Waterbox 180.5 Build Thread

[Lelegance]

Most recent FTS:

Been planning this tank out for a while now, after having a 25 gallon Waterbox for 2.5 years. Really impressed by their tank quality, and I also love how sleek they are. So I got a job to support a new tank: a Waterbox 180.5! My LFS (where I now work) received a 180.5 from one of their maintenance customers that couldn’t support it any longer, for a great price. This included the stand, sump, skimmer, fuge light, 2 radeon g5 xr15’s, 1 g5 xr30, and some other random stuff. The owner of the store gave it to me for the same price, drove it over, and had a team of dudes to install it.

I will need to buy some brute trash cans, an RO/DI system, marco rock (going for NSA aquascape), heaters + controller, return pump, and possibly a reef mat 1200. Any other things like UV, co2 scrubber, dosing, etc will come later.

First thing done after getting the tank is to clean all the stuff since it was used, and taken down not long ago. Heres what it all looked like earlier today:

All I could get done today was cleaning the stand and doors from salt creep and debris, then putting the doors on. Spent around 5 hours scraping coralline off the sump, and whatever other buildup since the previous owner didn’t maintain the sump well. That will have to be finished tomorrow, though. Here is the clean stand, and almost clean sump:

I also noticed that the doors were slightly tilted, so I tightened the hinges where needed, and it somewhat fixed it. The stand has some holes drilled for some reason, anyone know what to do to patch these somewhat seamlessly?

The last thing on my mind at the moment is if I should cut out room for a reefmat in the sump area. Don’t really trust my abilities to not punch a hole in the outside seam, but it depends on how easy it can be done. I might get that done this week if I come to a decision.

Excuse me talking so much, sadly you have to get used to that

 

[smitten with ocean life]

looks great!! what a score! cant wait to see it filled!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Lelegance]

Took a look at the seams today, and the front ones are making me question if I need to reseal them. The previous owner apparently loved to hit the seams while cleaning glass, and left some peeling on the outside of them. The part in-between the glass is fine, and all other seams are fine, but the front looks like this:

I probably do have to reseal, how do I do that? Clean and dry, then use a bit of alcohol to have the silicone stick? Then cut off the damaged part of the seam (not in-between the glass part) and put new silicone on, and let dry? Looks like they have been through a lot, so rather safe than sorry.

 

[Lelegance]

All the equipment just arrived, and the tank is level with composite shims. Currently cleaning the equipment.

Thanks to any following along!

They actually had 2 radeon xr30’s and 1 xr15, not sure why but i’ll take it for sure!

 

[Lelegance]

Just installed a 7 stage 150 GPD brs R/O system, along with all my cleaning supplies

 

[Lelegance]

So one huge setback.. the front seams need redoing. Disappointing that I wasn’t told about this issue, but I haven’t paid yet. I will see if it can be redone by a service nearby, if not the build may have to get sent back, and start over. Really disappointed with this, and hope that it can be done since I really like the tank. If not, innovative marine it is.

 

[FishLvR]

So one huge setback.. the front seams need redoing. Disappointing that I wasn’t told about this issue, but I haven’t paid yet. I will see if it can be redone by a service nearby, if not the build may have to get sent back, and start over. Really disappointed with this, and hope that it can be done since I really like the tank. If not, innovative marine it is.

The cost in time and money is more than the tank is worth you can bet your dollars on that. If you can do it yourself maybe but what is YOUR time worth.

 

[Lelegance]

Luckily, false alarm! My store owner confirmed that the seam is fine, I just got some misleading info. The previous owner just lifted on the edges by using a razor blade, and they didn’t damage the seam enough for it to be any worry. I will go ahead and trust my store owner’s judgement, knowing that she took care of it every month or so for the previous owner, and had inspected it before sending it off to me. So, here we go again

So far all the stuff I have done is cleaned all the new equipment, cleaned the sump with citric acid and a razer blade, then washed 3 times in in tap water, then RO/DI. The stand is clean, the tank level, all to start it up will be cleaning plumbing pikes and getting new silicone tubing, and cleaning the main tank with citric acid, and washes with RO aswell. So far, decently smooth for cleanup, and not really any issues since the seam is fine. Here is the sump, i’m pretty proud of how much crap got removed:

 

[Lelegance]

Tank is cleaned and ready to have the sump in. All that is left to clean is the plumbing and then it can start leaking testing. Thinking about using a tarp under the sump so water wont drip under the stand if I spill. When it’s all cleaned I’ll leak test for two days once brute trash cans come, and if it does well, the journey really begins!

 

[Lelegance]

Couldn’t find any useful info online about what amount of space a reefmat 1200 needs, so I decided to just buy it. I was willing to cut the big baffle anyways if needed, so it didn’t matter, but the reefmat does fit perfectly in the sock area! For anyone that needs to know the ABSOLUTE minimum space this can be in, this fits snugly in 7.5” of width. For the tubing, have at least 16 inches of space sideways, this is 19”. Literally no wiggle room, but it works!

 

[Lelegance]

Lights installed and work well.

 

[Lelegance]

Here is the rockscape so far, getting inspiration from the brs video on HNSA (Habitat Negative Space Aquascape) video, and using their techniques. I have to say that it works really well. Just make sure that you take breaks since I have found a new mind works well for the first hour, then gets stumped.

 

[Lelegance]

The sump is plumbed and installed, along with the reefmat and the refugium light. Heater and another mp40 arrived today from brs, that will get installed tomorrow along with the skimmer, and return pump.

Here is the right aquascape finished, and how it will be looking:

 

[Lelegance]

Quick update here!

This tank has been in the back of my mind for a couple months because I have been busy. However I did make some slow progress, and I plan to get this tank running soon (hopefully). So far, I have the aquascape 90% finished, and most of the wiring and equipment on the tank installed and organized. I did buy an apex pro system but have yet to install it. It will pair with a DOS and Trident later on for that versatility and buffer when it comes to trips and life. Tank passed the leak test (which I let run for over a week) so i’m glad about that. Once the rocks are epoxied and cemented together, this tank can start cycling. Planning 1-2 months no lights, and using various bacterias and old biomedia from my LFS to build a strong microbiome. Then ramping up lights slowly over a month or so. Hopefully that will help with stability and bacterial / algae problems that all new tanks get.

Here is the tank currently

And this is the aquascape. I had to remove some stuff to allow for larger fish and colonies over time.

 

[Lelegance]

Tank is cycling using tbs live sand! Will start to post more updates as i finally have this thing done

 

[Lelegance]

Lights on, 4 hours a day at 10% ramping up for about a month. Hopefully fish sometime soon!

 

[Lelegance]

Sorry for the atrocious picture, but i picked up this marine betta for the tank and im currently quarantining him along with my clownfish. Ill have to say, he is a beautiful fish. First picture was him at the store

 

[Lelegance]

Quick update here! Changed out the individual light mounts for one RMS rail. Mostly because i will probably want to supplement the radions with a quanta helix light bar down the road for more coverage. Got the wires as clean as possible running along the rim of the tank since I did not want to see the wires hanging behind the RMS rail as that looks scuffed and messy to me. I think it looks good having all the wires for the radions running along the rim of the tank on the sides since it hides the wires much better, and doesn’t compromise viewing from the sides. The cycle is also progressing, seeing diatoms on the sand and rock, along with some starting signs of hair algae. The new lighting schedule for the radions has gone from 4 hours a day to 12 hours. 6 hours full spectrum, 4 hours blues later in the day. All 30 minute ramp periods, and off by 9pm. I like to view the tank a bit later in the day since i usually wont get home until then.

New rms rail and wiring:

Cycle progression:

 

[Lelegance]

Another update. Just received a used but very well maintained Reef Octopus Regal 150-sss, and it is an amazing skimmer. The bubbles it produces are just so uniform, and the thing is dead silent compared to my old AC skimmer. I also received a Tunze Strong+ magnet scraper, and it works wonders. Glass clean in no time, and the plastic blades avoid scratches while not compromising efficiency.

Also added a 3.5” Marine Betta and a Clownfish pair (2.5” and 1”) from my QT system, and they have been doing phenomenally in the display. They eat like hogs, and no aggression with any of them. The marine betta has taken a liking to an overhang on the right side, and the clownfish just sleep in the front corner .

I added a few test coral in the big tank to see how they react and also to map out some flow, and they have been looking good. The cycle has progressed a lot in the past month biologically, but no algae outbreaks or signs of slime yet even though my lights are near the intensity they will permanently be at. Also, my cerith snails have been laying eggs ok the glass over and over this week, I usually end up seeing a new cluster every day.

Decided to take some pictures of the tanks, and also some pictures of the coral in my little 25 aio system to give you an idea of what the big tank will look like for coral, though I will add some sps up top in the big tank. Here they are! Love to have them side by side but it wont be permanent (im too lazy for two tanks at the moment).