My mixed reef Waterbox 130.4 build

mrbacony

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I have been throughly enjoying my Biocube 32 and am running out of room for corals. Plus I really would like some of the bigger fish like tangs. So I have decided to upgrade to the Waterbox. I really wanted to stay within 48” long since that fits perfectly in the spot I want to place it in my home office.
I took advantage of the President’s day sale at SaltwaterAquarium.com and picked up my Life rock and some sand. They only had 1 bag of the Carbisea Special Grade sand so I will have to get another bag later. I have not purchased the Waterbox yet but plan to order by the end of the week. I really want to wait until Wednesday since they state on their website they are releasing a new aquarium on that day. I want to see what it is first.

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Existing Biocube that I plan on transferring the coral and fish from. Not sure exactly how and when to move everything. Obviously after the new tank cycles, but not sure how to aquascape with the new and existing rock. Probably my weakest point.

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Template of the new tank and planning what to do with the new rock and how to incorporate the old rock.


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Water mixing station.

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mrbacony

mrbacony

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Pulled the trigger today and ordered the tank today. Now comes more fun (and money) choosing the skimmer and return pump. Here is what I am planning for now:

Skimmer- Reef Octopus Regal 150SSS 6" DC skimmer.
Return Pump- Reef Octopus VarioS-6 DC pump

Since this in my home office I need to have it quiet as possible. I know the DC pumps cost more, but it is worth it if they are quiet.

I have a Hydra 32 on my existing Biocube 32 so I plan on purchasing another Hydra 32 for a total of 2 lights. This should be enough for a 48" tank.

Looking to either make or buy a net top for the tank. I have homemade ones for my Biocube and quarantine tank, but might be nice to have something a little more polished.

Please, any suggestions for equipment or a screen top are welcomed. Hopefully the tank won't take too long to deliver. It appears they are in stock so maybe within the next 2 weeks.
 
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mrbacony

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Well it arrived today, but with damage. It was missing the orange cone that says “do not stack”. Also the box the cabinet was in was ripped open and the cabinet was scuffed. Thankfully the aquarium and sump look ok. They were packaged well.
Anyone ever file a claim with Waterbox? How long to get the replacements.

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mrbacony

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Good thing I enjoy putting together furniture. Wow there is a lot of hardware. I can tell this is a very well built cabinet. Very heavy duty.

I did have an issue other than the scratched cabinet. It was missing one of the screw inserts for holding the cams. I told Waterbox not to worry about the scratched cabinet and I would take some filter socks in exchange. They agreed and have already sent a tracking number for the filter socks and the replacement cam screw insert.

So far I am impressed with their customer support. They respond very quickly.

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mrbacony

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Ready and waiting to make the trip upstairs with the tank. Just waiting on the replacement part from Waterbox. It is coming today.
I am paying a couple of my 17 year old son’s weightlifting buddies to come move it for me. My back is too old. Plus it is much cheaper than the $325 a moving company wanted.
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mrbacony

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Passed the leak test with flying colors. It is now filling with RODI water. I plan on adding the salt and mixing in the tank. I figure it is going to take a good full day to fill up even with my 150gpd RODI system.
I am still having some issues getting it to be silent, but it is getting there. Once I put the doors on, that should eliminate some of the noise.

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mrbacony

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Washing and adding the sand today. I spent a good 30-40 minutes running clean water through the sand rinsing it. But it still clouded the tank pretty heavy.
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mrbacony

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Preparing the homemade controller board. After this picture was taken, I started drilling holes for the cords. That is when I realized the Finnex heater cords are too short to make it to the board. Oh well, I guess I’ll have room for something else in the future.
Now comes sanding and paint tomorrow. It fits perfectly in the side of the stand.

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mrbacony

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Time to cycle!
I have found one annoyance with the Finnex HMX heaters. I have two 200 watt heaters and both thermostats are way off. I have them both at 82 degrees but in reality it is only 78 as verified by 3 other thermometers. No way to calibrate from what I am seeing.

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mrbacony

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Still waiting on the cycle to finish.... In the meantime, finished up the controller board. Painted and installed with half the equipment. I will have to wait until the current tank is broken down to finish adding the rest of the components.

First Hydra 32 added. Again, I will have to wait until the current tank is broken down before adding the second Hydra 32.

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First Hydra.jpg
 
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mrbacony

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It seems like the cycle is running from me. It is very close to being done. I should be able to start moving the existing fish and coral from my old tank over to the new one.
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mrbacony

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Received my Jebao dosing pump today as well as the Simplicity dosing container. I picked up the wi fi and manual version of the dosing pump. I read reviews of people having a hard time getting the wifi connected so I figured I would have the manual way if the wifi did not work. It took a bit of trying, but I got the wifi to connect.
I have learned the trick to getting it to connect on 2.4ghz so if you need advice, let me know.
I am very, very close to adding my existing fish and corals. Probably this weekend. The ammonia has been 0 for over a week now and the nitrite is just about down to nearly 0. Looking forward to it!
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mrbacony

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Finally done! Everything has been moved over and seems to be doing just fine. Now I need to start buying more corals and fish to fill the empty spaces.
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StealthTec

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Wow! Your setup looks amazing, what were the tricks for getting the dosing pump to connect? Debating on the Jebao so I dont have to spend a fortune on an Apex
 
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mrbacony

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Hey, thanks for the kind words.

As far as setting up the pump, it has to be done in 2.4ghz mode instead of 5ghz. Some routers will let you force it into 2.4ghz. Mine will not so I had to get creative.
2.4ghz works at a farther distance than 5ghz. So what I did was hook up extension cords and walked away from the house with the doser plugged in until I just barely had a wifi signal. By doing this, it is forcing it into 2.4ghz since the 5ghz will not work at that distance. Then it will let you setup the doser.
A word of warning.... when you click through the first screen of the app, there is a tiny check mark towards the bottom that you have to select that says “Device is in smart configuration mode”. You must select that box or it won’t let you continue. I missed that box for the first several times and couldn’t get it to connect. So make sure to check that box while standing away from your house.
Good Luck!
 
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mrbacony

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All the fish (with the exception of one that had been bullied a bit) are staying on one side of the tank. Maybe because all the rocks are familiar :cool:
I think they would have been fine staying in the smaller tank. Lol.
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mrbacony

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I have been having an issue with a cloudy tank for several weeks. I was thinking an algae bloom (even though my nitrate and phosphate were both in a good range). I ended up getting a 36 watt Jebao UV sterilizer.
Holy cow! Within just a few hours, the water is nearly clear again! Very pleased so far. We will see how it holds up.
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mrbacony

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Well the Jebao doser turned out to be utter crap. I ditched it in favor of 3 Kamoer Bluetooth pumps. They are not perfect, but they are so much better than the Jebao. At least they hold pressure really well and dose more accurately.
 

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