The Mandarin Reef: Waterbox Marine 35.2 AIO

[ashiWaza]

So, finally got all of my equipment, and everything sorted out. I decided to run with a CPR Aquafuge HoB Refugium, it adds 3.6 gallons of volume to my system. The tank will weigh a decent amount and I didnt feel confident just hanging it on my main tank so I built a small support shelf behind the DT.

 

[ashiWaza]

I sort of feel as if I'm betraying the 'DIY' part of myself by doing this, but I upgraded my stand. I was always worried about the longevity of the stand that was given to me, even though it was in good shape, it was ~10 years old. I went with a white Waterbox cabinet, I love the clean look of white. The transfer process was pretty painless, but time consuming. Just drained the water and sand into buckets, and lifted the tank over onto the new cabinet. I also like that its about 4 inches taller than the one I had planned on using. Just waiting on cloudiness to settle a bit and I'll finalize the aquascape.

 

[ashiWaza]

I'm supposed to receive my Refugium started kit from Algaebarn on Friday, I'll dose some ammonia tonight and add Microbacter 7 just to try to gauge any significant change since draining the water. I kept most of the water, but probably did a 40% water change as well. Once I get the package and let the tank settle for a bit, I'll upload pics of loading the HoB. I plan to use a little dry rock (sat in tank during cycle) along with their biomedia, and some chaeto. I have a light which will also illuminate the HoB at night, and has basically no light spill into DT. I chose this HoB route just for the volume, although I still use the 'InTank' media basket, just not for chaeto growing purposes.

 

[najer]

So, finally got all of my equipment, and everything sorted out. I decided to run with a CPR Aquafuge HoB Refugium, it adds 3.6 gallons of volume to my system. The tank will weigh a decent amount and I didnt feel confident just hanging it on my main tank so I built a small support shelf behind the DT.

I'm with you on this, that weight hanging on the glass would concern me as well.

 

[ashiWaza]

Finally got the Algaebarn shipment in, they apparently had some sort of shortage on chaeto. I bought their 'small refugium start kit' and also added 2 bottles of pods from my LFS. I emptied 2 bottles into the DT, and one into the refugium. Algaebarn also came with some phyto, which I did 2x of their recommended dosage (10mL total) just because I also added additional pods.

 

[ashiWaza]

I present.....my Mona Lisa! This tank took FOREVER to finally get set up, but I now feel super gratified just sitting here admiring it. Finally the hard part is over and I can relax and just let it mature. For the specifics of the build:

Waterbox 35 AIO / Waterbox Cabinet
AI 16 HD Light, Nero 5 Powerhead
Tunze 9004 Skimmer
Tunze 3155 Osmolator ATO
Innovative Marine 5 Gallon ATO Reservoir
InTank Blackout Version Media Basket
Octo Aquatics Media Cup for WB (sticking out)
CPR Aquafuge HoB Refugium, Medium
Finnex 300W Heater

Cycled w/ raw shrimp and MicroBacter7
~15,000 pods added to DT/Refugium following cycle

 

[thedon986]

Congrats on the setup! Looks great!

 

[najer]

Looks great, nice work.

 

[Chrisfish]

Tank looks great, congratulations!!! Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[ashiWaza]

The tank has had water for over a month now, and completed cycling, but I wanted to give a week after switching stands just in case I lost some beneficial bacteria in the process. I added some corals finally!
Green/Gold tipped torches
Neon green hammer
Pink Const. / Demon Armor / Utter Chaos zoas
Purple and Red Blastos
Watermelon and Dragon Soul Favia
Rainbow Acan
Cant wait to add more! Should be getting a gold hammer this weekend

 

[ashiWaza]

Still just waiting for copepod population to get a foothold before I even consider adding in the mandarins. I can no longer see pods crawling on my glass/back AIO panel, but I can see some crawling on rocks, and in refugium. The numbers seem to have dwindled though, unless they are just better about hiding than free floating now. Either way, I decided to dose pods again today, adding another 5,000. I mainly poured them into refugium, with about 1/3 into the DT. I also picked up a lovely Gold Hammer to keep me occupied and give me something to look at. The euphyllia garden is growing!

 

[najer]

I forget stuff, are you feeding live phyto, your pods will love you for it?

 

[ashiWaza]

I forget stuff, are you feeding live phyto, your pods will love you for it?

Yeah once a day I add 10mL of phyto. I think that my tank may have been too clean when I first added pods and just couldn't sustain that big of a population. Looks like I'm having a tiny detritus/dino bloom right now as my tank starts to stabilize after removing some of the water for the cabinet swap. Hoping that its starting to mature enough to keep more of the pods around now.

 

[najer]

There are loads of threads about feeding mandarins, their natural instinct is to peck and feed every few seconds, supplementing them is good with "our food" that they might take, I don't know what prepared foods my girlie takes, she grazes all day and her digestive system processes food properly, you are doing great with your preparation.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Hello everyone,

I was initially drawn to the hobby by the beauty of LPS/euphyllia type corals; the fish were beautiful as well, but they just didn't appeal to me as much. The first time I ever saw a mandarin, that all changed! I immediately knew I wanted one, and quickly found out the difficulty level of care required. After many, many hours of research that mostly brought loose-ended information, I decided to build and document the process of housing a healthy, happy mandarin! Hopefully someone else will be able to learn from my process should they attempt their own build.

Ik how you feel about the fish dude. Sadly I have a 20g so all i can keep in it is a ruby red draognet

 

[ashiWaza]

Ik how you feel about the fish dude. Sadly I have a 20g so all i can keep in it is a ruby red draognet

I really think its just all about preparation and handling the 'copepod problem'
While very unorthodox, I know someone who has 2 mandarins in a 12 gallon tank, and saw another magazine article (Fluval I believe?) where a guy kept 2 in a 20something gallon. Both had really good setups for pods, such as chaeto reactors and/or refugium setups, or they cultured their own.

 

[ashiWaza]

As with so many other threads, I wanted to take a second to make a post about Waterbox customer service. My cabinet arrived with some small chip damage, but it was right on the front door. Waterbox told me to just construct the cabinet anyway, and they'd send me out a replacement. Super easy to work with. It got here about a week later, and so I was finally able to put my door on today!

 

[ashiWaza]

Purchased a lens for my phone's camera today. I wasnt sure they would actually work that well, but I am very impressed so far. Was able to take some pretty cool pictures of my corals, and my anemone/clown tank in my living room. I used the 'Polyp Lab' kit, it was $35.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Purchased a lens for my phone's camera today. I wasnt sure they would actually work that well, but I am very impressed so far. Was able to take some pretty cool pictures of my corals, and my anemone/clown tank in my living room. I used the 'Polyp Lab' kit, it was $35.


[/QUOTE/]
Hey do you know what type of BTA you have there? Because I bought one that looks exactly like that yesterday, and I'd like to know what kind it is.

 

[ashiWaza]

My LFS called it an Ultra BTA. That was the only name given