marcopena279
Community Member
Hey everyone, I’ve been watching build threads for quite some time and now that I’m upgrading my tank I decided to start a build thread of my own.
A little backstory:
So I currently have a Biocube 32 gallon with an ai prime 16 that I bought used two years ago in December. It took me a while but I ended up setting it up in February. I went through a fishes cycle and went adding fish and corals slowly trying my best to avoid a nutrient spike. Everything was going pretty well until I used a magnetic glass cleaner unaware that Biocubes were made out of acrylic or that it even mattered to be honest. I soon realized my mistake when I put hundreds of small and large scratches in the tank. It made me want to explode but I thought, oh well so long as the corals are doing well and are colorful then it doesn’t matter I’ll put up with the scratches.
Pictures of the progression:
September 5, 2020
September 13, 2020
As gorgeous as my tank looked this was it’s peak. My tanks terrible demise was about to come in the form of a gorgeous fish.
This little guy was skittish at first but he would still come out and eat with the rest of the fish. I know I should’ve quarantined first but I’m hardheaded and don’t learn very well unless it’s from my own hands on experience. A month after introducing him he suddenly disappeared and I assumed he was just coming out late at night and hunting for pods since I did catch him doing that a couple of times. Unfortunately though, he had died and this was at a point where I was dosing all for reef, had cheato growing, and was only doing water changes once a month. Since everything was so stable I fell into the trap of not testing very often as I didn’t feel the need to. Very quickly I noticed I started losing corals from one day to the next and colors started vanishing so I immediately started doing water changes and attempting to save my tank from crashing.
It’s been a couple months since this event and I was able to save some corals and most have regained or are in the process of regaining their full color.
The present (as of November 9th 2021):
Now that my tanks almost fully recovered I’ve decided it’s time to ditch the bio cube and start fresh(sort of) with a Waterbox 35.2, I was tempted to go larger but I’ll be taking this tank with me to college and I felt the Waterbox 35.2 was the perfect size. I recently ordered the tank and it’s supposed to ship out anywhere from today to November 18th. (Waterbox said it would ship out in 5-7 business days but it’s been two weeks and that idea was thrown out the window, kind of annoying but oh well)
My plan:
I already have a rockscape I designed cycling in my garage but, I plan to use the same sand from my bio cube plus a little extra added in to help stabilize the tank. I’m also transferring all the livestock and equipment as well.
That being said this is my equipment list:
- Radion Gen 5 XR15 Blue(had to upgrade)
- Ai Nero 3
- Two little fishies reactor(Chaeto)
- Sicce Silent 1.5(Connects to reactor which then leads to return)
- Kamaor X1 PRO 2 Doser
- Tunze 3155 and 5 gallon reservoir
My intention is to build a control box with dj switches for everything that cannot be controlled via my phone to keep things organized and make it easier to do maintenance. I also plan on adding small stick-on shelves inside the stand to store foods and things like that.
Livestock:
In terms of fish I only have a yellow coris wrasse since I moved my clownfish pair to my new nem tank downstairs(might start a thread on that too) I plan on adding more fish but not sure what to add, I’m looking for active reef-safe fish, open to suggestions.
In terms of corals I plan to have specific gardens of corals which I’ll explain in further detail when the rocks are in the tank. It’s mainly going to be LPS dominated.
I know it's a lengthy read sorry about that just wanted to give as many details as possible. Im happy to answer any questions and to hear suggestions from everyone. Happy reefing!
A little backstory:
So I currently have a Biocube 32 gallon with an ai prime 16 that I bought used two years ago in December. It took me a while but I ended up setting it up in February. I went through a fishes cycle and went adding fish and corals slowly trying my best to avoid a nutrient spike. Everything was going pretty well until I used a magnetic glass cleaner unaware that Biocubes were made out of acrylic or that it even mattered to be honest. I soon realized my mistake when I put hundreds of small and large scratches in the tank. It made me want to explode but I thought, oh well so long as the corals are doing well and are colorful then it doesn’t matter I’ll put up with the scratches.
Pictures of the progression:
September 5, 2020
September 13, 2020
As gorgeous as my tank looked this was it’s peak. My tanks terrible demise was about to come in the form of a gorgeous fish.
This little guy was skittish at first but he would still come out and eat with the rest of the fish. I know I should’ve quarantined first but I’m hardheaded and don’t learn very well unless it’s from my own hands on experience. A month after introducing him he suddenly disappeared and I assumed he was just coming out late at night and hunting for pods since I did catch him doing that a couple of times. Unfortunately though, he had died and this was at a point where I was dosing all for reef, had cheato growing, and was only doing water changes once a month. Since everything was so stable I fell into the trap of not testing very often as I didn’t feel the need to. Very quickly I noticed I started losing corals from one day to the next and colors started vanishing so I immediately started doing water changes and attempting to save my tank from crashing.
It’s been a couple months since this event and I was able to save some corals and most have regained or are in the process of regaining their full color.
The present (as of November 9th 2021):
Now that my tanks almost fully recovered I’ve decided it’s time to ditch the bio cube and start fresh(sort of) with a Waterbox 35.2, I was tempted to go larger but I’ll be taking this tank with me to college and I felt the Waterbox 35.2 was the perfect size. I recently ordered the tank and it’s supposed to ship out anywhere from today to November 18th. (Waterbox said it would ship out in 5-7 business days but it’s been two weeks and that idea was thrown out the window, kind of annoying but oh well)
My plan:
I already have a rockscape I designed cycling in my garage but, I plan to use the same sand from my bio cube plus a little extra added in to help stabilize the tank. I’m also transferring all the livestock and equipment as well.
That being said this is my equipment list:
- Radion Gen 5 XR15 Blue(had to upgrade)
- Ai Nero 3
- Two little fishies reactor(Chaeto)
- Sicce Silent 1.5(Connects to reactor which then leads to return)
- Kamaor X1 PRO 2 Doser
- Tunze 3155 and 5 gallon reservoir
My intention is to build a control box with dj switches for everything that cannot be controlled via my phone to keep things organized and make it easier to do maintenance. I also plan on adding small stick-on shelves inside the stand to store foods and things like that.
Livestock:
In terms of fish I only have a yellow coris wrasse since I moved my clownfish pair to my new nem tank downstairs(might start a thread on that too) I plan on adding more fish but not sure what to add, I’m looking for active reef-safe fish, open to suggestions.
In terms of corals I plan to have specific gardens of corals which I’ll explain in further detail when the rocks are in the tank. It’s mainly going to be LPS dominated.
I know it's a lengthy read sorry about that just wanted to give as many details as possible. Im happy to answer any questions and to hear suggestions from everyone. Happy reefing!
