Ruegaroo Waterbox 60.2 Build

[ruegaroo]

Going to go ahead and make a build thread as I feel like it will be a fun way to monitor my progress and potentially get some tips from anybody that wants to chime in.

I am new to the hobby but have always been interested in marine life and decided to finally take the plunge and get my hands wet. I ordered a Waterbox 60.2 and have had water in it for about a week now.

Equipment
- Ecotech Marine Vectra S2 - might be overkill but if I ever upgrade tank size in the future I will be alright.
- IceCap 3K Gyre
- Eheim Jager Submersible Heater
- Reef Octopus Classic 110 INT Skimmer
- AI Prime HD LED - came with the Waterbox setup and so far I am happy with it

In the Tank
- Caribsea Life Rock
- Caribsea Live Sand
- RO/DI Water - Homemade
- Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

Livestock Wishes
- Blenny - not sure what kind yet
- Pair of clowns - not sure what kind yet
- Wrasse - not sure what kind yet
- Leathers
- Euphyllia - frogspawn and hammer primarily
- Other LPS - trachyphyllia, lobophyllia, acanthastrea
- Softies - I like the look of pulsing xenia but a lot of people seem to hate this as they are weed-like - I dunno I think they look cool when they are pulsing
------This is what I hope to eventually work up to over time

Last night I started with the Red Sea Reef Mature kit to get the cycle going. Below is what my tank currently looks like. I am very happy with the aquascaping but my only concern is the bald patch in the front corner from the sand blowing away. Some other threads on here have said that over time as algae grows in the sand it will gain a little more weight and be harder to move.

Anyway, let this first post in my tank thread signify the official start of my reefing journey!

 

[rodney]

Going to go ahead and make a build thread as I feel like it will be a fun way to monitor my progress and potentially get some tips from anybody that wants to chime in.

I am new to the hobby but have always been interested in marine life and decided to finally take the plunge and get my hands wet. I ordered a Waterbox 60.2 and have had water in it for about a week now.

Equipment
- Ecotech Marine Vectra S2 - might be overkill but if I ever upgrade tank size in the future I will be alright.
- IceCap 3K Gyre
- Eheim Jager Submersible Heater
- Reef Octopus Classic 110 INT Skimmer
- AI Prime HD LED - came with the Waterbox setup and so far I am happy with it

In the Tank
- Caribsea Life Rock
- Caribsea Live Sand
- RO/DI Water - Homemade
- Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

Livestock Wishes
- Blenny - not sure what kind yet
- Pair of clowns - not sure what kind yet
- Wrasse - not sure what kind yet
- Leathers
- Euphyllia - frogspawn and hammer primarily
- Other LPS - trachyphyllia, lobophyllia, acanthastrea
- Softies - I like the look of pulsing xenia but a lot of people seem to hate this as they are weed-like - I dunno I think they look cool when they are pulsing
------This is what I hope to eventually work up to over time

Last night I started with the Red Sea Reef Mature kit to get the cycle going. Below is what my tank currently looks like. I am very happy with the aquascaping but my only concern is the bald patch in the front corner from the sand blowing away. Some other threads on here have said that over time as algae grows in the sand it will gain a little more weight and be harder to move.

Anyway, let this first post in my tank thread signify the official start of my reefing journey!

That looks nice I like the arch!

 

[ruegaroo]

From 9-1-19 ---

Finally some growth on the rocks. The Red Sea Mature Kit seems to be doing its thing. The kit says to add a cleanup crew this week so if the numbers are good I will get to add the tanks first residents.

 

[ruegaroo]

I just thought my tank looked really good today. It was really cloudy yesterday but today it is crystal clear and is very pretty in person. The picture doesn't do it enough justice.

 

[ruegaroo]

I added some snails and a skunk cleaner shrimp earlier this week. The shrimp has chosen the arch as his domain.

I also got some very nice MochaVincis today! They are actually getting along quite well for now too.

Not sure what I should add next. I'm going to let the little guys figure things out for a bit before I do anything else.

 

[Cuzuco]

I added some snails and a skunk cleaner shrimp earlier this week. The shrimp has chosen the arch as his domain.

I also got some very nice MochaVincis today! They are actually getting along quite well for now too.

Not sure what I should add next. I'm going to let the little guys figure things out for a bit before I do anything else.

How old is your tank?

 

[ruegaroo]

How old is your tank?

Pretty young. About a month and a half with water in it.

 

[Cuzuco]

Pretty young. About a month and a half with water in it.

So you still haven’t put corals in it? Nice tank arrangement.

 

[ruegaroo]

So you still haven’t put corals in it? Nice tank arrangement.

Nah not yet. I just got the fish Saturday and am in no real rush to add corals. Maybe in a week or two I'll add some stuff.

 

[ruegaroo]

Welp. Haven't updated this in a long while. A lot has changed, I have learned a ton, and have grown to love the hobby even when the going gets tough. I have had velvet wipe out all of my fish and have lost more corals than I'd really like to admit but for whatever reason I can't give it up. I have decided to go with a softy tank with some LPS and I have started to feel a lot more comfortable with my tank over the past couple of months as things have stabilized.

Equipment changes
- Replaced the Icecap 3k gyre with an MP10. The Icecap was putting out way too much flow even at its lowest setting. The MP10 has been wonderful.
- Rented a PAR meter and found my lighting to be way under PAR at 75 or less throughout the tank. Tank now has a pretty even spread of 100-250 PAR. Corals seem a lot happier.
- Added a BRS carbon reactor.
- Added a Tunze Osmolator auto top off.

Livestock changes
- Had 2 Mocha Vinci clowns, 3 blue reef chromis, white lined combtooh blenny. All died due to a velvet outbreak.
- Now have one clarkii clown, one juvenile captive bred yellow tang, bonded pair of flame hawks, and one red head solon fairy wrasse. With the exception of the clown everyone has been on their best behavior. Had 2 clarkiis but the one that became female decided one day she didn't like the male and it was quickly over for him. Bummer.

Corals
- Mainly softies. Have experimented with various LPS with mixed results.

Some update pics:

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

Almost at a year. Sorry about the loss but you made some corrections and looks great. I’ve gotta get a flame hawk, thanks or remind me. Cool fish. One thing I could mention is if you are at a point you are happy I would not add or make more changes. Tank looks great, focus on growing it.

 

[ruegaroo]

Video update from 8/3/20.

 

[ruegaroo]

I think I let my tank get a bit cleaner than I had wanted and now I am starting my battle with dinos. Starting by reducing photo period by 2 hours. Don't want to black out just yet. I'm also feeding HEAVY. My goal is to get my nutrients back up. I am also going to dose vibrant twice a week. No water changes for at least a couple of weeks. I may siphon the top of the sand through a filter sock on my regular water change days and put the water back into the tank. Let's see how this goes.

 

[ruegaroo]

I think I'm doing a good job of pushing back the dinos. A lot of hair algae is popping up now. I'm cool with it though as it means progress. Haven't really freaked out about controlling the dinos. Just have been taking it slow and steady and maintaining a routine. Seems to be working and my corals are continuing to grow. My sinularia colony is showpiece size now. This thing has gotta be about 15 inches long when fully extended. It's getting massive and I want to let it keep growing.

 

[ruegaroo]

The dinos have calmed down but cyano has popped up. Currently treating with chemiclean and I'm going to order some new clean up crew members this weekend for the hair algae that has now taken over. I am grateful that the dinos seem to have been pushed back. I think the main culprit was NOPOX. I stopped dosing NOPOX and elevated my nutrients over the course of a few months. I also dosed some Microbacter 7 which helped establish a competitive bacteria source. My biggest takeaway from this whole experience is to not stress out but to let things slowly fall into place. Sure the tank looked ugly for a while but it is all a part of the process. Hopefully this positive momentum will keep up and I will be proud to take pics of my tank again in the next month or so.

Other experiences during the dino fight:
- I did not do a black out period
- I did not run a UV sterilizer - don't think I needed one as the dinos seemed to be in the sand
- I increased the temp slightly to 79
- I did not do water changes for 2 weeks to elevate nutrients and then after that I maintained my schedule of 10% water changes every Sunday
- I did not scrape the glass for about 2 months
- I manually removed as much as possible during my water changes but never completely disturbed the sand bed

I think sticking with this routine helped a ton.