Waterbox Reef 100.3 - The Full Monti

[tREEFarm]

Hi Everyone,

This is way overdue. About 6 months overdue to be exact.

Initially this tank was going to be a softy dominant tank with some LPS. Maybe an SPS or two. Welp, that didn't last long..

I would describe my infatuation with Montipora as professionally romantic. The different growth forms and color combinations have me a tad obsessed.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.. Let's rewind ~6 months and start at the beginning.


Equipment:

Tank - Waterbox Reef 100.3
Powerheads - Ecotech MP10QD (x2)
Return Pump - Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0
Lights - Ecotech XR15 G4 Pro (x2) with diffusers on Ecotech Tank Mounts
Heater - Inkbird Controller running Neotherm and Titanium
ATO - Tunze Osmolator 3155
UV Sterilizer - Green Killing Machine (24W)
Skimmer - Bubble Magus Curve 5 Pro
Lid - ClearView Classic
Battery Backup - Ecotech Backup Battery
RODI - BRS 6 Stage Deluxe Plus 100GPD System
Salt - HW Wiegandt Reefer
Rock - Dry Marco Rock
Sand - CaribSea Aragonite Fiji Pink Dry Sand
Python Water Changer to remove water from DT with Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump set up to pump fresh salt water back to DT. (best thing ever - back saver)


I finished the leak test, drained the tank and filled with RODI and salt mix (no inhabitants at this time). Plugged in the return pump literally at 12:01am, September 9th, 2021.

Isn't she beautiful (it's funny writing this months in the future and looking back).

The next 2 months I ran the tank with the lights out and performed only top offs, no water changes. About 1.5 months in, I seeded the tank by placing a small piece of live rock from my LFS in the sump. I wanted to begin establishing pods, algae, bacteria, etc as the tank finished its 'lights out' cycle. After two weeks I removed the piece of live rock from the sump and tossed it in the backyard. It was a different type of rock than I had in my DT and it had served it's purpose well. I don't keep rock in my sump for a variety of reasons.

While I was letting the tank cycle, I focused on setting up my water mixing station and figured out my wire management. This stuff is pretty boring to most people, so I'll spare you the details, but I am very happy with how everything turned out. And yes, I do have all my plugs labelled.

Mixing Station:

Equipment Cabinet:

Inside:

I run all my Ecotech gear through my Reeflink utilizing the old school EcoSmartLive. Mobius is an abomination.

Two months in, December 2021, I turned on the lights and began introducing the first inhabitants. I purchased a Purple Firefish and Pigmy Yellow Banded Wrasse from TSM Aquatics. The Wrasse didn't make it past day two, but the Firefish is still alive and healthy. I then added four Blue Green Chromis, a Biota Yellow Tang, and a Long fin Flasher Wrasse. I also began to add some zoas, a duncan and some other misc corals. I also added a few bags of pods as well as some CUC from Reefcleaners.


Here she is ~ 2 months in:

In my next post I will cover some small things I've added along the way as well as an updated coral stocking list with some pics.

 

[blaxsun]

Oooh... another Marco shelf rock tank.

 

[tREEFarm]

Tomorrow the tank turns 9 months old and I have posted to this thread once. Sighh

Let's skip ahead and get caught up so I can try and be more consistent about posting. Okay, so 9 month update..

I have removed the UV sterilizer from my system. So far no noticeable difference. I'm sure it helped me avoid some of the ugly phase in the beginning but the bulbs are only lasting about 3 months so I'm simplifying and hopefully reducing some of the ongoing costs with the tank.

I moved the Vortechs from the back wall to the sides for better flow. Visually it's not what I had planned but, oh well.

During the winter months my PH started to drop and my Alk was consistently around 6.7-6.9ish. I began dosing Kalk in mid-Feb and the results have been fantastic! I am still searching for the right tubing to use as I'm having a difficult time finding tubing that fits snuggly over the dosing pump tube adapter piece. Right now I'm using RO tubing until my silicone tubing arrives from BRS.

My CUC was a bit on the small side, intentionally, but it was time to add some members to the gang. I had about 10 trochus snails and a tiger conch in the tank already. I added another conch, about 10 bumblebee snails, another 10 trochus and 10 cerith snails. I have been fortunate, so far, avoiding most pests and algae, but I do have red carpeting algae that I am aware will never go away. I don't really mind it for the most part and the CUC keeps it from getting out of control, but I know one day I will have to break down the tank if I want to get rid of it for good. This was already the plan as I had a snail bring in vermetids, the small species, and they are not an issue, yet. But I know I will be doing a complete tear down at some point in the future based on shared experiences here.

Current coral stocking list (5/8/22):

- Muy Verde Birdsnest
- Pulsing Xenia
- Ruby Xenia
- Blue Cespitularia
- Money Shot Monti
- Green Hirsuta Monti
- Orange Setosa Monti
- Cherry Tree Monti
- Pink Rose Goni
- Forest Fire Monti
- JF Fire Starter Monti
- Bubblegum Monti
- Peach Monti
- Green Plating Monti
- Superman Monti
- Purple Stylo
- Electric GSP
- Purple and Green Hammer
- Golden Hammer
- Captain America Favia
- Cranberry Favia
- WWC Dreamcatcher Duncan
- Duncan
- Jack O Lantern Leptoseris
- Tangerine Juice Leptoseris
- Hyper Bam Bam Palythoa
- Scrambled Eggs Zoas
- Button Polyps
- Blue Death Palythoa
- Twizzler Zoas
- Rainbow Hornet Zoas
- Sunny D Palythoa
- Valentine's Day Massacre Zoas
- Mind Blowing Palythoa
- Bird of Paradise Birdsnest
- Tubbs Stellata Monti
- Bejewled Favites
- Blue Polyp Birdsnest
- Pink Birdsnest
- Toxic Spotted Discosoma
- Phonape Birdsnest
- Ricordea Yuma
- Branching Cyphastrea

Everything has been growing in and encrusting quite well. As noted in my previous post, I have been turning up the lights about 1-2% every weekend since the initial tank flood, finally stopping a few weeks ago at 43%. This past weekend I actually turned the lights back down to 40% as I was noticing a loss in coloration. Since making this adjustment the colors on a few corals returned/deepened, so I think the lights are set for now.

Here is a FTS from a few weeks ago:

Now that this thread is up to date, I will post more photo heavy in the future.

 

[tREEFarm]

Also, if anyone has a recommendation on where to find unique branching montipora for sale online, please let me know. Thank you!

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Gonna be following this. Really hoping you will be posting some more soon! I too am a monti lover, if I stumble upon some interesting branching montis I'll try to shoot you a message!

 

[tREEFarm]

Well, it's been a busy few weeks.

My tank was getting crowded and I have a deep appreciation for all coral, it was becoming a very mixed reef. Over the decades I've taken advantage of Petco's $1/gallon sale and it just so happened the sale was going on while I was thinking of expanding. I grabbed two 40b and the fun began!

I decided to build an SPS 'frag tank' system using one of the 40b and an old sump I had sitting around in order to separate some of the corals out of the reef and into their own SPS specific home. Using the battle tested 'King of DIY' stand (I know many people use this style, but for popular reference) I made a semi-nice stand for the frag tank. I'm a pretty tall person, so I built the stand 36" tall so I don't have to hunch down when working on the tank. It's amazing.

I drilled the tank and siliconed in some 1/8" black ABS plastic to the bottom.

Side note; I have a three-month old at home, so I did all this in the middle of some pretty tired moments. The careful observer will notice I have about a 2" strip of the ABS run separately from the rest on the tank bottom. This was not intentional, I measured the tank bottom at 17" then had to run and help the wife really quick. Came back to the project and for some reason the stand dimensions were what my brain dialed up as I measured and cut the ABS to 15". Sigh.

I then primed the stand with two coats of Kilz Original followed up with two/three coats of Behr's interior flat white.

I also cut and primed/painted two 1/4" pieces of birch plywood to use for the stand as well.

I put the whole thing together and let it dry and off gas for a full 24 hours.

Water test is next! More updates to come..

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Looking good! And hopefully you are able to post an updated shot! Ive got a 4 month old currently. Been working on plumbing a tank with her. She is a big fan of the gate valve!