A Clown's Reef, Waterbox AIO 35.2g

[Clo]

Spoiler: Most Up to Date Tank Equipment List

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Hello, I'm Clo.

I've kept and managed freshwater tanks before but have never managed a saltwater tank before.

However, it's always been my dream to have my own reef tank. It just wasn't feasible before because of my living situation. Since this year I started a new job (!!), moved into a new apartment, and have gotten some bonuses at work, I figured what better time than now? To add, my husband also gave me his blessings to start my largest tank yet, so I'm very excited!

After a lot of research and deliberation, I've finally decided on the WB AIO 35.2g as my tank. I picked the AIO because I wanted to be able to focus on the important things, and I wanted that to be the display area. I felt that the AIO would help me stay to the basics rather than immediately jumping in and blowing a ton of money on fancy gadgets that may contribute to common problems beginners have. (This did not stop me from buying fancy things at all.)

After a lot of deliberation, I've settled on this list:

Legend: Ordered | Delivered | Item

• | ☑ | ☑ | Waterbox AIO 35.2g
• | ☑ | ☑ | Waterbox AIO 35.2g black stand
• | ☑ | ☑ | AI Prime 16 Reef + stand arm (may get a second down the line or upgrade to a hydra 32)
• | ☑ | ☑ | Nero 3
• | ☑ | ☑ | Nyos Viper 2
• | ☑ | ☑ | Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO
• | ☑ | ☑ | CaribSea Fiji Pink or Special Grade Reef 20-40 lbs
• | ☑ | ☑ | Real Reef live rock 40lbs
• | ☑ | ☑ | Inkbird Temp controller 306A
• | ☑ | ☑ | Cobalt Aquatics Neotherm 150w Heater x2
• | ☑ | ☑ | Filter Floss
• | ☑ | ☑ | Kraken Reef Lid w/ Feed attachment
• | ☑ | ☑ | Kraken Reef Frozen Feed cup attachment
• | ☑ | ☑ | Kraken Reef 2.75" filterfloss cups
• | ☑ | ☑ | Kraken Reef Nero 3 Nem guard attachment
• | ☑ | ☑ | Tropic Marin Pro-Reef
• | ☑ | ☑ | Innovative Marine Hydrofill ATO Reservoir 5gal
• | ☑ | ☑ | Spectrapure Aquarium RODI Starter Kit
• | ☑ | ☑ | Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer
• | ☑ | ☑ | Hanna Digital Refractometer
• | ☑ | ☑ | Instant Ocean Biospira 100mL
• | ☑ | ☑ | Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit
• | ☑ | ☑ | Tunze 9004 Skimmer DC

* I was originally on the fence about setting up a RODI unit and mixing my own water, but cost analysis shows 1 year of buying RODI from my local store is the same as owning my own unit. Secondly, my apartment unit does not charge me for water, only electricity. And, there's something unappealing about carrying 5-10 gallons of water up stairs every 1-2 weeks.

Holy Grail Equipment:

• | ☐ | ☐ | GHL ProfiLux 4
• | ☐ | ☐ | Alk Director
• | ☐ | ☐ | Ion Director

Holy grail because it's not necessary, but I would like it


Livestock:

• Mocha Storm Clowns x2
• Blood Red Fire Shrimp
• Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
• Tiger Conch
• Porcelain Anemone Crab
• Astraea Snails
• Dwarf Cerith Snails
• Florida Cerith Snails
• Nassarius Snails

Corals:

• Hammer (possibly a swirly?)
• Random 3 head Zoanthid

Spoiler: ROUND 1

Update 5/19: Day 1 with water

8/2: Before Ida ruined my life :''')

Spoiler: ROUND 2

11/23: Day 1 Rescape, Restart

 

[Jimdba54]

Hi, I'm following along. I'm ready to buy a 35.2 for my clowns that are currently in a standard Petco 20 gallon.

 

[Clo]

Hi, I'm following along. I'm ready to buy a 35.2 for my clowns that are currently in a standard Petco 20 gallon.

I look forward to seeing your tank as well! My only problem with WB is their long wait time, but I suppose that's bound to happen for a popular brand with a lot of orders on what looks like a fairly new product.

 

[Clo]

Went to the LFS today to see what they had in person, so I could pick some stuff up with them in the future. I'm thinking salt, MarinePure media, and substrate will be bought in person with them. I also saw a cute mocha pair of clowns. Maybe they'll still be available in a few months when my tank is fully set up?

I also placed the order for a 40# box of Real Reef live rock today with SaltwaterAquarium.com. I saw that my LFS had a box of 40# caribsea live rock, but the box was completely smashed so I was hesitant to get it. And, they weren't willing to place an order for a new box or open it.

The goal is I get the live rock pieces first so that I can play around with the hardscape before the tank arrives. That way my indecisive self has plenty of time to mess around with arrangements before gluing. I'm thinking I'll need to order some egg crate as well to set between the rock and glass. My LFS sells them at $10/12x12inch piece but I think I can get a better deal somewhere else.

I'm also trying to decide if I should buy 20# or 40# of Caribsea substrate. I'm thinking I'll need at least 40#s for a 2inch depth? And whether I will need to buy a turbo start bacterial solution if I buy the Aragalive sand. I read that if I'm getting Aragalive, I should not get additional bacteria but people seem to do it anyways?

Next items in line to order is the RODI unit and a lidded bucket. After a lot of discussion and advice from other members, I think RODI may be worth it.

 

[Alexreefer]

Went to the LFS today to see what they had in person, so I could pick some stuff up with them in the future. I'm thinking salt, MarinePure media, and substrate will be bought in person with them. I also saw a cute mocha pair of clowns. Maybe they'll still be available in a few months when my tank is fully set up?

I also placed the order for a 40# box of Real Reef live rock today with SaltwaterAquarium.com. I saw that my LFS had a box of 40# caribsea live rock, but the box was completely smashed so I was hesitant to get it. And, they weren't willing to place an order for a new box or open it.

The goal is I get the live rock pieces first so that I can play around with the hardscape before the tank arrives. That way my indecisive self has plenty of time to mess around with arrangements before gluing. I'm thinking I'll need to order some egg crate as well to set between the rock and glass. My LFS sells them at $10/12x12inch piece but I think I can get a better deal somewhere else.

I'm also trying to decide if I should buy 20# or 40# of Caribsea substrate. I'm thinking I'll need at least 40#s for a 2inch depth? And whether I will need to buy a turbo start bacterial solution if I buy the Aragalive sand. I read that if I'm getting Aragalive, I should not get additional bacteria but people seem to do it anyways?

Next items in line to order is the RODI unit and a lidded bucket. After a lot of discussion and advice from other members, I think RODI may be worth it.

Turbo start isn't necessarily needed but it definitely helps get your cycle started much faster. @brandon429 has a great understanding of cycling and he could be of help to you. I also helped you in deciding whether you wanted an ro/di or not and it will pay for itself in a couple of months so hopefully, you enjoy it. Following along!

 

[Clo]

Turbo start isn't necessarily needed but it definitely helps get your cycle started much faster. @brandon429 has a great understanding of cycling and he could be of help to you. I also helped you in deciding whether you wanted an ro/di or not and it will pay for itself in a couple of months so hopefully, you enjoy it. Following along!

Yes! I greatly appreciated everyone's help with coming to a decision regarding whether to get a RODI unit or not. It's such a minor thing for some people, but I tend to be more anxious than most. Tt seemed like such a big deal for me to get one and hook it up.

Husband took a look at it as well, and he thinks the faucet attachment is the most fool proof one for both of us.

Hopefully I'll be able to provide some significant updates in the coming weeks for a hardscape and such.

 

[Alexreefer]

Yes! I greatly appreciated everyone's help with coming to a decision regarding whether to get a RODI unit or not. It's such a minor thing for some people, but I tend to be more anxious than most. Tt seemed like such a big deal for me to get one and hook it up.

Husband took a look at it as well, and he thinks the faucet attachment is the most fool proof one for both of us.

Hopefully I'll be able to provide some significant updates in the coming weeks for a hardscape and such.

Awesome! hope to see some water in the next coming weeks

 

[Reef-Sauce]

Bro I'm on the same boat as you order mine
on jan27 and the wait is killing me

 

[LovestheReefer]

Hey bud, my set seems similar to what you ordered. I recently set this waterbox mini penn 25 up after 15 years outta the salt life. Would love for y’all to let me know what u think. Thank you and I hope u get the order soon.

 

[LovestheReefer]

Also make sure you have a lot of filter socks. I live like 4 hours from where waterbox mails them out and it takes 5-7 business days. In Florida. I called they said that’s normal. The only place I know that sells them is world wide corals in Orlando where I got my tank. I wish they would put them on Amazon or something.

 

[LovestheReefer]

New Reefer WaterBox Mini Penn 25 loves to see what y’all think

Hello, I just signed up for this forum and I have been out of the saltwater aquarium game for 15years. I recently purchased a WaterBox Mini Peninsula 25 gallon for my birthday in January from worldwide coral and staff member Dre was very helpful. The tank has been set up for a month. I just...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Clo]

Also make sure you have a lot of filter socks. I live like 4 hours from where waterbox mails them out and it takes 5-7 business days. In Florida. I called they said that’s normal. The only place I know that sells them is world wide corals in Orlando where I got my tank. I wish they would put them on Amazon or something.

I ordered the KrakenReef filter floss cups so that I wouldn't have to deal with the socks. I heard the socks weren't very good. ' v'... The cups should arrive Friday!
Some people seem to prefer the inTank media baskets though.

 

[LovestheReefer]

I ordered the KrakenReef filter floss cups so that I wouldn't have to deal with the socks. I heard the socks weren't very good. ' v'... The cups should arrive Friday!
Some people seem to prefer the inTank media baskets though.

Since being one this site more in my own thread, I have seen this and def gonna order the filter sock. I feel dumb for not getting It before when I had originally placed my order but I didn’t understand.

 

[Clo]

Since being one this site more in my own thread, I have seen this and def gonna order the filter sock. I feel dumb for not getting It before when I had originally placed my order but I didn’t understand.

Yea, that’s one of my hang ups about this hobby. You think you’re doing great and then you read up on all these out the box upgrade pieces that work so much better than the original parts. And it’s like, why didn’t I find this earlier

 

[Clo]

43lbs of Real Reef live rock delivered today! SaltwaterAquariums did a great job with the packaging.

Sunday, I’ll be able to sit down and do some different hardscapes to see what I like.

I also need to decide which glue or epoxy to purchase.

 

[commanderwho]

I have a waterbox 20 cube. I got the same stuff butt you except your tank is bigger lol
Kraken stuff is awesome! I hope you also set up a qt tank so you don’t make the same mistake I did. I brought home healthy fish from lfs but I guess parasites got in my display tank and now I’m waiting 60 more days before I can add fish again! Display tank got ich!
another great fish I think you’ll like to get in the future would be a royal gramma

 

[Clo]

I have a waterbox 20 cube. I got the same stuff butt you except your tank is bigger lol
Kraken stuff is awesome! I hope you also set up a qt tank so you don’t make the same mistake I did. I brought home healthy fish from lfs but I guess parasites got in my display tank and now I’m waiting 60 more days before I can add fish again! Display tank got ich!
another great fish I think you’ll like to get in the future would be a royal gramma

Yea I wanted a slightly larger than a 20 gallon cube since my last largest was a 17g.
I don't have a QT tank yet, but I can easily bring over the 17g that was used as my previous fresh water tank and use that as a QT. Thank you for reminding me about a QT tank!

Looking forward to seeing your tank as well! And I'll have to explore stocking options once I get more familiar with where fish like to swim and all that jazz. The royal gramma is definitely striking though.

 

[Clo]

Was able to order a bucket of Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt today! Was very surprised to get that availability notice from saltwater aquariums today, and was even more surprised to find out it was still in stock when the email came 3 hours ago while I was sleeping lol.

 

[marxman]

Build list looks good so far!!
You are still waiting on your tank right?
I wanted to build a 35.2, but the wait was so long. My LFS has a 30.2 setup but never used that he let me have for a small discount. I couldn't resist!

Can't wait to see how your build progresses.

 

[Clo]

Build list looks good so far!!
You are still waiting on your tank right?
I wanted to build a 35.2, but the wait was so long. My LFS has a 30.2 setup but never used that he let me have for a small discount. I couldn't resist!

Can't wait to see how your build progresses.

Yes! I think it'll be another 3-5 weeks before I get any updates. I don't mind waiting. Gives me time to decide I want to change some of the equipment with different things.
I checked out my LFS too but they only had a JBJ tank + stand on discount where the stand was damaged. I figured I'm ok awaiting ahaha