G5Flier's WATERBOX 75.2 Build

[g5flier]

Order and Delivery

I had been thinking about adding a 2nd tank and definitely wanted a “cube shape” system just for SPS. I was thinking about a Red Sea Reefer (RSR) 170, as I already own the RSR 525XL and had great luck and success with that. But the total system size of only 43 gallons was just a bit too small, I knew I wanted to use a Radion XR30 G4 Pro and that would have been overkill for the 170 but the 24x24x21 size of the Waterbox 75.2 seemed perfect. I had seen the Waterbox products at both Reef-A-Palozza Orlando and again at MACNA in New Orleans this year and honestly it was very similar to Red Sea and the perfect size for what I needed so I made my mind up to get one on order. There are a few videos on the WB line on You Tube but very little outside of that on the web and no build threads that I could find so here I am on R2R doing my first build.


I ordered the tank as part of the Black Friday sales event from Saltwater Aquarium (saltwateraquarium.com) and was able to score a nice discount, 10% off, 5% account credit and 5% rewards, so the net cost was $1,238.50. Not bad for a 75 gallon system with sump, plumbing, cabinet and an auto-top off kit. I ordered it and less then a week later received a call from the trucking company telling me it will be here tomorrow.


The WB 75.2 was well packed and fully wrapped on a pallet, the main tank in a thick wood fiberboard box and then inside another thick cardboard box was the tank, inside of that was the sump. Another box contained the cabinet. Everything was wrapped well and arrived in 100% excellent condition. A few freebies were included, some food, a couple magazines, etc and a nice user manual for the tank and another one for the cabinet.

 

[g5flier]

Equipment

About the same time I got my order going for the rest of the equipment; EcoTech Radion XR30 G4 Pro, EcoTech Vortex MP40, EcoTech Vectra S1, Nyos Quantum 120 Skimmer, Finnex 200 Watt heater, Apex power bar EB8, PMI Module and PH and Temp probes. I already have the Apex 2016 system running on my RSR 525 so will use the PMI to add the WB 75.2 to it. And all the EcoTech equipment will be added to my Reeflink system as a new tank. I’ve used all EcoTech and Nyos on my RSR 525 will good success so that’s why its going into the WB 75.2 as well.

I went thru a lengthy learning curve with Florida Dry rock on the RSR 525 and decided to use Live rock this time around, so I bought about 20 pounds from my LFS and got put it into a bucket to cycle it about 2 weeks prior to buying the new WB and other equipment.

 

[g5flier]

Cabinet Build

Having built many IKEA type cabinets and the RSR 525 cabinet, this one went together easily without any issues, the quality was pretty much the same as the RSR from what I could tell. The best “adder” over the RSR was the adjustable feet; I remember placing shims on the RSR to get it level and the WB was 100% better here. The instructions on building the cabinet left a lot to be desired but there is a video of another cabinet build on the WB website to get even a newbie thru the assembly. Total time here was about 2 hours.

 

[g5flier]

Tank Unboxing / Assembly

My son in-law helped me get it out of the boxes and off the skid and down into my basement office (man-cave/fish-room), guessing it weighed 100+ pounds so definitely a two-person job. Took off the shrink-wrap and cleaned the glass with some RODI/Vinegar and Walla, a beautiful new tank was before my eyes! There was a slight amount of tape residue on one side of the glass but that came right off with a little Goof-Off. The seams, glass qualify and clarity was top notch. The laser engraved logo on the front glass was a nice touch. A third box contained the plumbing parts; all the plumbing parts are Schedule 80 PVC! Everything went together very easily, including the dual return nozzles (another WB point here).

Placed the tank on the cabinet, the rubber pad is attached to the tank rather then the cabinet like the RSR and screwed together the PVC drains and returns. The sump is a good size, about 25 gallons according to WB, my only complaint here is the placement of the filter socks, they are in the rear of the sump, behind the skimmer chamber so getting to them every few days for cleaning may be a challenge. They are a standard size however and no more having to buy more expensive RS filter socks!

 

[g5flier]

Water goes in tomorrow

 

[Mrx7899]

finally been waiting for someone to do a waterbox build. Waterbox is going to be my next tank just waiting for their bigger sizes to come out next year.

 

[g5flier]

Fill her up...

So the journey begins, did the final checks on my filling station water and began putting the first 35 gallons of Red Sea Coral Pro into the WB, so far so good. Made up another batch and pumped in about 35 more gallons for a total of 70. Wanted to leave some room for my 25 pounds of live rock . No leaks, so all is well.

Sentry ATO – Auto top off
Being an Apex ATK user on my Red Sea system, I was hesitant to use this “freebie” ATO on this new build. But gave it a go anyway, I mean I can always add the Apex unit at later time this one isn't what I like. First impression out of the box wasn’t that good, the tubing that comes with the system is terrible, its tacky first off and sticks to itself, this alone wouldn’t be an issue but it was packed tight with a zip-tie and was so stuck together that several kinks in the line never did open. I only needed about 2 feet of line and it came with a lot more so I just cut it to size and was able to get enough to use.

Once the tank and sump were full I placed it in the RODI fill container in the WB sump, followed the instructions and a few hours later I heard it come on, not nearly as loud as the Apex so maybe this will be a keeper after-all. If I had gone the RSR 170 route I would have had to pick up an ATO which would add another $100-$200 to the cost so this coming with the WB tank was a nice plus. 3 day update...working like a champ, very quiet and very quickly brings the level up due to good pressure.

Speaking of the sump, the RODI container which is built into the sump is a full 5 gallons, thats actually bigger then the revisor on my 139 gallon RSR. Based on my evaporation I see on the RSR this 5 gallons should last a full week (very nice!).

 

[g5flier]

Time for Live Rock...

Had a few aqua-scapes in mind and began placing the rock into the WB, this is going to be SPS dominant and I wanted a few sweeping arms with access to the light and limited shadowing. I haven't glued this one yet so I'll look at it for a few days and determine if I want to make any changes or not.

Filled with water and running on a pump out of my salt water mixing station (my Vectra S1 is coming this week), I can't believe how easy it was to set the drain. The RSR took many variations and constant adjustments to get it quiet. This one was nearly silent, the only noise was a slight trickle sound from the water flowing over the filter socks. Another BIG PLUS is the return comes with a DUAL return. I had to order parts from BRS when building my RSR to get the dual pipes.

The single Radion arm was in the way of the return cover, its 1/4 thick acrylic and I was a bit nervous cutting it, everything came out perfect using a band saw and a Dremel. The cover now fits perfectly over the Radion arm and the cover makes whatever noise there was silent.

And yes, going with a bare bottom, planning on covering it with coraline, montipora and a few other things. Already I can see the benefits, the MP40 is so powerful in this cube and any small particles gather in the corner and can easily be siphoned off!

 

[g5flier]

Time for some life in the Waterbox...

Given I'm using live rock and it was in the brute for 4 weeks before the tank was set up its fully cycled. Did a full test of the water and everything was perfect. So let me introduce the first two members of the new WB 75.2, ordered them yesterday from The Coral Reef, they specialize in Clown fish. These two are snowflake clowns with "bullet holes" https://www.coralreeftn.com/ should be here this afternoon.

 

[g5flier]

My Clowns didn't arrive and UPS can't find them...

 

[g5flier]

UPS finally delivered the clowns, a full 24 hours late, they were very well packaged, inside a foam cooler, heater pack and newspaper. Both were doing well despite the fact that the water temperature in their bag had reached 68.5F. Acclimated them to the water and temperature and they are doing well. Now I can answer the question...What's in your Waterbox?

 

[Scubafrog]

Thank you for doing a WB build thread. Looks great and glad the clowns survived.

 

[TheReefNoob]

My Clowns didn't arrive and UPS can't find them...

Oh no...[emoji27] [emoji27] [emoji27]

 

[TheReefNoob]

I did the same thing as you, I got a Waterbox 75.2 during all the black Friday deals. Tank got delivered on Tuesday. Starting setup tonight.

 

[g5flier]

The Sentry ATO that came with my WB75.2 was in its 5th day, no issues, filling correctly. This morning I went to check on everything and the red light and alarm were on. Much to my surprise my ATO reservoir, which was just filled to the brim with 5 gallons of RODI the night before was nearly EMPTY. I'll send the Sentry ATO back to WB if they would like to do some analysis but I'm going back to the APEX ATK. My Salt level went from 1.o25 to 1.022 due to this device. Not happy.

UPDATE...I heard from WB and they are making it right. Customer Service seems to be pretty good from them!

 

[g5flier]

I did the same thing as you, I got a Waterbox 75.2 during all the black Friday deals. Tank got delivered on Tuesday. Starting setup tonight.

Very nice, looks familiar! Sure you are going to love it! See my last post for my only recommendation.

 

[g5flier]

The S1 is on line!

A bit more progress on the WB 75.2 this week, the pair of clowns are in and doing well, eating pellets and enjoying the flow! They are looking lonely though with just 2 hermits to keep them company. Speaking of flow I finally got the Vectra S1 in the sump today, that is one little beast! Its running at 50% power and that’s about all it needs. I had been using a salt mixing pump temporally while I was waiting on the S1. I can honestly say you can’t hear it running at half power and even if you take to 100% it has a slight whine and that’s it. Along with the Vortex MP40 I could easily blow well over 5,500 GPH thru this 50-gallon display tank, can you say turnover?

Had some issues with the 1st S1, the 0.75 slip thread was very loose and I had to send it back, I’ve read reviews about it and now that it happened to me I can’t believe how easy the slip came off! I ended up getting the 2nd one from my LFS and we opened the box first to make sure it was tighter, still loose but this one was much better. The first one is being returned no questions asked to Saltwater Aquarium.

The S1, MP40 and Radion is hooked up to my Reeflink. If you own EcoTech equipment and haven’t used the EcoTech Reeflink its so simple to set up and operate. I have an Apex as well but I’ve never bought the modules to operate my EcoTech items and the Reeflink is super easy. I use the Apex for everything else.

All in all I would say if you are thinking about the WB 75.2 that one Radion XR30 G4 Pro, one MP40 and the S1 is a fantastic combination. Overkill for a LPS or softie tank but perfect for SPS dominat.

I scrapped some coralline off the back wall of my RSR 525 to seed the WB; once I can see some coralline it will be my queue to begin adding some SPS. I’m still debating if I want to grow some Zoe’s in the lower flow areas on the glass.

Some more photos of my new friends, the S1 in the sump and my aquascape using LIVE rock.

 

[Reef Dreamer]

Very nice!

 

[TheReefNoob]

Cabinet Build

Having built many IKEA type cabinets and the RSR 525 cabinet, this one went together easily without any issues, the quality was pretty much the same as the RTR from what I could tell. The best “adder” over the RSR was the adjustable feet; I remember placing shims on the RSR to get it level and the WB was 100% better here. The instructions on building the cabinet left a lot to be desired but there is a video of another cabinet build on the WB website to get even a newbie thru the assembly. Total time here was about 2 hours.

Hey did you have extra parts? If so where do all these corner parts go to first. Long screws ...

etc.

 

[g5flier]

Hey did you have extra parts? If so where do all these corner parts go to first. Long screws ...

etc.

I'm bad but didn't use any of the corner brackets, I didn't on my 139 gallon so figured they weren't necessary on this. The wall mounts are to keep your tank from tipping over, again I didn't use them. The 2 metal covers with DTC go over your hinges.