Waterbox Peninsula 15 gallon Build Thread

[trevorhiller]

I should have started this thread from the beginning, but oh well! I'm only a few weeks into it, so I'll start a list of my equipment and add some photos here as things progress.

Aquarium: Waterbox Peninsula 15 gallon
Stand: DIY 2x4 stand wrapped in plywood and painted. Heavy duty leveling feet purchased from Amazon
Light: AI Prime 16 HD w/3D Reefing Diffuser & 12" AI Gooseneck mount
Heater: Eheim Jager 75 watt
Rock Work: ~13 pounds MarcoRocks Reefsaver Dry Rock f/BRS broken up and super glued back together
Substrate: CaribSea Arag-Alive! Special Grade Sand (~16-17 pounds)
RO/DI: BRS 4 Stage Value RO/DI setup w/ TDS meter f/Amazon
Thermometer: Aquaneat Thermometer f/Amazon
Automatic Top Off System: Tunze Osmolator 3155 connected to plastic cereal storage container f/Wal-Mart
Powerhead: Nero 3
Return Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 0.5 w/Vivid Creative Aquatics Random Flow Generator kit
Glass Cleaner: FL!PPER Nano
Filtration Media: 1 Box Marine Pure Gems, BRS ROX Carbon, Purigen (not yet added), Waterbox Filter Sock
Skimmer: Eshopps Nano Protein Skimmer
Lid: Bulk Reef Supply DIY lid w/black netting & Neat Aquatics corners. InTank Rear Sump Cover
Refractometer: No Brand Refractometer f/Amazon
Testing: API Saltwater Master Test Kit, API Reef Master Test Kit, Hanna High Range Nitrate Checker, Hanna Low Range Phosphate Checker, Hanna Alkalinity Checker
Dosing: All For Reef by Tropic Marin (not yet started), Purple Helix & Pink Fusion
Salt: Setup w/Red Sea Coral Pro but switching to Tropic Marin

 

[trevorhiller]

Pictures of my DIY stand along the way

 

[trevorhiller]

Pictures of the tank aquascape and rear chambers. Still playing with the lighting. Forgive my poor photography skills.

 

[trevorhiller]

Poor man’s ATO reservoir:

 

[trevorhiller]

My plan is to build a small refugium for chaeto in the middle rear chamber if I can DIY a submersible light. Still in prototyping phase, but I think it might work. Just need to find a large enough glass tube to silicone shut.

 

[trevorhiller]

Aquascaping

Building my aquascape was so easy thanks to this super glue. I’m mostly posting this comment so I can remember which one to buy in the future, but also I highly recommend it. The viscosity is perfect and it sets fast and strong. I used 3 bottles on this scape. Mixed with a little dust from the crushed MarcoRocks and the joint is solid and invisible.

 

[trevorhiller]

Dosing:

Tank filled with Water November 4th.
Dosed 30 mL Microbacter Start XLM & 20 drops Dr. Tim’s Ammonium Chloride on November 6th.

Added Purple Helix & Pink Fusion on November 13th

Cycle took longer than expected. I may have overdose Ammonia. So a 90-95% water change on November 15th brought down Nitrates and got my stalled Nitrite moving again. As of today, Tank is 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 5 ppm Nitrate.

 

[trevorhiller]

Cycle Complete!

Just thought I would post an updated timeline here in case anyone is following along and wants to see how it went. Tests were all done with the API kit. As a rule of thumb, I always err on the side of worst case scenario when reading the tests, so if it’s between 5-10 and I can’t decide, I record 10.

Prior to November- had dry rock sitting in water for about 7 days, was dosing Seachem Stability and household ammonia. Never saw any spike in Nitrites. Ammonia was stable at 2.0 for first 2 days, but after that I didn’t test it.

November 4 - Tank filled with water, dry MarcoRock and CaribSea Arag-Alive sand.
November 6- Dosed 20 drops Ammonium Chloride and 30 mL Microbacter Start XLM
November 12- Redosed 11 mL Microbacter
Start XLM
November 15- Near complete water change completed (90-95%)
November 18- Cycle appears complete. Redosed 6 drops Dr. Tims Ammonium Chloride.
November 20- Cycle verified complete. Picture of my trends attached.

Overall, I was kind of disappointed in the amount of time it took. Not nearly as quick as advertised and I think just setting up the tank and throwing in a shrimp may have been the better way to go. Was saving a week worth the cost of cycling products? No. However, I did use two cycling products (which is not recommend per the instructions—although, I would expect this to only give more diverse bacteria, but what do I know!) It may be possible that I overdosed ammonia as some have suggested, but I don’t believe that to be the case. The highest ammonia test I ever had was 3.0 ppm on one day and I do believe that was only because of my rule of erring on the side of higher when there is any doubt. Otherwise peak ammonia was 2.0 as the instructions direct.

 

[Idech]

No. However, I did use two cycling products (which is not recommend per the instructions—although, I would expect this to only give more diverse bacteria, but what do I know!) It may be possible that I overdosed ammonia as some have suggested, but I don’t believe that to be the case.

I’ve never tried it myself but I’ve read that mixing different brands of bacteria can be counter productive because the bacteria might compete against each other.

I like your set-up ! I’m curious why you didn’t use the included mount for your Osmolator ? Did you 3-D print the mount yourself ?

Also, I couldn’t help but notice the nice carpet under the tank. Did you protect the floor underneath, to prevent mold and do you not think the salt is going to ruin the carpet ?

And last, does Coralline in a bottle work ? If so maybe I should get some for my tanks.

 

[trevorhiller]

That’s actually the mount that came with the osmolator. As for the carpet, I sprayed it with 3M scotch guard to help with water resistance from spills. Water just beads up. But I’m pretty careful about keeping it dry. Ultimately it’s where I wanted the tank, so it’s a risk I’m willing to take. The stand being larger than the tank helps a lot though.
We’ll see about the coralline! I have seen some people who swear by it. Others say waste of money.

 

[Hairyteeth]

Looking great super clean stand

 

[trevorhiller]

Looking great super clean stand

Thank you! I almost aborted my attempt half way through when stuff didn’t aline tight, but a few coats of bondo on the corners did the trick!

 

[trevorhiller]

Two clownfish added. They seem to have adjusted well. Extremely active and eating immediately.

 

[trevorhiller]

Originally my plan was to get a skimmer for my Waterbox 15. Then I got the tank and decided I couldn’t fit a decent one and was going to make a fuge in the back middle chamber. Those tiny little chambers fill up with equipment and cords quick! However, being the equipment junkie I am, I decided to purchase the Eshopps Nano Skimmer just to see if I could make it fit in the rear middle chamber. I figured I could always return it to Amazon if I couldn’t make it work.

The protein skimmer showed up yesterday right before I had to leave for work, but I had to test it out and see if it was going to be possible. By some miracle, it seems like it’s going to fit! I definitely have some tweaking to do with the position and it is PACKED back there, but I think it’s going to work. I need to sort of wedge the heater down in chamber without the mount it seems, but I think I can make it work.

My setup is like this:
Chamber 1 (overflow)
-Filter sock
-Small media bag of carbon b
Chamber 2
-Eshopps Nano Skimmer & pump
-Heater
-Clamp for AI Prime
-1 bag of marine pure gems in a media bag at the bottom
Chamber 3
-Sicce Return Pump
-Tunze Osmolator
-Temperature Probe

I have the 12” gooseneck mount for the AI Prime and I really like it, but man is the clamp huge. I wish it had a clamp like the metal prime mount. Unfortunately, because of the size of the skimmer, I don’t think I can use the metal adjustable style AI Prime mount because I have to slide the clamp slightly right of center and it appears the metal mounting arm would not allow me to center the light over the tank unless the clamp is centered.

If anyone else has any other creative mounting options for the AI prime, I’d be interested in evaluating them. I don’t want to drill into my ceiling though, so suspending from a cable is out. It’s too bad they didn’t make a light mount with one of those large clamp-down suction cups they use for lifting large aquariums. That would be ideal as it wouldn’t intrude on the sump chambers.

I really wish AIO aquarium makers would give us all a little more space to work with back there. I don’t understand why they couldn’t make the rear chamber double the size to allow for some decent sized heaters, skimmers and pumps. I guess I learned my lesson and my next tank will surely have to have a sump. The good news is it seems impossible to jam anymore equipment in the back of my tank at this point, so if I can make the skimmer work i think I’m done with the large purchases.

 

[trevorhiller]

Update: we have some diatoms!
Parameters Below:
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 2.1
Phosphate: 0.03
Temp: 77.1 (still trying to tweak my Jager heater, I can’t seem to get this thing to 78 to save my life! My temp calibration dial doesn’t seem to work on mine as it’s maxed out)
Salinity:34 (dropped a bit during acclimation of some crabs)
Alk: 8.3
PH 8.0
Calcium: 600 (still quite high, my Coral Pro bucket of salt is going quick, so I picked up some Tropic Marin salt to use once that’s gone

I spent some time adjusting my new Eshopps Nano skimmer and I think I have it all squared away in my middle chamber. It JUST barely fit with the heater and my small bag of marine pure gems. I had to use a sliced piece of silicone return pump tubing to make a cushion to take the rattle out of the heater, but it’s running and much quieter. Skimmate is clear right now, going to see how it works over the next week or so.

I’m awaiting a delivery of Pods from Algae Barn and some more CUC from reef cleaners. Hopefully should be here tomorrow or the next day.

Debating about adding a CO2 scrubber to my skimmer air line now that I know it’s going to fit.

 

[rishma]

CO2 scrubber on a 15 gal! Awesome. I decided to use kalk to support pH on my 25 but I won’t lie, I thought about a CO2 scrubber and some solenoid automation to peg the pH…trying to resist the urge to complicate things.

 

[Scottayy]

You've got some money in this set up! But I found it best to buy everything up front and just get it over with.

Excellent job and it's looking very good. Following along!

 

[trevorhiller]

You've got some money in this set up! But I found it best to buy everything up front and just get it over with.

Excellent job and it's looking very good. Following along!

I know!

I really wanted to "save money" which is why I didn't go with a tank with a sump, silly me... I should have known there was no saving money in reefing!

 

[trevorhiller]

Forgot to mention:

I added 3 Trochus Snails, 4 Nassarius snails, Pods, some free nano brine ship and a piece of Blue Ricordea today from Reef Cleaners. First time dipping a coral using CoralRx. I'll try to post a picture when it opens back up.

 

[vins_reef]

Nice setup what Power you got your Nero at ? I’m having trouble on my at mo getting flow right , I got jecod dc 1200 pump and got it in half power and Nero on random mode max 30 but torches doesn’t seem to like it