Leon.NYC
Community Member
Hey all :)
Finally getting around to making my tank upgrade build thread. Before we get into all the details, here's the equipment list we're running;
Lighting
Been a lurker for the past few years, but finally decided to make a build thread to follow the progress of my new Waterbox 230.6. My previous tank was my entry into the hobby with a Proclear 150 (4') tank, which i quickly learned wasn't enough room for what I wanted. I progressed through the hobby as most i presume. Beginning with FOWLR, then progressing into softies & LPS. Now making my way slowly into SPS.
My choice to get the Waterbox tank was not something planned, but impromptu when I saw their sale back in early August. The moment I pulled the trigger (05-August), I grabbed a brute bin, threw in some new ceramic media, few bioballs from the 4' tank, a big chunk of frozen shrimp with crushed pellets & Fritz Turbostart 900.
Note: My 4' tank had been taken over with the dreaded aptasia & I have no wish to introduce that into the new tank. For a while, I had it under control with my copperband to the point of never realizing i had an issue until my copperband passed during the hurricane which hit Tampa Bay last year.
The following days later, I happened to come across a Facebook post of a Gem tang & Borbonius anthias who were in rough condition. The current owner was looking for suggestions about how best to put them down, so that led me to reaching out and talking him into allowing me to take ownership to see if I can give them a fighting chance. After a bit of back & forth, he agreed and i made my way to Orlando at midnight to get them. They were a bit worse than i though. Catching them both took less than a minute as they didn't even have the strength to swim away. Only laying at the bottom of the tank breathing hard. After i got them home, i got them into a brief Methylene Blue bath to help buy me some time. After this, directly into a QT tank with nitrofurazone, kanaplex & metroplex - as you can see I really like this mix :) At this point, it was 60/40 on whether they make it, possibly even higher at 70% they don't make it through. This led me to my next decision which was to soak a bit of small TDO pellets with focus & my trio of meds to gently force feed them both some food. Afterwards, let them relax in the tank and see what the next few hours bring. By the morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see the anthias hiding in a PVC pipe & the gem tang swimming round as though nothing happened! Defiantly not what i was expecting, but welcomed none the less. The plan was to then continue the treatment until I see the fins beginning to heal & full appetite returning. I did continue to force feed for the next 2-3 days until they both started taking food readily on their own. From there, it was to follow the house protocol rules & begin a full QT on them to get them ready for the new tank.
Before & after roughly 07-weeks of treatment & quarantine
As I dealt with the unforeseen issues & new stock, it was time to tackle my office where the new tank will be placed, replacing the 4'. It was time to remove the old tank, paint the room & tile the floor where the tank is going to be placed.
Accent wall painted where the tank will be placed against & 24x48 tiles installed to replace the carpet in my office. Future plans may include adding a "living wall" to the accent with some greenery.
Now, given that I'm located in Florida, I have bad water even through it goes through a whole house filtration system, my TDS remains at 200+. I had sent out an ICP test a few weeks back & noticed my RO water had very high Silica. In my ProClear tank, diatoms were something I could never beat no matter what. This led me into looking at changing my system to address this. Instead of the typical 06-stage system, I added two additional DI canisters & changing from using the basic Mixed DI resin. My system is now Sediment Filter > 2x Carbon filters > 2x RO membranes > Cation resin > Anion Resin > DI mixed Resin. As we progress with the new tank, i'm pleased to see only a very light dusting on the sandbed, which i'd attribute to new sand/rock releasing Silica into the water.
Shout out to the team @Top_Lids for the beautiful & perfectly fitting lid! My wrasse & anthias aren't making it past this, despite them searching for the any small opportunity to carpet/tile surf!
Next up was for plumbing upgrades to connect the Reefmat to the main drain, hard plumb the return pump & adjust the emergency overflow to dump into the reefmat.
First attempt at the aquascape.. definitely wasn't a fan..
Here's the second attempt with a whole new set of Caribsea Liferock. Primarily made from arches & a few foundation pieces for stability. Now that we have the scape together & I was 100% satisfied, it was time to add it to the tank with some sand.
I went with Caribsea Ocean Direct at the bottom, followed by Special grade on top. The reasoning for this was a diverse bacteria population. BRS has a great video of biome cycle & testing the eDNA diversity score of the tank using various methods & products. My decision was to allow for the best combination of bacteria in the tank & to also have a good balance of each strain. As shown in the testing from AquaBiomics, the eDNA Balance score of the sterile tank jumps to the 57 percentile. Usually I'm skeptical on things that seem too good to be true, but with the testing performed & data readily available, I felt as though this would benefit the tank.
Water is finally being added! The water we've been cycling for over 02-months was added to the sump along with the biobricks & media.
Now, i've attempted chaeto a number of times before (5+) and have been unsuccessful. This time, I decided to go all in. Again, looking into the BRS "Testing Refugium part 1-3" video, I was determined to make this work. Specifically, paying close attention to the part with the Kessil H380 light. With the Kessil hitting 1600 PAR at the top of the water/chaeto & seeing the testing in their tanks showing a significant increase in PH overnight it was something that I wanted to emulate. Note: There is a newer version of the H380 out now, but I did find a seller on eBay with a number of lights for less than $200. Typically the cost of the light was $400+, so I decided to give it a try.
Below is 02-weeks growth of the Chaeto. Started off with a tennis ball size from Algae barn to completely filling the refugium chamber (12"x16"). Not only was it growing at a very quick rate, but my nutrients have remained stable & even begun dropping.
Note: I feed very heavily. Algae clips have nori at all times during the day & I feed TDO pellets, PE Mysis & reef/herbivore frenzy 3-4 times a day. Another big benefit was my PH stability. It remains stable all night & even had a few spikes up that i had to keep an eye on.
Look at that chaeto grow!
After setup, i allowed for a week to give the bacteria time to propagate and then added the Purple & Gem tangs who've been in quarantine this whole time along with a few corals. The order with Marine Collectors was delayed due to the Naso having some issues so they decided to hold it for an additional week before shipping. Although it was a bummer, I didn't mind them paying close attention to the fish I'm receiving. The remainder of my fish stock was taken out of the 4' tank & moved into the brute bins for a mini-QT (prazi - 09 days), as I did notice some yawning & me being extra paranoid decided it couldn't hurt. This lined up perfectly with the delivery from Marine Collectors. This would allow for the new Tangs (Tomini, Hippo & Naso) to be added to the tank, distributing any possible aggression. After the first day of posturing & sizing one another up, they quickly established a pecking order & all has been fine. I do believe that keeping Nori in the tank all day helps with this along with multiple feedings. I keep a plastic shot cup full of food and every few hour drop some into the tank whenever I walk by.
As far as lighting schedule goes, I'm running a custom take on the AB+ schedule. Using the video from Josh @WWC (yeah I like videos and going down rabbit holes), I'm running 100% Blue & Whites for a photoperiod of 05-hours, followed by only Blues for 06-hours, with a 30-minute ramp up & ramp down. I've noticed considerable growth with this schedule & have seem some anecdotal videos of folks testing this & providing positive results. More importantly, I think stability & keeping to a schedule is most important.
Soon to come; I'm looking into a DIY battery backup that'll run the system for a few days at minimum. It seems fairly inexpensive to keep the necessities running (MP40's), but I'd like to keep the return pump & skimmer working as well. Most likely looking to setup a LiFePO4 battery solution. Given my location in Florida, power outages aren't uncommon, especially during Hurricane season & I'd like to be ready for this. I was contemplating a big Generac unit, but i don't see myself here for longer than 05-years so a simpler solution would need to be employed.. Possibly adding the Hydros Kraken with a battery & call it a day..
Thanks all who made it through my rant! This was quite the journey to get this new tank setup, as well as a lot more costly than I originally planned, given that its an upgrade. I'm very pleased with the progress made & being able to address all the previous outstanding issues which were plaguing me with my old tank. I'll take some shots of the fish today & share. More corals to come as we move into the holiday season :)
Finally getting around to making my tank upgrade build thread. Before we get into all the details, here's the equipment list we're running;
Lighting
- Radion XR15 Gen 06 (qty: 03)
- AI Blade Grow
- Kesssil H380 (Refugium)
- Reefmat 1200
- Reef Octo Regal 200INT
- MP40 (qty: 02)
- Gyre (qty: 02) via Hydros Wave Engine
- Sicce SDC 9.0 return pump
- Hydros Launch
- Hydros XP8
- Hydros Wave Engine LE
- Hydros Dose
- Biota Regal Angel
- Gem tang
- Purple Tang
- Hippo Tang
- Tomini Tang
- Borbonius Anthias
- Melanarus wrasse
- Evansi Anthias (qty: 04) currently being quarantined
- Upgraded BRS 6 stage (150 GPD) to 8 stage
- Pro Series Cation, Anion & Mixed bed resin
Been a lurker for the past few years, but finally decided to make a build thread to follow the progress of my new Waterbox 230.6. My previous tank was my entry into the hobby with a Proclear 150 (4') tank, which i quickly learned wasn't enough room for what I wanted. I progressed through the hobby as most i presume. Beginning with FOWLR, then progressing into softies & LPS. Now making my way slowly into SPS.
My choice to get the Waterbox tank was not something planned, but impromptu when I saw their sale back in early August. The moment I pulled the trigger (05-August), I grabbed a brute bin, threw in some new ceramic media, few bioballs from the 4' tank, a big chunk of frozen shrimp with crushed pellets & Fritz Turbostart 900.
Note: My 4' tank had been taken over with the dreaded aptasia & I have no wish to introduce that into the new tank. For a while, I had it under control with my copperband to the point of never realizing i had an issue until my copperband passed during the hurricane which hit Tampa Bay last year.
- Gem Tang & Borbonius Anthias Backstory
The following days later, I happened to come across a Facebook post of a Gem tang & Borbonius anthias who were in rough condition. The current owner was looking for suggestions about how best to put them down, so that led me to reaching out and talking him into allowing me to take ownership to see if I can give them a fighting chance. After a bit of back & forth, he agreed and i made my way to Orlando at midnight to get them. They were a bit worse than i though. Catching them both took less than a minute as they didn't even have the strength to swim away. Only laying at the bottom of the tank breathing hard. After i got them home, i got them into a brief Methylene Blue bath to help buy me some time. After this, directly into a QT tank with nitrofurazone, kanaplex & metroplex - as you can see I really like this mix :) At this point, it was 60/40 on whether they make it, possibly even higher at 70% they don't make it through. This led me to my next decision which was to soak a bit of small TDO pellets with focus & my trio of meds to gently force feed them both some food. Afterwards, let them relax in the tank and see what the next few hours bring. By the morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see the anthias hiding in a PVC pipe & the gem tang swimming round as though nothing happened! Defiantly not what i was expecting, but welcomed none the less. The plan was to then continue the treatment until I see the fins beginning to heal & full appetite returning. I did continue to force feed for the next 2-3 days until they both started taking food readily on their own. From there, it was to follow the house protocol rules & begin a full QT on them to get them ready for the new tank.
Before & after roughly 07-weeks of treatment & quarantine
As I dealt with the unforeseen issues & new stock, it was time to tackle my office where the new tank will be placed, replacing the 4'. It was time to remove the old tank, paint the room & tile the floor where the tank is going to be placed.
Accent wall painted where the tank will be placed against & 24x48 tiles installed to replace the carpet in my office. Future plans may include adding a "living wall" to the accent with some greenery.
- Preliminary setup & RO system Upgrade to PRO Resins
Now, given that I'm located in Florida, I have bad water even through it goes through a whole house filtration system, my TDS remains at 200+. I had sent out an ICP test a few weeks back & noticed my RO water had very high Silica. In my ProClear tank, diatoms were something I could never beat no matter what. This led me into looking at changing my system to address this. Instead of the typical 06-stage system, I added two additional DI canisters & changing from using the basic Mixed DI resin. My system is now Sediment Filter > 2x Carbon filters > 2x RO membranes > Cation resin > Anion Resin > DI mixed Resin. As we progress with the new tank, i'm pleased to see only a very light dusting on the sandbed, which i'd attribute to new sand/rock releasing Silica into the water.
Shout out to the team @Top_Lids for the beautiful & perfectly fitting lid! My wrasse & anthias aren't making it past this, despite them searching for the any small opportunity to carpet/tile surf!
Next up was for plumbing upgrades to connect the Reefmat to the main drain, hard plumb the return pump & adjust the emergency overflow to dump into the reefmat.
- Aquascape
First attempt at the aquascape.. definitely wasn't a fan..
Here's the second attempt with a whole new set of Caribsea Liferock. Primarily made from arches & a few foundation pieces for stability. Now that we have the scape together & I was 100% satisfied, it was time to add it to the tank with some sand.
I went with Caribsea Ocean Direct at the bottom, followed by Special grade on top. The reasoning for this was a diverse bacteria population. BRS has a great video of biome cycle & testing the eDNA diversity score of the tank using various methods & products. My decision was to allow for the best combination of bacteria in the tank & to also have a good balance of each strain. As shown in the testing from AquaBiomics, the eDNA Balance score of the sterile tank jumps to the 57 percentile. Usually I'm skeptical on things that seem too good to be true, but with the testing performed & data readily available, I felt as though this would benefit the tank.
Water is finally being added! The water we've been cycling for over 02-months was added to the sump along with the biobricks & media.
- Bacteria, Chaeto, CUC, Pods & More!
Now, i've attempted chaeto a number of times before (5+) and have been unsuccessful. This time, I decided to go all in. Again, looking into the BRS "Testing Refugium part 1-3" video, I was determined to make this work. Specifically, paying close attention to the part with the Kessil H380 light. With the Kessil hitting 1600 PAR at the top of the water/chaeto & seeing the testing in their tanks showing a significant increase in PH overnight it was something that I wanted to emulate. Note: There is a newer version of the H380 out now, but I did find a seller on eBay with a number of lights for less than $200. Typically the cost of the light was $400+, so I decided to give it a try.
Below is 02-weeks growth of the Chaeto. Started off with a tennis ball size from Algae barn to completely filling the refugium chamber (12"x16"). Not only was it growing at a very quick rate, but my nutrients have remained stable & even begun dropping.
Note: I feed very heavily. Algae clips have nori at all times during the day & I feed TDO pellets, PE Mysis & reef/herbivore frenzy 3-4 times a day. Another big benefit was my PH stability. It remains stable all night & even had a few spikes up that i had to keep an eye on.
Look at that chaeto grow!
After setup, i allowed for a week to give the bacteria time to propagate and then added the Purple & Gem tangs who've been in quarantine this whole time along with a few corals. The order with Marine Collectors was delayed due to the Naso having some issues so they decided to hold it for an additional week before shipping. Although it was a bummer, I didn't mind them paying close attention to the fish I'm receiving. The remainder of my fish stock was taken out of the 4' tank & moved into the brute bins for a mini-QT (prazi - 09 days), as I did notice some yawning & me being extra paranoid decided it couldn't hurt. This lined up perfectly with the delivery from Marine Collectors. This would allow for the new Tangs (Tomini, Hippo & Naso) to be added to the tank, distributing any possible aggression. After the first day of posturing & sizing one another up, they quickly established a pecking order & all has been fine. I do believe that keeping Nori in the tank all day helps with this along with multiple feedings. I keep a plastic shot cup full of food and every few hour drop some into the tank whenever I walk by.
- Lighting & Schedule
As far as lighting schedule goes, I'm running a custom take on the AB+ schedule. Using the video from Josh @WWC (yeah I like videos and going down rabbit holes), I'm running 100% Blue & Whites for a photoperiod of 05-hours, followed by only Blues for 06-hours, with a 30-minute ramp up & ramp down. I've noticed considerable growth with this schedule & have seem some anecdotal videos of folks testing this & providing positive results. More importantly, I think stability & keeping to a schedule is most important.
- Final Product..
Soon to come; I'm looking into a DIY battery backup that'll run the system for a few days at minimum. It seems fairly inexpensive to keep the necessities running (MP40's), but I'd like to keep the return pump & skimmer working as well. Most likely looking to setup a LiFePO4 battery solution. Given my location in Florida, power outages aren't uncommon, especially during Hurricane season & I'd like to be ready for this. I was contemplating a big Generac unit, but i don't see myself here for longer than 05-years so a simpler solution would need to be employed.. Possibly adding the Hydros Kraken with a battery & call it a day..
- Wrap up..
Thanks all who made it through my rant! This was quite the journey to get this new tank setup, as well as a lot more costly than I originally planned, given that its an upgrade. I'm very pleased with the progress made & being able to address all the previous outstanding issues which were plaguing me with my old tank. I'll take some shots of the fish today & share. More corals to come as we move into the holiday season :)
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