Senator's Waterbox Frag 105.4 Shallow Lagoon

[Sgolden]

That sounds cool!

Leopard wrasses are neat fish but I have never gotten one to even survive quarantine.

I'm along for the ride-can't wait to see more progress!

I bought 2 leopard wrasses 8 months ago. One I never saw again after it went into hiding.
the other is extremely social, feeds with other fish, cruises the rocks and is an excellent varmint killer

 

[DiazE]

Love the top down pic! Your an inspiration till I get mine. Waiting for things to go back to normal. Covid19 uncertainty looms.

 

[Xclusive Reef]

ncie build.. any updates?

 

[SenatorPOPS]

ncie build.. any updates?

Thank you! I have added a few hammers, torches, and zoas, but unfortunately no major updates yet. I did have a case of what looked like velvet and potentially brook from a fish I thought was from a trusted source. The surviving fish were removed and placed in a hospital tank as the main sits fallow right now. My 76 day mark is next week, but I’ll be waiting a little longer just to be cautious. Once fish are in I’ll start adding the acropora.

 

[Jimbo662]

Thank you! I have added a few hammers, torches, and zoas, but unfortunately no major updates yet. I did have a case of what looked like velvet and potentially brook from a fish I thought was from a trusted source. The surviving fish were removed and placed in a hospital tank as the main sits fallow right now. My 76 day mark is next week, but I’ll be waiting a little longer just to be cautious. Once fish are in I’ll start adding the acropora.

Yikes...sorry to hear that. This is why I finally set up a QT tank for my new build.

 

[rm22_newbie]

Update time!

Work kept me from doing just about anything last week, but I started back up this weekend and was able to get a couple things finished once the family was asleep (its really the only time I can get stuff done).

plumbing installed along with a 1” to 3/4” conversion on my Vectra M2. Here the parts I used in case anyone needed some help.

Black vinyl backing on the sump for a cleaner look and to hide cords coming out the back.

Some laminate flooring planks I had are attached to the back wall to help protect my outlets and also for aesthetics.

I should have some more time this week to get stuff done. On the list is:

Build controller board for side cabinet. I’ll probably use some wood and add more laminate planks to match sump cabinet.

Fill with RODI and add salt.

Rinse sand and add to tank.

Aquascape.

Hi, I am just about to purchase this tank and am caught up on the whole pump aspect, I called waterbox the first person said use an M2, the second said an M1 is fine but if you need anything in the future (ie: UV) you may need an M2 then told me that an adaptation would be needed. I can see in your pics above that you did something to connect to the 3/4" the rep said they send out. Have never done any plumbing before but basically is that a 3/4" barb to 1" base, then screwed into a some type of adapter (what size?) and then is that glued into the blue part of the pump? Sorry I have no idea what parts they maybe called, any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[dungdatinh]

I have a waterbox 60.2 frag and love it so far

 

[SenatorPOPS]

Hi, I am just about to purchase this tank and am caught up on the whole pump aspect, I called waterbox the first person said use an M2, the second said an M1 is fine but if you need anything in the future (ie: UV) you may need an M2 then told me that an adaptation would be needed. I can see in your pics above that you did something to connect to the 3/4" the rep said they send out. Have never done any plumbing before but basically is that a 3/4" barb to 1" base, then screwed into a some type of adapter (what size?) and then is that glued into the blue part of the pump? Sorry I have no idea what parts they maybe called, any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Hey! Yes, so I went with the M2 because if I ever wanted to run any reactors off the return, the extra flow would help, but doing with the S2 is also plenty of flow really. I think I run mine maybe at 400gph, because turn over time isn’t as important to me as display flow using power heads. It just depends on what you’re looking to do, but either will be perfectly adequate.

so for the 1” to 3/4” conversion I used these pieces all found at either Home Depot or Lowe’s.

- 1” to 3/4” slip to female thread
- 3/4” male threaded barb

you thread the two pieces together using plumbers tape. Once those are threaded together, you glue the piece using pvc cement into the blue piece that comes with the pump itself. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[SenatorPOPS]

Yikes...sorry to hear that. This is why I finally set up a QT tank for my new build.

Same, now! I had one for my other fish when I had my 30L, but apparently I had put too much trust in other people haha. Never again.

 

[bigjgmac]

I'm just about to pull the trigger on ordering one of these - the 105.4. How did you find the tank (and maybe more particularly the cabinet) over the long haul?

 

[SenatorPOPS]

I'm just about to pull the trigger on ordering one of these - the 105.4. How did you find the tank (and maybe more particularly the cabinet) over the long haul?

The tank itself has been great, great dimensions, glass clarity is amazing, the glass overflow is awesome and solid plumbing. While I like the sump, I think there are better designs out there, that utilize space better, but it is nice having the ATO combined. The stand is somewhat lacking for me. I think the hardware was a little cheap and I’m not a huge fan of cam and lock systems, but on the other side you won’t find a stand from any tank company that is stellar. It’ll do the job, but I may build a custom stand down the road if I decide to change out for a larger sump. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this thing.

 

[SenatorPOPS]

Update time! Just about 9 months in and the tank has been all over the place. I lost a few fish due to the velvet outbreak and some didn’t make it through QT unfortunately. I have more fish coming this week through @tsmaquatics and thankfully they put their fish through QT so I don’t have to. I wish I could dedicate more time, but between work and kids, I just don’t have enough to fully manage a QT setup the way I’d want.

I’ve added a few more frags, a torch, some hammers, a few zoas, and some gonis. And plan to add a decent amount more, before I let everything just grow out. I’ve also shut my skimmer off for good. I will be setting up a refugium in the main chamber instead to handle nutrients and I’ll update the thread when it’s up and running.

Also, If anyone has some tips for photos I’d love to hear it. I might do some blue light photos instead of my fairly white lights I keep them on.

 

[jugsmctugs]

Build looks great. Sorry to hear about the lost fish.

I have more fish coming this week through @tsmaquatics and thankfully they put their fish through QT so I don’t have to.

+1 for TSM Aquatics. My experience with the two fish I bought from them was great and I'd be surprised if there are many retailers out there offering healthier livestock.

 

[Nelson Tiago]

any updates ?

 

[SenatorPOPS]

any updates ?

Yes! Just took some pictures this weekend and will be posting soon.

 

[SenatorPOPS]

Alright, so I finally found the time to get around to checking some things off of my list. First up is the UV install. If you’ve read through the past posts then you know I had an outbreak that unfortunately took a few fish from me. Despite my QT efforts in the past, I had a lapse in judgement and took a fish from a friend that brought in the plague without QTing that one first. That’s all it takes in this hobby. Every fish I purchase from now on is through a supplier that QTs their fish adequately, but I figured a heavy duty hard plumbed UV is only going to help decrease those odds of outbreaks. I purchased a 55 watt Lifegard and hard plumbed it into my second chamber since there wasn’t much room anywhere else. Ignore the cable mess! it’s getting remounted and cleaned up.

After test fitting all the pvc it was glued up and connected. I did cut it slightly shorter than this and flipped the valve and barb to go left.

It’s been running great, no leaks, and I also plumbed in a gate valve with a barb at the bottom so when I need to do maintenance on the UV or change it out, I don’t get water everywhere!

I did use silicone hose connections at the return pump and at the waterbox return plumbing to also help with changing anything out if necessary.

the other big update is the refugium, which can be seen in the above pictures. This is in my office and I like to have it as quiet as possible. Therefore the skimmer had to go. I was having a lot of issues dialing it in anyways and every time I changed my filter floss out, it went crazy, so off it goes. To help with nutrient export I decided to convert that chamber into the refugium. I 3D printed a “comb” to sit on the baffle and prevent any chaeto from going on into the return chamber.

As for the fuge light, I went with the AI Prime Fuge since I’m familiar with their products and customer service has been top notch for me. It was a little too powerful in the beginning and started turning my chaeto white, but it’s been dialed wayyy down and doing great now.

Both the UV and Fuge have stopped my cyano and diatomly algae growing in the display and will help grow my copepod population when I want to get a leopard wrasse.

I decided to change the rock structure a little bit to add more surface area for corals and caves for the fish. I also added a few more frags and plan on going more of a euphyllia route vs acropora at this time.

These are starting to turn blue finally!

sponge growth is crazy!

all smiles

new shell time

FTS

 

[jstephens24]

awesome looking tank

 

[SenatorPOPS]

awesome looking tank

Thank you!

 

[Nelson Tiago]

I love this tank so muchhhh! Maybe due to the dimensions, love the shallow look but I also love the 130.4 so... I'm fighting to decide ! Since I'm a stick head I try to imagine the big colonies on this tank and not have the issue of the hight maybe puting less rock and going minimalistic maybe the way to go if I pick this one! Thank you for the update!!

 

[SenatorPOPS]

I love this tank so muchhhh! Maybe due to the dimensions, love the shallow look but I also love the 130.4 so... I'm fighting to decide ! Since I'm a stick head I try to imagine the big colonies on this tank and not have the issue of the hight maybe puting less rock and going minimalistic maybe the way to go if I pick this one! Thank you for the update!!

Definitely less rock for sticks. My rocks reach about half way up the side, so plenty of room if I decide to change course and go that route.