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Josh's Waterbox 50.3

joshness

Supporting Member
INTRO:
Welcome to the beginning of my journey into reefing! A little background, I've done freshwater planted tanks on and off and tried my hand at a reef tank 15ish years ago. The technology was way different back then and keeping a nano tank (I tried a 10 gallon) was really tough and I only lasted a couple years. So, even though this is my second attempt at keeping a reef tank it is really my 2nd attempt. With that said, I knew how expensive this hobby is and decided to save costs I would buy a preowned tank. What I ended up was with a fully established tank of a couple years from a person that didn't have time to take care of the tank. There was a lot to learn especially in moving the actual tank and equipment. I bought a brute garbage can for the rocks, a bunch of buckets from Lowes, water jugs for the water, and a cooler for the livestock. I did not realize how heavy the tank would be and how much equipment I had to figure out to setup. Amazingly I did not lose any of the livestock or the existing coral/anemones.

TANK SPECS:
Manufacturer/Model: Waterbox 50.3 AIO
Dimensions: 35.4"×19.7"×17.7"
Display Volume: 40 gallons
Total Volume: 50 gallons
Filtration: Sponge / Bio balls
Start Date: Established about 2 years, took over March 2022


EQUIPMENT:
Standard Aquarium Controller Board - Adaptive Reef
Inkbird ITC-306A WiFi Temperature Controller (x2)
ReefSupply 100w Heater (x2)
AI Nero 3 (x2)
AI Prime 16 HD (x2)
Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off - Tunze
Auqa Gadget 5 Gallon Hydrofill Reservoir - Innovative Marine
MightyJet Desktop AIO DC Return Pump (326 GPH) - Innovative Marine
Tunze DOC Skimmer 9004
Auqa Gadget Desktop Minimax Pro Media Reactor - Innovative Marine
Santa Monica Drop 1.2 Algae Scrubber & HITOP Dual Outlet Aquarium Air Pump, Whisper Adjustable Fish Tank Aerator, & Timer

LIVESTOCK:
Fish/Invert#
Premium Snowflake Clownfish2
Yellow Corris Wrasse1
McCoskers Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri)1
Blue Sided Fairy Wrasse1
Melanurus Wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus)1
Coral Banded Shrimp1
Blue Mandarin Dragonet1
Purple Pin Cushion Urchin1
Berghia NudibranchStarted with 4, likely 0 now
Hermit Crabs4
Cerith SnailsNumerous
Turbo Snails1
Nassarius Snails5 or 6?
Astrea Snails (or Trochus?)6ish?

CORAL/ANEMONES:
(I'm not good at identifying corals so this is likely not very accurate, also forget about any color names/variations)
Bird's nest
JF Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris
Neon Green Star Polyp Branching
Green Star Polyp
Kenya Tree
Unknown Acan
Unknown Zoanthid
Eagle Eye Zoanthid
Radioactive Dragon's Eye Zoanthid
Rock Flower Anemones
Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemone
Green Torch Coral
Purple Stylophoras
Some kind of Green Anacrapora (I think?)
Acrapora Nasuta, Purple
Pink Montipora
Red Montipora Digitata
White Alveopora
2 kinds of green Leather Coral

THE GRAVEYARD:
RIP to the dead inhabitants due to my incompetence or just bad luck.
LIVE STOCK:
Royal Gramma Basslet - Went missing after day 2 and never saw it again.
Yellow Watchmen Goby - Went missing after day 2, very small in size.
Canary Blenny - Didn't die but had to give it up due to the Female Clown trying to murder it.
CORAL:
Unknown Acrapora - Bought on a whim and the polyps never extended.

Parameters:
(Phosphate, Alkalinity, Calcium, and Salinity all done with Hanna testers. PH and Nitrate with API, and Magnesium performed with Salifert)
DatePhosphates
(PPM)
Alkalinity
(DKH)
Calcium
(PPM)
Nitrates
(PPM)
Salinity
(PPT)
Magnesium
(PPM)
PHNotes
4/18/220.11848710 to 1534.3
4/30/220.117.649434.57.9
5/6/220.051034.3
5/20/220.197.653353411707.6
6/10/220.096.9462533.312607.8
6/28/220.298.650810 to 1535.614407.6Protein Skimmer wasn't operating correctly
7/13/220.248.2523103514208.1
7/25/220.4215Saw the numbers and did a water change
8/4/220.108.85531035.314107.8Realized my RO filters needed changing and was likely the cause.


To do list:
  • Add Dosing Information
  • Food info for both fish and corals

OBLIGATORY PICTURES:
(I'll organize this better later)
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20220620_162651.jpg
20220620_162703.jpg
20220620_162707.jpg
20220620_162728.jpg
20220620_162735.jpg
 
Last edited:
So just an update, I've had a huge amount of hair algae appear in the last week where it was all over my GSP and after removing as much as I could it looks bad. I'm planning to cut away most of it anyways and likely put a chalice there instead. Well, the cause is that my skimmer wasn't working quite right. Everything has been great but I made some changes to get the salinity a bit higher and to get the water level where it really should be (it was pretty low in the back) and I've been having trouble with the skimmer. Either too much bubbles or not enough. So, when I did my bi-weekly param checks I was shocked to see my phosphates so high. It all makes sense now. Anyways, hopefully everything is dialed in again and I'll have some better params for the next check.

Also, I've done the last fish add with the Mandarin dragonet. (I'll get pictures later). I was debating between that or a starry blenny (mainly due to the GHA) but I've always loved the Mandarins and I don't have to worry about aggression. I was told he was at Cali Kids for a while now and has been eating prepared foods but I should have a good supply of pods (I see a ton when I check the algae scrubber). However, to be safe I'm planning to dump a bottle of pods every 3 or 4 months.

Lastly I picked up a JF-Jack-O-Lantern Lepto and plan to put it on the rock work in front of the torch. Hoping it'll encrust. I'm planning to put some hammers and other torches in that area/wall in the future.
 
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