I guess I’m getting back to the hobby

Wieloch89 · Oct 7, 2021

Alright, so as I was sanding down the cabinet I intended to restore, I left it outside overnight and it unfortunately rained ALL NIGHT. So some of the veneer started to bubble and peal up and well as the drawer and cabinet doors swelled and will no longer close. I found a little stand that will work for now as I wanted to just get the tank up and running.

This is a completely stock out of the box setup and I’m generally really happy with it overall. The SICCE 1.0 return pump is a little too small for the Waterbox Mini 25 peninsula and I’ll be upgrading to the 1.5 in the near future. It just doesn’t turn over enough water in the AIO chambers or produce enough flow in the display. I’ll also be adding the Nero 3 soon as well to help out with those flow issues. The tank comes with the AI Prime 16 HD, it’s pretty user friendly but I still have some time before I actually need a light and could give a review of its performance. I did however add an acrylic top and feeder cup from Kraken Reef. It was a little pricy but definitely finishes off the look while keeping the jumpers in the water.

Here is what I have so far! I hope you keep on following along with me!

Wieloch89 · Oct 11, 2021

Got my clowns in their new home today! I’ve dosed some Dr Tim’s one and only and some supporting bacteria(not at the same time) and added a bag of media from the tank they were in for the last 4 months to help the bio filter.

Wieloch89 · Jan 16, 2022

Well 3 months since the last update, mainly because not much has really changed since then. Params have been stabile and I’ve been very happy with this system so far, great choice going with the Waterbox. Added my first coral 2 days ago, a neon green leather, and it’s looks super healthy. It’s filled out and plumped up great since it addition to the tank and has great polyp extension. This will probably be my only coral for a little while anyway since I’m still out of work since my injury 6 months ago but I’m super excited to have it and see that it’s doing well!

Wieloch89 · Jan 26, 2022

Testing out my new IceCap camera filter. This thing is pretty cool!

Wieloch89 · Feb 3, 2022

I’ve added a Dragon Soul Favia… at least that’s what I think it is. Corals are looking great so far, even thought the leather is molting but that’s a good thing anyway! I’ve upgraded the return to a SICCE 1.0, and purchased a Tunze nano ATO. I haven’t installed the ATO since I’m waiting until I get my Nero3 in to do all of the cord management at the same time. It’s been a fun process and since it isn’t my first tank, things have been going much smoother and I’ve been extremely patient as well. I’ll be adding updated as I get them!!!

Wieloch89 · Feb 6, 2022

Water testing, water change, and regular tank maintenance on a slow Sunday. How are you guys spending your Sunday???

Wieloch89 · Mar 7, 2022

Just a few shots after some maintenance and coral feeding… there are some floaties in some of the pictures from the pump coming back on. All livestock courtesy of The Reef Gallery.

Wieloch89 · Apr 3, 2022

A couple of new editions from last week, I wanted to get these out before the frag swap coming this weekend. The yellow hammer has some pretty severe skeletal damage from the previous owner fragging but I think it’s going to be ok! Also a purple tip hammer, a baby blasto, and a couple avatar polyps(I think that’s what the guy called them).

Wieloch89 · Apr 3, 2022

Some pics with the blues

Wieloch89 · Apr 10, 2022

Did pretty good this weekend at the Pittsburgh Reef Aquarium Expo, I’ll be finding places for the new acquisitions soon.

kevinl · Apr 11, 2022

I would watch the Raja, don't know your par but they like lower light.
Just a thought of mine, all the way to the bottom to the left of the torch about an inch or so up the rock.
This will not work if your planning on leaving the torch there.

Wieloch89 · Apr 12, 2022

The torch I do plan to move on the rocks to the left, just wanted to let the corals acclimate before finding permanent places for them. And thanks for the heads up on the Raja! I’ll move it down for sure.

kevinl said:
I would watch the Raja, don't know your par but they like lower light.
Just a thought of mine, all the way to the bottom to the left of the torch about an inch or so up the rock.
This will not work if your planning on leaving the torch there.

Wieloch89 · May 22, 2022

Just a couple of full tank shots with different lighting. Overall I’ve been extremely happy with progress so far since adding coral back in January/February.

I was starting to see a really unhappy red digi and some fading and almost translucent euphyllia so I figured I had some nutrient issues. I’m targeting a small bio load since I don’t plan to add filtration outside of filter floss, carbon, and nitrifying bacteria. Nitrates we’re only at 2ppm which is low and still around what I’ve been reading consistently, so phosphate had to be the issue. Embarrassingly enough I haven’t been monitoring for that and didn’t even have the test kit, so I went and bought and checker. To my surprise I was at .05, quite a bit higher than I expected.

I want to raise nitrates and phosphates might be ok at .05 but definitely not with nitrates so low. I started dosing NeoNitro a few days ago trying to raise my nitrates about .5ppm every 24-48 hours. To my surprise the first dose completely wiped out my phosphates and nitrates. The next dose put me back to the original 2ppm for nitrates and phosphates still holding at 0.

The euphyllia are starting to color back up and the red digi that was struggling is already showing signs of new growth and vibrant polyps again with full extension. I’m shooting for around 10ppm for nitrates and phosphates around .03-.04

It’s been fun getting the feel of this tank and figuring out what I needs on a routine maintenance schedule and while sometimes it leaves me scratching my head and scouring for information, I’m extremely happy with the process so far. This has definitely been my favorite tank and the most fun to work with!

Wieloch89 · May 22, 2022

Oh! Also, I added a Tunze Turbelle and I couldn’t be happier with it. It’s a pretty unique power head that is extremely versatile. I bought it because I couldn’t find a Nero3 but doing it all over again, I would have bought this Turbelle as my preference anyway.

kevinl · May 23, 2022

Looking good!
What is your calcium & magnesium reading?

Wieloch89 · May 23, 2022

kevinl said:
Looking good!
What is your calcium & magnesium reading?

Thanks!

Alk- 7.8
Calc - 400
Mag - 1520

I used to run at 8.2, 440, and 1350 with my old tank and had good results so I’m a little off of those numbers but these have been steady with just weekly water changes. At some point here I’m going to have to see art dosing I would assume.