First Reef Tank! Waterbox Infinia 230.6

[Stinson Beach Aquatics]

Huzzah! The tank is finally on the stand (90lb German Shepherd to scale).

We hired professional movers to put it on, which I’m very happy that I did that. Well worth the money. It took 4 guys and even then it was a challenge.

I love the shepherd just as much as the tank

 

[SeaJelly]

I love the shepherd just as much as the tank

He’s the best boi

 

[SeaJelly]

I think it’s safe to say that my cycle is complete! Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0. My nitrates went down (probably because the algae is eating it). The tank is thoroughly ugly now, which is super exciting!

My clowns and inverts are shipping next week. I’ll do another water change this weekend. This project has been incredibly fun and rewarding. So excited to continue researching and putting it all together!

 

[SeaJelly]

Finally!!

I officially have livestock in my tank! 2 clownfish, 30 hermits, 30 snails, an anemone crab, and a tuxedo urchin!

I’m so happy! Yay! Fish!

 

[mikedee17]

how did you guys mount the controller box inside the tank?

 

[SeaJelly]

how did you guys mount the controller box inside the tank?

The Waterbox stand already had a spot for a waterbox control box to be screwed in, so it was super easy. I just had to get the waterbox brand.

 

[SeaJelly]

I officially have corals! I got everything g delivered this week and have found spots for all of them now. Thankfully a local reefing friend was able to lend me their PAR meter, so that was a big help.

Teal Capnella - “Kenya Tree”

Infection Favia

Caribbean Palythoas

Cat’s Eye Zoanthids

Jack-o-Lantern Lepto

Orange Pavona

This one’s a mystery, it was a bonus.

Duncan

Sakura Zoanthids

Red Sea Pulsing Xenia

Fascination Favia

Mint Alveopora

Teal Stylo

Pink Blastomussa m.

Smoothie King Echinata

Yellow Parazoanthus

 

[SkiloUS]

Hey cool build!
I got this tank delivered last week and I'm starting to build.

I'm also hiring a moving crew - the sump and tank are super heavy. I'm also upgrading my electrical and adding a new breaker.

What's your wall to cabinet clearance? I'll be buying lighting later on, so I was just wondering how much space I'll need.

Very cool build!

 

[SeaJelly]

Hey cool build!
I got this tank delivered last week and I'm starting to build.

I'm also hiring a moving crew - the sump and tank are super heavy. I'm also upgrading my electrical and adding a new breaker.

What's your wall to cabinet clearance? I'll be buying lighting later on, so I was just wondering how much space I'll need.

Very cool build!

That’s awesome! Congratulations on your new tank! Yeah, it’s definitely a beast and took a hot second for me to set up. But man, it’s so worth it.

I have about 4.5” of clearance against the wall.

 

[SeaJelly]

Update: Cyanobacteria is nasty. It smells, it’s ugly, and it’s gross. My tank is now in stage two of the algae cycle.

I just did a water change and had some difficulty with the siphon. Rather than draining it directly into my dirty water bin, I had to use two five gallon buckets. But I made it work! I vacuumed the sand (which was covered in cyanobacteria) and the tank is looking a little better.

Filter socks and the protein skimmer are gross too. Man, cleaning the protein skimmer SMELLS. While I knew it would be gross when I got into this hobby, I didn’t realize how rancid it would smell lol

The corals seem do be doing really well though! They’ve been opening up and I think they’re growing. My clowns seem happy too! Also, I bought an eel! I bought a zebra moray eel from Dr. Reef. It’s being quarantined and probably won’t ship for another couple of weeks. But I’m super excited!!

 

[SeaJelly]

I also took pictures of the clownfish with my Canon EOS R10!

 

[Gk5321]

I also took pictures of the clownfish with my Canon EOS R10!

Very nice setup. I scrolled through quickly and didn’t see a comment on this so I could’ve missed it. I highly recommended taking that pulsating Xenia out or if you have to keep it, put it on an island rock all by itself. It will grow like a weed and smother other corals.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I also took pictures of the clownfish with my Canon EOS R10!

Those are some great looking pictures!

 

[SeaJelly]

Very nice setup. I scrolled through quickly and didn’t see a comment on this so I could’ve missed it. I highly recommended taking that pulsating Xenia out or if you have to keep it, put it on an island rock all by itself. It will grow like a weed and smother other corals.

Oh that’s good to know! I’ll see about putting an island in somewhere. Thank you!

 

[SeaJelly]

Those are some great looking pictures!

Thank you! It took a minute to figure out the best settings, but I really like how they turned out!

 

[SeaJelly]

I’m really learning this whole “patience” thing with my tank. I haven’t fiddled with any of the settings and I’m just letting it do its thing right now. Weekly water changes and testing once a week at this point. I’m still waiting on my eel (so excited!) and I added my inverts to my order because I desperately need more CUC.

But overall, I’m feeling good! I’m watching my corals everyday and it’s fun to see them sway in the flow. I’ll just stare at my tank. It’s really relaxing. I’ve put in SO much work, which this is the first time I’ve really been invested like this in a hobby. I’m ready for more fish (emotionally) but fish are expensive and I still need to wait longer for the algae cycle to finish.

 

[Liftoff]

Great setup. Following along

 

[SeaJelly]

I took some pictures of my coral!

 

[SeaJelly]

So, I redid my Aquascape. I had so much rock, and it was beautiful, but I wanted more room for coral growth. So now I have MUCH more room and space for islands (for the more invasive corals). I also pushed everything back so I have more open swimming space for fish now too!

 

[SeaJelly]

I’m also starting to get into the last stage of my algae cycle! The Cyanobacteria is calming down and I’m starting to see green hair algae!