New 150.4 Waterbox

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

I kept freshwater planted aquariums for a long time and finally took the plunge into saltwater. I have a 150.4 Waterbox coming in "soon" and am in the process of getting set up.

Couple questions at the end.

I've been working on aquascape and this is what I have so far. The structures are in the 18x18x12"H range with a number hidden caves and swim thrus. Trying to balance some larger passageways for a tang and smaller hiding spots for anthias/wrasses. I'll probably put a few rocks in the open space in the sand. I'm pretty happy with the aquascape overall but bought way too much rock. I ordered 100 lbs and maybe used 60lbs. I have 20+ lbs I never even broke into smaller pieces.

I'm looking at stocking:
2 clownfish
~3 Fairy/Flasher wrasses (I really like exquisite wrasse and blue flasher)
Goby/Pistol shrimp
Halichoeres wrasse (melanurus or maybe a yellow?)
Bristletooth tang
~4 Anthias (probably p. ignitus)
Neon Blue Goby
and maybe a yellow or convict tang
For corals I mostly like LPS and maybe a few seriatopora or stylophora

I've been sale shopping for equipment and so far have:
1x Hydra Edge 44HD (need another and the mounting brackets)
Screen kit
Nautilus DC1100 return
300W Ti Heater and Inkbird (need a 2nd heater)
2x Jebao DMP10
refractometer
some test kits
40lbs of dry sand (planning on some ocean direct for the remainder)
5 stage RO/DI (had to buy a booster pump...which is a bit strong as it's running at about 96 psi)
and I have a pair of 32 gal brute cans set up for mixing.

So, the questions:
1. What filtration should be priority? Roller mat, refugium or skimmer?
2. Is there a good pump that can be used for pushing and pulling water? Something I can put in the sink to pull water from the tank and "gravel vac" the tank (not just bulk draw water), and use to refill it as well by changing the hose locations? sink & water storage is just on the other side of the wall from the tank, and I'm trying to minimize needing buckets if possible.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

those turned out really nice! id probably put a skimmer before a roller mat. jmo

 

[kevgib67]

Here’s a list of what Waterbox includes in their 150.4 plus to give you an idea. Another reefer on here installed this reefmat in the sump of his Waterbox 150.4

 

[Juano908]

Here’s a list of what Waterbox includes in their 150.4 plus to give you an idea. Another reefer on here installed this reefmat in the sump of his Waterbox 150.4

Best of luck with the new build, love the rockscape!!!

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

Here’s a list of what Waterbox includes in their 150.4 plus to give you an idea. Another reefer on here installed this reefmat in the sump of his Waterbox 150.4

Thanks for the rolller mat suggestion. I did see the waterbox kit but honestly I have a hard time spending that much on ecotech equipment.

 

[kevgib67]

Thanks for the rolller mat suggestion. I did see the waterbox kit but honestly I have a hard time spending that much on ecotech equipment.

I wasn’t trying to sell you on it just wanted to give you an idea of what you would need. I’m looking forward to seeing your build!

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I don't even use filter socks or a roller mat anymore. Tank runs more stable and nutrients tend to stay a bit more stable. Skimmer is definitely a must before any kind of socks/mat.

 

[PointerReefs]

For what it’s worth I’ve just setup the same tank from waterbox and I think a roller mat is a great upgrade for filtration as you won’t have to constantly wash and swap filter socks once bioload increases.. depends on if that’s worth the hassle to you though. Got a RF1200 on mine and I’ve only used about 10 feet out of 115feet in the first month. At about $30 a roll.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Another piece of advice - get yourself 20-30lbs of REAL live rock and throw it in your sump while cycling. Gulf Live Rock or TBS are great choices. Starting with nothing but dry rock is really tough and you will probably struggle mightily for awhile with the ugly stage until the tank microfauna is established.

 

[Ziggy17]

I have the same tank. I have a RS 1200 roller mat in there. It a tight fit, but it fits. You will have a dead zone in the rear chamber of the sump, but such is life. I had my sump altered, you can see my build thread. I’d go rollermat before skimmer. You won’t likely need a skimmer for a few months but you will want crystal clear water right away. The rollermat pulls a ton of the small particles out of the water.
For pumps, I have a Jump 6k which works great, but I also have a jecod as a backup. I went with 2 maxspect 350CE gyres. More than enough circulation, even at 30% each. So they are running super quiet at a low power consumption. Your two DMP10 won’t be enough, even with the return pump.
The WB screen lid works perfectly fine, but it doesn’t have a feed door, so you have to lift it in the front middle when you feed. Not the end of the world, but I ended up buying a custom acrylic lid from clear view lids which comes in next week. If you’re going to house wrasse and gobies, the WB screen lid has 2 default openings in each rear for light mounts, so beware the wrasse may find find them and jump out.

Pics of the sump and tank are in my build thread if you want to look.

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

for anyone who is thinking about making a similar aqua scape, I found some of the material counts pretty high online.

I used:
5x small Marco foundation rock
~60 lbs of Marco rock
1 large BRS extra thick super glue
1 Marco mortar kit (have a lot left over)
1 insta-set accelerator from BRS*

I did start with a homemade accelerator of water and baking soda in a spritz bottle (then ordered the commercial product for the second structure). The homemade worked reasonably well, but not as good as the commercial product. It did tend to leave hazy superglue which the instaset doesn’t. Not a huge deal but worth mentioning. The homemade stuff doesn’t set as fast as commercial instaset either which is why I switched

I’m about to use the thin superglue and the Marco rock dust/small sand pieces I made to hide the mortar and glue. I have a large bottle but no way i can foresee needing anywhere near that much.

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

Still waiting on the tank.

In the meantime, the Sicce ultra zero pump and a python came in for moving water around. Got an ammonia test kit as well. Probably going to skip the nitrite kit. I can’t see myself using it more than a couple times and nitrite specifically doesn’t matter beyond a cycle indicator.

I returned the RO booster so got off Amazon as it was running noticeably higher pressure than it was supposed to and exceeding the rating of the RO unit. Went with a more expensive adjustable Im installing tonight.

Trying to decide which mounting method for the lights. Cross tank mounting bar (HMS multi light mounting kit) or the individual HMS single light mounts. I’m planning on just two Edge 44HD (already bought one to start) but the flexibility of the multi light kit is tempting.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! Can't wait to see the tank!

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

Things are very slowly coming together.

Got the booster pump installed on the RODI and that’s working well. Ammonia and ammonia test kit came in.

Inquired about ship date for the tank since it’s been about 9 weeks. They’re not expecting it shipping until the end of February

So that’s disappointing…

Thinking about getting a piece of live rock from the LFS and cycling one of the structures and some rubble in the saltwater mixing bin. Maybe speed up the back end a bit that way. Im only set up for 60ish gallons of SW on hand which wont fully fill the tank day 1. And putting LR in one cuts that down a lot. So thats causing some hesitation.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Things are very slowly coming together.

Got the booster pump installed on the RODI and that’s working well. Ammonia and ammonia test kit came in.

Inquired about ship date for the tank since it’s been about 9 weeks. They’re not expecting it shipping until the end of February

So that’s disappointing

Sad but that give you some more time to search and get the right equipment for you setup. IMO the rollermat is a great adiction to the system specially when you dont whant to deal with changing sock. The skimmer helps a lot in different ways but if your are in a budget you can get it later. I have the Waterbox 145.5 frag and I use the RMS rails for my radions and I love it. Like other said, a couple of live rocks in the sump will help you to cycle in no time.

 

[kevgib67]

Sad but that give you some more time to search and get the right equipment for you setup. IMO the rollermat is a great adiction to the system specially when you dont whant to deal with changing sock. The skimmer helps a lot in different ways but if your are in a budget you can get it later. Lights I have the Waterbox 145.5 frag and I use the RMS rails and I love it. Like other said, a couple of live rocks in the sump will help you to cycle in no time.

This is the one I see used in the Waterbox 150.4 in place of the socks seems popular. I planning on installing on in mine down the road.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

This is the one I see used in the Waterbox 150.4 in place of the socks seems popular. I planning on installing on in mine down the road.

You probably need to do a modification to the sump to fit this rollermat. I did that in mine. Dont know if your sump size is the same as mine but you can go to my Youtube channel Rubensreef and look how I did it.

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

This is the one I see used in the Waterbox 150.4 in place of the socks seems popular. I planning on installing on in mine down the road.

Thanks. That’s what I’ve been looking at. There aren’t a lot of options and that seems to be one of the most popular reef mats. And I know I’ll not going to keep up with filter sock cleaning after a few weeks so a better option is really attractive

I do think I’m going to hold off on a skimmer and see how it goes. I’ve been leaning that way for awhile. The sump has space for one so it can always be added if/when it becomes needed.

I’m probably going to slim it on the fuge to start too. I have an older freshwater tube light that’ll span the width of the sump.

My thought at the moment is that until the bio load picks up I can get by without much more than the roller mat and basic fuge. That punts the costs of a skimmer or good fuge light about 6 months (if it becomes necessary at all) and I can wait for a good deal/sale.

 

[drmofjeannie]

Here’s a list of what Waterbox includes in their 150.4 plus to give you an idea. Another reefer on here installed this reefmat in the sump of his Waterbox 150.4

I purchased a 120 gal custom WB with a custom cabinet in October and received it in March. I had the control box put on the left side of cabinet and had the plumbing done to add the 500 red sea reef mat. I pretty much bought the equipment listed on plus. I also had the mesh lids made, which are crap. The clips are loose and the corners around the lights bend. I have ecomarine g6 blue lights and have to put rags on top of the gaps. I had a jawfish escape and die on top of the mesh. I will probably buy another lid in the future.

 

[kevgib67]

Thanks. That’s what I’ve been looking at. There aren’t a lot of options and that seems to be one of the most popular reef mats. And I know I’ll not going to keep up with filter sock cleaning after a few weeks so a better option is really attractive

I do think I’m going to hold off on a skimmer and see how it goes. I’ve been leaning that way for awhile. The sump has space for one so it can always be added if/when it becomes needed.

I’m probably going to slim it on the fuge to start too. I have an older freshwater tube light that’ll span the width of the sump.

My thought at the moment is that until the bio load picks up I can get by without much more than the roller mat and basic fuge. That punts the costs of a skimmer or good fuge light about 6 months (if it becomes necessary at all) and I can wait for a good deal/sale.

Ya, the skimmer can be added when the bioload increase to where it’s necessary. I have one in my sump and won’t turn it on until I transfer everything over from my other tank. Currently I just have 3small fish in it .