Waterbox 70.2 cube mixed reef build

[danlechem]

Hello everyone- after a 4 year break I've bought a water box 70.2 (180 litres).
I had some success with my initial venture into reef keeping but the set up of my 4ft tank was all wrong and was very difficult to manage the sump among other things.

A few house moves later and I've decided to get back at it and do the things I wish I'd have done the first time but with a smaller more manageable tank.

The tanks being set up in my cellar office room. There's a window in there with a drain at the bottom of the lightwell which could come in handy!

Equipment list I'm putting together so far.......

Ecotech Radion XR15 Blue

Aqua Medic Titanium Heater AND Digital Thermostat Controller

Tunze ATO) 3155, water level controller

DCs-4000 return pump

Bubble-magus WP 600 carbon/Phosphate Sump Reactor

Clarisea 5000 roll filter

TMC. Reef skim pro 300

Kamoer x2 auto water change

2 x jecod power heads

1 x bank overdraft

I've removed the filter sock compartments from the sump to make room for larger than expected clarisea. Also I'm going bare bottom to allow greater flow around the lower half.

Picking up some dry rock this week for curing. I have 150 litre barrel which I plan to mix my tank water in and sending lines through window vents I'll programme daily water changes. Looking forward to putting this to the test and working my way up to some sps. Pics to follow and thanks for reading.

 

[danlechem]

Water is in. Colony and prawn added (shrimp for my US brothers and sisters) . Has anyone cycled a tank this way- how long until ammonia disappears roughly?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Water is in. Colony and prawn added (shrimp for my US brothers and sisters) . Has anyone cycled a tank this way- how long until ammonia disappears roughly?

Love the aquascape!

 

[danlechem]

Love the aquascape!

Thanks gumbies- I always find newbies always want some sort of arch in there scape as I did in my last tank. Wanted to avoid this time and go peninsular but when I put it together it looked better as an arch!

Got some corals going in this week - not sure about fish yet - ammonia still showing. Taken the shrimp out today and I'll see what the no. 3 is saying tomorrow

 

[danlechem]

I'm happy with how the cycles progressing, having gone through a few prawns ammonia staying around 0.15 and nitrates steadily risen over a couple of days to 20-25.

Most equipment is now set up, auto water change plumbed in and calibrated.

Bought a used Alkatronic. Looks like the sd card is knackered so I'm trying to source a replacement. Lesson learnt about buying used expensive kit online.

I diy'd a filter for a bubble magus reactor I had which I'm really happy with but I've decided not to use it for now and just stick a bag of carbon in. I've got rowa which can can in the reactor if phosphates get high.

Next updates will include coral from a tank breakdown and maybe a couple of clowns

 

[danlechem]

Absolutely, here’s a revised version of your post:

---

Recently added a few LPS and soft corals from a tank breakdown. There are some nice pieces, though I'll move a few to free up space. Really happy with the Duncan – it opened up immediately.

I'm working on optimizing the flow. Currently running a Jecod 8 and a Jecod 4 on the lowest settings, but I'm considering swapping the Jecod 8 for another 4 to have better control.

Nitrates are steady around 2 ppm. Added two common clowns, a fire fish, and a purple gramma. I’ve disconnected the Clarissea and haven't turned the skimmer on yet to raise nitrates slowly. Phosphates hover between 1 and 2 ppm, so I plan to increase the water change rate using the Tunze AWC.

Alkalinity is between 9 and 10 dKH with Salifert test kits, which seems high since Tropic Marin Reef Pro Salt should be providing 7-8 dKH. I’ll keep an eye on that. pH is ranging from 8.5 to 9.

Using auto water changes has been fantastic. A 150-liter reservoir lasts me a couple of months, and having instant control without waiting for mixing and heating is priceless.

Running GFO in a reactor and carbon in a bag. Once the skimmer is online, I'll start dosing NP-Bacto Balance and ZeoBak.

The plan is to let the corals settle and stabilize. Over the next month or two, I’ll add another half a dozen fish and some CUC. Then, I'll look to introduce some higher-end LPS frags and maybe some budget-friendly SPS.

Thanks for reading!

- Dan

 

[danlechem]

It’s been 2 months, and overall, I’m pleased with the progress so far. Unfortunately, I lost a few corals that were likely introduced too early. Some that were struggling are now showing signs of recovery, which is encouraging. However, I’m planning to remove the large toadstool and the Kenya tree that’s growing like a weed as they’re becoming too dominant.

I’ve added the final fish to the tank, and everyone is getting along well:

• Kole Tang
• Coral Beauty
• 2 Cardinalfish
• Firefish
• 2 Clownfish
• Royal Gramma
• Adorned Wrasse
• Cleaner Shrimp
• Clean-up Crew

My phosphate (PO4) levels are holding around 0.02, likely due to the daily 5ml dosing of Bacto Balance. I’ve just started dosing TP Phos to try and stabilize it around 0.1. Nitrate levels are steady at 10-15, but I’m aiming to bring this down to around 5 with continued Bacto dosing.

I’m also dosing 10ml per day of All-For-Reef, along with 5ml MicroBacter7 and Phyto daily, and Seachem Reef Plus twice a week.

The biggest challenge so far has been dialing in the flow. Initially, I had two Jebao powerheads that were too strong for anything except the large Duncan coral. I’ve now switched to one Jebao SLW5 on Else mode and am waiting for three more to arrive next week.

 

[danlechem]

3 month update. Everything going well with this tank. No real issues, parameters being kept stable with 5ml per day all for reef. Daily 3ml microbacter7 dosing along with 1ml bacto balance is keeping nitrate at 10 and po4 between .05 and 0.1.

Seeing some growth across the tank which is encouraging- putting this down to microbacter daily and nyos bac twice per week.

I've moved a Kenya tree on and I'll be moving the huge leather on this weekend and next to go will be fairly big cabbage in the middle. Loads of frags gone in, I'll let them grow out and keep an eye out for some decent sps to cover the top.

Final fish stock.

2 common clowns
Royal gammer
Coral beauty
Tomini tang
Adorned wrasse
Fire fish
2 pyjama cardinals
Cleaner shrimp

I nearly bought a Blenny from my LFS this week but thought I'd leave it for now.