Diving straight in - Sameer's Waterbox Infinia 230.6 build thread

[Kensington Reefer]

That means I have a lot of fish still alive in my aquarium. Cuz I don’t see S.

they may not be swimming, but they are IN THERE....
compost!!

 

[spuri87]

Added a nem I got from @Adauqua today (thank you so much!!) and clowns started hosting them almost immediately! Love this symbiotic relationship, something I always wanted to see in my tank! <3

Also added a pair of biota mandarins from @newfly .. added copepods once but spotted them eat frozen and pellets so just spot feeding them now, they have become more outgoing and can see the love dance sometimes during the evening.

Here is a quick video of clowns hosting the nem I took today:

 

[spuri87]

Last Night I saw (at least) 5 snails under 1 single rock.. That could have meant only 1 thing - a death in my tank.. I kept on changing angles on my phone to see what died, tried to check inhabitants in the tank but since it was night time, it was very hard to check on all inhabitants.

Woke up in the morning today to see 1 of the 2 Emerald Crabs upside down, outside the same rock. Other 1 seems to be doing ok.. I dosed BRS Calcium Chloride to bump up Ca from 380 to 410 and BRS Soda Ash to bump up Alk from 8.3 to 9 a couple of days ago.. Have been dosing LC manually (same dose every day) for a month now.. Gemini says Emerald Crabs in particular are sensitive to alk and other swings.. not sure if dosing Ca or Soda Ash could have caused this or something else.

 

[Patio]

Is it possible the upside down emerald was a fresh molt?

 

[spuri87]

Is it possible the upside down emerald was a fresh molt?

I hoped so, but wasnt.. plus the night feast was a real sign that it was a real crab.. it was the smaller one out of the 2 emerald crabs I have.. late night worker, gone too soon!

 

[spuri87]

Everything looked hunky dory, until it wasn't.. Lost 2 of the bigger Chromis in last few days to what seems like aggression from other Chromis (or other fish?) in the group.. I saw red injury marks (ruling out Uronema, but folks can look at the attached videos to suggest otherwise) and tattered fins on both the Chromis that died.. Interesting that the 2 bigger ones, that have been with me for over 7 months, died first.. the 3 smaller ones I added in February still roam around in the open while the other 3 bigger Chromis from the 1st batch seem to be always hiding in the rocks since last few weeks - something is definitely cooking! I don't see any aggression happening in front of my eyes, wondering if it happens after lights out.. I can think of couple of things that changed during last few weeks -

1. I added bunch of corals from tank breakdown and frag swap
2. I reduced feeding from 2x a day to 1x a day to combat nutrients problem in the tank.

No new fish has been added recently. Intuitively speaking, #2 may play a factor in increased aggression, coz they all have been fine together for months.. I got 6 more Chromis in the tank now.. I hope the saying "In a school of Chromis, only the strongest one survives" is wrong! Here are a couple of videos

Chromis #1 (died 17th May):

Chromis #2 (died 20th May):

 

[PjFish]

Ironically in the past the chromis in schools Ive kept lasted longer with other aggressive fish as tank mates. They would constantly be getting schooled by the larger fish so maybe this kept the aggression amongst themselves way down. A couple died with no visible injuries which after 5 years eventually traded them in for other fish.. The schools Ive had in calmer tanks always eliminated themselves lol.. Your feeding once a day plus a sheet or two of nori? I feed 2x a day mixed pellets around three four teaspoons total. Five mixed frozen cubes not rinsed plus a sheet or two of 8x10 sun dried food grade nori I get off Amazon. Nori is just a given don’t really count that as feeding just grazing lol. Id feed less amount but at more times. Besides dosing LC and water changes any new nutrient export tools or procedures? Tank looks great hows the growth on the recent coral additions?

 

[PjFish]

Nori Sheets are 8x8 this is the brand I use in the link .. Plus I toss in Wakame from time to time from a company called Maine Coast Sea Vegetables

https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Organic-Nori-Sheets-Pack/dp/B009ZPJ55C

 

[Alexander1312]

Green Chromis are one of the many fish I would not keep since the guy from marinecollectors mentioned in this video that this is one of the fish which should not be kept due to the certainty of them dying quickly, aggressive nature amongst themselves, 100% uronema disease exposure, etc.

28:42

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[spuri87]

Besides dosing LC and water changes any new nutrient export tools or procedures? Tank looks great hows the growth on the recent coral additions?

I started dosing Calcium manually, but paused right now.. only dosing LC almost daily plus bi weekly water changes now.

Green Chromis are one of the many fish I would not keep since the guy from marinecollectors mentioned in this video that this is one of the fish which should not be kept due to the certainty of them dying quickly, aggressive nature amongst themselves, 100% uronema disease exposure, etc.

28:42

[

]

Yeah interesting they are supposed to be hardy yet the first ones to die due to reasons you mentioned.. No more chromis for me after this.. though I would definitely love to add a school of anthias later on (7-8 female with 1 male) And they are also in the list by marine collectors haha.. since they need to be few multiple times a day I guess is what makes them difficult to keep

Nori Sheets are 8x8 this is the brand I use in the link .. Plus I toss in Wakame from time to time from a company called Maine Coast Sea Vegetables

https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Organic-Nori-Sheets-Pack/dp/B009ZPJ55C

I feed one full sheet or 2 half sheets every day in addition to 1 other feed comprised of 1 frozen cube + pellets + flakes + dried mysis + dried worms (randomly chosen 3-4 of these).. here is the nori I use

 

[Alexander1312]

I started dosing Calcium manually, but paused right now.. only dosing LC almost daily plus bi weekly water changes now.

Why paused? And alkalinity to? When you say manual, you mean by hand all at once? How much?

Yeah interesting they are supposed to be hardy yet the first ones to die due to reasons you mentioned.. No more chromis for me after this.. though I would definitely love to add a school of anthias later on (7-8 female with 1 male) And they are also in the list by marine collectors haha.. since they need to be few multiple times a day I guess is what makes them difficult to keep

At least with anthias, it is a manageable challenge. I have two borb anthias, but that is not the reason I feed 4 times a day.

 

[Coral reefer]

1 time a day ain’t enough my man
I wouldn’t feed a dog less cause I don’t like letting it out to poop

 

[spuri87]

Why paused? And alkalinity to? When you say manual, you mean by hand all at once? How much?

yeah by hand.. 4ml at a time, sometimes 2x a day (so 8 ml).. all at once in skimmer's neck.. I know @Coral reefer mentioned dilution is the key, but so far I havent seen any issues with the tangs.. some corals do look grumpy when I add LC, but next morning they look back normal.. I saw your post about new doser options available in market soon, so waiting instead of spend money on the RedSea Dosers right now.

I paused coz I am unable to dilute and dose these regularly manually as you can imagine with something called life coming in the way haha.. I feel with manual feedings it's going to cause more irregularity and thus causing instability.. I definitely need a doser, until then, I am just sticking to LC and Water Changes, something that seems to be working for now (unless LC is the reason behind these deaths, coz that will be bummer since I am only looking at tang's health, though there is always a chance that it can impact other fish too).

Alk is at 8.6

At least with anthias, it is a manageable challenge. I have two borb anthias, but that is not the reason I feed 4 times a day.

do you feed 4 times a day?

 

[spuri87]

1 time a day ain’t enough my man
I wouldn’t feed a dog less cause I don’t like letting it out to poop

yeah, always a debate in my head about what's the 'right' number of feedings per day.. there is definitely conflicting opinions in the forum as we could see in @Alexander1312 's post about how much feed is good enough.. I just wanted to slow down until I get the nutrients problem under control.. But after looking how cool even these soft/LPS corals are (had a great chat with @H2OPlayar about this last month), a part of me says to f*** the nutrients and forget SPS.. I am sure I will change my mind again one day, but at this juncture, I feel that I have a tank that I 'enjoy looking at' with vibrant, energetic and colorful fish and some softies and LPS, and I believe that's what matters the most in this hobby.

 

[Coral reefer]

My point is this. You bought the fish, now you gotta feed em. Not all fish are going to require the same amount, type, or frequency of food. Some of the tangs you have would appreciate it to be fed throughout the day. It isn’t hard to do. Or expensive. I feel that’s what’s right. You don’t have to agree, and I’ll quit badgering you. There is no two ways about it IMO, and yes you will get more aggression if you don’t feed enough.

 

[spuri87]

My point is this. You bought the fish, now you gotta feed em. Not all fish are going to require the same amount, type, or frequency of food. Some of the tangs you have would appreciate it to be fed throughout the day. It isn’t hard to do. Or expensive. I feel that’s what’s right. You don’t have to agree, and I’ll quit badgering you. There is no two ways about it IMO, and yes you will get more aggression if you don’t feed enough.

I appreciate your honest reflection on the situation, Mike!

 

[Alexander1312]

yeah, always a debate in my head about what's the 'right' number of feedings per day.. there is definitely conflicting opinions in the forum as we could see in @Alexander1312 's post about how much feed is good enough.. I just wanted to slow down until I get the nutrients problem under control.. But after looking how cool even these soft/LPS corals are (had a great chat with @H2OPlayar about this last month), a part of me says to f*** the nutrients and forget SPS.. I am sure I will change my mind again one day, but at this juncture, I feel that I have a tank that I 'enjoy looking at' with vibrant, energetic and colorful fish and some softies and LPS, and I believe that's what matters the most in this hobby.

I assume you were not referring to me specifically, but for the record, I do not advocate to feed only once a day (!) to reduce nutrients.

I sense that lots of folks overfeed, and if I remember correctly Rich R confirmed that fish can overeat.

I feed 12 fish the following:
1. 3 x throughout the day dense high quality different type of pellet food until 2 pm; AVAST 40 seconds per feeding interval.
2. I give one large sheet of nori daily for 2 tangs + foxface, and
3. I feed high quality frozen food later in the evening until they are all (!) full.

My German friends say this is too much. I can manage nutrients and I feel this a good compromise. I might slightly cut back at one time.

 

[spuri87]

I assume you were not referring to me specifically, but for the record, I do not advocate to feed only once a day (!) to reduce nutrients.

No, I was just referring to this thread where different folks had different ideologies about how much to feed:

Thread 'How much to feed fish? Do we tend to overfeed our pets? Easy to feed a lot, difficult to feed the right amount'

Mar 24, 2026

Looks like there are some rules as to how much to feed fish daily, some of it seems to come from aquaculturing fish for human consumption.

My nitrates are consistently higher than I wanted them and I am sure I am feeding too much, even after cutting back quite a bit.

I do not believe that fish need to be fed a ton daily and that focusing on water parameters leads to underfeeding fish. Both can be accomplished, balanced parameters and well fed fish, it is just less straight forward.

I heard that folks recommend between 2-3% of the fish’s body weight for daily pellet food consumption. 2%...

• Alexander1312
• Replies: 36
• Forum: Fish and Invertebrates

 

[Alexander1312]

yeah by hand.. 4ml at a time, sometimes 2x a day (so 8 ml).. all at once in skimmer's neck.. I know @Coral reefer mentioned dilution is the key, but so far I havent seen any issues with the tangs.. some corals do look grumpy when I add LC, but next morning they look back normal.. I saw your post about new doser options available in market soon, so waiting instead of spend money on the RedSea Dosers right now.

Sorry, I was not referring to the LC dosing but CA. I decided some time ago not to go the LC route, but my overall position on this topic is more neutral.

So are you dosing CA once a day, by hand, and also do you dose alkalinity?

 

[spuri87]

I paused coz I am unable to dilute and dose these regularly manually as you can imagine with something called life coming in the way haha.. I feel with manual dosing, it's going to cause more irregularity and thus causing instability.. I definitely need a doser, until then, I am just sticking to LC and Water Changes, something that seems to be working for now (unless LC is the reason behind these deaths, coz that will be bummer since I am only looking at tang's health, though there is always a chance that it can impact other fish too).

I paused manual dosing of both Calcium and soda ash for the reasons mentioned here.