N2950H's Waterbox Frag 80 Build

[N2950H]

I was going to wait to start documenting this build until my tank arrived, but it's taking quite a bit longer than anticipated. I wanted my tank to come with a white cabinet and those are backordered until sometime in July. So for now here is a quick description of what I've accumulated thus far, what I still have left to purchase, and what I plan to do with this thing.

Gear list:
Waterbox Frag 80.4
Hydra 26HD (x2)
Maxspect Gyre XF330 (x2)
Bubble Magus Curve 5
Vectra S1
Tunze 3155 Osmolator
Apex Classic
Neo-Therm 150W heater (x2)
Wyze cam (x2)
Coral Pro salt
Aquaforest test kits (alk, calc, mag)
Salifert test kits (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
Hanna testers (salinity, pH, phosphate)

Waiting for tank arrival:
Haitian live rock, 60 lbs
Arag-Alive Reef Sand, 60 lbs

RO/DI:
BRS 5 stage 100GPD
Norwesco 65gal storage tank w/Cepex ball valve
Plumbed with float valve (stays off when I'm not home)

This will be a somewhat minimalistic mixed reef but am currently undecided on what I want to keep. Will likely start with some LPS and go from there. The only thing I know for certain is that I'll have about 10-12 yellow tangs in this 12" deep reef. Since I don't have a photo of the tank to offer yet, I will show you my RO/DI setup. I just so happened to have a spare closet that was plumbed for 2nd washer/dryer combo for some reason. I'll start posting more photos when my WB shows up and things start coming together.

 

[Richard Ivory]

love the ro station brilliant

 

[tdlawdo]

Good luck!! I can’t wait to see it. But let me tell you it took many months to get my 230 delivered nearly 4 months. But man it is a beauty!!

 

[tdlawdo]

Nice neat and clean set up for the water system! Are you doing a salt water mixing station also?

 

[N2950H]

Good luck!! I can’t wait to see it. But let me tell you it took many months to get my 230 delivered nearly 4 months. But man it is a beauty!!

Thanks man. I ordered it 5/13, and I'm told it will ship the first week of July. I'll keep holding my breath.

 

[N2950H]

Nice neat and clean set up for the water system! Are you doing a salt water mixing station also?

For now I'm just gonna store fresh water and don't have any immediate plans for storing salt water. Partially because I'm afraid of running into issues and partially because I don't want to buy another $200 container.

 

[N2950H]

Rumor has it my waterbox finally shipped, so I fired up the CNC router to fab up a controller board. I hope it fits since I had to use WB's published tank stand measurements. It'll be mounted with magnets shown in the 2nd pic.

 

[N2950H]

I've been patiently waiting, but the waterbox still hasn't arrived. I'm assured it'll be here today though. Man I hope this tank is worth the 2 month wait.

 

[N2950H]

My tank finally came in so here are a couple photos of the setup.

Stand took about an hour to build and another 2 hours to level due to my crazy wavy floor. Those leveling feet are as short as possible in the rear and absolutely maxed out in the front left.

I bought about 60 lbs of Haitian live rock since I finally found some locally but wound up using only half of it. Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest yet. The sand is the Arag-Alive reef stuff.

Overall the stand and tank quality is pretty good. I'm not real thrilled about the uneven sealant on the bottom edges of the tank which sticks out like a sore thumb once I noticed it. Not sure anything can be done about it.

 

[CL_]

Scape looks great! Sorry about the uneven silicone.. I’m fairly ocd myself but if you’re like me you’ll stop noticing it with time.

 

[N2950H]

Thanks, CL. Once the water clears up a bit and I can see what I'm doing, I plan to fine tune the scape a little bit. I'll post a better pic when I'm finished.

 

[CL_]

Looking forward to it. Reminds me of a fw scape I did years back!

 

[N2950H]

Very nice, CL. That looks killer.

I picked up some Fritz-Zyme TurboStart 900 and Dr Tim's Ammonium Chloride to start my cycle today. While at my LFS today trying to decide what I want to stock first, it was pretty tough to fight the urge to put something in before the tank is ready. I'm sure you all know that feeling.

I'm pretty bummed that WB's published interior dimensions of the tank stand weren't very accurate. I had a very long wait for my tank, so to keep me busy I used their published dimensions to cut out my removable control board. The one I made needs to be re-done as it is about an inch too narrow. At least cutting out a new board will give me something to do while I wait for the tank to cycle.

Here is a better look at the scape which I still haven't fixed. I'll address that after I get my Apex hooked up and functioning.

 

[N2950H]

I knew this was going to be a fast cycle due to the live rock and sand, but didn't think it would be quite this fast. After each dose of the ammonium chloride, the following day both NH3 and N02 were below 0.2ppm while N03 is steadily climbing.

I'll ride it out until the end of the week before I start stocking the tank, but it seems like I'm well on my way.

 

[N2950H]

I still have a lot of wire cleanup to do behind the control board, but here is what I did for my electronics. I may pull the board a lot closer to the front, still undecided on that. Initially I didn't want to waste the space, but I also don't want to store a bunch of stuff in front of the controls and displays.

 

[CL_]

Well done - looks sharp!

 

[Austin Lee]

No way it cycled that fast. Give it a week. Test every day.

 

[N2950H]

I tested again today. Nitrates going even higher while Ammonia and Nitrites staying near zero. Starting with all live rock and live sand, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a pretty fast cycle?

 

[Austin Lee]

I tested again today. Nitrates going even higher while Ammonia and Nitrites staying near zero. Starting with all live rock and live sand, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a pretty fast cycle?

No offense, but I do. If your nitrates are still rising, your water isn’t stable. I’ve had instances where I had almost what appeared to be a mini cycle before my full cycle kicked in.

For the sake of the animals you’re caring for, it’s better to wait. I know new builds are exciting and honestly one of my favorite parts of the hobby, but rushing will just cause frustration later.

Unless you filled the tank with pre cycled water, I wouldn’t expect it to be done in less than a week.

 

[N2950H]

No offense, but I do. If your nitrates are still rising, your water isn’t stable. I’ve had instances where I had almost what appeared to be a mini cycle before my full cycle kicked in.

For the sake of the animals you’re caring for, it’s better to wait. I know new builds are exciting and honestly one of my favorite parts of the hobby, but rushing will just cause frustration later.

Unless you filled the tank with pre cycled water, I wouldn’t expect it to be done in less than a week.

No offense taken, and I appreciate the input. I realize patience is key in this hobby and won't risk the health of any animals before I'm convinced it's fully cycled.