My first salt tank - Waterbox 20

[JohnRougeux]

Ok love the questions keep em coming do not mind helping a new reefer I was there and can't thank these and my local forums enough.

You may regret posting that

For a.t.o I run a j.b.j a.t.o (float switch with an aqualifter pump)
I have ran the same a.t.o for like 5+ years now and never failed me once. Other reefers will swear by the optical sensor a.t.o but my j.b.j has been perfection for me. I run two float switches for safety.one higher than water will ever get and the one that keeps the water level. So say first float switch gets stuck on the next float switch will trigger to shut the water off.

Sounds good. So I'm assuming this is it: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/jbj-a-t-o-water-level-controller.html
Was it easy to set up?

Reefkeeper light is an aquarium controller produced by digital aquatics sadly a now defunk company. Look up aquarium controller make your life alot easier. It pretty much automates tasks and puts in fail safes.. i.e when my temp of the tank gets up to 80 the controller tells a fan to turn on until temp gets back down to 78.
Thats one example of many many uses for a controller. I would not run a tank without now that I have ran with one.

So, other than the Apex system, which is too $$ for me, what controller would you recommend?

When I kept reptiles, I used a Herpstat to control the temp of the cage. Those were the best controllers for temps. I wonder if I could use it for my heater?

The power strip are the best! They are called d.j strips and many people use them, makes turning on and off equipment a breeze.

Ok, so do not google D.J. Strip. It does not bring up what you think! haha So who sells them?

"Doser" is those two boxes you see stacked on each other. And what those do is automate dosing supplements into your aquarium. I have said it before consistasy is key. Livestock in your tank corals/coraline/crabs/shrimp algae etc need to use whats in the water to build their Skelton structures (calcium, alkaline, magnesium major three elements) in order to replenish these elements you will have to introduce them either via water changes or a more constinent way (dosing) i.e your aquarium alk drops 2dkh in two weeks you perform your water change great your back to where you need to be but your tank dropped that much alk in two weeks (inconsistent water) now if I can dose just a little bit of alk imbetween that two weeks I can keep the water consistent every day.

I couldn't find what you have (though I couldn't read what brand they are), but the dosers I found on BRS were high dollar. Are they all that expensive? I guess I could get one one day..

 

[JohnRougeux]

Ordered these today:

Boyd Chemi Pure Blue 5.5oz

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inTank Bonded Poly Filter Floss - VALUE PACK (3 PADS)

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inTank Chamber One Media Basket for Waterbox Cube

 

[JohnRougeux]

And they came in today will put them in tomorrow

tank is still doing fine. I test the water every Monday

 

[JohnRougeux]

Looks great!!
I run the same tank..
I would ditch the filter socks they will need to be cleaned every other day or they will clog and mess with the water level. It will cause water level to raise in dt causing return resovoir to run low and ultimately be replaced my freshwater if your running an a.t.o which will cause sality shifts just my opinion.

Also I'm not quite sure what you did to the return line trying to figure it out in pics but I can't really just takkng a guess. That L piece should be in the back chamber connecting to your return noise, return nozzle should be coming out straight...

So it says to cut the plastic sock holder piece....is that easy? I'm afraid of breaking the whole piece

 

[Nyg215]

So it says to cut the plastic sock holder piece....is that easy? I'm afraid of breaking the whole piece

Yes, it’s very easy to cut off. Cut the seam with a razor blade and pull them off.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

I want a intank 20 chamber for my 20 cube, also the tank looks good

 

[JohnRougeux]

Welcome to R2R, looking forward to seeing your tank progress!

Thanks!

I used to live in Fernandina Beach. That's where I had my last salt tank

 

[JohnRougeux]

well, after killing my snails (always check your refractometer) and that coral frag with salinity at 1.038, I got it back down to 1.025. whew.
My nano scraper came in...wow! What a difference! I didn't know my glass was that bad. Now it's crystal clear again.

waited a week and now I added a pygmy angelfish, a green carpet looking coral frag, and some more snails.

 

[JohnRougeux]

The green star polyp frag is doing great! Angel is coming out and I can see him, very cool fish. Still using charcoal in a bag and my tank is doing great!

Next up is either a wrasse or a blenny or both. What other fish should I get? I want something with red in it

 

[JohnRougeux]

Update on tank...still doing great.

Green star polyp

Yellow wrasse

pygmy angelfish

coral banded shrimp

New coral today

And I won these in a local auction cheap. I get them Saturday

and a Watermelon Psammocora

 

[JohnRougeux]

So besides the hammer, I picked up this duncan the other day. The 3 that I won was from a different shop that isn't so close.

This is, I think, the watermelon psammocora. I haven't ever had a SPS, so I'm probably not good enough to get it to be colorful and it'll probably die on me.

The other SPS, supernova explosion monti, is in the same boat. Not sure what to do...

They were both $4 apiece. I hope that I have some luck getting them going.

The 3rd piece that I won was this cpt america favia and it's doing well

Here's a video of the duncan

https://photos.smugmug.com/Animals/Salt-water-tank/i-kk28L3b/0/3e9d6827/1920/IMG_5478-1920.mp4

and the hammer

https://photos.smugmug.com/Animals/Salt-water-tank/i-W9RwR2D/0/f7a78546/1920/IMG_5479-1920.mp4

 

[Waynerock]

Ordered these today:

Boyd Chemi Pure Blue 5.5oz

​

inTank Bonded Poly Filter Floss - VALUE PACK (3 PADS)

​

inTank Chamber One Media Basket for Waterbox Cube

Just a tip order this stuff on Amazon it’s way cheaper. I get 10 feet at a time. Just cut some squares and go.