@techlifejourney - waterbox 40.1

[techlifejourney]

Hello all!!! It's been a while since I have posted on any reef forum. This is my first post on this reef forum. Ive always been in the saltwater nano tank hobby for years now but the time has finally come to get rid of my JBJ 24 gallon and move to a new tank - The Waterbox 40.1. The waterbox I believe is a 25gallon display tank but with another 15 gallon sump that sits inside the cabinet. I will be posting on my new tank build so be sure to subscribe, follow (on instagram), and comment! I used to have clownfish in my 24 gal but due to being so busy and not having enough time to feed everyday, I no longer have any fish (yet). It is therefore mostly a reef tank. I only have a GSP, bubble coral and some mushrooms. I also had 1 rose bubble tip anemone that now have split to 5 of them over the course of 4+ years. All these will be moved to my new tank!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Nice tank! Looks like you are off to a good start. Welcome to R2R!

 

[techlifejourney]

New Tank build info -
Neptune Apex - To run as the main aquarium controller
AI Prime HD - Light
40 pounds of Carib Sea Sand
Reef Octopus Varios-2 Octopump for the return pump
Sentry ATO - Automatic top-offs
Echotech Marine MP10w - Wavemaker
Imagitarium filterpads
Bulkreefsupply Mini Reactor - I will try to use this to create a chaeto reactor with some LEDS
Live rock from my old tank
Chiller will be possibly moved to new tank

Old Tank/Existing JBJ 24G
Digital Aquatics RKE - To run as the main controller
JBJ 28G LED stock LED hood - Lights
20 pounds of Carib Sea Sand
2 Maxijet waterheads = return pumps
External XP Filstar filter
AquaEuro USA Chiller
Chaeto grown in the rear chamber of the tank with JBJ LED

 

[techlifejourney]

Nice tank! Looks like you are off to a good start. Welcome to R2R!

Thank you!

 

[HolisticBear]

Welcome to R2R

You will love the return pump, I own the same one on my Reefer 170. I was impressed by the software for the AI light, especially for the money. The software on most lights costing 2-3x more is inferior to the AI software, you will like it.

 

[techlifejourney]

Welcome to R2R

You will love the return pump, I own the same one on my Reefer 170. I was impressed by the software for the AI light, especially for the money. The software on most lights costing 2-3x more is inferior to the AI software, you will like it.

Thank you! My brand new octo return pump actually came damaged. I took it apart to see why it wasnt working the first time I turned it on since it was brand new and I noticed the propeller shaft was broken from the propeller. I had to return it to BRS. It takes them 6 days (UPS ground shipping from california to MN) to receive the old one in order for them to send me a replacement one so I just requested a full refund instead since I can buy one from a LFS then waiting 7 to 10 days for a replacement one. I'm looking forward to using the AI lights!

 

[techlifejourney]

Update -
I finally got the following setup:
1) Neptune Apex system setup with my Temp, Salinity, ORP and pH probes.
2) Received my Octopus Pump from Amazon in no time and set it up! Pretty sad about getting a DOA pump from bulkreefsupply and I would have had to wait more then 7 days to return a replacement so I opted for a full refund and ordered the Octo Pump from Amazon and it got here in less then 2 days with prime!
3) Setup the AI light ( love it!)
4) Cleaned up the cabling (you can see from the right side as well as from the Apex picture of having all probes go inside a cable cover) to reduce the cable clutter
5) I added a filter pad ( see the image), a nitrate/nitrite reducing filter pad in the sump and a small piece of carbon filter pad in the top compartment.

Next will be to setup the Ecotech MP10, RO/DI unit to fill the ATO sump reservoir and setup the ATO system.

 

[larryl]

Nice build so far.

 

[Zeal]

Can we get an update>? IM thinking about buying a waterbox myself. Hows the sump? Big enough for a refugium?

 

[techlifejourney]

Can we get an update>? IM thinking about buying a waterbox myself. Hows the sump? Big enough for a refugium?

Hi sorry for the lack of update as I've been away. The sump is not bad. It has 4 chambers. 1st chamber is for inlet with filter sock, 2nd chamber (meant for a skimmer) can be converted to a refugium. The 3rd chamber is where the outlet pump sits and the last chamber is a 3.5gal reservoir for your RO/DI water with ATO. I think there is another thread on here where someone converted the reservoir chamber to a refugium with some modifications. I'm having trouble finding a skimmer that has great reviews and that fits (7inchx7inch ) inside the 2nd chamber. I am thinking of 3d printing a small refugium box to put Chateo in, that will hang on one side of this chamber until I can find a good skimmer that will fit in the chamber.

Will post new pictures soon...

 

[techlifejourney]

some pros about the tank:
Pros:
The tank design is clean, compact and of high quality.
Very simple setup. Easy to clean/maintenance.
ATO works great


Cons:
Depending on the water level, the sump or even the back chamber can get a little noisy but with some minor adjustments, you can't hear the water trickling at all! I think they changed the design with the inlet valve for the newer aquariums for this year for easier adjustment of flow.
Unfortunately the skimmer chamber is pretty small for most skimmers that have great reviews. I really wanted to buy the octopus classic 110S but I dont believe it will fit as the sump size is 7.1"x7.1"x15".
The specs say the skimmer is 5" body size but footprint is 6.1" x7.8"X19 (LxWxH)

Would I recommend this aquarium to others? Absolutely!

 

[techlifejourney]

Some update photos -
The Rose bubble tip anemones, the Bubble Coral, GSP and rocks were all are from my old tank that I transferred into this tank.
The hammer coral frag and the other square flag (if someone can ID it for me) are new.

Tank parameters from Apex:
pH:Between 8.0 and 8.1
Temp:77-78
ORP:390-420
Salinity:33.4

 

[Jd_bamd2k]

Nice tank build. Good luck!

 

[techlifejourney]

Some updated pictures with new corals!
Also added a small water pump in the tank for more flow
Added a 75Watt heater

 

[techlifejourney]

Nice tank build. Good luck!

Thanks Jd!

 

[techlifejourney]

 

[NY_Caveman]

Beautiful! It is really coming along nicely!

 

[techlifejourney]

 

[techlifejourney]

tank update 10/30/18
Few new corals have been added:
SPS coral - Montipora Setosa (top left)
Aussie Nuclear Bubble Coral (bottom right)
Aussie Elegance Coral (bottom center)
Yellow Hammer (bottom left)
I sold 2 of my RBTA's to make more space in the tank for corals but then another RBTA decided to split last night
I have some new corals coming soon! 90% of these have corals bought online and they have been very healthy! Thank you AquaSD for the beautiful healthy Elegance coral.

I will try to post progress of my Elegance Coral since I have not seen many topics about it on forums. I used to have an elegance coral that I kept successfully 10years ago. The only reason that elegance died was because my whole tank crashed after coming back from vacation. It was actually the last coral to die. I wanted to get back into keeping elegance but lot has changed from what I am reading. Elegance corals are not as easy to keep. Some say Aussie ones are easier to keep then Indo ones. I thought I give this Aussie one a try. I cant say its 100% Aussie or not. This elegance does not have a cone shape skeleton (usually the Indo ones do) and it looks to be taken from a bigger colony from looking at its skeleton, which is always good. The skeleton is about 4-6inches in length. Bright dark purple tips. Very bright green center. Its eating well so far and has been in the tank barley a week. Time will only tell if this little guy will survive or not.

! Hopefully it remains healthy.

 

[techlifejourney]

A quick update photo of my tank. Elegance coral is still going strong (almost 2 years) and the bubble coral in the back is probably at least 3+years. Ive had at least 4 RBTA split which Ive given to the local FS for credit and lost a few corals. I cant seem to keep hammers or frogspawns as their tissue seem to slowly recede and die.