Mostly LPS Waterbox Cube20

LagunaGlide

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I ordered a Waterbox cube 20 back on Blue Friday (11/6). When ordered it said 4-6 weeks, so I had plenty of time to plan and gather stuff needed.

Or so I thought. Earlier this week I got an email saying it was on the way, and it arrived it today. We spent the last few days purchasing rock, sand, a stand, and various other odds and ends needed to get this thing rolling.

Let's do Equipment first. It's mostly planned out, but not all purchased. Few things still unsure on, but I'll get to those later on.
Waterbox cube 20
AI Prime HD lighting
AI Nero 3 powerhead
Box of Caribsea LifeRock Shapes and a few small pieces of liferock
20lb caribsea special grade
Planning to toss a good bit of marinepure in the center chamber of the sump area, but I am unsure as to which to use (spheres or plates on how much), and likely getting the chamber 1 media basket, but unsure as of yet. Will be doing weekly 5gal water changes to help with export of nutrients.

I've got a fish list that is a little long, but will get shorter once a decision is made on the star of this little show.

So here's the catch. I already have a decent amount of coral in a kind makeshift frag tank. I won't get into why, but it's all from an old tear down.
5 chalice
3 favia
1 lobo
1 Candy Cane
1 Frog spawn
1 Hammer
2 different Paly colony
1 Frag plug of Rastas
5 Different small Acan Colony
1 Green Pagoda Cup
1 rhodactis mushroom
1 Blasto single head, and a small colony of a different

Yesterday we picked up the rock, and did some playing with an aquascape.
20Cube 20Nov20 (1).jpg

We went through a few tries this where we have landed. Unfortunately I think it's a little high for this little cube, but we shall soon see as I plan to flatten the bottom rock making them a little shorter.


Without having base rock and already being a bit tall I plan to take it all apart and take a grinder to the pieces that touch the bottom to flatten them out, and bring down the height a bit. I'll then secure all of the rock except the top tunnel piece until it's in the tank, and final decision about its height can be made.

Today the tank and stand arrived around 330pm. When we bought the tank I knew I didn't really want to use the Waterbox stand, and they were on backorder anyhow. So we spent a good bit of time running the gamut of options for a stand. After figuring the approximate wet weight of the tank, and fighting to find something that had deep enough dimensions and some height, and landed on this little kitchen cart without it's wheels, and handles.

Was put together and "weight tested", checked for level, and moved around the room several times to make the decision on it's final resting place; which just so happened to be the first place we sat it; all before dinner.

20Cube 21Nov20 (2).jpg


Once the stand was built it was time to unwrap that beautiful waterbox I had been carrying around the room will wrapped in plastic to really get the full effect while moving the stand.

20Cube 21Nov20 (1).jpg


Filled it with water and got the pump flowing for a leak test and clean out.

20Cube 21Nov20 (3).jpg


Pretty productive day, and once I am done here I'll be going to empty, wipe down, and get ready to set it in place.

Updates will be along shortly. I have an order from BRS coming with some Emarco so I can get the rock in and get a cycle going soon.
 
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LagunaGlide

LagunaGlide

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I like the stand, where is it from?

Go with the marine pure blocks. It'll be easier to take out if need be.

Will be keeping up with your build!

I was thinking about going with a gallon of the spheres, but thinking about going with the a plate or two. I'll look at the cubes again as well. I just can't decide.

The "stand" is from Home Depot. I found somewhere that it could hold over 300 lbs. It's a kitchen cart without the wheels and what not. Once it was all put together I climbed on top of it and gave it a good wiggle and bounce. I weigh about 220lbs, and it felt solid. I thought about reinforcing it, but would have had to remove the drawer and shelf to do so.

Link to stand
 
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LagunaGlide

LagunaGlide

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I didn't get much done this week, as the scape went south fast. Once we put what was shown in the video in the tank it was just too big in all directions, and I felt there just wasn't enough flat space for all the corals, and also I wanted a decent amount of open sand. After a few days of trying different things we landed here.



I used E-Marco 400, and was pleased with the results for sure. Really good stuff. As 6pm the E-Marco should be completely dry and ready for to get wet.
 

termalene

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I was thinking about going with a gallon of the spheres, but thinking about going with the a plate or two. I'll look at the cubes again as well. I just can't decide.

The "stand" is from Home Depot. I found somewhere that it could hold over 300 lbs. It's a kitchen cart without the wheels and what not. Once it was all put together I climbed on top of it and gave it a good wiggle and bounce. I weigh about 220lbs, and it felt solid. I thought about reinforcing it, but would have had to remove the drawer and shelf to do so.

Link to stand

I'm currently running Siporax and the original bioballs in my 2nd chamber. While not a huge problem, one annoyance is that I cannot easily remove them in their bags without first removing the Prime flex arm. The base gets in the way. I've been considering switching to plates because of this.
 
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LagunaGlide

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I'm currently running Siporax and the original bioballs in my 2nd chamber. While not a huge problem, one annoyance is that I cannot easily remove them in their bags without first removing the Prime flex arm. The base gets in the way. I've been considering switching to plates because of this.

How much siporax? Those arent huge so I imagine that is a pain. I think I may be going with the cubes. They appear to be the best bang for the buck, and should be fairly easy to stack and replace as needed.

In other news. Tank should be wet tonight. Waiting RoDi is like watching paint dry.
 

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How much siporax? Those arent huge so I imagine that is a pain. I think I may be going with the cubes. They appear to be the best bang for the buck, and should be fairly easy to stack and replace as needed.

In other news. Tank should be wet tonight. Waiting RoDi is like watching paint dry.
Suspense Anticipation GIF
 
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LagunaGlide

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New tank is wet, and the real wait beings. I added a half dose of Brightwell Microbacter Quickcycle to get things going slowly while I wait for an order from BRS again. I forgot to get the microbacter7 on my last order, so I ordered that and marinepure cubes. I seeded the tank with some rock rubble inside a small acclimation box in the middle chamber.

20Cube 29Nov20 (1).jpg


I am curious where others are keeping their water levels. The heater is submerged, but also the top of the filter sock area is more full than I would expect it to be. I think the sticker is a pretty place to measure the water level by.
20Cube 29Nov20 (2).jpg


20Cube 29Nov20 (3).jpg


20Cube 29Nov20 (4).jpg


So off and running. I mixed the water at 1.021 for the cycle. I decided not to put the light on, so that I am not tempted to turn it on too early. I may let some evaporation bring the salinity up depending on what I think of the water level. I'd say my ammonia level is currently at 1.2.

The real fun is going to bed tonight and barely being able to sleep for fear of something crazy happening overnight.

Still holding out for some sales on a few purchases since I certainly have time.
 

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New tank is wet, and the real wait beings. I added a half dose of Brightwell Microbacter Quickcycle to get things going slowly while I wait for an order from BRS again. I forgot to get the microbacter7 on my last order, so I ordered that and marinepure cubes. I seeded the tank with some rock rubble inside a small acclimation box in the middle chamber.

I am curious where others are keeping their water levels. The heater is submerged, but also the top of the filter sock area is more full than I would expect it to be. I think the sticker is a pretty place to measure the water level by.
20Cube 29Nov20 (2).jpg


20Cube 29Nov20 (3).jpg
Mini Peninsula 15g owner here. Setting up currently, so this may be incorrect:

From what I understand, the only chamber that the water level changes is the right chamber where the return pump is. Unless you over fill it, then all chambers and the water in the tank itself will raise.

The middle chamber where you have your heater should stay at a constant level.

Try sucking some water out of the return pump section to see how it interacts with the other chambers.

I can of course test this myself if you would like. Mine is about to be wet also!

I know @Bleigh also has a WB AIO which is running. She may be able to answer that question better than I can.
 

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Mini Peninsula 15g owner here. Setting up currently, so this may be incorrect:

From what I understand, the only chamber that the water level changes is the right chamber where the return pump is. Unless you over fill it, then all chambers and the water in the tank itself will raise.

The middle chamber where you have your heater should stay at a constant level.

Try sucking some water out of the return pump section to see how it interacts with the other chambers.

I can of course test this myself if you would like. Mine is about to be wet also!

I know @Bleigh also has a WB AIO which is running. She may be able to answer that question better than I can.
Agreed. I think only the right should change. If the rest of the chambers are changing, you need to add water or you’re pump isn’t working. My sock chamber got a little full today, but my sock wasn’t dirty, it just was bunched up. I took it out and straightened it out and it was fine and the level went down.
 
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LagunaGlide

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I noticed this morning that the water was a good bit lower, but I assumed it was from absorption into the rocks. With that being said the middle chamber was definitely lower today as well. I had put the water level in the middle chamber just inline with the sticker, and it was lower still when I came home this evening. I am sure some of it was from evaporation, but salinity hadn't changed much at all.
 
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LagunaGlide

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My marine pure blocks came yesterday, and I got WAY more than I need. I knew it was going to be a lot, but also I couldn't get as many in the middle chamber the way I had planned. The microbacter7 also came, so I added a capful, and am expecting for the first dose of ammonia to be consumed by tomorrow.

My wife and I have been talking about fish and of course we have different ideas of which direction to take this tank, and also several fish on the list(s) aren't compatible with others, or will compete for food.

That being said should I post an entirely new posts in the fish section for opinions or just do it here?
 

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My marine pure blocks came yesterday, and I got WAY more than I need. I knew it was going to be a lot, but also I couldn't get as many in the middle chamber the way I had planned. The microbacter7 also came, so I added a capful, and am expecting for the first dose of ammonia to be consumed by tomorrow.

My wife and I have been talking about fish and of course we have different ideas of which direction to take this tank, and also several fish on the list(s) aren't compatible with others, or will compete for food.

That being said should I post an entirely new posts in the fish section for opinions or just do it here?
I recommend doing both... share it here but go to the fish discussion forum and start a new thread there inquiring.

Fish stocking is a pain in smaller systems.
 
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LagunaGlide

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Well my Ammonia is stuck at .2 for two days. I dosed the microbacter7 again, and will continue to wait. I may test with another test kit later today just to verify. Seems odd it dropped so quickly before I dosed, and has now stopped.

Let's talk fish.

We started with a very large list of fish that could go into an aquarium of 30 gallons or less, and were "reef friendly". A Ruby Red dragonette is about the only fish that would be on both my Best list, and hers.

If I were to choose every fish I would go with a Ruby Red Dragonnette, a Tailspot Blenny, cherub angel, and a Pink streak wrasse. I would go captive bred for the dragonette and the angel for sure in hopes it would lessen the pod massacre. At any rate I would be willing to add pods on the regular if need be. I also had my own pod culture with my last tank, so I could deal with it if needed.

My wife wants a shrimp goby/pistol pair of the sand sifting kind, a royal gramma, a tail spot blenny (she said she didn't care about it, so could be changed, I like their personalities), a Ruby Red Dragonette, and if this was the group I would want a 5th, but would want it to be something that maybe occupies the upper half of the tank. So open for suggestions.

With all that being said I don't want any clowns. Firefish and court jester gobies were ommitted due to the blenny, so maybe some flex there. I am generally against damsels. I really like the idea of a wrasse, but I have a feeling they may be hard to get a hold of as I have not seen them in stock anywhere. I'm all over the place :rolleyes:

Any personal experiences, thoughts, discussions appreciated.
 

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Well my Ammonia is stuck at .2 for two days. I dosed the microbacter7 again, and will continue to wait. I may test with another test kit later today just to verify. Seems odd it dropped so quickly before I dosed, and has now stopped.

Let's talk fish.

We started with a very large list of fish that could go into an aquarium of 30 gallons or less, and were "reef friendly". A Ruby Red dragonette is about the only fish that would be on both my Best list, and hers.

If I were to choose every fish I would go with a Ruby Red Dragonnette, a Tailspot Blenny, cherub angel, and a Pink streak wrasse. I would go captive bred for the dragonette and the angel for sure in hopes it would lessen the pod massacre. At any rate I would be willing to add pods on the regular if need be. I also had my own pod culture with my last tank, so I could deal with it if needed.

My wife wants a shrimp goby/pistol pair of the sand sifting kind, a royal gramma, a tail spot blenny (she said she didn't care about it, so could be changed, I like their personalities), a Ruby Red Dragonette, and if this was the group I would want a 5th, but would want it to be something that maybe occupies the upper half of the tank. So open for suggestions.

With all that being said I don't want any clowns. Firefish and court jester gobies were ommitted due to the blenny, so maybe some flex there. I am generally against damsels. I really like the idea of a wrasse, but I have a feeling they may be hard to get a hold of as I have not seen them in stock anywhere. I'm all over the place :rolleyes:

Any personal experiences, thoughts, discussions appreciated.
Someone has done their homework :)

Wish i had more experience to help ya out. Im doing the same for my 50 cube.
 
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LagunaGlide

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Quick update. I did an ammonia test today, and I just wasn't sure it was at 0.

To me it looks like it's at 0.2, so I decided to break out an old API kit I had laying around and run another ammonia test.
IMG_1314.jpg


While that test was doing it's thing I decided to just go ahead and test for nitrates.
IMG_1315.jpg


Looks like I am sitting at 2ppm on Nitrates. The API test came out to look like 0 ammonia to me. So at the very least maybe I know what 0 looks like on my redsea ammonia test kit. This tank was my first time using their ammonia test.

Water is mixing for a 5gallon water change this evening and once that is done I will dose again with the ammonia and Microbacter7. I would be surprised if it were back to 0 in 24 hours, but I certainly wouldn't complain.

I have been using auqaticlog for IOS, but I don't really like it, so may start looking into good apps for tracking parameters, maintenance etc. If anyone has suggestions feel free. I am sure there are threads here.

Also I know people like to see pics of coral, so the next time I do a water change on my coral holding tank I'll snap a few. Hopefully I can figure out how to take good pics with iPhone.
 
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LagunaGlide

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Quick boring update. Ammonia is still coming down after I dosed 2ppm. I can't be sure if the addition of the marinepure blocks slowed the cycle down, but it has been dropping a steady .2ppm per day. It's currently at .2ppm and nitrates are at 6ppm. Planning to do a water change tomorrow to get some of those nitrates down, and keep testing for 0 ammonia. I also wonder if I shouldn't have dosed a full 2ppm with the addition of the "seeded" rubble I added to help cycle, but no matter really.

In other news I ordered a lid, and a surface skimmer from KrakenReef for the tank. I am pleased with the lid, and glad I decided to give it a shot. I had another custom lid before that is similar, but just wasn't impressed for what I paid. It also came sooner than expected, as the site said turn around time was 4 weeks I think, but I had it in hand in about 2.
KrakenReefLid (1).jpg


KrakenReefLid (2).jpg


KrakenReefLid (3).jpg


While I am pleased with the cover, my wife said she would have liked to have seen it fit better. You can slide it side to side very slightly. To me it's a no issue, but maybe something others may find annoying.
KrakenReefLid (4).jpg


I don't know what the surface skimmer is actually going to, or supposed to accomplish, but I figured for $10 it was worth a shot. If nothing else it makes the holes smaller for creatures to go through to get into the sump area. It fits well, and appears to be 3dprinted. I forgot to snag pics of it, so I'll try to remember tomorrow.
 
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