[TigerWithBarbs]

I'm excited to have the opportunity to start a new tank journal! I've began the process of breaking down my existing 75g tank and replacing it with a brand new Waterbox Clear 4820. I pulled the trigger on this during their recent 15% off and free shipping sale.

I started this journal a few days into the process so I'll have to add some photos of the progress already made in some posts below.

Theme:
I want this tank to be different from my previous four footer which was heavily planted with lots of stems, ferns, and a mass of crypts. My wife has recently started scaping tanks with me and she has pushed for this tank to be "lightly planted." After explaining that we've got to plant heavy to mitigate algae issues, we've settled on heavily planting the tank with "lighter" looking plants. The majority of the tank will be varieties of buce, anubias, and java ferns. These will be supplemented by pops of red from my existing stock of rotala SG 'blood red' and AR mini.

Fauna:
I'll be transferring all of my existing show tank's livestock and adding some of the fish that I've delayed introducing to the community in anticipation of rescaping that tank. The only certain additions to the list of existing livestock below are a school of sterbai cories. I'm considering a group of electric blue acaras but we have not yet settled on a primary feature fish just yet. I'd also like to do some black skirt tetras if the stocking levels permit it.

• 20 Rummynose Tetras
• 12 Colombian Tetras
• 12 Cardinal Tetras
• 8 Tiger Barbs (placid holdovers from several tanks ago 😅)
• 1 Bolivian Ram

Flora:
The tank will primarily be epiphyte based. I've ordered a ton of buce, anubias, and ferns which will be complemented with pops of color provided by AR mini and rotala SG 'blood red'. We're going to try to get some HC cuba going in certain areas, but since I'm forgoing aquasoil that may be difficult even with heavy root tab placement and high tech equipment.

Equipment:

• Waterbox Clear four footer tank and stand
• Chihiros WRGB2 Pro
• Fluval FX4
• CO2 supplementation with inline reactor

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Setup:
The tank arrived in the morning on a large pallet with the flat-packed stand boxed up on top of the tank. Delivery went smoothly and I jumped right into assembly. The stand itself took a couple of hours to put together. Its no more difficult than Ikea furniture. So lots of cams and such. Getting the actual tank onto the stand was quite the process. Glass moving suction cups helped, but it was still quite the task to center it.

One thing that was surprising was the stand has a large cutout on the top of the stand itself meaning for a few inches, the rim of the tank is not supported on the backside. Similarly, the stand hangs over the cabinet doors. I assume since the tank is 12mm glass, its sturdy enough to be placed like this--otherwise why would they do it!

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Some thoughts on equipment:
The Waterbox is a luxury item--there's no other way to put it. If I was going to take the plunge in setting this tank up I wanted to complement it with similarly high-end equipment. This meant ditching the two generic SunSun and Aquatop canisters on my existing four footer.

I opted to go with a single FX4. I took out the media this came with an added in my own media in a coarse-medium-filter floss progression along with ceramic media. To start this will also be running my inline CO2 reactor. If the flow isn't sufficient I'll opt for a powerhead to start before contemplating a second filter just to run the CO2. I'd like to avoid the additional lily pipes on the tank if at all possible.

For lighting I was torn. Originally I went with a pair of AI Prime HD 16 Freshwater lights. These were supposed to have a coverage of 24in and were widely considered to be capable of high lighting. Once this pair of lights arrived and I tested them out I was entirely disappointed. Not only was two of these lights entirely inadeuqate for even medium lighting, I was convinced it would have taken at least four for adequate spread. At about $300 a pop for the light and mounts that was not an option. I returned those lights and purchased the brand new Chihiros WRGB2 Pro with the metal hanging brackets. This came out to about $550, roughly the same as the pair of AI lights, but with a much higher lighting output and--I'd argue--a more appealing aesthetic.

For what its worth, I was quite happy with my initial plumbing. This is much better than the rats nest under my previous four footer.

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Initial Scape Setup:
I'm a big fan of MD Fishtanks on Youtube. I've learned most of what I've picked up in the hobby from his videos. Part of the reason I wanted to breakdown my four footer and redo it was that I've learned so much in the last year or so and wanted to apply those skills to a larger tank than the smaller 10-25 gallon tanks I've scaped recently.

I started with an initial layer of filter bags filled with a mixture of pea gravel and PFS to add height and provide space for beneficial bacteria to colonize within the substrate system. I opted against any aquasoil this go around, largely because it wasn't available at my aquascaping shop recently and because I don't necessarily find it necessary without an abundance of demanding root feeders. I did add about 30 root tabs across the surface of the tank before adding sand. That should provide sufficient substrate fertilization for some time.

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Here's some photos of the other tanks I have running currently. Most of these were setup without their own tank journal.

25 gallon pea puffer tank.

22 gallon long Panda Cory Island

Previous 75 gallon setup

60p blackwater setup and 6 gallon betta cube

45p Chili Rasbora Tank (initial setup photo...its much different now)

 

[ben_in_oz]

Originally I went with a pair of AI Prime HD 16 Freshwater lights. These were supposed to have a coverage of 24in and were widely considered to be capable of high lighting. Once this pair of lights arrived and I tested them out I was entirely disappointed.

I am running two AI Prime HD 16 Freshwater lights on my Waterbox 4820 and think they're doing an okay job. However I am also setting up a 60P next to the Waterbox and the 60P has a Chihiros Slim WRGB II - that Chihiros light is far far brighter than the AI Primes.

The Primes are doing okay on my Waterbox and I'm getting good plant growth but I do wonder if it would have been better to go with a Chihiros - definitely would have been less cost to go Chihiros.

Did you take PAR readings on yours or was it just obvious the Primes weren't up to the task?

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

I am running two AI Prime HD 16 Freshwater lights on my Waterbox 4820 and think they're doing an okay job. However I am also setting up a 60P next to the Waterbox and the 60P has a Chihiros Slim WRGB II - that Chihiros light is far far brighter than the AI Primes.

The Primes are doing okay on my Waterbox and I'm getting good plant growth but I do wonder if it would have been better to go with a Chihiros - definitely would have been less cost to go Chihiros.

Did you take PAR readings on yours or was it just obvious the Primes weren't up to the task?

I didn’t take any PAR readings. It was obvious that they were too dim for what I like to run. They were less powerful than my two fluval 3.0’s. The Chihiros is set up now and is leaps and bounds better.

This is about 50%. Don’t mind the hardscape and plants I’m keeping the wood saturated until I can power wash the nerite eggs off. And the plants arrived with my big Buce Plant order this afternoon so they’re getting some light in.

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Planted the tank tonight! Can’t wait to get some good photos during tomorrows photo period.
First time using AR mini tissue cups. They do look quite sad when initially being planted. I hope that they recover…

Ditched the HC Cuba idea when I opened the tissue cup and immediately saw how difficult and tedious it would be to plant—in sand no less. I messed it up so badly cleaning the goo off that I doubt it’s salvageable for any of the other tanks.

 

[TigerWithBarbs]

Now that the water has cleared and we've added the first fish I've been able to get a couple good initial photos. First fauna in were a pair of blue acaras, 24 xray tetras, 10 albino cories, some otos, and my Bolivian ram.