Charles4400's Waterbox 100.3 Seahorse Build

[Charles4400]

Decided to finally do a seahorse build I have always wanted so here is the build thread.

I decided on the Waterbox 100.3 because I liked the extra few inches of depth it had over the Red Sea. Wanted a pre plumbed setup so I wouldn't have to deal with plumbing or drilling and Waterbox has had some very good reviews so this allowed me to also compare it with red sea (it will sit next to its bigger cousin a red sea max s 650).

Water box arrived 4/2/2020!

What's up with the dual pallets? Lol

 

[Charles4400]

I'll describe parts I am piecing them together as I install them. I have boxes scattered throughout the house so no customary giant pile of parts pic.

Pics of open crate

Putting the cabinet together was not too difficult but the instructions are pretty bad. Just have to pay attention to what the final product will look like and it was pretty straightforward. If you have put together IKEA furniture before you will be fine but dont expect detailed step by step.

The cabinet is plywood which was a selling point for me as well.

Some included lumbing parts

I found this out after ordering but before arrival so it was no real shock to me, but when ordering white, the inside of the cabinet will be black. This is fine and doesn't bother me at all but it would have been a surprise had I not known before it got here. The main website shows all white interior.

 

[Charles4400]

Assembled (without doors)

 

[Charles4400]

Circulation:
Going with a Cor 15 and 2x Reefwave 45s.

Really wanted to try out gyres since I have never used any on a setup before. Reefwaves just came out so wanted to see how they do. If they dont work out in this build I'll switch them out with x2 mp40s on my rsms650.

I really want a gentle back and forth motion going on since this will be a primarily softie and macro algae stocked tanked. So plan on running each gyre low and slow and alternating.

Since this is a seahorse build I am concerned about the reefwaves doing damage to seahorse tails if they hitch on it but I hear 'Nem Protect' will be releasing cages for reefwaves soon. I'll be sure to get them when they do!

I got a strainer for the Cor 15 from Gotfrogs who is a member here on this site. He sells them on etsy and they fit perfectly on a cor 20 and 15. He has a low profile one and a full size one. I got the full size. Love his cor strainers they look and feel factory. Highly recommended.

The cor 15 with full size strainer JUST fits in the return pump chamber of this sump. I mean it just fits with almost no room to spare!

There is maybe 1-2mm of wiggle room..but it fits!

If you are trying to get a cor hooked up you will need this part I got from Flexpvc.com:
1.25" spigot/1" slip by 3/4" barb

It glues to the cor union prefectly and fits the return hose perfectly. Btw waterbox only includes 1 hose clamp for the return hose so you will need to get another for your barb from the pump union.

Will install the reefwaves when I get water in the tank so no pics of that yet.

 

[Charles4400]

Skimmer:
I love my red sea skimmer 600 so decided to go for its smaller brother the RSK 300.

I've got it hooked up to an airline hose leading outside for some fresh and ph increasing outside air.

The skimmer chamber In the sump is huge and I plan on installing a baffle by Octo Aquatics who makes one for this particular sump. This will allow me to split the skimmer chamber so I can have a fuge.

As a side note the 100.3 now has the same size sump as the 100.4! That's an awesome bonus but only drawback is it pretty much takes up all the space in the cabinet for anything else. Luckily I have a closet behind the tank which will house controllers and most other electronics.

 

[Devaji]

this is going to be a great build! I have thought of the very same build. I even order a 5526P to go along with my 750 ( now 650P) but the GF said NO it was goingn to be a SH build. I to have been dreaming of a SH tank for many years...some day.

that cool about the nems guards for the RS Gyres. I think the WB 100.3 will be a great size tank for SH!
keep the updates coming so I can enjoy through you...haha

 

[Charles4400]

Thanks! This will be my first jump into sh so it's a new experience for me too. I have never done a tank with intentions of getting wanted macro algae in the dt so will see how it all goes! Wife is excited about getting sh in, but it might be awhile for that,will see how long the tank gets to settle in.

 

[Charles4400]

My main source of frustration so far are those dang Red Sea ReefLed 90 lights I got. I could NOT for the life of me get the 2 connected. I spent the last 2 days trying to get a connection with all the troubleshooting steps I could find. Both would not connect at the same time (making them both useless to me). I would get 1 connected after all day of trying but then not the other and vice versa! Arrgghhh!!!!

I've hooked up AI lights with no problems before and really wanted to like the ReedLeds but for me at least they would not connect to wifi and internet no matter what I tried.

Sending them back today and will probably get x2 Ai Hydra 32s instead (possibly kessils but am unfamiliar with those except for their fuge lights).

I hope saltwateraquarium.com.has a good return policy as they say they reimburse once the lights get back to them. I should get full credit but will update when its done.

This is making me nervous about opening and installing the Red Sea Reefwaves.

Bye bye ReefLeds and good riddance!

 

[drawman]

Following! Don't see enough dedicated seahorse tanks. Will you do pipefish as well?

 

[Charles4400]

Following! Don't see enough dedicated seahorse tanks. Will you do pipefish as well?

Yes! I am definitely planning to add pipefish in as well if all goes well. Seahorses will go in before them as I want to make sure I can keep the sh happy and well fed and if successful I think I will be confident enough to add pipefish.

 

[Charles4400]

Looks like water will be in the tank tomorrow! Ordered 25 lbs of live rock from kp aquatics and just got tracking for delivery tommorow.

I also got in 25lbs of tropic eden branch rock from premium aquatics (man I miss the days of real tonga branch...). Hopefully these will serve as some natural hitches. Probably got more than I needed but can't do the aquascape until I know exactly what I have to work with so waiting on the kpa rocks for final aquascape.


Tropic eden branch:

 

[Charles4400]

Today was a busy day. Live rock came in and I am pretty impressed by them. This is the best live rock I have gotten post ban! Best in terms of porosity and lack of boulders at least.

25 lbs of KP Aquatic Live Rock

So as far as critters...not many if any survived. There were dead bristle worms, a few tiny cleaner shrimp, a small urchin and some tiny starfish dead at the bottom.of the bag. That being said I am ok with that. I was planning to put the rocks in a bin with high salinity water to get the crabs and other unwanted out but looks like there was no need.

I was after the porous live rock more than the critters for this build since I have to be more careful with anything that could harm seahorses.

I like this rock better than the ones shipped with water as it seems the place that ships with water has far denser rocks.

Also at a little over $10 lb shipped to your door instead of airport pickup, I thinks that's pretty reasonable!

 

[Charles4400]

Got a carib sea live and dry sand, special grade.

I got 40 lbs of live sand (used all) and bought a 40 lb of drybsand (used half). Still cloudy and I think I put in a bot too much sand (wanted about 2-2-1/2" sandbed). Will get a better idea if I put too much sand after the water clears.

Rinsing dry sand

Not rinsing live sand

 

[Charles4400]

Aquascaping was a real pain on this build. Maybe because I found it difficult to work with the fake tonga branch and live rock and some old school dry pretty ban rock.all atvthe same time.

I wanted to get the live rock in water as soon as I could but found it difficult to get a good aquascape with tonga branch in this size tank. It took me alot longer to get an aquascape that I thought looked good with the rock that I had and I cant show pics yet because the water is too cloudy. Hope it turned out well!

I used some pre ban rock as a base as I didn't want to cover my new live rock in sand.

I didn't take any pics during aquascaping. Trying to do this with 2 kids at home bouncing off the walls while trying to put pieces together in a way I liked as fast as I can was hectic task. Finally done though. Hope the water clears by tommorow.

Got the apex el hooked up, return pump running and.heaters but that's about it at this point.

 

[count krunk]

Will this be full of macroalgae as well? Seahorse and pipefish, very interested to see how you build this out.

 

[Charles4400]

Will this be full of macroalgae as well? Seahorse and pipefish, very interested to see how you build this out.

Yes that's the plan, lots of microalgae and some softies. This will be my first forage into macro algae in the dt so it will be a new experience to me.

 

[Charles4400]

Water cleared up, hard to take pics because of the glare with no lights over the tank yet bc I returned the lights I had. Best pics I could get so far of the aquascape.

Ended up using all 25lbs of the branch rock and 25lbs of live with a few dry pieces of base rock. More rock than I was planning to use. Yhink it will look better with colorful macro algae.

 

[Charles4400]

Woohoo Reefwaves are connected to wi-fi baby!
Was having the same connection problems as the ReefLeds before. Couldn't believe it and was getting irked again.

I was doing the connection process through my android phone but decided to do it through an ipad. Wow the process was much better and much more direct as far as connecting to the reefwave network. I have a feeling the designers were iPhone users because connecting was MUCH easier (and successful that way!)

Maybe was the same for reefleds who knows.

The reefwaves are awesome! This is my first gyre so maybe they are all that way I dont know, but these 2 working together is pretty darn cool.

Cant take pics in tank bc of glare but I arranged them vertical and right next to overflow box for a really clean look. As one pushes water forward the other spins in reverse drawing water back and vice versa! Should give that nice sway I am looking for once macro algae and corals get in!

This drawing shows both blowing at once. There is a mode which alternates flow and spin direction (forward and reverse). But the orientation is how I have them placed in dt.

They also include this mesh covering which should protect against snails and seahorse tails until nem protect comes out with theirs!

I haven't had time to mess around with these that much but so far I am really liking them alot.

 

[Charles4400]

Fritz went in today and a better frontal shot of the aquascape.

 

[Charles4400]

Customer service at Red Sea really pulled through today. Was having a problem with a controller on one of the reefwaves. They responded quickly and were actually very helpful on the phone troubleshooting and then getting another controller sent out to me asap!

Gotta give props when well merited and I was completely satisfied with how things went.