WaterBox 170.4 Build

[KingReef]

I pulled the trigger and got the tank ordered today. My plan is to document and video the entire build process. When I was researching what I wanted, I found tons of videos showing red sea tanks being put together and running, but almost nothing on Waterbox. I am hoping I can change that and get some videos to show how to put one together as well as how run one. I am hoping to get my tank in a couple weeks. I'll be updating as stuff arrives!

Build Equipment:
Waterbox 170.4/5 (130 gal DT with 40gal sump)
Current USA Loop Bundle
-Dual 48" Orbit IC Pro LED lights
-two eFlux DC wave Pumps
-1900 gph DC return pump
JBJ Titanium heater 500W
Curve 7 elite protein skimmer with Sicce PSK600 pump
BRS Dual Reactor
140 lbs Moani Dry live rock
100 lbs Caribsea live sand
FritzPro RPM salt mix

 

[Hair Algae Wizard]

Following, as I plan to purchase the same tank. Best of luck with it!

 

[EmilyXLC]

I pulled the trigger and got the tank ordered today. My plan is to document and video the entire build process. When I was researching what I wanted, I found tons of videos showing red sea tanks being put together and running, but almost nothing on Waterbox. I am hoping I can change that and get some videos to show how to put one together as well as how run one. I am hoping to get my tank in a couple weeks. I'll be updating as stuff arrives!

Build Equipment:
Waterbox 170.4/5 (130 gal DT with 40gal sump)
Current USA Loop Bundle
-Dual 48" Orbit IC Pro LED lights
-two eFlux DC wave Pumps
-1900 gph DC return pump
JBJ Titanium heater 500W
Curve 7 elite protein skimmer with Sicce PSK600 pump
BRS Dual Reactor
140 lbs Moani Dry live rock
100 lbs Caribsea live sand
FritzPro RPM salt mix

You can find a ton of videos with unboxing, setup and other projects on the Waterbox Youtube channel! If you don't see exactly what you are looking for, let me know and I'd be more than happy to point you in the right direction. : )

Waterbox Aquariums

Waterbox Aquariums is the worlds leading and fastest growing Aquarium Manufacturer. Every Wednesday we go live to teach new techniques in the aquarium keepin...

www.youtube.com

 

[Small triggers]

Following also! Love the looks of these tanks!

 

[KingReef]

First shipment of equipment arrived today! Sounds like it will be a couple weeks for the tank, in the mean time, I am gonna be pacing around like a kid waiting on Christmas.

 

[KingReef]

You can find a ton of videos with unboxing, setup and other projects on the Waterbox Youtube channel! If you don't see exactly what you are looking for, let me know and I'd be more than happy to point you in the right direction. : )

Waterbox Aquariums

Waterbox Aquariums is the worlds leading and fastest growing Aquarium Manufacturer. Every Wednesday we go live to teach new techniques in the aquarium keepin...

www.youtube.com

All I found was the video of the cabinet build. I have not found any videos of the plumbing install or any detailed looks at the system running. I am planning on making videos like that. Also, I can't find the basic tank dimensions with the size of the overflow box... Do you know the internal dimensions of the 170 tank including the measurements for the footprint of the overflow?

 

[LadyMac]

Looking forward to this thread, as I too am waiting on my tank

 

[KingReef]

Looking forward to this thread, as I too am waiting on my tank

Right on, are you getting a Waterbox as well?

 

[LadyMac]

I am! I won the last contest, so mine will be smaller. It’s the 70.2, which is perfect for the space I want it in. But I’ve not seen any videos on the plumbing or even sump setup and whatnot. This will be my very first tank with a proper sump and drilled tank.

 

[KingReef]

That is amazing that you won yours. I'll be making videos right along when I get my tank and set it up. I'll also post anything to watch out for that I run into along the way. Hoping to have it by the end of the month.

 

[LadyMac]

Thank you! Needless to say I’m excited!

I can’t wait, I love unboxing and setup videos. Do you plan to keep the ato section as is or turn it into a refugium? Or is your sump one that comes with the dedicated fuge?

 

[KingReef]

Thank you! Needless to say I’m excited!

I can’t wait, I love unboxing and setup videos. Do you plan to keep the ato section as is or turn it into a refugium? Or is your sump one that comes with the dedicated fuge?

My Sump has the refugium area that is sectioned off from the skimmer area and a separate ATO. I will be using the ATO for sure. Not sure about setting up a fuge to start. Might be something I add later.

 

[KingReef]

I contacted Waterbox to inquire when my tank would be shipped. They told me it would be about a week and a half. Yesterday, after waiting what felt like a month, I checked when I got that response from Waterbox. It had been 4 days... I really need a distraction. Waiting on this tank is no fun. I am excited to begin setting it up!

In the mean time, My rock came in and I took a shot at some aquascape ideas last night. The pictures are what I have come up with so far. THere are tunnels and caves that go multiple ways throughout the scape.

 

[KingReef]

Frustratingly UPS has lost my lighting / pump loop system. Luckily I was refunded immediately, but I was not exactly excited to try that all again. In doing some research and reading, I decided to switch to a different light and I went with three AI Prime HD's. For now I am going to mount them on arms over the tank. In the future, I may add in a hybrid T5 fixture and drop the Primes on that. Will depend on whether or not I ever get into SPS corals. I also tried building my Skimmer last night and one of the pieces that holds the pump in place was broken. I have contacted the seller (saltwateraquariums.com) and they were super responsive. I am trying to repair the piece now, but I have reached out to bubble magus as well to let them know I need a new piece. Last bit of frustration is waiting on Waterbox to at least email me that my tank has shipped. That is not a knock on WB, it is simply my not wanting to wait any longer. I do think I have zeroed in on my scape and I will be posting more pictures once I get it epoxied together.

 

[KingReef]

And just when I thought I couldn't wait another day, this just showed up...

 

[KingReef]

This is going to be a long post. The events take place over the course of the past three weeks.
Week 1:
I got my first Docusign form from Waterbox on 9/17. I quickly signed it and waited for the shipping notification (not patiently mind you, I began pestering Waterbox within 24 hours). On the 19th, rather than a shipment notification, I got the same Docusign stuff from Waterbox. I signed it again and on the 20th, I had an email from Waterbox support saying my order was shipping.
Week 2:
By Tuesday, I had the tracking info and I was watching this shipment. The tank was scheduled to be delivered on Friday Sept. 27th. I arranged to have help that afternoon in moving things and I prepared the room for the tank arrival. The delivery driver showed up at 10:30 am and we got off to a rocky start. The driver took a look at my driveway and told me he couldn't get the tractor trailer up it. He asked me to meet him in the parking lot down the street with my pickup truck and he would load the pallet into it. I agreed and off we went. took some doing but we got the pallet loaded into my truck with no real drama. I signed for the delivery and off I went.

Got home and began the unloading process. Checked the boxes and had a box 1 of 2 and a box 2 of 2 for the cabinet, plus the crate with the tank in it. Seems like that should be everything. I took the cabinet boxes into the house and began the build. Here is my first big mistake, rather than laying out the pieces, I just started building. I noticed that I had some big duplicates, like the top of the stand and the bottom of the stand, but I didn't think much of it. Fast forward 3 hours and I have 3 sections of two different stands that I am trying to rig together. Finally, my mother-in-law (who is extremely handy and has rebuilt several homes) looks over everything and asks, "where are the doors?" That question brought all activity to a stand still and the realization dawned on me that we had a problem. My wife called Waterbox support and explained the situation. I started furiously taking pictures so I could send them to support as well. Here is my favorite one:

After talking to Autumn over at Waterbox, who was extremely helpful and polite, about this cabinet issue, she suggested I go checkout the sump and tank. This is where putting that pallet into my pickup truck comes back to haunt me. I got the top off the crate no problem and upon initial inspection of the sump, I found a large crack. I snapped a quick picture and fired it off to Waterbox support. When I lifted the sump out of the tank (with help, that thing was pretty heavy), I found a piece of shattered glass. This glass did not come off the sump as there is a mat on the bottom of it. I began looking at the tank itself and could not find any broken or chipped glass. My best guess is that in packing the tank and sump, a stray chip of glass got between the two and at some point it shattered, cracking the sump in the process.

After putting the sump in my garage (on a piece of packing foam) I moved on to the tank. No one tells you when you buy these things that the tanks weight about 400 pounds. If I had one suggestion for Waterbox right now, it would be add the weight of the empty tank to the tech specs. I had no idea it would be so heavy and only had the help of one person (luckily this one person is a very fit cop). With access only through the top of the crate and having just figured out that lifting this tank out and over was a no go, we had to figure out how to disassemble the crate in the back of the pickup to the point where we could slide the tank out without lifting it more than 4 or 5 inches (not much foot room in the bed of a truck with a box on a pallet in there). I'm keeping the video of the tank removal private as the language used was certainly not family friendly. Suffice to say that the tank made it into the house, in tact with no damage anywhere. The glass chip that cracked the sump would have had to have been a grenade to damage the tank glass! Honestly though, the tank is beautiful. I spent hours inspecting the seems and the glass and I couldn't find a single fault with it. It really is an amazing tank. By the end of the day, I had an email from Autumn (hope she doesn't mind me calling her out, but she was great throughout the process) letting me know a new sump and cabinet were being packaged for delivery to me. Not the ideal end to the day your new tank arrives, but I was satisfied that Waterbox was going to take care of me.

Week 3:
Tank shipped on Tuesday. Apparently UPS didn't show on Monday to pickup the tank. My hope was to have delivery on Friday, Oct 4, so I had the weekend to build this and basically geek out on everything. Got the tracking email Tuesday night and it looked like delivery was initially scheduled for Monday, Oct 7 (boo). I held out hope that the disclaimer that delivery dates were estimates was going to ring true. Using the tracking, I followed the shipment from Florida all the way to Maryland in a day (great progress). I really felt like a Friday delivery was going to happen. Fast forward 24 hours and the pack had sat in a UPS facility for 14 hours and then made a 3 hour hop to another facility and was sitting again. The hopes for Friday were gone, just like that. I decided that if UPS hauled my stuff close enough on Friday, I would just drive there in the trusty pickup and take delivery rather than wait for a trailer to not come up my driveway again. Friday morning the shipment was within an hour and a half from me at a UPS facility. I called and was told that I couldn't get it because it was already on the next truck going to the third party service that would make the final delivery. Fast forward all day and by 7 PM, I was two hours away from my house taking delivery of my cabinet and sump in the back lot of a shipping warehouse (not at all sketchy, everyone there was really cool). I didn't take any pictures as I was dodging 18 wheelers and was honestly tired already with a 2 hour drive ahead of me. The only thing that concerned me was the sump. It was not in a bow, it was literally wrapped in bubble wrap sitting on the cabinet boxes. I had a guy at the loading doc help me slide the sump into the backseat of my truck and off I went. When I got home, I brought everything into the house (with more help). I unwrapped the sump to find that it was in perfect condition. I have no idea how a glass box wrapped in bubble wrap and trucked from one end of the country to the other survived, but it did. That was enough for one day though. I went to bed!
Oct 5, Build Day:
I started the day by opening the boxes for the new cabinet and counting all the pieces. I was hopeful as the boxes were different sizes this time. After going through and marking off all the pieces, I ad everything needed and I got down to it. It only took me a couple hours to build the cabinet by myself. When it was done, I had a friend come over and he helped me right it and set it in place. I had leveled the feet twice during the build, so once we put the complete cabinet in place, leveling was done (I have a 100+ year old house, so level floors are not a thing). After we got the cabinet in place, we put the sump in and discussed picking up the tank by ourselves. We decided to give it a shot and unbelievably, we were able to place it on the cabinet. This feat was only made possible because I had purchased suction grips for the job. These are an absolute essential for moving tanks this size IMO and I think here again Waterbox (and anyone selling these giant tanks) should make not of that on their website. The suction handles were inexpensive and would have been worth it at twice the price. I initially left the doors off the cabinet while I "worked" on setting up the equipment.

Note, this last image is poor photography, not slanted flooring!

After most of a day getting things in place, 120 lbs. of CaribSea Ocean Direct live sand and 140 lbs. of Moani dry rock went into the tank.

Then it came time to add the water. That was a rather interesting experiment. I used Fritz RPM salt mix and 150 gallon jugs of DI water from Wal-mart. I mixed all the water in the black trash can in the last picture with the help of a small pump. my plan was to mix the salt and water and then just pump it up into the tank. My plan failed spectacularly when the small pump was unable to push the water that high. My first thirty or so gallons of salt water ended up right in the sump. I then rigged up a table to bring the trash can up higher and pump directly into the tank. While all this was going on, I mounted my lights and got them ready for the tank. By 1:10 AM on Sunday I had this to show for my efforts

The last of the water was added and I went to bed.

Oct 6th:
I spent the day adding more salt directly to the tank and adjusting the return pumps and flow rates. It took all day, but I finally got my tank up to 1.026 specific gravity and the return pump dialed in. This is another spot where Waterbox could have given some guidance. Matching the gate valve on the down pipe to the return speed on the return pump took some trial and error. When I started fiddling with things, I didn't really know what to expect. I figured out pretty quickly that I needed to open the gate valve enough to match the flow from the return pump or I would run the pump chamber dry or conversely overflow the level I set my ATO at. Just that little info up front would have saved me some of the error in the trial and error phase. Not a huge deal. Water was pretty cloudy all day due to mixing the salt. I spent some time setting up my AI Prime lights and fiddling with those. Guess I over did that because by the end of the night, I could no longer get the app to work. Just got a general error when I tried to connect. Hoping to hear from AI today. The lights are still running on the schedule I sent, so good enough for now.

Oct 7:
Woke up to crystal clear water. I'll grab a picture and update this later. so far, all water parameters are good accept ph. Right now it is measuring at 7.8. water temp is 77.9 degrees and SG is still 1.026. I'll be kicking off the cycle later today. I already added to bottles of Instant Ocean Bio-Spira.

Final Thoughts:
Overall I am extremely satisfied with the Waterbox aquarium. The tank is beautiful and the setup is top notch. My biggest issue is the leftovers from the first cabinet shipment. I now have a couple hundred pounds of cabinet and sump that I need to take to the dump. This is going to cost me several hundred dollars to get rid of. Waterbox (Autumn) was super helpful in getting the replacement stuff to me, but now I am on the hook to clean up in the aftermath. Would I buy again from Waterbox, more than likely. Would I recommend Waterbox to someone else, more than likely. Would I give someone else the heads up to check things more closely before they get too deep into the build, most definitely.

 

[ScottB]

Thank you so much for this write up. It all looks great. I've installed many large Red Sea tanks, but have been very curious about these WB tanks since crawling all over a 190 at MACNA. We will definitely be trying these out soon.

 

[Small triggers]

Everything looks awesome! And FYI, since you have a truck it should only be about $45 at your county dump as mixed trash since you dont have any drywall or asphalt shingles...

 

[KingReef]

Everything looks awesome! And FYI, since you have a truck it should only be about $45 at your county dump as mixed trash since you dont have any drywall or asphalt shingles...

I'll be going over the scales, it's $35 plus the charge for the weight... I have done this many times before, it's expensive, but not as expensive as trying to bag it all up.

 

[KingReef]

I should also update the equipment list as there are changes from the original plan. The power heads are Skimz SS 18.0. I am running them on 40% and still sucking air! these things are super strong. I had to switch out my skimmer as well. The original one broke several times while I was trying to assemble it. Saltwateraquariums.com took it back and I replaced it with an Icecap K2 160. Super easy setup and still uses a Sicce pump. I powered it on and it instantly worked. I shut it off for now as there is nothing to skim. Very happy with the team at Saltwateraquariums.com. I highly reccomend them!