Cunnings Waterbox 180.5 Build

[Cunning_plan]

Hi All,

Today I am starting off my upgrade journey. My existing tank is a Red Sea Reefer 250 (65 Gallons). I will be upgrading to a Waterbox 180.5. My hope in all of this is be able to get some of the fish, corals and inverts I was never able to before whilst maintaining a stable mixed reef environment.

My 4 year old son has fairly severe autism and my hope is that this will be a source of calm for him and something we can do together as he gets a bit older and develops more (he is currently non verbal). Either way, with a stressfull job, lockdown and a 9 months baby in the house, reefing has been an amazing source of calm and mindfullnes for me this year. Despite the ups and downs that come with this hobby, it's been a real boon for my mental health this year. On top of that, being able to come to a forum where poeple are just helping each other out with reefing rather than moaning about the state of the world is a real escape. As such, it's great to be able to invest further into the hobby.

Kit List

Item​	Specifics​	Notes​
Tank	Waterbox 180.5
Lights	3 x Red Sea Reef LED 90	Two of these coming off the old tank. I'm not convinced I'd have stuck with Red Sea otherwise
Powerheads	1 x VorTech MP40 2 x Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6040	The Tunze powerheads are from the old tank. I will likely replace with another MP40 over time
Skimmer	Red Sea Skimmer 300	This is probably a bit small now but is from the old tank. I will replace as and when the bio load changes much
Pump	TMC Reef-Pump Connect 5000
Heater	D-D Titanium Heater 500w + Controller
Dosing	2 x Reef Factory Dosing Pumps	Plan is to add a KH Keeper at a later date
UV	TMC V2 UV 600	Not something I have used before but think it makes sense If I am going to have tangs etc
Refugium Light	Tunze 8811	Yes, I know this isn't the red fuge light, I realised too late on that one!
Sand	50kg Reeflowers Pearl White	I will not be moving any sand over. It looks like a bit of a risk for little benefit.
Rock	20kg Artificial Rock	I will also move all of the rock from my old tank. This includes some small rubble which I keep in the fuge and as a section in the display to grow pods and zoas

The initial stocking will simply be the contents of my existing tank, these are:

• Engineer Goby (Almost a foot long)
• 2 x Picasso Clown
• 2 x White Belly Wrasse
• 2 x Bangai Cardinals
• Orchid Dottyback
• Purple Firefish

Given my existing stock I am still not sure exactly what to add. I am thinking of adding some from the list below however...

• Hippo Tang
• Powder Blue Tang
• Yellow Tang (seem to still be some around at reasonable rates here)
• Flame Hawkfish
• 3 x Anthias (Not quite sure on type)

Nutrient Control
The plan is to run the skimmer and fuge initially. If this becomes a problem however I will likely start carbon dosing, either with NoPox or vinegar.

Current Questions

• Does anyone have any thoughts on stocking? What would work nicely with my existing community?
• Are there any obvious switchs people would make on the equipment list?
• Can anyone point me at the best bit of reading on tank transfers? I'm aware there are lots of threads on this so happy just to be pointed at what people think the most valuable information is.

Final Thoughts
Notably missing here is an aquarium controller. As a data scientist I remain amazed at myself for not having fallen down the data and automation rabbit hole just yet. I think over time this is something I will likely end up pursuing, I'm really just waiting to see how things develop in this space. My gut feeling is this is a space that will be quite heavily disrupted over the next 12 months. I am a big fan of the Reef Factory stack that seems to be developing. Based on how I get on with their pumps and the KH Keeper I will probably be better placed to make a call.

 

[Idoc]

Sounds like a fun project! I have a 75g tank and a 180 is something i really want!

I think your equipment looks good...i see you caught your refugium light issue already. Have you looked into the Icecap gyres? I switched on my tank and they seem really awesome so far! At cheaper than Ecotech stuff... but i do really like Tunze products! Ecotech just send like such a ripoff... tunze is good, powerful, well engineered, and priced well.

Can't point you directly to a tank transfer thread that i can think of, but a simple search on the forum will give a lot of info.

Good luck...start a build thread!

 

[SaltyT]

You're going to love going from 65 gal to 180 gal! Sooo much more room and options for stocking. I'm looking forward to watching your build!

 

[Cunning_plan]

So the time has finally come. Getting it through the house was... Exciting. But we're in. It feels so so much bigger than my reefer 250.

Annoyingly I am now due to be away for a week but that will give it time to settle out, warm up etc. Next weekend I will be moving across the rock, coral and fish.

 

[Cunning_plan]

So we are up and settled. I wanted to put together a bit of an update of what we ended up with...

Item	Specifics	Notes
Tank	Waterbox 180.5
Lights	3 x Red Sea Reef LED 90	Two of these coming off the old tank. I'm not convinced I'd have stuck with Red Sea otherwise
Powerheads	1 x VorTech MP40 2 x Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6040 1 x Fluval CP1	The MP40is at the far end generating the main flow. The two Tunzes generate flow behind the rockwork. The Fluval is there to get some more flow on my chaeto
Skimmer	Red Sea Skimmer 300	This is probably a bit small now but is from the old tank. I will replace as and when the bio load changes much
Pump	TMC Reef-Pump Connect 5000
Heater	D-D Titanium Heater 500w + Controller
Dosing	2 x Reef Factory Dosing Pumps	No alkalinity draw yet so currently dosing a small amount of NoPox to keep nitrates and phosphates stable
UV	TMC V2 UV 600	Not something I have used before but think it makes sense If I am going to have tangs etc
Refugium Light	Kessil H380	I found a second hand one at a great price. Grows insance amount of chaeto.
Sand	50kg Reeflowers Pearl White
Rock	20kg Artificial Rock	Also addded all of my old rockwork.

 

[Cunning_plan]

In terms of livestock I started with:

• Engineer Goby
• 2 x Picasso Clown
• 2 x White Belly Wrasse
• 2 x Bangai Cardinals
• Orchid Dottyback
• Purple Firefish

To this I then added:

• Foxface Rabbitfish
• Purple Tang
• Filefish
• Kole Tang

I'd welcome any thoughts on if I am overstocked, have capcity or am about right.

 

[Cunning_plan]

So last week I had a minor disaster. When my wife went downstairs to find some milk for my daughter at 04:00 she returned to tell me that 'The tank is making a funny noise'. I came downstairs to find the kitchen absolutley drenched in water...

As it transpires, the return pump had blown off the tube attaching it to the tank. This resulted in the pump (running full power) firing the water in my sump into the cabinet and onto the floor (and a lot of the wiring). My skimmer had somehow also used this as an opportunity to overflow everywhere covering everything in a thin veneer of foamy crap. Not my favourite way to start the day.

I was able to get the return pump fitted a bit better this time (lots of boilding water and eblow greese). I also squeezes the plastic clip with a wrench to the point of going blue in the face. I still don't have the confidence to put the pump up aboce 50% now which is a shame, I'm also a lot more paranoid about going on holiday without a tank sitter.

Anyhow, the whole affair had me thinking a bit more about controllers. Whilst in some ways this is a fantastic argument to go get an Apex. I'm not sure how much it would have helped here. From an alerting perspective my reef factory temperature monitor had pinged me a message already. The real advantage would have been if I could have had a leak detector kill my pumps etc. I just don't know if that becomes more dangerous in the case of false negatives... Welcome thoughts.

 

[Cunning_plan]

Some photos of the tank from today.

Probably my favourite zoa in my tank.

This somehow recovered from arriving bleached and dead. I had it sat in the sand at the back of the tank 'just in case' for 2-3 months.

Side on shot which you'd see from where I stand to do the cooking. Been a bit of a challenge to scape so it looks interesting from both angles. Especially as this bit on the end gets sunlight for an hour a day.

A more normal view! Aquascaping is intended to give as many nooks, swim throughs and 'bays' as possible. Far right is largely under sand as my engineer goby has built his tunnels there. They are now starting to extend towards the middle of the tank.

My first real challice. This is notable as it looks as good under natural sunlight as under deep blues so my hope is it becomes a big feature at that end of the tank.

And finally a shot showing with the sunlight coming through.

 

[Cunning_plan]

So I decided to re structure my sump. Now that I'm not using filter socks. I had a lot of space going to waste.

I cut out the filter cup holders and the baffles on that side, this opened up a big space which fit my skimmer. It means my skimmer is before my fuge, but it opens up a massive space for my chaeto. The whole thing also looks a lot cleaner.

Any thoughts?

 

[thewedge]

How is your tank progressing? It looks great! Curious how it's going without the socks. I just got my 180.5 setup. Just working on the scape. Hoping to be adding water in a week or so.

 

[Cunning_plan]

How is your tank progressing? It looks great! Curious how it's going without the socks. I just got my 180.5 setup. Just working on the scape. Hoping to be adding water in a week or so.

Honestly great. I was really unsure about it initially but I wanted to focus my sump around as big a refugium as I could as historically I had real issues with nutrients.

The tank is so algae free I have been tempted to make posts about it to see if there is a problem. Water is nice and clear so no complaints.

I do get a chunk of detritus building up in the sump, I usually just give my chaeto a good shake when I turn it over now as the corals seem to love it when it goes back into the water column. I also have a bunch of rubble in the sump and am now drowning in pods.

so… yeah. I was rather worried about doing it, especially having to cut up my sump to take things out, but I am really glad I went with it.

 

[thewedge]

That's really awesome! I definitely plan on using the refugium section to host pods. I had a 65gal for 6 years. Looking forward to applying some of the lessons learned. Not looking forward to all the new lessons yet to be learned

 

[Cunning_plan]

That's really awesome! I definitely plan on using the refugium section to host pods. I had a 65gal for 6 years. Looking forward to applying some of the lessons learned. Not looking forward to all the new lessons yet to be learned

I cannot begin to explain to you just how much easier I found a 180g to a 65g.

Part of it is that the size forced me to go triton, but the ability to have some real herbivores (tangs and foxface), the wider margin for error on paramaters and the larger room for more diverse environments all play a big part.

You will love it.

 

[thewedge]

I cannot begin to explain to you just how much easier I found a 180g to a 65g.

Part of it is that the size forced me to go triton, but the ability to have some real herbivores (tangs and foxface), the wider margin for error on paramaters and the larger room for more diverse environments all play a big part.

You will love it.

That's awesome to hear! Thank you