The Project: Waterbox 60.2 Marine Plus

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S.Pepper

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Devastated!!! I went to bed last night at 1am and everything looked fine. My puffer was sleeping on the bottom next to a rock. I wake up this morning and can't find him. Yeah, I found him... dead. What? My yellow watchman gobi is fine. My hermit crabs are fine. And my Hammer coral is opened up and looking fine. Just bummed. Yeah, I had a 14 day guarantee with the fish, but this sucks. Off to file a claim... after coffee.
 
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Picture of my hammer coral.

20191214_120918.jpg 20191214_120907.jpg
 

Salty Lemon

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Devastated!!! I went to bed last night at 1am and everything looked fine. My puffer was sleeping on the bottom next to a rock. I wake up this morning and can't find him. Yeah, I found him... dead. What? My yellow watchman gobi is fine. My hermit crabs are fine. And my Hammer coral is opened up and looking fine. Just bummed. Yeah, I had a 14 day guarantee with the fish, but this sucks. Off to file a claim... after coffee.
I hate it when this stuff happens -- and we all have been there. I'm sure it was from the stress of travel. So sorry.
 

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I hate it when this stuff happens -- and we all have been there. I'm sure it was from the stress of travel. So sorry.
I agree, most likely from stress. I’ve heard they are quite a sensitive fish.
 
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With the death of both of my fish, I'm concentrating on corals for the time being. The one branch hammer coral I have is flourishing, along with 4 hermit crabs. Still not sure what happened with the fish as all water parameters look(ed) good, and, as I said, my one coral is doing great and so are hermit crabs. I had a diatom breakout and the hermit crabs cleaned it up in no time.

So here is what I have coming:

Winter's Ricordea
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Bob Marley's Zoas
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Star Fire Zoas
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Angry Avocado Zoas
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Ultra Orange Ricordea
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Neon Green Star Polyps x 2
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Sweet Ricordea
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Ultimate Joker zoa/paly
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Devil's Armor
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Killer Flamingo paly
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Aussie Lemon Splatter
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I've been dosing tropic Marin all for reef and my branch hammer has been looking great and getting this neon green core. I target fead it some lrs reef frenzy this morning and it swallowed up a couple chunks. I don't think I've ever seen it look this happy since the reef frenzy, and it has been very happy before the targeted feeding.

p.s. it takes a few moments for the video to load, but it will eventually.
 

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Sonja

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I love your tank, the corals look to be really healthy. Im hoping to create a decent zoa garden in mine, I know im going to struggle to choose between them all.
 
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I love your tank, the corals look to be really healthy. Im hoping to create a decent zoa garden in mine, I know im going to struggle to choose between them all.

thanks, Sonja. I bought half of those in a live sale this past wknd, and half from world wide corals. It scary addicting. I luv zoas/palys, and ricordea. There is another live sale coming up soon on R2R, and i have to stay away--my wallet is hurting.
 
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I <3 gobies. Get him a pistol shrimp friend and be prepared for countless hours of entertainment :)

Yes, I would luv to do that, but the center of any fish I have will be a blue spot toby puffer; and unfortunately, i don't think the shrimp and the puffer will mix.
 

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I'm not sure how all of this got started, but I believe it was a late evening while I was perusing YouTube and I saw a link to a Biocube 32. I decided to click the link and was immediately hooked. While I have always been fascinated by having a SW tank, I always considered it, for some reason, out of the realm of possibility. I spent the next several weeks watching Utube videos and reading information on forums like this gathering information on how to make the dream a reality. During this time of research, I came upon other tank builds and manufacturers but nothing that interested me enough that said, "yeah, u want to spend more $$ for that." That was until I came upon WaterBox.

So, I have spent the last 2 weeks learning more about the hobby and configuring the equipment I needed for a 45.2 Marine Plus. All-the-while I kept looking at the 60.2. It was only $100 more, but I kept saying to myself that I had to cut it off some where. Welp, you know the moral of the story, I'm buying the 60.2.--Because bigger is better.;Smuggrin

It looks like hardware that I have configured for the 45.2 is transferrable to the 60.2. The real question is whether I have made the right choice in the first place.

I'm at that point that I need to bounce my ideas, thoughts, and choices off those who have a lot more experience than I do. A month ago i didn't have a clue how an aquarium sump system worked (not saying I do now:D), much less the names of any of these vendors. Heck, I would be ashamed to tell anyone how many hours I've spent watching videos and reading about protein skimmers alone--and i'm still not sure which one i want/need.--a little tongue and cheek.

I almost forgot. It probably will help it I told you what kind of tank I am looking to have. I'm looking to have LPS and soft corals, along with some fish and clams. I know i'm not dealing with SPS corals at this point.

The first part of this is going to deal with the hardware than runs and maintains the system. Ancillary stuff like testing kits, etc., will come later.

If a choice I've made will work well, let me know. If a choice I've made will work, but I might want to consider something else, let me know. Or Whatever you do, Don't do that.

Thanks for any help one wants to contribute.

1) Return Pump: I really focused here first. I started out trying to conserve $$ and going with a pump by Jebao from China. It got nice reviews, but in the final choice I decided to go with something premium... because I had a premium tank. I chose the Reef Octopus Varios 2 ( I was going to post a link, but it appears the system won't let me) From all accounts this is an awesome pump and should fit my system nicely. I did speak with a guy online that was using this pump in a Waterbox 70.3.

2) Protein Skimmer: As I mentioned earlier, this was a tough one for me. 3 skimmers in consideration: 1) Red Sea RSK 300; 2) Reef Octopus Essence S-130; 3) Reef Octopus 110 Space Saver. I'm leaning towards the RO 110 Space Saver. It has the smallest footprint of 6.1" x 7.87". I am considering doing a refugium in my skimmer box (10.2" x 14.6). I don't know if that'll leave me enough room, but if I have a chance this is the one that will do it. I would luv to hear any thoughts others have, as this is way out of my league at this point. Additionally, I have spoken with 2 individuals online that have the RO 110 and they claimed it worked well and would recommend it.

3) Powerheads: I cannot believe the prices of these things. I may end up spending as much for my powerhead as I am for my return pump. I have 2 in mind: 1)Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 2 Wave Pump; 2) Icecap Gyre Flow Pump. The Octo Pulse gets rave reviews and looks like it will do well for my tank. It's on the pricier side, but if it will do the job... here's my credit card. I love the whole concept behind the Icecap Gyre and the coverage it will give my tank, but it looks like it has some real dependability issues. If I knew this thing would work dependably, I would definitely buy it. I've watched and read a lot of reviews that give this powerhead a good rating, but I've also read too many reviews on this thing breaking down. I threw this in here because I would be interested in what others had to say.

4) ATO: I haven't spent a lot time on this, but one that stuck out at me and came within a price point I was comfortable with is the XP Aqua Duetto. By almost all accounts this should get the job done, but I am open to suggestions.

5) Aquarium Rock: I know I said I was going to keep this to hardware at this point, but this one has been bothering me.:D The whole curing thing just didn't appeal to me and I didn't want to spend 6-10 weeks dealing with it. So I think I found a solution... because i'm willing to pay for it. Arc Reef Rock offers fully cured rock at $2.99 lb. I figure i'll need about 45lbs. it's about double what I was going to spend initially for uncured rock and it's worth it to me. The reviews have been great. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would luv to hear them. Also, I think I am going to use their Purple Helix Coralline algae during the cycling phase.

6) Lights: As far as lights go, I am going with the lights that come with my package: AI HD Prime. I am told this will work for my tank with the livestock I plan on keeping. AI HD Prime have good reviews. If I need to add another one, I will on down the road. If I find they don't work well, i'll change them out... on down the road.:) This was an edit. I forgot to include this with my original post.

Thanks for your help in advance.
Or the 70.2! That is what I have!
 

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Yes, I would luv to do that, but the center of any fish I have will be a blue spot toby puffer; and unfortunately, i don't think the shrimp and the puffer will mix.

You'd be surprised. I had a dwarf lionfish that ate just about every shrimp but pistol. Most critters are scared of them and rightfully so, an angry pistol shrimp can knockout a fish in an instant.

Also there's some alpheus species of pistol shrimp that get 2-3 inches. I had one that was about 2 inches and bright green.
 
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You'd be surprised. I have a dwarf lionfish that ate just about every shrimp but pistol. Most critters are scared of them and rightfully so, an angry pistol shrimp can knockout a fish in an instant.

Also there's some alpheus species of pistol shrimp that get 2-3 inches. I had one that was about 2 inches and bright green.

thx, it's something I will look at. Right now I am concentrating on corals. I will probably start with the fish again in a couple months.
 
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Finally have the skimmer dialed in... what a pain of a piece of equipment. It's been running well for a couple of weeks. I did get an in-line air valve to place between the silencer and venturi, but I'm not touching anything at this point.

20200101_135315.jpg
 
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Orders of coral coming both thurs and fri. Checking all water parameters.

Ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0
nitrates: 5ppm
PH: 8.2
Alk: 8.4
Cal: 440
Mag: 1600+
phosphates: .02

A note on the Mag. level. I used .88 of the titrant before turning blue. The test only shows .80 with a Mag level of 1600. At .88 I think it puts my Mag level at 1760. I read up on this, as much as I could, and it doesn't seen to be a real problem. The one coral, branch hammer, I have is thriving and prospering. I also have 4 red legged hermit crabs that are doing well. I would note that I have been dosing Tropic Marin All-for-Reef for the last 3 weeks. I am also using Tropic Marin Reef Pro salt.
 
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