Waterbox 65.4 AIO Build

[Matthew Halford]

Starting my second reef tank after a several year hiatus due to the military moving me around constantly over the past couple of years.

More to follow soon.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Picked up an old buffet from marketplace to use as a stand. Top isn’t deep enough for the tank so will have to make a new one. Also going to use the center doors to make a custom cable management mounting board.

 

[Matthew Halford]

For the new top, I decided to try using white wood studs that I planned down to 1”x3”.

glued, clamped, and pocket holes. Added returns to both ends. Stain next.

 

[Matthew Halford]

so, the center part of the “stand” previously had three drawers. I tore those out to create a larger area to hide cables and power strips.

While I have the top off it’s time to reinforce the stand. Tons of stiffening with plywood and 2x4s

made a false wall on hinges that’ll allow me to mount all the controller equipment.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Scape complete. Followed many of the tips from BRStv. Two small/one medium reef foundation rocks, five lbs of shelf rock and 40 lbs of reef saver. Had about 15 lbs of reef saver left.

 

[Lowlandreef]

I've been looking for this tank too, they are beautiful. Will definitely follow your build, good luck!

 

[Matthew Halford]

I've been looking for this tank too, they are beautiful. Will definitely follow your build, good luck!

Thanks! I’ll be sure to keep chipping away at it. Hate that the tank is sitting in my garage and I’m so far behind.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Progress has been slow due to building this outdoor bar for work and going on vacation to Gatlinburg, TN. Did get to stop by the aquarium there...they only had one reef tank, but a super cool place.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Got some work done today.

Routed the edge to the table top. None of the router bits I had looked right so I ordered a few from Home Depot and had to wait for them to come snail mail. Probably could have gotten by with one I had, but decided I need patience throughout this whole thing.

Also, as you can see, I got the stain on. Used a conditioner beforehand as staining pine can be a huge PITA. Can’t say I’m super thrilled with it, but it matches our dining room table perfectly. Wish I would have went with white oak for the top, but I just couldn’t justify the cost for this build. Most of it will be hidden under the tank.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Some more work done. Inching closer to water.
Stand is being painted now.

Built a spray tent out of pvc, tape and plastic. Used 4 left over curtain holders around the 3/4” pvc. Worked perfect!

I’m spraying with Dixie Belle chalk paint and then will spray a top coat over it to protect

First two coats on.

Started working the RO/DI issues. Unfortunately my BRS 150gpd system sat in a box for a few years and the pressure gauge went out. Got the replacement in and they also covered a nipple under warranty that was leaking. I’ll post an in depth update in the next few days on it

 

[newfly]

Starting my second reef tank after a several year hiatus due to the military moving me around constantly over the past couple of years.

More to follow soon.

I’m planning the same build. Tank on order. What skimmer are you planning to use? I’m toying with tunze 9012 but may have to modify the mount to fit.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Going to try skimerless to start. I know the 9012 has pretty solid reviews, but my past experience with smaller skimmers is not great.
Going to be doing continuous water changes to keep up with nutrient export to start off. We’ll see what happens down the road.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Stand finished. Tank on top. Thank goodness. Should have water in it by next weekend.

Still need to finish up the gravity fed ATO when my BRS parts arrive this week.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Put the rock in for the test. Mortar tomorrow, water Wednesday!

 

[Matthew Halford]

Water is in the tank. Calculated the water volume to be exactly 60 gallons by weighing the salt used.

Have some more equipment coming this week.
-2 XR-15s
-MP-10
-4 VCA random flow generators
-Tons of cable management items

Not much in the lower cabinet for the time being, but here’s kind of an idea how it’ll all work out.

 

[CoralBlue]

Just ordered one myself, will definitely be following along, good work on the aquascape! Any more pictures would be greatly appreciated. Near impossible to find any good videos or pictures of this tank.

 

[Matthew Halford]

Just ordered one myself, will definitely be following along, good work on the aquascape! Any more pictures would be greatly appreciated. Near impossible to find any good videos or pictures of this tank.

Thanks!
Not sure if the link is still working but I have a video up above that might show you some more detail.
Found that breaking up the reef saver into pieces slightly smaller then a baseball yielded the best results. Also, loved the foundation rock (used three medium size). Adding in 5 lbs of the shelf rock was just the right amount to build off those shelves. Average pretty happy with it.
Think I ordered 60lbs of reef saver rock and only used about 40 lbs

 

[Matthew Halford]

Boring update since the tank is cycling. I used Brightwell QuickStart and the Ammonia to get things going.

Unfortunately I placed a pretty large order at BRS and UPS lost the package. Our UPS here in SC is terrible. Had two radion 15s, MP-10, and tons of other accessories.
Luckily my apex was a separate order so I can at least hook that up while the claims process goes on. Sucks that I have to wait for the whole claim process to end before BRS will ship the new box out.

 

[CoralBlue]

Thanks!
Not sure if the link is still working but I have a video up above that might show you some more detail.
Found that breaking up the reef saver into pieces slightly smaller then a baseball yielded the best results. Also, loved the foundation rock (used three medium size). Adding in 5 lbs of the shelf rock was just the right amount to build off those shelves. Average pretty happy with it.
Think I ordered 60lbs of reef saver rock and only used about 40 l

Will look into using that rock. Good luck!

 

[Matthew Halford]

Well, the box ended up coming, but only half the contents were inside.

still waiting on the cycle. Test again in another week...