Finally... After 5 years out of the hobby : Waterbox 220.6g Dream Build

[esther]

I honestly never thought that we would get back into the hobby... Yet, here we are. All it took was the Waterbox Blue Friday (and my husband being out of town on a business trip) and we're back again. This time we're going to do things A LOT differently. Slow & steady wins the race... Last time we wanted all the fish and all the corals and all the new reefing toys NOW NOW NOW. I guess it's a good thing that our tank is 8 to 12 weeks out.

Today we bought:

• 215 pounds of dry rock (Bought some really great pieces at Age of Aquariums here in Long Beach, CA)
• Two 32g garbage cans
• Two gallons of bleach

We're not going the live rock route this time. Since we have 12 weeks, we're going to bleach cure the rock and then we're going to cycle it prior to getting our tank (according to this video by Bulk Reef Supply:

.

We put one gallon of bleach in each trash can and then filled with tap water. We're planning on letting the rock soak for two weeks and then we'll let it dry out for a week. After a week, we're going to put it back in water with some Erāse-Cl Dechlorinator and we'll test with some Chlorine strips to make sure we're good to go.

That's it for now...

 

[Theaalex]

Congrats, I ordered the 6026 peninsula myself. Hopefully it arrives in a few weeks. When is yours coming?

 

[esther]

Congrats, I ordered the 6026 peninsula myself. Hopefully it arrives in a few weeks. When is yours coming?

I have no idea... I'm thinking 6-8 weeks it'll ship. So, maybe 12 weeks? Did you get a delivery estimate from Waterbox? I only got my order confirmation.

 

[djrice69]

Congrats can’t wait for more pictures updated

 

[Hugo’s_reef]

I have no idea... I'm thinking 6-8 weeks it'll ship. So, maybe 12 weeks? Did you get a delivery estimate from Waterbox? I only got my order confirmation.

I’m in the same boat ...it just said back order 6-8 week delivery :/...


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[five.five-six]

Try and get at least a small piece of MATURE live rock in with that dry rock for Biodiversity. We have been seeing more and more outbreaks of dinoflagellates and I think it’s rooted in the common practice of using dry rock and the lack of biodiversity.


Good luck on your tank, I came back after about 10 years away and here is where I am now

http://www.socalireefs.com/index.php?threads/5-56-225-gallon-nanoreef.93673/

take a look, you might get some ideas.

 

[esther]

I’m in the same boat ...it just said back order 6-8 week delivery :/...


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Let me know if you get any updates... I’ll share mine when I get it.


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[esther]

Try and get at least a small piece of MATURE live rock in with that dry rock for Biodiversity. We have been seeing more and more outbreaks of dinoflagellates and I think it’s rooted in the common practice of using dry rock and the lack of biodiversity.


Good luck on your tank, I came back after about 10 years away and here is where I am now

http://www.socalireefs.com/index.php?threads/5-56-225-gallon-nanoreef.93673/

take a look, you might get some ideas.

Nice tank! Thanks for sharing. 😊

So, after we're done bleach curing (2 weeks), we're going to rinse the rock with RODI water with some dechlorinator for another week. Then we're going to mix some salt water, heat the cans, throw in some pumps and add Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter Clean as well as Dr. Tim's Waste Away until we get the tank (probably 8 weeks). We'll throw in a bag of carbon for good measure as well. Then we're going to cycle the tank using the BRC/WWC method for 4 months. I want to have the tank as stable as possible before we put any corals in.

 

[Hugo’s_reef]

Let me know if you get any updates... I’ll share mine when I get it.


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Will do


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[five.five-six]

Nice tank! Thanks for sharing. 😊

So, after we're done bleach curing (2 weeks), we're going to rinse the rock with RODI water with some dechlorinator for another week. Then we're going to mix some salt water, heat the cans, throw in some pumps and add Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter Clean as well as Dr. Tim's Waste Away until we get the tank (probably 8 weeks). We'll throw in a bag of carbon for good measure as well. Then we're going to cycle the tank using the BRC/WWC method for 4 months. I want to have the tank as stable as possible before we put any corals in.

Thanks for the complement on my tank, I am very proud of it

I still think you should throw some live rock into the mix. Are you going to put any fish in during that 4 months?

 

[esther]

Thanks for the complement on my tank, I am very proud of it

I still think you should throw some live rock into the mix. Are you going to put any fish in during that 4 months?

Yes, we're going to add a couple of fish during the 4 month period. No coral. I'm terrified of adding live rock to my tank this time around. I think I'm going to stick to my gut feeling of no live rock. We're going to add live sand. That should help, right?

 

[five.five-six]

Yes, we're going to add a couple of fish during the 4 month period. No coral. I'm terrified of adding live rock to my tank this time around. I think I'm going to stick to my gut feeling of no live rock. We're going to add live sand. That should help, right?

Yes, that will help.

 

[esther]

Quick update! Rocks are still hanging out in their bleach bath. We'll be taking them out next week. Better to be safe than sorry.

We ordered our Bulk Reef Supply 7 Stage Pro Plus 150 GPD Water Saver RO/DI System this morning and thought we would prep the bathroom/living room (where the fish tank will be going) so that we can have the RO/DI system automatically fill the ATO Reservoir. We also decided to upgrade the two outlets that are going to be behind the fishtank to GFI outlets.

Here is a before photo:

Here's the after:

Through to the living room:

Things are slowly (but surely) coming along. 😊

 

[five.five-six]

It looks like you are planning on directly connecting your RODI directly to the tank top off. I recommend against this for some reason. Because if the shut off fails weird you have a wet floor and a brackish tank. Also RO DI units don’t do well with on and off on and off they have what’s called TDS creep. All that said, many successful reefers use the direct connect method. I just recommend you at least use redundant shut off valves.

 

[Vstryker]

Cooool another waterbox owner! Mine just arrived other day, can't wait to unpack this weekend! Keep us updated as I might do a build thread myself.

 

[esther]

Cooool another waterbox owner! Mine just arrived other day, can't wait to unpack this weekend! Keep us updated as I might do a build thread myself.

View attachment 67862

Jealous! When did you order it?

 

[Vstryker]

Ordered early October and luckily they honored the sale price on Blue November since it wasn't shipped yet. So 6-8 weeks time is about right

 

[esther]

OK, quick update. Rocks took a bleach bath for two weeks. We removed all the rock and let them dry out for a week.

Next Steps: We'll be filling two 32g garbage cans with RO/DI water using our @Bulk Reef Supply 7-Stage Pro Plus RO/DI System (with booster pump). We'll be adding in the rock and then testing the water before adding Cloram-X. We're going to let it sit overnight and then we'll test the water again.

I feel like this is taking forever. I've forgotten how hard to be patient with this hobby.

 

[Peter Hall]

If you have the inclination Id recommend also soaking the rocks in clean water and adding seaklear phosphate remover a few times. I think that really helped skip the algae outbreak in my 300 when I started it. I also dosed a few bottles of bacteria once i had everything up and running.

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[esther]

If you have the inclination Id recommend also soaking the rocks in clean water and adding seaklear phosphate remover a few times. I think that really helped skip the algae outbreak in my 300 when I started it. I also dosed a few bottles of bacteria once i had everything up and running.

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Thanks for the tip! We'll look into it.