Putting together Waterbox 230.6 build

[Grigs]

New to R2R and just getting back to reefkeeping. I have been out of reefing for about 8 yrs. Last tanks were a 29 gallon nanocube and a 57 gallon show tank. Set up both as mostly LPS with a piece or two of SPS.

Have been reading, reading, and doing more reading and I have finally started buying.

Ordered a Waterbox 230.6, 2 Maxspect Gyre F250's w/controller, a tunze oscillator, an AP700, a Jabo DCP 15000 return pump and am considering the full Apex controller.

Still working on choosing a skimmer, heaters, and trying to decide if running my old aquatic life 36" mh/t5 combo light over half the tank would be worthwhile, as well as if the APEX is overkill. Can I reasonably settle for the APEXel? How much do I need the ORP and Salinity probes? Would it make more sense to run MP40's or Neptune WAV's instead of the gyres?

Would appreciate your thoughts. Thx in advance!

 

[jsker]

The build sound epic
The Apex is well worth it and go with the Apex for what it offer now and for the expandability later. I have my system mostly automated with the Apex with switches to tell me when things are low are shut down the system if equipment fail
Have your light even over the DT, what is the size of the 230?
I have a smaller system but run both the gyre's and a mp-40.

 

[fabutahoun]

Hi I and welcome to Reef2Reef,
I strongly recommend getting an apex controller, EL version is not a bad idea. ORP is just an indication of how clean is your water , and comes helpful if there is a sudden drop in ORP because of something big died. I never used salinity prob but it is good to have it around, at the end you can add new modules latter anytime.

If you are going with apex I strongly recommend the Apex WAV. I have 2 WAV's on my tank with one gyre, I added the gyre few months ago to add additional and different kind of flow.
Also if going with apex pick Neptune ATK for ATO

Same as @jsker my system is fully automated by apex. I keep adding new modules every now and then.

 

[Grigs]

The build sound epic
The Apex is well worth it and go with the Apex for what it offer now and for the expandability later. I have my system mostly automated with the Apex with switches to tell me when things are low are shut down the system if equipment fail
Have your light even over the DT, what is the size of the 230?
I have

The 230 is 72lx26dx24h. Was thinking using the old MH T5 fixture might support acans better than AP700, and would allow me to delay another $800 expenditure a little. Do you think it would just look really odd?

 

[jsker]

The 230 is 72lx26dx24h. Was thinking using the old MH T5 fixture might support acans better than AP700, and would allow me to delay another $800 expenditure a little. Do you think it would just look really odd?

Good choice, you can always put light on the end.

 

[Grigs]

Have been looking more into lighting solutions since I have decided to go with the Apex. Would it make more sense to go with Radions than the AP700 due to controlability? Is that functionality and light intensity significantly different than the Kessil provides? I haven't noted it much with my naked eye, but I tend to prefer the shimmer of Kessils. Also looking at throwing the LED's in the Aquatic Life 61" Hydrid fixture.

 

[fabutahoun]

I run my radions using apex controller and very happy with it

 

[Grigs]

That's awesome, Fadi. Thanks for sharing your schedule! There are so many awesome options it is really tough to decide, particularly as my plans grow...

 

[fabutahoun]

That's awesome, Fadi. Thanks for sharing your schedule! There are so many awesome options it is really tough to decide, particularly as my plans grow...

You Are Welcome anytime, If you have time please check my build thread. Link in my signature.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

New to R2R and just getting back to reefkeeping. I have been out of reefing for about 8 yrs. Last tanks were a 29 gallon nanocube and a 57 gallon show tank. Set up both as mostly LPS with a piece or two of SPS.

Have been reading, reading, and doing more reading and I have finally started buying.

Ordered a Waterbox 230.6, 2 Maxspect Gyre F250's w/controller, a tunze oscillator, an AP700, a Jabo DCP 15000 return pump and am considering the full Apex controller.

Still working on choosing a skimmer, heaters, and trying to decide if running my old aquatic life 36" mh/t5 combo light over half the tank would be worthwhile, as well as if the APEX is overkill. Can I reasonably settle for the APEXel? How much do I need the ORP and Salinity probes? Would it make more sense to run MP40's or Neptune WAV's instead of the gyres?

Would appreciate your thoughts. Thx in advance!

I don't use the ORP probe, but I do use two pH probes on my Apex: one for the tank pH, the other to control the pH in my calcium reactor. If you are at all considering using a calcium reactor, now or down the road, get the regular Apex with two ports.

I have two XF230 gyres. While I like them for the flow, they have at times been been buggy and finicky and a royal pain. I have mixed feelings about them, but I'd probably still order them again.

 

[Grigs]

You Are Welcome anytime, If you have time please check my build thread. Link in my signature.

I checked it out already! Looks great!

 

[fabutahoun]

I checked it out already! Looks great!

Thanks glad that you Liked it !!!

 

[Grigs]

Time for some updates...

The tank and most of its components have arrived. All are now waiting on me to finish tiling what is now my tank room/study room. I did not appreciate the amount of time and energy tiling 300 sq ft was going to consume... lol. I knew that I had gotten old and lazy, but this is ridiculous. I can hardly bring myself to put down more than one bag of mortar and tile at a time, which covers approximately 30 sq ft... You can see where this is going... : )

Here are some pics of the Waterbox as I was unpacking it. Incredibly lucky there was no internal damage. This sucker took a heavy blow that crushed through the back of the heavy MDF crate. As luck would have it, there was a final layer of cardboard in JUST the right place to prevent contact with the glass... Waterbox did an outstanding job packing this tank and stand. Boxes for the stand had scrapes, as well, but nothing appears to have penetrated all of the cardboard.

Finally, the first occupants of this glorious tank are hanging out in our kitchen... Picked up these incredible DaVinci Clowns from Matt at The Reef Rack. He and his team have been incredibly helpful and patient. It appears that I either knew nothing or have forgotten nearly all of it in the 10 yrs since my last tank. Either way, they have been awesome. So lucky to have such a great resource nearby!

Sorry for the lousy pic, but I couldn't figure out how to attach the video clip... Will get better later

 

[Grigs]

Finally finished tile and grout. Whew!

Unpacked the stand to find some crushing to the top. It's on the bottom side, but protrudes approx 1/8" into where it SHOULD be mating with the side towards the front of the stand... approx 2-3" from front. Looks to me like someone went bannanas with a tie down. Could possibly been from a rigging sling. Width appears to.be appropriate for either. Exterior of box showed no obvious signs of crushing. Other than that, the materials look really good in general. Some minor imperfections, very small blemishes. One area on two side pieces that will be covered by another board is without coating, which is interesting. I could not recreate the quality of finish that Waterbox is producing, though. It is pretty great. A tad thin on some edges, but pretty stinking impressive for a tank stand, to be honest.

Will wait to hear from them about the crush on the top panel. Have a lot of gear to begin unboxing and assembling. Really wanted to get the tank filled up with rock, sand , and water... bummer...

 

[Grigs]

Oh! Another update on gear...

Decided on using 2 wav's with the full Apex. Also picked up the FMM, leak detwctors, flow monitoring, auto feeder, and DOS for auto water changes. Considering another DOS for 2 part down the road.

Lighting... I did go with 2 AP700's and the 61" T5 from Aquatic Life. Saw it at The Reef Rack in KC and really liked the form factor and the difference the T5's made. Holy smokes! Going to rework it to have both cords coming out the same side, at least. With 2 AP700 cords and the two Aquatic Life hangers there I don't think there is much advantage to a single cord for me. Might be nice for it to be longer than 6 ft, though.

Return pump... bought a backup after reading more... that became my main pump. Got the Sicce Synchra 9.

Really looking forward to getting it all up and running. BRS has a good chunk of my last bonus check in their coffers... lol. Time to see the toys at work!!!

 

[oceanarab]

Finally finished tile and grout. Whew!

Unpacked the stand to find some crushing to the top. It's on the bottom side, but protrudes approx 1/8" into where it SHOULD be mating with the side towards the front of the stand... approx 2-3" from front. Looks to me like someone went bannanas with a tie down. Could possibly been from a rigging sling. Width appears to.be appropriate for either. Exterior of box showed no obvious signs of crushing. Other than that, the materials look really good in general. Some minor imperfections, very small blemishes. One area on two side pieces that will be covered by another board is without coating, which is interesting. I could not recreate the quality of finish that Waterbox is producing, though. It is pretty great. A tad thin on some edges, but pretty stinking impressive for a tank stand, to be honest.

Will wait to hear from them about the crush on the top panel. Have a lot of gear to begin unboxing and assembling. Really wanted to get the tank filled up with rock, sand , and water... bummer...

What did they do for u send u another one?

 

[Grigs]

I actually took a hand plane to it. There was no wood exposed and it is on bottom of top panel. Totally hidden from sight. They were looking into touch up paint for me, but it was not needed. Have stand built except for hanging doors. Hope to get tank on the stand this weekend. Still need to mount light support bars and route my auto water change tubing before filling.

 

[najer]

Nice to see progress, enjoy the build.

 

[siggy]

I like the tile in the den, thats whats holding me back to moving in mine. following

 

[Grigs]

I like the tile in the den, thats whats holding me back to moving in mine. following

Thanks! It was a massive PITA but I am really glad I did it. Was convinced that I would spill on the carpet and would regret it... lol. I backbuttered the tile, which doubled the amount of mortar used and likely tripled the effort and mess. I wouldn't recommend it if your floor is not uneven...