Shandoee’s Waterbox Marine X 90.3

[BarSnackz]

Thank you! The Waterbox tanks were my second choice initially. I had my heart set on a Red Sea 250. But the place I wanted to buy it from was always sold out. I actually love this tank, now that I have seen it in person.

My ammonia was at or around 8ppm initially. I will try a couple of snails to see. So far, my 3 hitchhiker snails are moving around and about on day 4 here. So, maybe you’re right, the cycle is complete?

Try a Red Sea test kit. I think you're good to go! Excited to see your progress on this tank!

 

[LgTas]

Look forward to seeing the progress. About to order the exact same tank!

 

[shandoee]

Try a Red Sea test kit. I think you're good to go! Excited to see your progress on this tank!

I’ll let this cycle for another week. Maybe until Christmas and a water change and introduce my first dish. But yeah I’ll try a Red Sea test kit, thank you!

 

[shandoee]

Look forward to seeing the progress. About to order the exact same tank!

Thank you.. and I say, do it now! Unless you’re buying from the Waterbox website, they’re out of stock right now lol. It’s a nice tank

 

[shandoee]

Okay, nothing major to see here. Just a small update...

Nitrates are at 1-2ppm now. Yes, still using the API test kits lol. Sorry no pictures as I had a busy day and didn’t snap any pics. I put in another small bottle of Dr. Tim’s bottled bac to see how it goes. Bought some mysis shrimp and threw in a pinch to help a little. Let’s see how the cycle is going in a few days. Cheers

 

[shandoee]

Happy new year everyone!

Okay, this past holiday kept me busy. We had some family over . Yes, I know, shelter in place, but this is our first year in our own home and my wife was excited and wanted the in-laws over. So yeah...

Anyway, nobody cares about what I did. Here is what this thread is for:

The tank is cycled. I have since added four blue eyed cardinals. I love these fish, they’re my favorite. They school nicely, and are well behaved. Unfortunately, one ended up not eating and died today. I’m a bit sad about it, but I couldn’t do anything to try and make it eat. I noticed some diatoms starting to cover the rocks and substrate, so I added 4 trochus snails and 4 scarlet reef hermits. I may need a fighting conch in the near future. They are theeee best at cleaning the sandbed imo. Here are some pictures. Happy reefing everyone and stay safe!

 

[shandoee]

So this isn’t as important yet, but I am a little lazy. I’ve gotten lazy to manually top off my system. Since the sump has a built-in ATO reservoir, I went and bought an ATO system. I went with the Tunze Nano Osmolator.
Since I do not have any corals yet, I may adjust the lighting schedule. Diatom is starting to bloom, very prolifically as well. Time to get me a fighting conch. They are workhorses for the sandbed!

 

[kamla]

which skimmer did you end up with?
is it quite? how about micro bubbles

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking good! I dig the scape!!

 

[shandoee]

which skimmer did you end up with?
is it quite? how about micro bubbles

I went with the Reef Octopus Classic 110-INT. It’s very quiet, and the break-in period only lasted about 24 hours. I do not see any micro bubbles in my sump.

 

[shandoee]

Looking good! I dig the scape!!

Thank you!!

 

[kamla]

you might want check the spacing on the lights.. BRS suggested to spread them apart for better coverage..

 

[shandoee]

you might want check the spacing on the lights.. BRS suggested to spread them apart for better coverage..

Yes, I’ve watched that episode numerous times. Since this is going to be an SPS dominated tank, I am going with 3 radions. The 3rd radion is not in the budget at the moment, and the tank isn’t ready for any corals right now so that’s okay. Spacing wise, the 3rd radion will be smack dab in the middle and they’ll all be evenly spaced.

 

[kamla]

Yes, I’ve watched that episode numerous times. Since this is going to be an SPS dominated tank, I am going with 3 radions. The 3rd radion is not in the budget at the moment, and the tank isn’t ready for any corals right now so that’s okay. Spacing wise, the 3rd radion will be smack dab in the middle and they’ll all be evenly spaced.

well .. then....

make sense looks great.. i am still waiting on my X90.3

 

[shandoee]

well .. then....

make sense looks great.. i am still waiting on my X90.3

Hope u get it soon. Mine took awhile. I don’t quiet remember, but it was maybe 6-7 weeks.

 

[shandoee]

So last night my moonlight was on, and I was mesmerized sitting in front of my tank. It made me think - if it wasn’t for my past experience with reef keeping, this tank would be a wreck right now. I would be so lost, and would probably have tons of dead fish and corals by now. Everyone starts somewhere, but I always see new reefers rush into things and make costly mistakes. Anyway, here are some crappy pictures I took last night. Happy reefing!

 

[shandoee]

I hadn’t noticed how terrible my last picture were, sorry. This is coming from uploading and updating the thread on my phone, so my brightness is set low as well. But here are some better pictures from today. Enjoy!

 

[shandoee]

Went to feed the fish. I noticed one of the cardinals dart up to the frozen mysis, but does not eat it like usual. I looked closer, and it’s one of the males. His mouth seems to be full. Could it be carrying eggs, possibly? Cardinalfish are mouth brooders. This might be the case. It always chases away the other male when it comes closer to his female. Let’s see in a few days.

Also, I saw a sale on the Klir-4 roller filters, so I went ahead and bought one. It conveniently arrived as I was doing a water change, so I installed it. Enjoy!

 

[shandoee]

Time for a FTS. I went to the old Biocube and rescued the WWC 500 Degree.. it wasn’t doing so hot there as my brother does not take care of the tank. There was also an accidental frag of a CB Bubblegum Digi that was on the sandbed, I had to pick it up as well. Here’s to hoping that the 500 Degree colors up!

*edit - third picture is of the 500 Degree when I first purchased it, back in August 2020. Notice how much it’s grown and lost its color.

 

[swoldier17]

I played hookie on Monday to make sure I was there to accept the delivery. The guy was very cool and parked the tank in my garage. Tank arrived 10am sharp. I went and spent all day Monday and part of my Tuesday assembling the stand. With the help of my lovely wife, we were able to lift the tank onto the stand. She almost dropped it and I was thiiiis close to getting an upgrade courtesy of her lol.
Here are the pictures with everything assembled. I actually bought some dry rock and tried my best at putting together a good rockscape. This is my first time using e-Marco 400. Please, DO judge me lol

Why do you have chopsticks down there ? Lol you plan on having sushi ?