Tanofthereef
Community Member
So technically this isn't a new build but I finally got around to collecting my progress from my build that started almost a year ago. Thanks for looking!
In 2019, we lost a simple but elegant little betta fish I had in a 10G aqueon tank after a friend who was house sitting "fed" about 100 pellets to the fish while we were gone. Afterwards decided to delve into saltwater, this is my nano, Jan 19, 2019 - Dec 19, 2019.
Enter in the upgrade...
Equipment
Tank - Waterbox Frag 60.3 w/ 80.4 sump (??)
Light - AI hydra 32HD
Refugium Light - Reefbreeders fuge light
Return pump - Ecotech Vectra S2
Powerhead - 2x Maxspect Gyre XF330
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Classic 150INT
ATO - XP Aqua Deutto
Dosing pump - Jebao 3.4 wifi
Heater - Eheim 100W & 150W
Monitor - Seneye
Rock - Reef Saver Dry Rock from BRS
Sand - Fiji pink Arag-Alive
Livestock
Frostbite Clownfish
Black&White Ocellaris Clownfish
3 Pajama Cardinal
Red Striped Wrasse
Pink Streaked Wrasse
Lawnmower Blenny
Cleaner Shrimp
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Various snails
2 Rock Anenome's
Baby RBTA
Coral
Multiple Blastos
Toxic Goniastrea
Neon Hammer
Forest Fire Mushroom
Blood Red Discosoma
Neon Ricordea
JF Sector 001 Favia
Duncan
Green Alveopora
Rainbow Monti
Blue/gold? Torch
Miyagi Tort
Unknown purple Acro
Pink Millipora
Red plating Monti
Some random unknown named zoas
--------------------------
-So far I love this tank, I am a little regretful time wasn't on my side that I bought the old version of the frag right before the new 85.3 arrived, the extra few inches of height is something I dream about often, maybe someday I will trade out for the newer model.
-I got the maxspect gyres because I liked the idea of it but in hindsight the tank was too shallow for the gyre to work without turbulent flow blasting any coral that was taller than an inch. Because of this I ended up mounting them sidways in each corner with one side removed from each, and even with that setup they are on random 10-20% pattern, any more and my torch/hammer look like theyre going to blow away as well as everything else looking generally unhappy.
-The AI Hydra 32HD has been working well for me, I learned from the BRS investigates of the 14" mounting height sweet spot. Using my seneye to set the intensity for mixed reef I got my numbers mostly where I would like them, the center of the tank is still a hot spot to get the sides at a comfortably high par for LPS. I might buy a second one if I convert to more SPS later on.
--------------------------
Dec 19 2019
Setup the tank the day it arrived, put my scape in that had been sitting on our dining room table for a few weeks, got it wet and threw in a dead shrimpy sacrifice. Sump seemed really big with only a few inches on one side open, I measured - which turns out when waterbox sent me my tank they included the 4' tank sump instead of the 3' I should have got. To this day still undecided on if I like it or not, on one had extra volume is nice, on the other, no room for dosing or odds and ends. The electronics are pretty sketchy too, might create a panel or cabinet for them in the future to pull them out from the sump area.
Jan 14 2020
Few days of no ammonia / nitrite / low nitrates after cycle. Seemed quick? But the tests checked out so I moved everyone over from the 10G which included the two clowns YWG/pistol shrimp, some emerald crabs and snails, few corals.
Feb - Apr
Tank starting to go through the uglies, big diatom bloom little cyano mostly in the fuge. Most coral doing okay, had some leptos from the 10G that burned to death from the new much more powerful light (oops). Removed some rock from the front for more visibility got a few corals here and there but mostly letting the tank do its thing.
May 2020
Forgot to document the move, but due to the COVID situation our landlord wanted to liquidate his property and gave us 30 day notice to leave, which by the time we found somewhere to go we only had 3 days to pack and move everything including the tank. Luckily a friend with a truck, a nice 75 degree day and 10 buckets, we managed the move the tank and setup again with no losses.
June 2020
Unknown outbreak algae consumed the rocks and glass as well as the fuge. Made a post on here about it and after feedback + extensive research I ended up identifying them most likely as chrysophytes.
Sept 2020
After time and manually removing as much as I could with filter floss, scrubbing, water changing, and blasting I seem to have gotten control of the algae. Which created an outbreak of cyano on the sandbed which is not too overbearing yet but one thing at a time. Also removed the largest rock in the center which was blocking a lot of the flow and making maintenance a pain, overall just didn't like it there and wanted a change.
Oct 2020 (Current)
Coming up on a year of this tank being up and I have learned a lot and so much more to learn going forward. I was impatient more times than one and paid for it, fish loss, algae outbreaks, coral dying. Hoping to learn from the past and prevent any mitigate any further losses but I know it's all part of the process.
--------------------------
For the most part this is close to where I have my lights at currently, I recently removed the R/G and lowered W channels to combat the cyano. And some of the rockwork is different now.
In 2019, we lost a simple but elegant little betta fish I had in a 10G aqueon tank after a friend who was house sitting "fed" about 100 pellets to the fish while we were gone. Afterwards decided to delve into saltwater, this is my nano, Jan 19, 2019 - Dec 19, 2019.
Enter in the upgrade...
Equipment
Tank - Waterbox Frag 60.3 w/ 80.4 sump (??)
Light - AI hydra 32HD
Refugium Light - Reefbreeders fuge light
Return pump - Ecotech Vectra S2
Powerhead - 2x Maxspect Gyre XF330
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Classic 150INT
ATO - XP Aqua Deutto
Dosing pump - Jebao 3.4 wifi
Heater - Eheim 100W & 150W
Monitor - Seneye
Rock - Reef Saver Dry Rock from BRS
Sand - Fiji pink Arag-Alive
Livestock
Frostbite Clownfish
Black&White Ocellaris Clownfish
3 Pajama Cardinal
Red Striped Wrasse
Pink Streaked Wrasse
Lawnmower Blenny
Cleaner Shrimp
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Various snails
2 Rock Anenome's
Baby RBTA
Coral
Multiple Blastos
Toxic Goniastrea
Neon Hammer
Forest Fire Mushroom
Blood Red Discosoma
Neon Ricordea
JF Sector 001 Favia
Duncan
Green Alveopora
Rainbow Monti
Blue/gold? Torch
Miyagi Tort
Unknown purple Acro
Pink Millipora
Red plating Monti
Some random unknown named zoas
--------------------------
-So far I love this tank, I am a little regretful time wasn't on my side that I bought the old version of the frag right before the new 85.3 arrived, the extra few inches of height is something I dream about often, maybe someday I will trade out for the newer model.
-I got the maxspect gyres because I liked the idea of it but in hindsight the tank was too shallow for the gyre to work without turbulent flow blasting any coral that was taller than an inch. Because of this I ended up mounting them sidways in each corner with one side removed from each, and even with that setup they are on random 10-20% pattern, any more and my torch/hammer look like theyre going to blow away as well as everything else looking generally unhappy.
-The AI Hydra 32HD has been working well for me, I learned from the BRS investigates of the 14" mounting height sweet spot. Using my seneye to set the intensity for mixed reef I got my numbers mostly where I would like them, the center of the tank is still a hot spot to get the sides at a comfortably high par for LPS. I might buy a second one if I convert to more SPS later on.
--------------------------
Dec 19 2019
Setup the tank the day it arrived, put my scape in that had been sitting on our dining room table for a few weeks, got it wet and threw in a dead shrimpy sacrifice. Sump seemed really big with only a few inches on one side open, I measured - which turns out when waterbox sent me my tank they included the 4' tank sump instead of the 3' I should have got. To this day still undecided on if I like it or not, on one had extra volume is nice, on the other, no room for dosing or odds and ends. The electronics are pretty sketchy too, might create a panel or cabinet for them in the future to pull them out from the sump area.
Jan 14 2020
Few days of no ammonia / nitrite / low nitrates after cycle. Seemed quick? But the tests checked out so I moved everyone over from the 10G which included the two clowns YWG/pistol shrimp, some emerald crabs and snails, few corals.
Feb - Apr
Tank starting to go through the uglies, big diatom bloom little cyano mostly in the fuge. Most coral doing okay, had some leptos from the 10G that burned to death from the new much more powerful light (oops). Removed some rock from the front for more visibility got a few corals here and there but mostly letting the tank do its thing.
May 2020
Forgot to document the move, but due to the COVID situation our landlord wanted to liquidate his property and gave us 30 day notice to leave, which by the time we found somewhere to go we only had 3 days to pack and move everything including the tank. Luckily a friend with a truck, a nice 75 degree day and 10 buckets, we managed the move the tank and setup again with no losses.
June 2020
Unknown outbreak algae consumed the rocks and glass as well as the fuge. Made a post on here about it and after feedback + extensive research I ended up identifying them most likely as chrysophytes.
Sept 2020
After time and manually removing as much as I could with filter floss, scrubbing, water changing, and blasting I seem to have gotten control of the algae. Which created an outbreak of cyano on the sandbed which is not too overbearing yet but one thing at a time. Also removed the largest rock in the center which was blocking a lot of the flow and making maintenance a pain, overall just didn't like it there and wanted a change.
Oct 2020 (Current)
Coming up on a year of this tank being up and I have learned a lot and so much more to learn going forward. I was impatient more times than one and paid for it, fish loss, algae outbreaks, coral dying. Hoping to learn from the past and prevent any mitigate any further losses but I know it's all part of the process.
--------------------------
For the most part this is close to where I have my lights at currently, I recently removed the R/G and lowered W channels to combat the cyano. And some of the rockwork is different now.
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