midgaar
Active Member
So about 4 months ago I decided I want to try my hand at a salt water aquarium. Being new and inexperienced I decided on a budget build, Fluval Evo 13.5. Came with basically every thing I needed and the price was great. Well as you all know it didn’t come with everything and I soon doubled that price with test kits, salt, heater, etc. I didn’t like the colors the light made my corals look, so that was upgraded. The some media baskets, a new dc pump, a powerhead, some random flow nozzles, and an Apex...why not. I really enjoyed the tank and it did well, I’m sure it would have done just as well in it’s stock form but I can’t resist.
All was well for the first couple months, everything was going as I had expected and read about. Some diatoms, a hint of green algae, and discovering the different pods that come alive at night. Until one day my Zoas closed up, long story short this started my month long battle with Dino’s. If I’m being honest there was a few times during this battle where I walked away from the tank thinking **** it, I’m done. But an hour or so later I was back on the computer reading new strategies. Then finally one morning almost like magic, white sand again! Over the next few days all my corals opened back up and for the first time in a month I could see my Zoas. As a treat to myself for winning this battle I went off to the local fish store to bring home a new coral. Well, I brought home a new tank instead.
The store was trying to get rid of the discontinued Waterbox models to make room for the current models and this was one of the last ones, deeply discounted. I couldn’t pass it up, bundled with the light (AI Hydra 52 HD).This light is ridiculously over powered for this tank so I figure I would just sell it and use my AI Prime off my Evo, making this deal that much better. I also have a AI Nero powerhead that I purchased on a whim for some reason that I’ll stick in this tank too.
So my plan was to just transfer over all the rock, sand, and bio media so I wouldn’t have to cycle the new tank. Well I needed more sand so back to the fish store I went. Now I was talked into using black live sand... Once I got it in the tank I didn’t care for the look all that much not the size of the grain so I ended up mixing some of my old white sand into it. I had some Marco rock sitting around that I never used from the Evo so I used some of that too. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. I moved all of my live rock over to the Waterbox and maybe 30% of the sand. Moved all the bio media. Removed the filter socks and popped in some in-tank baskets to hold filter floss, chemi-pure, and 8 of the ceramic bio balls on each side.
The next chamber I’m not sure what I’m going to do with, mini fuge or a small UV filter probably. Then in the return section is my Jaebo DCS 1200 return pump, still iffy about Jaebo stuff but the DC return pump is pretty good. It seems to be over rated in terms of GPH rating but at full power I would say it’s in the 250 range. I also have my 100w heater, ATO, and Apex probes in this section.
Using a Seneye as a par meter this AI prime at roughly 33% power gives me 300 par in the top center and 80 par in the bottom corners. So plenty of light and adjustability.
So I just finished moving the last of the equipment over to the new tank and it’s been up and running for about 24 hours now. Checked my water this morning and had 0 ammonia and 1 ppm nitrates so it’s looking good so far. I’ll continue to test the water 2x a day for the next week to make sure. The Apex Trident puts my Alk, Cal, and Mag right where it should be but that’s to be expected with a fresh batch of salt water. Need to order some pods from Algaebarn soon but I may hold off until I decide if I’m going to try a refugium or not.
Am I over looking anything? Any suggestions on what to do with the second chamber? Best advise for cable management?
Specs and Stock:
Waterbox AIO 24x24x12
AI Prime 16 HD
AI Nero 5
Fluval 100w Heater
Apex Fusion
Apex Trident
Jaebo DCS 1200 Pump
2x Clown Fish
Goby
Emerald Crab
2x Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
Snails (lots)
2x Larger Snails (named Houdini and Dash) they leave the tank on a regular basis and I find them on the floor.
About 10 corals, mostly LPS. I do have one SPS and one softy (I think).
All was well for the first couple months, everything was going as I had expected and read about. Some diatoms, a hint of green algae, and discovering the different pods that come alive at night. Until one day my Zoas closed up, long story short this started my month long battle with Dino’s. If I’m being honest there was a few times during this battle where I walked away from the tank thinking **** it, I’m done. But an hour or so later I was back on the computer reading new strategies. Then finally one morning almost like magic, white sand again! Over the next few days all my corals opened back up and for the first time in a month I could see my Zoas. As a treat to myself for winning this battle I went off to the local fish store to bring home a new coral. Well, I brought home a new tank instead.
The store was trying to get rid of the discontinued Waterbox models to make room for the current models and this was one of the last ones, deeply discounted. I couldn’t pass it up, bundled with the light (AI Hydra 52 HD).This light is ridiculously over powered for this tank so I figure I would just sell it and use my AI Prime off my Evo, making this deal that much better. I also have a AI Nero powerhead that I purchased on a whim for some reason that I’ll stick in this tank too.
So my plan was to just transfer over all the rock, sand, and bio media so I wouldn’t have to cycle the new tank. Well I needed more sand so back to the fish store I went. Now I was talked into using black live sand... Once I got it in the tank I didn’t care for the look all that much not the size of the grain so I ended up mixing some of my old white sand into it. I had some Marco rock sitting around that I never used from the Evo so I used some of that too. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. I moved all of my live rock over to the Waterbox and maybe 30% of the sand. Moved all the bio media. Removed the filter socks and popped in some in-tank baskets to hold filter floss, chemi-pure, and 8 of the ceramic bio balls on each side.
The next chamber I’m not sure what I’m going to do with, mini fuge or a small UV filter probably. Then in the return section is my Jaebo DCS 1200 return pump, still iffy about Jaebo stuff but the DC return pump is pretty good. It seems to be over rated in terms of GPH rating but at full power I would say it’s in the 250 range. I also have my 100w heater, ATO, and Apex probes in this section.
Using a Seneye as a par meter this AI prime at roughly 33% power gives me 300 par in the top center and 80 par in the bottom corners. So plenty of light and adjustability.
So I just finished moving the last of the equipment over to the new tank and it’s been up and running for about 24 hours now. Checked my water this morning and had 0 ammonia and 1 ppm nitrates so it’s looking good so far. I’ll continue to test the water 2x a day for the next week to make sure. The Apex Trident puts my Alk, Cal, and Mag right where it should be but that’s to be expected with a fresh batch of salt water. Need to order some pods from Algaebarn soon but I may hold off until I decide if I’m going to try a refugium or not.
Am I over looking anything? Any suggestions on what to do with the second chamber? Best advise for cable management?
Specs and Stock:
Waterbox AIO 24x24x12
AI Prime 16 HD
AI Nero 5
Fluval 100w Heater
Apex Fusion
Apex Trident
Jaebo DCS 1200 Pump
2x Clown Fish
Goby
Emerald Crab
2x Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
Snails (lots)
2x Larger Snails (named Houdini and Dash) they leave the tank on a regular basis and I find them on the floor.
About 10 corals, mostly LPS. I do have one SPS and one softy (I think).
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O4 X but after I installed it I'm now thinking I might use it for auto water changes and just pick up a single dosing head for the NO3
