A tiny box of ocean - Waterbox marine x 60.2 build

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

The tank is not arrived yet, but I got everything else, and I couldn't resist to start this thread!

Start with the hardscape.
I used CaribSea Liferock Marine X 60.2 bundle from Waterbox website. It has one 20lbs original box and one 20lbs shape box. (it is honestly too much, I would say one 10lbs original and one 20lbs shape are pretty enough.)
I choose Liferock because I am too lazy to start the scaping from scratch with Marco Rocks, though I am seeing people can come out really cool scape.

Here is unboxing, the package is not too bad for me. There are breakage, but acceptable. I've heard horrible stories from this forum about how bad their Liferock arrived.



Each shape box has 2 arches, 1 cave and 1 donut; these are pretty handy to have an interesting hardscape.



The original box has 5 big bulk rocks. They are as purple as Thanos without nose and eyes.



With my (limited) aesthetic, It took me 2 weeks to build the scape I like and glued everything together. (and still no news from Waterbox about the tank shipping.)







I glued everything with a reef safe thick gel super glue. Thanks Waterbox, I don't have to use the accelerator because I have plenty of time. I also broke 2 original bulk rocks to small pieces, so I can build a specific shape I like. It is a pretty satisfying process.

Some considerations while I scaping:
1. The scape should not contact the wall of the tank. It should remain good distance and space for the flow and maintenance.
2. I plan to have a pair of clownfish (who doesn't), a dottyback, a blenny, and a mandarin, so I have more hiding area around the rocks.
3. It will be a mixed tank: some moderate light SPS, some LPS, and mushrooms. I reserve the upper half of the water area for those SPS future growth, and have layers for other corals down to the road.


Hope my tank could be shipped soon, so I can share more...

 

[blaxsun]

It's very purple. Thanos would be pleased.

 

[reeferdugong]

love your scape!

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

My tank is finally arrived!!! This post lists my equipments and comments.


The Waterbox Marine X 60.2 package includes DT, sump, and the plumbing.


- The DT itself is a little bit above 30 gallons, I think this is a good size nano tank to able to have some 3 inches fishes, like a pair of clownfish, some gobies, etc. The tank glass is crystal clean. Nothing to complain.

- The sump is divided to these chambers:

I am planning to have a sump baffle to separate out the refugium chamber from the skimmer chamber.

- The stand looks nice, and not difficult to assemble. The only part I am not super happy with is, the door has 3 hinges; this makes it very difficult to align with the side panel and the top. 2 hinges should be strong enough and easy to tune.


The flow

- AI Nero 3 powerhead. Wide angle, small profile, push lots of water. I ordered the anemone guard from eBay, will see how it goes later.


- Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 return pump. Holy moly! This Italian pump is as noisy as Ferrari. I am contacting with Sicce and see whether they can do something to make this pump less Italian cars.


The filter

- Klir Di-4 roller mat, because I don't want to wash the filter socks. It drops and fits pretty well. The only down side is, the water level sensor can only face the inflow side due to the space constraint. This makes false trigger and the roller mat rolls more often than it needs to.


- Nyos Quantum 120 skimmer
This is way too big for my tank, so I probably won't run it 24/7. I bought it a while back simply because it looks good. But I am trying not to buy any German made product in the future. (probably helmets are the only exception, because they are so proud of their helmets.)



Lighting

- Radion XR15 PRO, stand and diffuser. If you install the fixture all the way to the tank rim, it blocks the overflow glass lid a little bit. I haven't turned the light on, so I don't have anything to share.


Misc

- InkBird sensor and BRS titanium heater combo for the tank. And another cheap heater for preparing the saltwater.

- Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink
Smell like ocean (in the good way). The included water clarify bags are pretty good. The water is clean in 24hrs.

- Duetto Dual-Sensor Complete Aquarium ATO System
Worked as it promised. Not difficult to setup at all.

- Aquaforest Sea Salt
Aquaforest is a Poland company. Based on Poland's heroic behavior in the past month, I decided to ditch Tropical Marine salt from German, and turn to Aquaforest. It's cheap and so far so good.


Future purchase plan
- Tank lid, will put the order ASAP so I can start adding more fishes.
- APEX controller, dosing pump, AFS system. Try to wait for some big sales event.
- Sump baffle and refugium light.


Group picture


The reflection is so bad, how can you folks take so many good pictures?


I am quite proud with my power cords organization -- it is a $38 peg board and bunch of zip ties.

 

[DavidsAquariums]

What a sweet setup!! Excited to see this build

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Stopped by the LFS to get a pair of juvenile DaVinci Grade A Clownfish pair. IMO, it fantastic designer clownfish: it still has the normal clownfish orange and white stripes, and doesn't look boring. They are around 1 1/4". I am super happy with them.

This is the picture in the acclimation jar.


They are adorable and super fun to watch. My LFS suggested I feed them "Hikari® Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp", but they seem to prefer the NLS Thera+A Formula pellets. I really want them to have more vegetables .

I also got a cleaner shrimp. It is around 1 1/2", it is super beautiful. But, I found one of its antenna is cut:


Hope it can grow it back. Currently it is still hiding in the cave. I heard that is normal for a cleaner shrimp at the beginning after arriving the new tank, so I am not super worried about it. Should I put some food into the cave (like room service...)?

I am still practicing my aquarium photography skill. Hope I can share some better pictures of them in the tank soon.

 

[X-37B]

Nice system. The shrimp will get a new antenna when it molts.

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

The tank has been up for 2 weeks, the fishes and the cleaner shrimp are doing well.

The clownfish are named Rey and Kylo. Rey is slightly bigger and more dominant:



Kylo is smaller, and I can see there is a bite mark on his fin:



The shrimp named Sebastian (whose shrimp is not named Sebastian lol). It molted and its antenna recovers. Now Sebastian is super active and social. A very beautiful add-ons in the tank:


They are the only livestock in the tank for the time being. I am setting up the refugium, and I will get some mushroom soon.




Totally irrelevant, but I want to take the chance to show off the blooming buce in my freshwater tank.



I guess I should start saving money to get a decent macro lens.

 

[FrontRangeReefer]

Following - Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Tank up time: 3 weeks
Livestock: 2 clownfish, 1 cleaner shrimp
Tank overview:




The tank has been wet for three weeks, and things start getting interesting.
I ordered a sump baffle from Octo Aquatics to divide the skimmer chamber to a small refugium. The baffle is really solid build.


Matt@Octo has been doing very good communication, the baffle fits seamlessly into the sump. The magnets are so strong that I don't worry the baffle would move a bit by water.



I also jump start my refugium with Algae Barn supplies:


Algae Barn uses "5280 PODS" in their refugium package as default, but I chose ECOPODS for my refugium instead, because it has 4 different kind of pods, one more than 5280 PODS. If anybody knows why Algae Barn suggests 5280 PODS, please let me know.
The package arrives with a well packaged heat pack. All the pods seems alive and swim happily.

Another thing worth to mention is, I choose Pom Pom Algae instead of popular Chaeto after I read this blog.

Pom Pom Macro as a Replacement for Chaeto?

It appears that the chaeto macroalgae (Chaetomorpha spp.) has become what Caulerpa was around the turn of the millennium: The predominate go-to refugium

www.algaebarn.com

Pom Pom arrives with Algae Barn standard, and the size exceeds my expectation.


Put everything in, and this is my cute little refugium:



Another customized order I made is the lid from Kraken reef.


Can't be more happier with the result when I put it on the tank.


Since I have the lid now, I am ready to add more fishes. I am committed to purchase captive bred fish only. Here is my fish plan besides my current clownfish pair and the cleaner shrimp:

- 1 Orchid Dottyback (or a pair?)
- 1 Forktail Blenny
- 1 Yellow Watchman Goby + Tiger Pistol shrimp pair.
I heard a lot of stories that the TPS is a killing spree, so I am still hesitated about this.
- 1 Blue Mandarin (or a pair?)
I won't mind to frequently order pods to supplement the food, if a pair.

Let me know if you see something is terribly wrong thanks in advance.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Looks great

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Tank up time: 4 weeks
Livestock:

• Fish:
  • 2 Clownfish
  • 1 Orchid Dottyback
  • 1 Striped Blenny
• Soft corals:
  • 1 Uranium Bounce Rhodactis
  • 1 Eclectus Discosoma
• Inverts:
  • 1 Cleaner shrimp

Tank overview:



I might start things too fast, but with good nutrient control (bottle bacteria, skimmer, refugium, etc) and consistent water tests in the past few weeks. I took the Easter Day sales as a change and added more livestock to my tank.

ORA Orchid Dottyback

It keeps burrowing the substrate, and sometime even sand sifting. I am not sure this is a Dottyback or Goby. I was very worried the first night, because I can not find it in the tank. It was hiding in one of the burrow under the rock. Now it comes out pretty often. Very cool looking, and not aggressive so far.

ORA Striped Blenny

If the Dottyback acts like a Goby, this Blenny acts like a Eel. It sometimes hide its body in the cave, and left its head out. Also, it sleeps vertically on the tank wall. Really curious and active fish.


The corals look very modest when arrival.


I cut the frag plug off, and remove as much rock as possible. I also did the Coral Dip and did not find any hitchhiker so far. (fingers crossed)

Uranium Bounce Rhodactis

It opens during the day and closes when there is no night. I really like the green bounce color.

Eclectus Discosoma

The green hue is very beautiful, but it is not very obvious on the photos.

Both are now fully open in the tank and look much better than arrival. They seems happy with current location, so I might just glue them on the rock.
I am also thinking about target feeding them with Reef Roids, when I have more corals.

All the creatures look great so far. I was expecting to be in the ugly phase, but I don't see any algae so far. That's pretty weird, considering I don't have any CUC yet. If all the corals continue to be good, I am ready for more!

 

[blaxsun]

My striped dottyback also burrows and sand sifts. Guess it's one of those "hidden" traits. Both blennies and dottybacks love barnacles.

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Tank up time: 6 weeks
Livestock:

• Fish:
  • 2 Clownfish
  • 1 Orchid Dottyback
  • 1 Striped Blenny
• Soft corals:
  • 1 Uranium Bounce Rhodactis
  • 1 Eclectus Discosoma
  • 1 Bubble Tip Anemone (new)
• Inverts:
  • 1 Cleaner shrimp

Again, I probably did the wrong thing... I got a BTA in the 4th week, while the minimum suggestion tank age is 6 months. I did this considering I have over-size nutrition export method in place, continuing dosing Turbo Start, and frequently water testing.
I really want to have the anemone be the first class citizen in the tank, before I start adding other SPSs. So, I pulled the trigger.

It looked terrible when it arrived. I could almost see through the anemone from its mouth to its feet. I was terrified, and I regretted I had not purchased the anemone from local.



After acclimation, It attached to the rock immediately. I felt so relieved, because I know it is a sign that it is alive and strong. After 1 hour, it started hiding in the cave; it only showed 1/3 of its body out of the cave. I was worried but I decided to let it do its thing. The bad news had not ended. At that night, it started throwing up.


I thought that white ball is its guts, and I really believed that it is on its way to death.


Luckily, it made it! This is the picture from last week; it started moving out of the cave.



Few days ago, it even climbed higher up, eager to have more light.



Until now, I can say the anemone looks happy. My next mission is teaching my clownfish to host in the anemone. I will try to show them some Clownfish & Anemone YouTube videos first.

 

[Jgill70]

@Rey "deep sea" Manta I know this is an older thread, but how is the Klir di-4 working out. I have the same tank and was looking to replace the filter socks.

 

[Eric Abe]

I would also like to know how the klir is working out… looking into fleece rollers for my 60.2 as well

 

[Grissom92]

@Rey "deep sea" Manta I know this is an older thread, but how is the Klir di-4 working out. I have the same tank and was looking to replace the filter socks.

I would also like to know how the klir is working out… looking into fleece rollers for my 60.2 as well

I know its been 4 months... Ironically around the time I got my Klir for my Marine 60.2 It has been great. Just actually replaced the fleece roll a week ago. Made it 3 and a half months before needing to be changed. I agree the V1 sensor location is its only down side. But the V2 is out now and has a magnetic optical sensor now and better brain box... If either of you need/want a top lids custom screen top for yours. Let me know. I ended up with 2 of them due to a USPS issue. And you could have it for the cost of shipping.

 

[Jgill70]

I know its been 4 months... Ironically around the time I got my Klir for my Marine 60.2 It has been great. Just actually replaced the fleece roll a week ago. Made it 3 and a half months before needing to be changed. I agree the V1 sensor location is its only down side. But the V2 is out now and has a magnetic optical sensor now and better brain box... If either of you need/want a top lids custom screen top for yours. Let me know. I ended up with 2 of them due to a USPS issue. And you could have it for the cost of shipping.

The other question I have is do you notice more detritus in your sump. I have read where the Klir does not catch it all and more is getting into the sump.