stylolvr's Waterbox 20 Cube Build

[Matt Miller]

I've been back and forth with the shrimp goby team but just decided against it.

Things cleared up really nicely overnight. I added a 2oz bottle of Dr. Tim's and about 1/4 of a cube of Ocean Nutrition Formula One as a ghost feed. Now the testing andwaiting game ensues. I don't anticipate a long cycle with most of the rock having some good time in WWC's live rock system, but this is the most difficult part of getting set up, right?

Still playing around with Nero3 placement and flow. I currently have it set to variable flow (25%-80%) for most of the day with a 4-hour steady 80% flow in the night as BRS recommended. When I added the Formula One, I got to see how the water moves through the tank pretty well and am happy with it. I may have to dial the max flow back some, but the top of the arch seems to be a perfect spot for some SPS down the road.

Top Down. Trying to decide what to do with the little rock in the front. Maybe a zoa island of some sort. I've had luck in the past setting frag plugs next to/wedged under islands like that for easy fragging once it reaches capacity.

I played around a lot with my Nero and I think I set up with 4 different phases and one higher flow overnight as well.

 

[BaysEndReef]

Great job on the stand! Everything looks nice! Following!

 

[stylolvr]

Great job on the stand! Everything looks nice! Following!

Thanks!

Had a slight trace of nitrate this evening, but no noticeable ammonia. Using Salifert tests so not really a surprise. I’m going to ghost feed with twice the food tonight to hopefully spike it a bit more. Happy to see that there’s bacteria already doing good work, even if just a bit!

 

[stylolvr]

It seemed the ammonia test shows a bit cloudier yesterday after a 1/2 cube of Formula One on Monday and nitrate was maybe a bit more noticeable (still around or just less than 2ppm), so I added a full cube of Formula one yesterday. Tests today show no real change in ammonia levels (still ~.25ppm) but the nitrates have increased a bit. More than 2ppm but not as dark as the 5ppm, so slow progress. The tank water is slightly milky white, so I'm thinking of adding another full cube today and hopefully I'll see some movement in the ammonia tomorrow.

 

[Matt Miller]

Sounds like progress to me.

 

[stylolvr]

My alk tests were reading really high the past two days so ran by my WWC to get it straight. They tested the alk at 8.3 and confirmed that my cycle is almost complete. Hoping by mid/late next week I’ll be ready for the first additions. I really think the live rock plus bottle bac helped speed this process up.

Finally cleaned the glass (still need to do the back wall) and tried to filter out some of the blue with my iPhone. Not exact representation of the colors but pretty close. My wife and kids (me too!) love the shimmer of the LEDs on the ceiling. Looks like we are underwater!!

 

[ramona]

Any updates on this tank?

 

[stylolvr]

There are! Apologies for the lack of updates - it’s been a busy 6 months with work and I’ve had to work through some low nutrient frustrations, but things are going pretty well right now. Just past the 6 month mark, and all inhabitants appear pretty happy. A couple of highlights:

1. Ended up having to dose NeoNitro and NeoPhos for a few weeks to get nutrients readable. Battled some guano for a while but the dosing and a 3-day blackout (on vacation so why not?!) won the day.

2. One of the first in the original pair of clowns I had was sick on arrival, but didn’t show signs for a couple weeks. Both ended up dying. Current pair is fat and happy going on 3 on 3 months.

3. Last week I had to send the Duetto ATO in for service- the controller went bad. Customer service was great and they are sending it back with a new controller no questions asked after they tested everything.

4. AI Prime started making some grinding noises and I’m working to do a warranty swap. AI customer service was great as well.

5. The original return pump finally crapped the bed so I bought a Sicce 1.0 last week so my wife didn’t lose it (it got pretty irritating…). Pump works great but I can’t seem to figure out why it’s pushing mirco bubbles into the tank. Return section is filled to just below the baffle. More troubleshooting required (probably going to start a separate thread).
The original return pump finally crapped the bed so I bought a Sicce 1.0 last week so my wife didn’t lose it (it got pretty irritating…). Pump works great but I can’t seem to figure out why it’s pushing mirco bubbles into the tank. Return section is filled to just below the baffle. More troubleshooting required (probably going to start a separate thread).

Stocking list:
2 ocellaris clowns
YWG/tiger pistol shrimp pair
2 PJ cardinals
An army of blue leg hermits
Several Nassarius snails (laying eggs constantly)

Corals:
Duncan
Hammer
Zoas
Chalices (WWC Hollywood Stunner and Toxc Avenger)
Ricordea
Favia (WWC Christmas and JF Insane Rainbow Rim)
Mystic Sunset monti

The WWC eBay auctions are the best, and I’m local so don’t have to pay shipping. I also scored a couple nice Zola mini colonies and the ricordia from Reefapalooza a couple months ago. Highly recommend that if you are near one.

I’ll try to be better with updates. Thanks for the nudge @ramona!

 

[stylolvr]

After playing around with the return chamber water level, I think I’ve got the bubble issue resolved. Just had to reduce the distance of down flow to prevent the new stronger pump from being able to grab the bubbles from the cascade.

 

[FreshCoastReef]

There are! Apologies for the lack of updates - it’s been a busy 6 months with work and I’ve had to work through some low nutrient frustrations, but things are going pretty well right now. Just past the 6 month mark, and all inhabitants appear pretty happy. A couple of highlights:

1. Ended up having to dose NeoNitro and NeoPhos for a few weeks to get nutrients readable. Battled some guano for a while but the dosing and a 3-day blackout (on vacation so why not?!) won the day.

2. One of the first in the original pair of clowns I had was sick on arrival, but didn’t show signs for a couple weeks. Both ended up dying. Current pair is fat and happy going on 3 on 3 months.

3. Last week I had to send the Duetto ATO in for service- the controller went bad. Customer service was great and they are sending it back with a new controller no questions asked after they tested everything.

4. AI Prime started making some grinding noises and I’m working to do a warranty swap. AI customer service was great as well.

5. The original return pump finally crapped the bed so I bought a Sicce 1.0 last week so my wife didn’t lose it (it got pretty irritating…). Pump works great but I can’t seem to figure out why it’s pushing mirco bubbles into the tank. Return section is filled to just below the baffle. More troubleshooting required (probably going to start a separate thread).
The original return pump finally crapped the bed so I bought a Sicce 1.0 last week so my wife didn’t lose it (it got pretty irritating…). Pump works great but I can’t seem to figure out why it’s pushing mirco bubbles into the tank. Return section is filled to just below the baffle. More troubleshooting required (probably going to start a separate thread).

Stocking list:
2 ocellaris clowns
YWG/tiger pistol shrimp pair
2 PJ cardinals
An army of blue leg hermits
Several Nassarius snails (laying eggs constantly)

Corals:
Duncan
Hammer
Zoas
Chalices (WWC Hollywood Stunner and Toxc Avenger)
Ricordea
Favia (WWC Christmas and JF Insane Rainbow Rim)
Mystic Sunset monti

The WWC eBay auctions are the best, and I’m local so don’t have to pay shipping. I also scored a couple nice Zola mini colonies and the ricordia from Reefapalooza a couple months ago. Highly recommend that if you are near one.

I’ll try to be better with updates. Thanks for the nudge @ramona!

Looking good! How are those Ricordea doing? Holding up? I'm running a very similar system and am considering adding some Rics.

What are you doing for your light schedule with the AI Prime?