Shallow Lagoon Reef - Waterbox Frag 105.4

[mikedavematt]

Hi - I'm new to the forums and thought I would introduce myself with a tank build thread.

Here are some shots of my shallow lagoon reef. It's about 1.5 years old.

I call it a shallow lagoon reef tank because it features approximately 50 mangrove seed pods, as well as many some usual livestock choices such as many gorgonians and sponges. I also have some Sailfin Mollies, which have been a great addition. They're the perfect dither fish and have helped my other more fearful fish come out much more into the open. The mollies frequently have babies, which I move to a separate / quarantine tank.

The back of the tank has a couple powerheads aimed towards the gorgonians. The rest of the tank is relatively low flow and features LPS and soft coral. It's a very low-tech tank, with no dosing and relies on a refugium, mangroves, and skimmer for nutrient export. The tank is up against a large window and receives natural sunlight for a few hours a day (the number of hours changes seasonally). The mangroves love the natural sunlight, and the corals do too.

Tank and Sump size: standard Waterbox 105.4 Frag Series set up
Lighting: Natural sunlight supplemented with two Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue lights
Refugium light: Kessil H80 Tuna Flora, running 24/7
Skimmer: Bubble Magus Curve 5
Return Pump: Jebao DCP-6500
Circulation Pumps: two Koralia Nano 565
ATO: Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152
Controller: Neptune Systems Apex
Fish: Yellow Tang, Hippo Tang (yes, I know....), clownfish pair, sailfin mollies, blue axil chromis, royal gramma, banggai cardinalfish, yellow coris wrasse
Inverts: Two fire shrimp (mated pair)

 

[CrazyCarlitos]

Lovely tank

welcome to reef2reef

 

[Jgerm]

Welcome to R2R!
Your tanks looks fantastic! I love seeing how many Frag 105.4 tanks have been popping up lately. Yours has an elegant feel with the softies and low-tech approach! Great work!
Did you go though any algae blooms with the natural light being utilized? Interested in your sump layout for the refugium as well.

 

[brett_schn]

beautiful. looks amazing! keep us posted

 

[brett_schn]

Welcome to R2R!
Your tanks looks fantastic! I love seeing how many Frag 105.4 tanks have been popping up lately. Yours has an elegant feel with the softies and low-tech approach! Great work!
Did you go though any algae blooms with the natural light being utilized? Interested in your sump layout for the refugium as well.

can't speak for the OP but I had my old tank in the sun first half of the day and it got natural light all day. didn't have a problem.

 

[Sthomp01]

Looks great

 

[Jgerm]

can't speak for the OP but I had my old tank in the sun first half of the day and it got natural light all day. didn't have a problem.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I have had a problem with this in the past. It was 15yrs ago so I can’t really identify what other factors contributed but 1/2 my old tank got direct sunlight during the peak hrs of the day and always had heavy algae growth on just the rocks that got sun. i believe it had to do with phosphates but again it’s been to long.

 

[brett_schn]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I have had a problem with this in the past. It was 15yrs ago so I can’t really identify what other factors contributed but 1/2 my old tank got direct sunlight during the peak hrs of the day and always had heavy algae growth on just the rocks that got sun. i believe it had to do with phosphates but again it’s been to long.

yeah for sure. I'm in Florida so we get some good sun. I didn't even test that tank. it was my first tank 10g. I obviously had it tested during cycle

 

[J.chemicals]

Oh men, this look great! Im just waiting for a couple of my equipments to do my build thread.

 

[mikedavematt]

Thank you guys for the support!
I'm loving the Waterbox frag tank. I'm not a fan of the black background, so instead I have heavily stocked the rear of the tank with gorgonians and mangroves in order to obscure the stark black background visual effect. The gorgonians have filled in nicely so that has been helping.

Here are some pics of the sump and refugium layout. I added a baffle to the central chamber, in order to create room for both a skimmer chamber that flows into a refugium chamber. In retrospect I regret not getting a black/opaque baffle, but it's not anything that a couple hermit crabs can't handle!

I actually haven't had any problems with algae. When there is algae, and sometimes there is some green hair algae, it is exclusively in the refugium, and I just pull it out. I think it's because I run the refugium light 24/7. The back of the Waterbox Frag tanks is mostly open (not enclosed), so the refugium gets direct sunlight as well. The refugium seems to outcompete any algae from popping up in the display tank (sadly for my tangs!).

 

[brett_schn]

Thank you guys for the support!
I'm loving the Waterbox frag tank. I'm not a fan of the black background, so instead I have heavily stocked the rear of the tank with gorgonians and mangroves in order to obscure the stark black background visual effect. The gorgonians have filled in nicely so that has been helping.

Here are some pics of the sump and refugium layout. I added a baffle to the central chamber, in order to create room for both a skimmer chamber that flows into a refugium chamber. In retrospect I regret not getting a black/opaque baffle, but it's not anything that a couple hermit crabs can't handle!

I actually haven't had any problems with algae. When there is algae, and sometimes there is some green hair algae, it is exclusively in the refugium, and I just pull it out. I think it's because I run the refugium light 24/7. The back of the Waterbox Frag tanks is mostly open (not enclosed), so the refugium gets direct sunlight as well. The refugium seems to outcompete any algae from popping up in the display tank (sadly for my tangs!).

If you don't like the background cut it at the overflow and peel back. Its just vinyl.

 

[Miguel Negron]

I love the lagoon style

 

[mikedavematt]

If you don't like the background cut it at the overflow and peel back. Its just vinyl.

Interesting regarding cutting off the black background. Is there another Waterbox tank build thread on R2R where they cut off the backing? Would like to have a peek at the final results.

 

[brett_schn]

Interesting regarding cutting off the black background. Is there another Waterbox tank build thread on R2R where they cut off the backing? Would like to have a peek at the final results.

I can't remember who's but its the same tank you have. maybe ill see it later

 

[Mark]

How do you like the 16" height on the tank. If you were to do it again, would you go back to a normal height tank(like 24")? Has the shallower depth caused more jumping in the fish? Just curious as I've always wanted to do a lagoon.

 

[mikedavematt]

How do you like the 16" height on the tank. If you were to do it again, would you go back to a normal height tank(like 24")? Has the shallower depth caused more jumping in the fish? Just curious as I've always wanted to do a lagoon.

I love the shallow lagoon look. But I think it's just human nature to think the grass is always greener... and now I have my eye on "upgrading" to a peninsula (taller) tank someday. But I'm sure if I bought a taller tank to start I would still be itching to try the shallow look. I think I like the peninsula look because of the appeal of the clear background and off-center overflow, rather than the height.

I do really love having mangroves though, which is harder to achieve in a tall tank. I also think aquascapes look more natural in a shallow tank, because I think height is pretty tricky to achieve with rockwork without looking kinda clunky.

It's hard to have a tank lid with mangroves, so I have had issues in the past with jumping. Now I am conservative with my livestock choices. I've had my yellow coris wrasse for a year without an incident (knock on wood), I think because when he is frightened he darts for the sand rather than the surface.

 

[biggie4jets]

can't speak for the OP but I had my old tank in the sun first half of the day and it got natural light all day. didn't have a problem.

I have a drop off 20g IM aio in my living room with a lot of natural light and haven’t had a problem since I set it up. (Knock on wood haha)

 

[biggie4jets]

Love your tank! I am doing to the exact same thing with mine, some mangroves and not relying on a lot of dosing or equipment, just a good sump setup, refugium, and patience. Here’s my build to that lagoon tank. Started building it in July.

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