Shaggy's Waterbox Reef 100.3 +Plus Build

[NPD_289]

Awesome. Sounds like a good plan. I have been getting things ready to move my 45g AIO tank to another room so I can set up my waterbox.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

First water test since the rock and bacteria that was supplied has been in for 24 hours.

Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Instructions are to do a water change once the Amonio hits 1

 

[melanotaenia]

The rock looks great! Glad you went with the live stuff; it will be so much easier to deal with compared to dry rock.

Mine definitely did not arrive with as much macroalgae; looks like you got some very nice pieces for sure!

 

[ShaggyRS6]

There was actually much more on it than that but I pulled it off accidentally when I grabbed the first rock! I did not smell any die off at all. It all had that sweet smell.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Well I have a pistol shrimp! I can hear the little bugger Not found him yet! UPDATE: Gorilla Crab found! Going to see if I can catch him in a shot glass with some scallop for bait! If I cant, well, it's going to be Ice PIck'ogeddon!

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Let's talk about the wife! The day the equipment arrived she made it very clear that although she had given the green light, she really did not want a fish tank. Skip forward to the tank arrival, she made it clear, once again that this tank was a bad idea, it would look horrible and be noisy and she made it very obvious this project did not have her full support.

The tank build! She would turn her nose up and help under duress with the parts I needed two sets of hands help with. Again, "This is your tank, I want nothing to do with it"

Now skip forward to a beautiful looking tank. Water crystal clear, live rock doing live rock stuff. I'm sitting upstairs on my computer. All day today, she shouts upstairs, maybe every 20 mins or so. "Lee" I reply yes, in that drawn out yes way "Come and have a look at this thing on the rock" 20 mins later, "Oi, Lee" again, yes dear? "what's this thing on the rock" "what's making that tapping noise" She is sitting on a chair in front of the glass waiting to spy something!

It's a beautiful thing

 

[melanotaenia]

Haha nice! You will have another tank in your house very soon!

 

[dbl]

Let's talk about the wife! The day the equipment arrived she made it very clear that although she had given the green light, she really did not want a fish tank. Skip forward to the tank arrival, she made it clear, once again that this tank was a bad idea, it would look horrible and be noisy and she made it very obvious this project did not have her full support.

The tank build! She would turn her nose up and help under duress with the parts I needed two sets of hands help with. Again, "This is your tank, I want nothing to do with it"

Now skip forward to a beautiful looking tank. Water crystal clear, live rock doing live rock stuff. I'm sitting upstairs on my computer. All day today, she shouts upstairs, maybe every 20 mins or so. "Lee" I reply yes, in that drawn out yes way "Come and have a look at this thing on the rock" 20 mins later, "Oi, Lee" again, yes dear? "what's this thing on the rock" "what's making that tapping noise" She is sitting on a chair in front of the glass waiting to spy something!

It's a beautiful thing

Lee...this made me laugh...a lot! Far better she's on board. Let her pick out a coral or two and do everything possible to keep them alive and you'll be fine.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Lee...this made me laugh...a lot! Far better she's on board. Let her pick out a coral or two and do everything possible to keep them alive and you'll be fine.

That's a great plan

 

[Jeto2004]

Taking notes on the wife plans here - she is great thus far - but you never know......

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Ammonia up to 0.2 this morning. Nitrates still at 2 and Nitrites still At 0

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Quick question. I did another Ammonia test tonight. This morning it was 0.2, just now it was 0 (Zero) . Any thoughts?

 

[NPD_289]

Add fish! Or not...lol

 

[NPD_289]

Seriously, you might want to add an Ammonia source to 2ppm and see how long it takes to convert to nitrates.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Add fish! Or not...lol

Hah I still have another 50lbs to come yet. Plus, 2 Gorilla crabs to kill

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Seriously, you might want to add an Ammonia source to 2ppm and see how long it takes to convert to nitrates.

What do you recommend? Stick some food in?

 

[melanotaenia]

I would leave it alone; there is going to be die off from the rock over the next few weeks from the transit, and you will have plenty of ammonia in the tank for it to cycle, with time. I would not recommend adding any external ammonia sources or chemicals to increase your ammonia levels now that you have live rock in the tank.

 

[NPD_289]

Please don't take my advice at this point. I spent all day moving my tank to another room and I'm enjoying my third rum and coke...

 

[ShaggyRS6]

I would leave it alone; there is going to be die off from the rock over the next few weeks from the transit, and you will have plenty of ammonia in the tank for it to cycle, with time. I would not recommend adding any external ammonia sources or chemicals to increase your ammonia levels now that you have live rock in the tank.

Ok, thanks sir. Should I leave the lights on longer? I been running them 5 hours a day

 

[melanotaenia]

Sure, I would leave the lights on; it's good to try and keep what made the trip from FL alive in your tank; I would also recommend giving the rocks a quick "scrub" with a toothbrush if you see any obvious large patches of die off (sponges usually don't make the trip, you'll see dead ones show up as white and come off easy with a soft scrub with a toothbrush). Good luck!