MY FIRST REEF TANK Waterbox CUBE 20 Gallon

imanewberry

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Hi all!

My name is Cody from Charlotte, NC and I am starting up my very first reef tank. Ever since considering starting up a tank, I have done the vast majority of my reading on reef2reef. I thought it would be a fun adventure to join the community and begin with documenting my first tank experience.

I am starting my journey with a Waterbox CUBE 20 Gallon All-in-one system. THIS TANK WAS SO HARD TO COME BY. When first researching my options, I quickly narrowed my choice down to this tank. Did I ever even look to see if any single vendor, including Waterbox.com, had them in stock? NOPE! Waterboxs’ website said “in stock” but the typical shipping time is 6-8 weeks. Considering I was already eager to start the cycling of my tank, I was almost ready to settle for something else. Saltwateraquarium.com came to the rescue as I signed up for their back in stock notifications and it just so happened that they got a few in stock just a week after I began searching. Fast forward to three days later and my first tank came in shattered (bummer). They overnighted me a new one (A+ customer service btw and I was so happy they still had them in stock). The second one came in perfect and in an extremely timely manner.

So now here we are with a new CUBE 20 tank. I chose to go with the brand new AI Prime 16HD light with a fixed mount. I’m running a 75W Cobalt Neo Therm heater. As of right now, my filtration and pump are stock but I soon plan to upgrade the filtration a bit (ie. bioballs, maybe a three tier filtration system with filter floss instead of the felt sock).

I played around with the aquascaping for three days straight only to revert back to the design I came up with within the first five minutes of playing with my rock (I had to be sure of my decision). My substrate is Carib Sea Fiji Live Sand and my rock is dead (dry?), but soon to be live (let’s hope). I balanced two pieces of rock to make this formation and am extremely happy with the look (please don’t burst my bubble and tell me you hate it).

That’s where I’m at right now. I added a little mysis to the tank a couple days in to jump start the process and I have also been dosing MicroBacter7 (my hobbyist friend had a full bottle sitting amongst his sea of chemicals so I assumed I should try to save a bit of money when possible). But then again, what is a $20 bottle of live bacteria when my light costed more than my tank.

I’m trying to do this smart and take my time. I can’t wait to update this thread with my progress and I really want to hear from those of you with similar setups or scenarios. My goal is to debate and take in as much information as I possibly can. Any and all experiences/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Cody

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CasaReefer

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Hi, Welcome to R2R.... Great Start. Great Tank and Stand... Awesome Rock Work... Going Slow and asking questions is very Smart... An Old Guy once told me... " To Grow A Sponge You Need to Be A Sponge ".... Not Really I just made that Up..:cool:
 
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imanewberry

imanewberry

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So it has been just over three weeks and my tank has fully cycled!

I introduced a Green Leather Toadstool about a week ago (truthfully because I was so ready for something to be in my tank) in order to gauge how things were going and how some hardier corals were gonna react to the parameters. I got the coral from a close friend of mine who fragged it but had let it grow a good bit. It’s doing AWESOME! Unknown to me there was a blue legged hermit attached to the coral when I got it so I acquired them as well. Both have been thriving.

During this last week I had been planning my Live Aquaria order for some new and exciting livestock. Drum roll...

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imanewberry

imanewberry

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Over the course of my tank cycling I added a few things equipment and filtration wise. I dosed Microbacter7 for two weeks once a day which seemed to help cycling quite a bit of you ask me. I upgraded the plastic bio balls to bio pure filtration spheres for more surface area and better overall performance. I added a Koralia Nano Power Head into the tank for more random flow which is working great (and for a great price of like $30 I might add. Nero 5 WHO?).

Quick shoutout to Live Aquaria for a great selection and FANTASTIC customer service. I received my order today and introduced the new stuff to the tank. This included:

- a small Scopas Tang (hold the judgement, I know this is a 20 gallon but plans are set for the moment this guy outgrows the nano)
- a Black Snowflake Clown (BEAUTIFUL!!)
- three different snails
- a Tuxedo Sea Urchin
- a Tricolor Goniastrea Coral

A Yellow Prawn Goby was ordered but unfortunately arrived deceased.. :( Those guys can be sensitive to travel anyways so it was understandable. Something else along these lines will be added soon!

Please excuse the blurry fish photos. They were all over the place when I took the photos so I took whatever photos I could get. More photos coming soon!

I’m so excited about this build as it is my first but I’m really trying to do things the right way. My Scopas is so bashful and cute. My clown is a little neurotic so far but he will calm down in the coming days I’m sure (and if not that’s okay)!

As ALWAYS all feedback is appreciated and welcomed. I’m super stoked about all of this! Coral placement is something that I’m thinking about a ton so nothing is where it’s going to be permanently yet. I’m going to give these couple guys a bit of time to settle in and establish and then introduce some more. Once I have a few more corals I’ll have a better creative palette to work with. I also want to make sure that all of my corals are happy where they are in the tank before I go epoxy and glue crazy!


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imanewberry

imanewberry

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What fish are you considering? And do you have an LFS you can visit?

See most recent post. I had to catch up on my progress with two separate posts!

Thanks for responding. I really love the clown that I got and I’ve researched that the Scopas is one of the “nicer” tangs in a predominantly LPS tank. I have all intentions on starting up a larger tank in a year as long as the hobby is treating me well. If things go south and I choose to stray away ( I DONT see that happening), my good friend has multiple, beautiful tanks that could accommodate him. My plan is to add a goby as well because I need a bottom dweller and I absolutely love watching them in action.
 

don_chuwish

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Fun start! Online livestock orders can be tricky in winter, especially during the holiday shipping rush. That's why I was curious if you had a good local store to visit. Might have better luck getting livestock from them.
 

BKLYN651

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Nice tank! I have been thinking about the Waterbox 20 for months, but always say my 55 gallon reef is enough.
You going without skimmer? (that’s something I’m not sure about?) How does the Waterbox have room for a good one?
What about a lid? Would I need to custom make one? I have a urchin ( my favorite invertebrate) about 5 years old that moves up the the sides to the top, but have acrylic tank with top.
Good job!

image.jpg
 

DavidBearWeber

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I set up same tank and used Dr Tim's method. Took my tank about 26 days to cycle. I also pit in MarinePure bio balls and the 1 inch plate. The MarinePure stuff kinda sluffs off material.
 
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imanewberry

imanewberry

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I LOVE mine so far. I am currently running without a skimmer. There is room for one in the back chamber but only the slimmer nano versions. I have heard mixed reviews on the skimmers. I think the Tunze is the one I’ve heard better things about.

I ALSO have an urchin and a blenny so I ordered the 24x24in JumpGuard Pro DIY Screen Top Kit. I think it turned out great. I also used less than half of the materials in the kit so I could make an entirely new screen top if I got another tank or mine broke from the same kit.

Some pics:

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zapbap99

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I LOVE mine so far. I am currently running without a skimmer. There is room for one in the back chamber but only the slimmer nano versions. I have heard mixed reviews on the skimmers. I think the Tunze is the one I’ve heard better things about.

I ALSO have an urchin and a blenny so I ordered the 24x24in JumpGuard Pro DIY Screen Top Kit. I think it turned out great. I also used less than half of the materials in the kit so I could make an entirely new screen top if I got another tank or mine broke from the same kit.

Some pics:

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the icecap k1 nano skimmer works great on it, i had a waterbox for a qt tank for corals and that skimmer worked great, i also upgraded to pump to a small DC pump
 

Pumpernickel

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Hey great tank. I am about to get me a cube 20 too. I am new to saltwater aquariums. May I ask how your filtration Setup looks like in the chambers?
 

zapbap99

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Hey great tank. I am about to get me a cube 20 too. I am new to saltwater aquariums. May I ask how your filtration Setup looks like in the chambers?
it should go filter sock, sponge if you want bio media carbon or put a skimmer in that chamber too then return pump not tmuch you can do in the 20 cube all in one
 

piranhaman00

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A scopas in a 20 gallon has already out grown it. I would hold off on that :)
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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