- Joined
- May 25, 2019
- Messages
- 174
- Reaction score
- 132
I’ve waited too long. I left this hobby in roughly 2007 only to come back to it in 2019.
Hello Everyone,
This is the start of my build thread. My reefing story will come at the end of this post. For those who just want the technical details and pics, here is my plan for equipment and process. It was inspired by BRS and Waterbox. Comments and suggestions are welcome - I don’t pretend to have this entirely figured out.
Update Full Tank Shot:
Tank:
SPS-dominant (really mixed) tank with a sizeable number of fish
Waterbox 170 4.5
Pumps:
Neptune Cor-20
Echotech MP40 (x3)
2 heaters on BRS controller (BRS 300w and Finnex 300w)
Lighting:
Aquatic Life Hybrid
4 Kessil A360x
4 Blue Plus ATI T5
Automation:
Neptune Apex
Neptune modules: ATK, WXM, Solenoid, AFS
Neptune DOS/DDR X2
Neptune Dos for AWC
Neptune Trident
Filtration:
Nyos 160 Skimmer
Kessil H380 Tuna (Refugium Light)
Carbon (as needed - bag in sump for now)
R/O Unit: 5 stage from BRS
QT Tank:
20 gallon
Aqua clear 300
Maxi-jet 1200
Sponge filter
I literally had no equipment leftover, so I will be placing a dozen orders or so to get this done. That part was more than fun.
Current Fish:
Green Chromis (x7)
Picasso Clown
Blond Naso Tang
Yellow Tang
Blue Jaw Trigger
Six Line Wrasse
Corals:
TBD SPS (I live near Cherry Corals and a few LFS, so will look to them based on availability)
Algae Barn:
1-2 Macro Algae
Copepods
Plankton
—My Background—
I started off in this hobby when my brother asked me to babysit his saltwater aquarium (this was around ‘96 or ‘97). He literally brought it over and dropped it off. I was a teenager and was totally fascinated by it - I thought he would never come back to get his 40 gallon tank - it was mine! He had fish, some of those barnacles, and an anemone. Looking back - obviously he too had no clue how to keep these animals alive. Well, he came back for his tank. I was so disappointed, but luckily my father was too. At my age, my father’s financing was required. He went and bought “us” the same 40 gallon setup. I was hooked! That soon turned into a 90 gallon tank that was pretty much Fish Only. The next upgrade was to a 180 gallon FOWLR. By this time, I had gotten pretty good at FOWLR with all of my fish surviving for years and years.
Then life hit me and I needed to travel for work. I also got really into budgeting and felt I needed to get myself into a better personal financial position as well. Given my time away traveling, my fear of leaks, and my drive towards financing, I sold my 180, the fish, and ALL of my equipment. It was tough to sell everything, especially some of the equipment that was in great shape. I remember thinking, “I should save this last final piece of equipment - a heater/chiller controller, it’s in great shape and I’ll use it again.” Nope, sold that too.
Approximately 12 years later (May, 2019) I got the itch back. I was speaking to an active hobbyist and was telling him that there were a few advances that I’m waiting for in this hobby for me to get back in. For me, they were: automation, open tank, less energy, less noise, and a modern look. He sort of sparked this crazy idea that I could get back into this. I work in technology, so I feel like this helps me to figure out which gadgets are actually going to help. I began researching and was instantly blown away by Waterbox. This was a tank that my wife could agree to being an awesome showpiece to place in our home.
After countless hours of research, I cannot believe what I was finding! The Neptune controller, it’s dozens of add ons, cloud connectivity and alerting. Waterbox with its modern design and to be honest, I liked how they kept their buying process simple with recommended top tier lighting, pumps, and filtration. Then echotech with their vortex with a battery backup, oh man, this just sent me over the top! LED lighting and DC power could help me justify a purchase based upon lower electrical usage (I estimated at the time that my 180 gallon with FOWLR cost roughly $75 per month in energy). Equipment aside, the biggest difference since I left is how the industry has moved towards setting standards and agreeing to generally accepted principles. Nothing was exactly new to me, but the labels and agreement showed me that this hobby has matured substantially since I left in 2007. This was most obvious after watching countless BRS episodes.
The Waterbox showed up with ZERO damage. Our only surprise was the black interior of the stand. This was a recent update that took me and my LFS rep by surprise. Thanks to reef2reef.com where this surprise had already been documented.
Hello Everyone,
This is the start of my build thread. My reefing story will come at the end of this post. For those who just want the technical details and pics, here is my plan for equipment and process. It was inspired by BRS and Waterbox. Comments and suggestions are welcome - I don’t pretend to have this entirely figured out.
Update Full Tank Shot:
Tank:
SPS-dominant (really mixed) tank with a sizeable number of fish
Waterbox 170 4.5
Pumps:
Neptune Cor-20
Echotech MP40 (x3)
2 heaters on BRS controller (BRS 300w and Finnex 300w)
Lighting:
Aquatic Life Hybrid
4 Kessil A360x
4 Blue Plus ATI T5
Automation:
Neptune Apex
Neptune modules: ATK, WXM, Solenoid, AFS
Neptune DOS/DDR X2
Neptune Dos for AWC
Neptune Trident
Filtration:
Nyos 160 Skimmer
Kessil H380 Tuna (Refugium Light)
Carbon (as needed - bag in sump for now)
R/O Unit: 5 stage from BRS
QT Tank:
20 gallon
Aqua clear 300
Maxi-jet 1200
Sponge filter
I literally had no equipment leftover, so I will be placing a dozen orders or so to get this done. That part was more than fun.
Current Fish:
Green Chromis (x7)
Picasso Clown
Blond Naso Tang
Yellow Tang
Blue Jaw Trigger
Six Line Wrasse
Corals:
TBD SPS (I live near Cherry Corals and a few LFS, so will look to them based on availability)
Algae Barn:
1-2 Macro Algae
Copepods
Plankton
—My Background—
I started off in this hobby when my brother asked me to babysit his saltwater aquarium (this was around ‘96 or ‘97). He literally brought it over and dropped it off. I was a teenager and was totally fascinated by it - I thought he would never come back to get his 40 gallon tank - it was mine! He had fish, some of those barnacles, and an anemone. Looking back - obviously he too had no clue how to keep these animals alive. Well, he came back for his tank. I was so disappointed, but luckily my father was too. At my age, my father’s financing was required. He went and bought “us” the same 40 gallon setup. I was hooked! That soon turned into a 90 gallon tank that was pretty much Fish Only. The next upgrade was to a 180 gallon FOWLR. By this time, I had gotten pretty good at FOWLR with all of my fish surviving for years and years.
Then life hit me and I needed to travel for work. I also got really into budgeting and felt I needed to get myself into a better personal financial position as well. Given my time away traveling, my fear of leaks, and my drive towards financing, I sold my 180, the fish, and ALL of my equipment. It was tough to sell everything, especially some of the equipment that was in great shape. I remember thinking, “I should save this last final piece of equipment - a heater/chiller controller, it’s in great shape and I’ll use it again.” Nope, sold that too.
Approximately 12 years later (May, 2019) I got the itch back. I was speaking to an active hobbyist and was telling him that there were a few advances that I’m waiting for in this hobby for me to get back in. For me, they were: automation, open tank, less energy, less noise, and a modern look. He sort of sparked this crazy idea that I could get back into this. I work in technology, so I feel like this helps me to figure out which gadgets are actually going to help. I began researching and was instantly blown away by Waterbox. This was a tank that my wife could agree to being an awesome showpiece to place in our home.
After countless hours of research, I cannot believe what I was finding! The Neptune controller, it’s dozens of add ons, cloud connectivity and alerting. Waterbox with its modern design and to be honest, I liked how they kept their buying process simple with recommended top tier lighting, pumps, and filtration. Then echotech with their vortex with a battery backup, oh man, this just sent me over the top! LED lighting and DC power could help me justify a purchase based upon lower electrical usage (I estimated at the time that my 180 gallon with FOWLR cost roughly $75 per month in energy). Equipment aside, the biggest difference since I left is how the industry has moved towards setting standards and agreeing to generally accepted principles. Nothing was exactly new to me, but the labels and agreement showed me that this hobby has matured substantially since I left in 2007. This was most obvious after watching countless BRS episodes.
The Waterbox showed up with ZERO damage. Our only surprise was the black interior of the stand. This was a recent update that took me and my LFS rep by surprise. Thanks to reef2reef.com where this surprise had already been documented.
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