someone with 20+ years experience who knows way more LOL! I spoke to different problems we've encountered in the hobby and gained a TON of new perspective on how to handle them! Also, it was great to talk to vendors who are hobbiest!

The goal for our very first RAP Orlando was simple: buy the corals we planned on buying, enjoy the new and existing, but upgraded, gear, and make a better plan to come back next year .

Our buying goal for RAP Orlando 2026: Alveaporas, mushrooms, Gonis (if we REALLY loved them), and art for around the tank!

Man, did we CRUSH our goal LOL! Below is the list of corals we picked up and where we got them from. I will post pictures at some point, but I just fed the tank ..... . (I will use the street name if it was given to me by the vendor; Otherwise, I will just give a description lol)

Miracle Aquatics - Willy Wonka Hammer, beautiful yellow and green goni.
ReeferMo - Goni, Purple stim with green polyps and purple center
The Coral Boutique - Bounce Mushroom (This was the ONLY coral I was DEAD SET on buying whether we bought anymore or not!)
OceanLife Aquariums - Pink Mushroom & Red Bounce Mushroom
Aquatic Creations - Alveopora, beautiful green stim green polyps with pink center (it looks like a watermelon sour patch kid....... mmmmmm)
Koral King - Pink Alveopora, pink polyps with light blue center
yes, some people will think the OG bounce is overrated, but I truly wanted one and The Coral Boutique gave me a REALLY good deal compared to every other vendor I talked to at RAP.

We bought a beautiful art piece from Josh Pork Sandwiches and Aquatic Realm International. (pics to come soon!)

Random Thoughts:
We spent a lot of time at the Neptunian Cube Aquarium booth. I was BLOWN away with the build quality and how they worked. Had they still had their 4ft tank available I would've bought the showroom model. It was outstanding!

The NextGen Reef Tech ReefEvolve lights were BEAUTIFUL - a T5/LED fusion light? The best way I can describe it. I LOVED the coverage.

Reef Scape Design's modular custom reef scapes were out of this world. They were so unique and beautiful!

Chandlerrocks Aquascaping most definitely had to most UNIQUE reef scapes and they were awesome!

We bought a book from Joey at TheCoralReefTalk who was also the author. He signed it for our two kids. They love it!

I regret not buying a beautifully painted piece from Ally McNat Art. I will definitely be purchasing from her online though!

 

[ozreef88]

This thread was a great read, especially as we have the same tank. Thanks for being open about your success AND your challenges. Glad to hear things are going "ok" despite the bubble algae! I'm following along now.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve replaced the AI prime 16hd with 2 AI Blade grows - 12 inch!

The PAR and spread are much better and I love them!

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Here are some photos I’ve taken since the lighting changes, which happened this past Saturday on 6/13/2026

I know they’re not the best but some of my favorite corals!