Mal11224

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So, I ventured into that wonderful world of tank upgrades. I upgraded from my 70g cadlights II tank to a Waterbox 5226 peninsula.

I'll be the first to say that it was quite challenging and took me nearly all day to do it.

I found myself worrying and stressing during the whole process. But, at the end of the day, it worked out.

Here is the before
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And after...
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BigT75

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Wow impressive what’s your day consist of ? 48hrs? That’s a insane amount of work in a day great job and it’s beautiful slice of ocean [emoji305] you have there
 
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Mal11224

Mal11224

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The waterbox peninsula is a great tank. The sump is huge and the extra cabinet space works well for hiding wires.
I moved away from dosing to a calcium reactor. Setting it up was not as difficult as I thought it would be.This was really the only major change besides going to white sand from black sand. The tank is definitely brighter as a result.

I set up to tubs for my corals. One for soft/LPS and one for SPS. I made all of my water in advance and had it mixing in two 44 gal brute cans and still had to use some water from my mixing station and nearly all of my existing water from the old tank. I used most of my old live rock with about 25 pounds of rock I had curing. Once I got the corals out, at least the ones that weren’t encrusted, I put the rocks together in the new tank and then added the sand.

Once I added the sand, I pumped the water out of my old tank into the new one. The sand, of course, made the water cloudy and I started filling it up with the rest of the water so that I can start running the sump filtration.

I had a new skimmer and raised it up so that it would not overflow while it was breaking in, which helped a lot. Once the water started to clear up, I started mounting and placing my frags and corals.

One thing I noticed and expected was a rise in phosphates the next day and I placed a bag of carbon and gfo in my socks, which helped to bring it down after a few days.

All in all it was a good experience, no losses surprisingly. I made a mess while doing it and second guessed myself continuously.

The tank is gorgeous and I am definitely glad I went with it. No more makeshift frag racks and really interested in seeing how this calcium reactor (aquamaxx T1) works out. Although dosing worked for me, I was using quite a bit of it and thought in the long run, a calcium reactor would be better.
 
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Mal11224

Mal11224

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Wow impressive what’s your day consist of ? 48hrs? That’s a insane amount of work in a day great job and it’s beautiful slice of ocean [emoji305] you have there
Lol. I started after breakfast last Friday around 10am and I did not finish until about 10pm. The hardest part to me was setting the rock work up again. What a pain.
 

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What a productive day. Congrats on the upgrade. Tank looks great and im loving the scape
 
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Mal11224

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Nice upgrade! Can you give us a ron down of the new system?
Thanks.
So, my equipment list is as follows:

Return pump - neptunes COR 20
Skimmer - bubble magus 7
Calcium reactor - aquamaxx T1, using manifold for flow.
Lighting - aquatic life hybrid 48” with dual Kessil AP700 and 4 blue plus bulbs
Refugium light - Kessil H80
Running the Apex controller
Powerheads - dual vortech MP40s
Reactor - aquamaxx fluidized carbon/gfo Reactor

That should be about it.
 
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Mal11224

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I have a purple tang and a hippo. Was thinking about adding a naso tang but not sure if that is a good idea. The purple tang and hippo are fairly nice to each other. They have their moments.
 
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So, a few weeks after doing this upgrade all seems well. Getting some diatoms on my sand, which I kind of expected. Other than that, everything seems good. The calcium reactor took a little longer than I thought it would to dial in. I kept thinking I had it but was wrong.

Took a few shots with my cell.

WD
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OP
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Paletta pink tip.
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Pink Caddy
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Candy crush
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Mile high Latistella
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AOmegaX

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Nice Upgrade!
...also thinking about upgrading to a Waterbox 230.6 but have lots of logistical planning to consider.
 
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Mal11224

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Nice Upgrade!
...also thinking about upgrading to a Waterbox 230.6 but have lots of logistical planning to consider.
Thanks! I love the tank. Sump is large and easy to maintain. Im very happy with this tank.
 

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