Zorya
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2018
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 7
- What state or country do you live in
- Wisconsin
During grad school I was keeping a few nano saltwater tanks under 30 gallons and I had a lot more time to dedicate to maintaining them and doing water changes. I got a full time, in person job and now feel like I don’t have a lot of time to keep watch over my tank, but definitely still want to have one! I picked up a Waterbox 100.3 with a Crystal Reef Aquatics TRS30 triton style sump with metric plumbing :| back in 2023. I did briefly have it set up in 2023 but then life happened and I moved a few times, always bringing this tank along with the hopes of setting it up again. I also have one of the older Waterbox AIO cubes which has been the “holding” tank for my Midas blenny (Lenny), tomato clownfish (Tomater), yellow tailed blue damsel (Damsel in Distress), Talbots damsel (no name yet), cleaner shrimp (also no name). Working on finding inspiration for the no namers :).
It’s taken about two weeks of dedicatedly scraping the old algae off of the glass, cleaning the old sand out of the tank, cleaning the sump, making 100 gallons of water from my rodi filter. I’ve had some help with this from an aquarium maintenance company (shoutout Aquamoon!) who will be doing most of the hard parts (for me) moving forwards and sourcing/ quarantining everything going in as I don’t plan on keeping my cube set up.
As of now, the milkshake has settled from 4 new bags of Fiji Pink, some rock has been scrubbed and moved over and all of my fish and shrimp are in their hiding stage, but definitely happier with the larger swim area. Tomater is upset because we’re still at lights off stage for a few days to discourage green hair algae growth, so his bubble tip anemone didn’t come along with him which he loves to take care of. This is actually the first time I’ve had a clownfish not love the anemone to death by squishing it into the rocks, but I’ve also only had ocellaris clown pairs before.
More to come in the new few weeks on setup! I’m looking to find some more rock (cheaply). It doesn’t have to be live since I already have enough rock and sand to support my current bioload and I only need about 30lbs. Rock is heavy to move so I ended up giving mine away for free when I moved a few times ago.
Also thinking about stock list. I have so many thoughts here, but this is my general thought:
- 2x starry blenny (must have because I absolutely adore their eyebrows)
- 1x either flame or long nosed hawkfish
- 1x some kind of wrasse or anthias (unsure about this addition but I need some movement because everyone likes to sit in one spot right now)
- 1x sandsifting goby like yellow watchman or pearly jawfish
Inverts:
Besides the normal clean up crew, I’m interested in potentially adding another cleaner shrimp and a small sand sifting conch. Also interested in a tuxedo urchin.
I’m extremely partial to perchers. Any recommendations on fish for the tank? Display area is about 75 gallons with a 30 gallon sump.
My plans for coral is mostly soft coral. I’m not really into the sps types, but I’d consider adding a few choice pieces of lps if I come across something that speaks to me. The sump has a dedicated refugium section that I plan on putting dragons breath and ulva into. I’d be open to growing macro in the display too.
And the most unglamorous tank shot of where it is now!
It’s taken about two weeks of dedicatedly scraping the old algae off of the glass, cleaning the old sand out of the tank, cleaning the sump, making 100 gallons of water from my rodi filter. I’ve had some help with this from an aquarium maintenance company (shoutout Aquamoon!) who will be doing most of the hard parts (for me) moving forwards and sourcing/ quarantining everything going in as I don’t plan on keeping my cube set up.
As of now, the milkshake has settled from 4 new bags of Fiji Pink, some rock has been scrubbed and moved over and all of my fish and shrimp are in their hiding stage, but definitely happier with the larger swim area. Tomater is upset because we’re still at lights off stage for a few days to discourage green hair algae growth, so his bubble tip anemone didn’t come along with him which he loves to take care of. This is actually the first time I’ve had a clownfish not love the anemone to death by squishing it into the rocks, but I’ve also only had ocellaris clown pairs before.
More to come in the new few weeks on setup! I’m looking to find some more rock (cheaply). It doesn’t have to be live since I already have enough rock and sand to support my current bioload and I only need about 30lbs. Rock is heavy to move so I ended up giving mine away for free when I moved a few times ago.
Also thinking about stock list. I have so many thoughts here, but this is my general thought:
- 2x starry blenny (must have because I absolutely adore their eyebrows)
- 1x either flame or long nosed hawkfish
- 1x some kind of wrasse or anthias (unsure about this addition but I need some movement because everyone likes to sit in one spot right now)
- 1x sandsifting goby like yellow watchman or pearly jawfish
Inverts:
Besides the normal clean up crew, I’m interested in potentially adding another cleaner shrimp and a small sand sifting conch. Also interested in a tuxedo urchin.
I’m extremely partial to perchers. Any recommendations on fish for the tank? Display area is about 75 gallons with a 30 gallon sump.
My plans for coral is mostly soft coral. I’m not really into the sps types, but I’d consider adding a few choice pieces of lps if I come across something that speaks to me. The sump has a dedicated refugium section that I plan on putting dragons breath and ulva into. I’d be open to growing macro in the display too.
And the most unglamorous tank shot of where it is now!
