King Kong’s 227 Gallon Waterbox Peninsula Build

kingkongds

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I am so excited to begin this journey again! It’s a journey that I have made 12 years ago but had to part ways. This time around, I have a different vision and direction for the build! But WOW!!;Wideyed… the equipment seems to have advanced so much!
My plan for this build thread is to keep a journal/diary of the build with lots of questions, information, thoughts, ideas, and pictures!! I hope to have forum members and sponsors here give me as much advice, thoughts, and direction as it has been many many years since I touched this hobby.

Background:
I’m an interior architect by profession with a general contractor license… my company, King Kong Studio, designs and builds creative office space, restaurants, and some client homes. We are located in Southern California.
Recently, we were fortunate enough to purchase our office space and have full ownership in August 2021. As you may guess, what a perfect opportunity to include one of my long lost hobbies into the design of the office space!

Design and Decision:
The overall design of the studio is to look like an eclectic library with an espresso bar in the center. I decided that my private office was going to be divided by a large bookcase that would house the tank (not so private anymore‍o_O). I therefore needed a peninsula tank that was approximately 6’ in length. My search began in August of this year and I ended up narrowing it down to a Red Sea or a Waterbox Aquarium. On September 7, I placed the order with Waterbox! My decision to go with Waterbox aquarium is based on the many reviews regarding customer service and quality of tank. I have to admit, the marketing and the beautiful website of Waterbox Aquariums definitely also played a little in the decision making efforts. Some reviews pertained to lead time issues with the company, so I called them prior to placing my order. It was a very pleasant and informative conversation! The company representative told me they would be receiving the tank I wanted in approximately 2-3 weeks and I would be the 3rd person ordering this tank if placed online that day. The overall experience was great!

Office Construction…can anyone spot where the tank will go? ‍;)
4E9A9818-A657-484D-8796-E7938200E512.jpeg

Walls covered!
9B4D67A9-F2BA-4038-8456-F5944B9DB0FA.jpeg
The Tank:
The Waterbox Peninsula 7225
Display Tank Dimensions: L72”xW25”xH23”
Display Tank Size: 167 Gallons
Sump Tank Size: 42 Gallons
ATO Tank Size: 18.1 Gallons
Ultra Clear 3/4” Glass Frameless Tank

Shipped and Delivered:
On September 23rd, Waterbox sent the notification that the tank was shipped!!
FedEx contacted a few days later and we scheduled the delivery for October 5th!!
92A60BCF-5D8E-4768-A25E-9BFE53E61D35.jpeg

B5B5CE9F-EF39-4718-931E-72D8246EDC78.jpeg

It is really packaged well for transport.

When this tank arrived in the office, reality then hit me as I realized how exciting this was going to be. Now it’s time for research on what equipment I need to start getting and setting up.

The Plan:
My hope is that I don’t deviate too much from this. This tank build is to have a variety of corals and a good number of blue-green Chromis. Keeping it simple but I’m sure it’s never simple. Hoping to self automate a lot of tasks/upkeep… but looking forward to just having daily interaction and cleaning as it will help take my mind off of work some.

Time to sleep ;Yawn;Yawn… but more updates to come as I am behind by a few weeks on posting… eventually this thread and my progress should be synchronized!

Thank you for visiting… hope to get to know a few of you guys and gals!!:)
 
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kingkongds

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A little update as I have been swamped with my office and other project design and construction....

The custom tank stand finally got built and sprayed and delivered! Tank stand constructed from 2"x2" tube steel welded and coated.

Stand 1.jpg
Stand 2.jpg
Stand 3.jpg


The tank will sit on a 1" sheet of paint grade plywood that is coated with a clear marine varnish. It took 4 guys with suction cups to lift and navigate the tank to the final position. Glad the guys were taller because I made the stand to be 41" high.

Tank and Stand 1.jpg
Tank and Stand 2.jpg
Tank and Stand 3.jpg


Got quite a bit of equipment and stuff for the tank coming in in the next 1-4 weeks. Hoping my millwork guy finishes up the bookcase wall and gets the panels and doors in by sometime next week.

That is it for now.... patience is difficult to have when you have an empty tank in front of you and cannot do more! hahahahahaaa
 
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kingkongds

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Here's another update... this may be a little lengthy since I haven't posted progress for the last 3 weeks.... granted was very very busy with the Black Friday or Black Week Sales that went on last week.

On November 6-10 / 2021... my cabinet guy installed the library wall and began covering the tank stand....

Millwork - Front of Tank 1.jpg
Millwork - Front of Tank 2.jpg
Millwork - Back of Tank.jpg


On November 22, 2021... The tank is now completely covered... a few little things still to do like 2 of the long black handles are on backorder for the faux drawer front under the tank... (Once I get the light installed over the tank, he will make a panel to cover the inside part of the tank)

Covered - Front 1.jpg
Covered - Front 2.jpg
Covered - Back.jpg


Here is the current pile of products accumulated for this tank... still waiting on a few more items... will also need to start unboxing to make sure all items were sent! =)

Products Ordered.jpg
Life Rock.jpg


Since I received the Life Rock from CarobSea today... going to start Aquascaping .. as I think it's going to take some time.

Aquascape Prep.jpg


Looking forward to getting some Aquascapes done and getting feedback from you guys/gals!!
 
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kingkongds

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Update:
Just want to say.....
Shipping was pretty bad for these Life Rocks... Pretty much 80% of all the arches had to be fixed/glued back together as they mostly came broken... 50% of the shelf rocks had to be fixed/glued back together as well... 2 tubes of BRS glue for repair....

Rocks.jpg


BUT.... I am so happy that the XL 24" Arch arrived in one piece.... mainly because it was in its own box and pretty well padded!... It looks very XL!!

Rocks XL.jpg


First attempt at the aquascape... but I'm going to have to try and figure out how to incorporate the massive Arch in...
(ordered more glue btw...LOL)

Aqua 1.jpg
Aqua 2.jpg


Aqua 3.jpg
Aqua 4.jpg


Aqua 5.jpg
More to come.....after the XL Arch...
 
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kingkongds

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Update...
Here is my attempt at Aquascaping the Peninsula Tank!
Gonna leave it over the weekend and take a look at it next week to see if I still like it.

Likes:
I like all the open space between the rocks so that it doesn't feel like a 100 pound rock I have sitting in one area... The arches create a lot of nice interesting spaces for me. I think they also maximize on the surfaces that I can place corals and also have fish swim through them... definitely lots of caves/homes for the inhabitants in the future.

Questionables:
The tank is about 23" tall and I think the top waterline will be about 22"ish.... The tallest point of the arch is at 19".... which leaves me with about 3" to the top... I'm going to assume that nothing will be growing up here... as it is also going to be burned by the lights?...
Also was trying to get more islands... but ended up with only 1 island.

Would love to hear everyones opinions / suggestions. Thank you.

 

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It looks great. I would try to lower the arch while its out of the tank now. I'm currently in the same situation with my main structure being too high except mines been running for almost 6 months. Been debating on pulling the rock structure out, cut with a cutoff wheel and epoxy/glue it back as quick as possible while corals are still mounted on them
 

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It looks great. I would try to lower the arch while its out of the tank now. I'm currently in the same situation with my main structure being too high except mines been running for almost 6 months. Been debating on pulling the rock structure out, cut with a cutoff wheel and epoxy/glue it back as quick as possible while corals are still mounted on them
Its not easy but I did exactly this and it was the best thing I ever did sucks to stare at something you want to change every day….
 

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Hey fellow water boxer! I am loving your build - the cabinet looks amazing. We debated enclosing the lights in a hinged canopy similar to how you have done, but in the end went for suspended lights - I think your build will look great in an office environment. Did you see our aquascape in my build thread? I only ask as I see you went for caribsea rock as well - we only bought the shapes (3x) boxes and spent a few weeks moving glueing etc.. the XL arch looks interesting! I watched quite a few videos and decided the consensus on strength and ease of construction was superglue gel to hold things in place, let that set for a day (or a few), then come back with reef safe mortar to reinforce. We also chipped inch size pieces off here and there and used them as ‘chocks’ to support or provide footing. Glueing those in place and mortaring around them allowed us to create ‘stands’ where we could then place other composite structures (usually 2 shapes joined together) in a stable fashion. By doing this you can then easily remove parts of the scape to change it (or whatever) without having to hire a crane and a gang of strong blokes.

I agree with the feedback so far on height. I have read of many reefers regretting going too high. We have left about 6 inches to the water at the highest point but we have also used a lot less rock than you as we want to maximise the ‘through’ views, with living areas on both long sides of the tank.

Looking forward to seeing your final creation! If you want some inspiration and you haven’t already seen head over to my build thread. I’d be glad to hear from you if you had any questions that you think I might be able to answer!
 
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kingkongds

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Hey fellow water boxer! I am loving your build - the cabinet looks amazing. We debated enclosing the lights in a hinged canopy similar to how you have done, but in the end went for suspended lights - I think your build will look great in an office environment. Did you see our aquascape in my build thread? I only ask as I see you went for caribsea rock as well - we only bought the shapes (3x) boxes and spent a few weeks moving glueing etc.. the XL arch looks interesting! I watched quite a few videos and decided the consensus on strength and ease of construction was superglue gel to hold things in place, let that set for a day (or a few), then come back with reef safe mortar to reinforce. We also chipped inch size pieces off here and there and used them as ‘chocks’ to support or provide footing. Glueing those in place and mortaring around them allowed us to create ‘stands’ where we could then place other composite structures (usually 2 shapes joined together) in a stable fashion. By doing this you can then easily remove parts of the scape to change it (or whatever) without having to hire a crane and a gang of strong blokes.

I agree with the feedback so far on height. I have read of many reefers regretting going too high. We have left about 6 inches to the water at the highest point but we have also used a lot less rock than you as we want to maximise the ‘through’ views, with living areas on both long sides of the tank.

Looking forward to seeing your final creation! If you want some inspiration and you haven’t already seen head over to my build thread. I’d be glad to hear from you if you had any questions that you think I might be able to answer!
Yes... I have been following your build when I was waiting for my tank to be delivered by Waterbox! =)
I did lower the XL arch a few inches so now I have about 7" from the top of the arch to top of water..... so hopefully that will work but I'll definitely need to think and strategize coral placement. Will start gluing pieces together and start to really put the system together since I finally received 90% of everything I need now.
 
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kingkongds

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Update 12.13.2021
I have now received about 90% of the equipment for the tank! (Thank goodness for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals... some good pricing and free swag... LOL). It's now time to start putting the system together.

Supplies.jpg
 
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kingkongds

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Update 01.10.2022
Happy New Year Everyone!! I wish everyone a safe and healthy 2022!

It's been almost a month since my last post on here.... so here are a few pics of how the tank is set up now. It has been running for a week now and it has been an eventful time... but no floods and fires!! (keeping fingers cross while knocking on wood)

Overall Tank 1.jpg

Every employee and client loves this tank when they walk in! It is the first thing they see in my office.

Overall Tank 2.jpg


Overall Tank 3.jpg
Here is the aquascape that I settled on!
Overall Tank 4.jpg
Overall Tank 5.jpg
Loving the peninsula tank!
Overall Tank 6.jpg
My view of the tank from inside my office

So here are a few pictures of the sump ... Cable organization is still in the works, but slowly it is all getting cleaned up. During this period, I have been running the skimmer to also break it in / tune it. The refugium is left empty at the moment as I need to do more research and or hear some more suggestions on what to do there.

I'm on the fence about changing out the filter socks to two of the Klir units... Some have had luck and good reviews about them... but then there are others... not sure what to do at the moment... maybe stick with the traditional filter socks for a while???...... Got a call with Neptune in a few days to discuss how to program the Auto Top Off.... I'm about to take a quick trip out of town and I really need to know how this Auto Top Off is going to work... basically I need to really make sure I know it's going to work or I'm going to come back with a burnt out return pump....

Sump 1.jpg
Sump 2.jpg
Sump 3.jpg

Sump 4.jpg
Controllers.jpg


Finally... I was concerned about not getting enough flow... I was planning on putting 2 MP60's on one end of this peninsula tank.... but in reality... I ended up returning one!... I am running 1 MP60 at 60% constant and 75% on Reef Crest mode on 1 side of the return weir only.... about 1/2 way down the tank. My Vectra L2 Return pump is running at 50%. I am also running the Maxspect Gyre 350... it is set right in the middle of my overflow box about 5" down from the top and it is running at 30%..... all I know is that I have NO dead spots and may have to turn some of it down because overnight it moves the sand on the opposite end of the tank. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? ... or maybe its the way my aquascape is shaped?... but there is definetly no challenge in getting flow.

Gyre and MP60.jpg


Well... that is the update for now... .heading into the 2nd week of cycling the tank... ammonia has not started yet.
Will be working on cleaning up wires and perhaps setting up a quarantine tank in the extra space I have under the tank... and maybe .. figuring out the refugium.
Take care and sty safe out there!!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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