Waterbox Cube 25 Peninsula

Byrongw · Jan 22, 2023

Hello all,

I've just set up my Waterbox 25 a few days ago and have been rolling along with a fishless cycle using Dr. Tim's arsenal of bacteria and ammonia. I've kept aquariums before but this is my first nano reef tank. Because I'm in the last couple years of grad school and anticipate at least a couple of moves in the next few years, I'm going with a smaller and more manageable (price and space wise) AIO tank. I know it'll be tougher to care for than a larger tank would be, but you've got to do what you've got to do in situations like these. My goal is to have a nice mixed reef tank 4-5 hardy and fun fish.

Ongoing Updated Equipment List:

Tank Equipment
Tank: Waterbox Cube 25 Peninsula
Lid: Waterbox Cube 25 Peninsula Lid w/clear mesh
RODI: BRS 6 stage value plus configured as sediment - carbon 1 - carbon .5 - RO - DI - DI (local water supply uses chloramines)
Rock: CaribSea "Life" Rock aprox. 25 lbs
Sand: CaribSea AragAlive Special Grade 20 lbs
Salt: TropicMarin Pro Reef Salt
Powerhead: AI Nero 3
Light: AI Prime HD 16 Reef w/ prime mount (early pictures show the 12" flex mount. I changed to the prime mount later).

In AIO equipment
InTank Chamber 1 media basket (housing filter floss, Ceramic Bio-Spheres, and gfo)
Eshopp's Nano Skimmer
Heater: 100W Titanium BRS element w/ InkBird controller
Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0

Other
Aqua Ultraviolet 15 Watt Advantage UV Sterilizer

Dosing
Microbacter 7 (temporary - for ugly stage)
Tropic Marin All-For-Reef

Food
PE Frozen Mysis
Hatchery Diet Pellets
Reef Chili

Testing Equipment
RedSea Marine Care Test Kit (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph)
RedSea Calcium
Hanna Alkalinity
Hanna Phosphate
Aquaforrest Magnesium
BRS Refractometer

Ongoing Updated Stocking List:

Fish

2x "Vivid Fancy" Oscellaris Clownfish from Sustainable Aquatics
White Sleeper Goby

Coral

Gold/Green Branching Hammer (3 heads)
Purple & Green Tip Torch (1 head)
Green & Purple Tip Frogspawn

CUC

A handful of assorted hermit crabs
3x Nassarius snails
3x Astrea snails

Pics of getting the rock scape set up

Pics of everything up and running for the fishless and lightless cycle

As far as aesthetics go I'll be doing some cable sheath and management once I get a small ATO figured out.

For anyone wondering about the stability of the granite countertop: it is reinforced underneath and was tested prior to set-up with 500 lbs. and it didn't budge. That being said, I might place a support rod under there just for my peace of mind... How about that immaculate fitment? Didn't plan it like that, but what a great fit. I'm moving in 5 months and will place it in a spot where all 3 sides are visible, but for now I'll enjoy this location on my counter.

Thanks for reading my first build thread post. Because I'll be moving apartments in 5 months this first stage will most likely just be a slow and steady cycle and practice with maintaining parameters, though I anticipate that I'll be too impatient to keep from stocking quicker than I probably should... Once cycled I'll add two clownfish and a very small CUC, then I'll get the rest of the stocking ramping up!

Any thoughts, comments or things I should mind? Please let me know!

rhizotron · Jan 22, 2023

Cool!

Gumbies R Us · Jan 23, 2023

Byrongw said:
Hello all,

I've just set up my Waterbox 25 a few days ago and have been rolling along with a fishless cycle using Dr. Tim's arsenal of bacteria and ammonia. I'm new to the hobby but because I'm in the last couple years of grad school and anticipate at least a couple of moves in the next few years, I'm going with a smaller and more manageable (price and space wise) AIO tank. I know it'll be tougher to care for than a larger tank would be, but you've got to do what you've got to do in situations like these. My goal is to have a nice mixed reef tank with softies, zoas, and lps with a stock of CUC and 4-5 hardy and fun fish (more about my stocking goals below).

Anyway, here's my equipment list so far:

Tank Equipment
Tank: Waterbox Cube 25 Peninsula
RODI: BRS 6 stage value plus configured as sediment - carbon 1 - carbon .5 - RO - DI - DI (local water supply uses chloramines)
Rock: CaribSea "Life" Rock aprox. 25 lbs
Sand: CaribSea AragAlive Special Grade 20 lbs
Salt: TropicMarin Pro Reef Salt
Powerhead: AI Nero 3
Light: AI Prime HD 16 Reef

In AIO equipment
InTank Chamber 1 media basket (housing filter floss, Ceramic Bio-Sphere, and an empty space I might use for carbon down the road)
Media Sponge
Heater: 100W Titanium BRS element w/ InkBird controller
Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0

Future Equipment
Skimmer: EShoppe Nano Skimmer
ATO: Tunze Nano 3152
UV: AquaUltraviolet 15 watt HOB (to be used situationally)
Lid: (when I get my first fish)
Any other suggestions from the R2R community? Let me know!

Testing Equipment
RedSea Marine Care Test Kit (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph)
Hanna Alkalinity
BRS Refractometer
Any other suggestions for future purchases?

Pics of getting the rock scape set up

Pics of everything up and running for the fishless and lightless cycle

As far as aesthetics go I'll be doing some cable sheath and management once I get a small ATO figured out.

For anyone wondering about the stability of the granite countertop: it is reinforced underneath and was tested prior to set-up with 500 lbs. and it didn't budge. That being said, I might place a support rod under there just for my peace of mind... How about that immaculate fitment? Didn't plan it like that, but what a great fit. I'm moving in 5 months and will place it in a spot where all 3 sides are visible, but for now I'll enjoy this location on my counter.

Future Stocking Goals - Open for advice and suggestions

Fish (in order of how I'd purchase them)
Oscelleris Clownfish (two)
Lawnmower Blenny
Royal Gramma
Six Line Wrasse
(might replace one of these with some type of goby)

CUC
Just a typical mix of snails, hermits, emerald.
I have this idea of wanting a Harlequin Shrimp - is its fantastic looks worth the cost of maintenance?

Coral (in no particular order)
A few ZOA gardens
Hammer or frogspawn or Torch (as kind of a "centerpiece)
Toadstool
Xenia
GSP

Any thoughts, comments, or advice on my stock list is welcome

Thanks for reading my first build thread post. Because I'll be moving apartments in 5 months this first stage will most likely just be a slow and steady cycle and practice with maintaining parameters. Once cycled I'll add two clownfish and a very small CUC, then once I move in May I'll get the rest of the stocking ramping up.

Any thoughts, comments or things I should mind? Please let me know!

Excited to see the tank stocked!!!

Caliginosity · Jan 31, 2023

Please don't get Xenia, I swear you'll regret it.

Byrongw · Feb 12, 2023

Well, its been a few weeks now and the fishless cycle is finished. For the next little bit I'll just be feeding and keeping track of any ammonia/nitrite spikes. I'll also start dosing/testing for other trace elements. If all goes well for the next few days I'll stock two clowns to get things rolling and talk with my lsf about stocking options for the near future.

Byrongw · Feb 26, 2023

Clownfish

About 3 weeks ago I went to one of my LFS and purchased two "Vivid Fancy" Oscellaris Clownfish. They were in a tank of about 15-20 other identical vivid fancy Oscellaris clownfish.
Apparently this type of clown comes from Sustainable Aquatics in Tennessee. I really enjoy learning about sustainability and ethics in this hobby, and was happy to support my LFS and SA.

Sleeper Blue Dot Goby

Not too long after I got the clowns I decided to search for a sand sifting fish and landed on a stunning bright white Sleeper Blue Dot Goby. Because my tank is just a few months old I know it could get hungry easily, so I've ben ensuring I sink some Mysis shrimp into his "den" daily just in case.

Diet

I did some research and eventually decided that their diet will include Sustainable Aquatic's "Hatchery Diet" pellets (what they ate at SA) as well as .5oz (1/8th cube) of Canadian PE Mysis Shrimp (what they ate at LFS) once per day. They seem to love it, and there is usually a bit left over for the CUC. I started feeding 2x a day and it ended up being way too much, evident by skyrocketing phosphate levels. I've since cut back to once a day and its been working out great.

Clownfish Fights

Fast forward a month+ and my two clowns started fighting to the death. I separated them (mesh breeder box) for about 2 weeks and re-introduced. They kept fighting. LFS recommended I return and replace them. That's what I did and the other two clowns seem to be doing great so far.

Coral

I know it is typically far too early to start thinking about keeping coral, but while I was at my LFS (the same time I bought my clowns) I spoke with the owner about my tank and we seemed to have a pretty good rapport going. He went over my water parameters and plans for maintaining stability. He mentioned he had someone surrender a three headed hammer to him that wasn't doing well, and he hadn't been able to help it much either. He gave it to me to see how it does in my tank. It has actually been doing quite well. It has opened up a lot and has started to get a bit of its color back.

Then, of course, it looked lonely so over the course of 5-6 weeks I picked up a purple torch and a green frogspawn.

I feed 2x weekly: Reef Chili mixed with Brightwell Restor. They also often catch leftover Mysis shrimp scraps from feeding

Parameters

I've been able to keep the following parameters pretty stable with weekly testing and 20% water changes.

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
0.5 Nitrate
.06 Phosphate
8.4 PH
8.4 Alk
400 Calcium
1260 Magnesium
78.5F temp
1.025 SG

I dose Alk/ph buffer, magnesium, and calcium as needed using all Aqua-Vitro products as recommended by LFS. (The reef salt I use results in fewer elements because it is tailored to reefers who use reactors, dosers, etc. Because I'll be stocking the tank from empty to relatively heavily stocked, I wanted to be able to test and dose as the tanks needs grow, hence having the dosing on hand. I know its not really all that important right now, but down the road I'll be glad I'm doing this now. Seems to be working great. I think I'm going to transition to All-For-Reef moving forward.

Equipment

New equipment I've purchased since last post includes:

EShopps In Sump Nano Skimmer
GFO (using just a few Tbsp. in my sump to maintain Phos levels
Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO
Aqua Ultraviolet 15 Watt Advantage UV Sterilizer
MQ-510 Apogee PAR Meter
Waterbox 25 Peninsula Lid (I actually like this a lot more than I thought I would. It is very low profile).

Pictures

The peaceful tank as the lights dim at the end of the day from early on (some newer stock not pictured)

Clowns 1 and 2 in their peaceful and curious stage

Well, that's my update for now! Let me know if you have any thoughts on the things I've asked about, or if you have any questions for me.

Thanks all!

miran2782 · Feb 26, 2023

With only two tiny corals and no coralline algae, I would think you can skip any dosing until your tank is more mature and full. Btw I have waterbox 25g(nero 3, hydra26HD) too and love it.

CoastalTownLayabout · Feb 26, 2023

Agree with above re: age of tank and dosing. I’d also consider removing the GFO as well.

Byrongw · Feb 26, 2023

miran2782 said:
With only two tiny corals and no coralline algae, I would think you can skip any dosing until your tank is more mature and full. Btw I have waterbox 25g(nero 3, hydra26HD) too and love it.

Great advice! The dosing is really just minimal amounts used as "good practice" to maintain stable parameters that, in theory, would scale up as I stock more. Practically speaking I understand that its not really making much of a difference right now.

gfo is temporary and it, in tandem with my skimmer and reduced feeding, brought my phos from .3 to .06. I'll likely take it out after next water change and keep testing to make sure I don't deviate too far from .03. Just a "good practice" measure that will be more practical once the tank is more stocked.

xjhammer · Mar 21, 2023

You may want to put a support post under the countertop where the tank is. You cantilevering about 200lbs of weight with a full tank in a small area.

Otherwise, very cool.

Byrongw · Mar 22, 2023

xjhammer said:
You may want to put a support post under the countertop where the tank is. You cantilevering about 200lbs of weight with a full tank in a small area.

Otherwise, very cool.

Good advice, and a step I took once I filled the tank with water. Can't be too safe with that kind of thing, for sure!

immo · Apr 10, 2023

Byrongw said:
Well, its been a few weeks now and the fishless cycle is finished. For the next little bit I'll just be feeding and keeping track of any ammonia/nitrite spikes. I'll also start dosing/testing for other trace elements. If all goes well for the next few days I'll stock two clowns to get things rolling and talk with my lsf about stocking options for the near future.

What did you use to graph this?