Waterbox 70.2 Platinum Reef Build

[Fudsey]

I'm pretty sure the 2017 models were listed correctly

 

[DeeBee]

I was just looking at Waterbox's FB page and I saw someone left a 2 star review because the measurements on the tank were off, and then I went to measure my tank and it's not 24x44x22. It's actually 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 21 something with the mat. Not a huge deal breaker for me, but why not advertise the true sizes or at least make the tank what you advertise?

This is my first reef tank system. I wasn't sure if Red Sea does the same thing or are their measurements the same as they advertise?

Waterbox gives the correct dimension in centimeters on their website - it's just with their conversion to inches they round up for some reason. Not sure why they did that and something I would suggest changing.

https://waterboxaquariums.com/platinum-reef/

Tank Length (IN) 24″(60cm) 60cm is actually 23.62"
Tank Width (IN) 24″(60cm)
Tank Height (IN) 22″(55cm) 55cm is really 21.65"

 

[Tripptastic]

Waterbox gives the correct dimension in centimeters on their website - it's just with their conversion to inches they round up for some reason. Not sure why they did that and something I would suggest changing.

https://waterboxaquariums.com/platinum-reef/

Tank Length (IN) 24″(60cm) 60cm is actually 23.62"
Tank Width (IN) 24″(60cm)
Tank Height (IN) 22″(55cm) 55cm is really 21.65"

Well I look like a fool now. Thank you very much for clarifying that!

 

[Tripptastic]

Just picked up my 50 pounds (haven't weight it yet to see what I actually received) of Pukani from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Overall, I'm very happy with it. I got some good size pieces to work with as well. Just rinsed it off and having it soaking in water now. I'll plan on a bleach bath in the coming days when I get more time to set it up.

 

[DeeBee]

Well I look like a fool now. Thank you very much for clarifying that!

Nah, not at all. I only realized it by accident when comparing the 2017 dimensions to the new models specs. Waterbox put the exact measurements in inches for 2017 but rounded up for the 2018 models.


Good luck on your build. My overflow seems to have really clean cut weirs but I haven't hit it with any blue light yet - just garage fluorescents.

 

[nickkohrn]

I’m very much looking forward to following your progression. My wife and I are planning to buy a house next summer, so I am looking at getting my equipment list ready. For me, it’s between the 70.2 and the 100.3. I can’t wait to see what you do with it. I’m ready for some inspiration. [emoji7]

 

[infinite0180]

Following!

 

[LadyMac]

I love your attention to detail in your build thread. I’m wanting a water box, but still not sure between it and Red Sea. Will be following your journey

 

[Tripptastic]

I love your attention to detail in your build thread. I’m wanting a water box, but still not sure between it and Red Sea. Will be following your journey

Thanks for your support!

 

[Tripptastic]

Not much new to report. I have all of the new rock that I purchased soaking in liquid chlorine. I was talking to the person who sold me the Pukani and he said to use pool bleach for about 3 days. I wasn't sure what the different was between 'pool bleach' and regular household bleach. Well it turns out, the difference is about 4%-7%. Regular household bleach ranges from 3%-6% concentration vs the 10% in the pool bleach that I got from Pinch a Penny.

As you can see, the rock is sitting in a container outside with a plastic cover to hide the extension cord from rain and help keep any sun out of the container. Tomorrow at noon will be 3 days, so I'll take it out, and inspect everything. I have peaked in the container a few times and it looks great so far.

Also, the new hanging kit for my AI Prime came in, so I'm going to look at trying to hang that in the next few days.

 

[Tripptastic]

I’m very much looking forward to following your progression. My wife and I are planning to buy a house next summer, so I am looking at getting my equipment list ready. For me, it’s between the 70.2 and the 100.3. I can’t wait to see what you do with it. I’m ready for some inspiration. [emoji7]

You always hear to go bigger in the hobby but for me, I've always wanted a cube-like tank and being 24x24x22, this is close and looks perfect in my living room. The area under the sump is cramped but I'll make it work.

 

[Tripptastic]

Finished 3 days of bleach and man...that water was murky brown. I rinsed everything off, then dunked each piece to remove any lose gunk. I'm going to bleach the rock again for a more days and see if anything else comes off.

I'm really happy with the rock I received. It looks great. I have so amazing pieces to work with. I'm really looking forward to spending some time to create a master piece with my aquascape.

Update - The tank has been running with water since the 14th of July and not a single issue! I was expecting to see at least a drop or two because maybe I didn't tighten the joints enough but everything is working perfect.

Next - If you have purchased a 2018 Waterbox (glass overflow), contact Waterbox. They will send you, FOR FREE, the new updated overflow cover. If you watched their latest video on Facebook, you can see what it looks like with their 100.3 build. Pretty sleek, and the glass and blends in so much better! My 70.2 came with the basic black acrylic cover.

 

[nickkohrn]

Any updates?

 

[Tripptastic]

Any updates?

So far nothing new to report. The rock is still sitting in bleach, it looks great. I was going to pull that out in the next day or so. Today makes 6 days, and then I need to get some dechlorinator and rinse the rock off.

I'm a bit OCD so I like things to be perfect. The downside, it really slows my projects down.

I did drain the tank because for some odd reason, the water in the tank turned milky white. It got so bad that you could not see the back of the tank. I'm not sure what was growing, but I drained it, rinsed it and filled it up again and it came back a week later. I drained the tank and sump all last night to give is a good cleaning. I think something was in the hose that contaminated the tap water. I only had water running in the tank for about 2 weeks, no rock, or fish in the tank, not sure why the water turned milky white, bacterial bloom of some sort? I was only doing a water-leak test.

Next, I have ordered some furniture grade vinyl wrap samples from https://www.rmwrapsstore.com. The white stand looks amazing but there is nothing white in my living room. So I was going to wrap the stand to make it a center piece. Also, since I have the tank off the stand, I ordered some waterproof lights that I'm going to mount on bottom of the top panel to light up the work space in the cabinet.

I did clean my algae reactor today, not that I will be using that any time soon but I'll post pictures of that. Much better light spectrum than white lights and a fraction of the cost of a Kessil light.

 

[infinite0180]

Where did you get that rope led for the reactor? Looks nicer than the other ones i have seen around!

 

[Tripptastic]

Where did you get that rope led for the reactor? Looks nicer than the other ones i have seen around!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#customerReviews

The item says out of stock now, but there are many types out there very similar to mine. This one only cost me $18 and worked amazing, only too good. I didn't acclimate my algae to these lights, because as you see, I roped it tight. There was a ton of light and it killed my first round of Chaeto. With Round 2, I slowly acclimated the Chaeto to the lights over a period of 30 days until I got to the full 12 hours, and the growth exploded around 2 weeks in.

I had this running externally, but right now I have been letting these run in a bucket of water on a GFI outlet for a test. It says IP65 rating, which is water resistant not waterproof. IP68 is full submersion, but for only 30 mins. Right now, they are working great, going on 8 hours in the bucket running. I have the connection where the leads are connected to the strip out of water because that's the weak link of the unit. The LED strip is encased in some type of silicone.

"IP65 Enclosure - IP rated as "dust tight" and protected against water projected from a nozzle."

If unit blows, I'lll just order another one and mount externally or buy one of the many cheap LED plant bulbs on Amazon and use the skimmer chamber as my fuge. There is NO need to buy a Kessil grow light and pay so much money.

Attached a pic of the weak link of the strip which is out of water.

 

[mnml]

Very nice build. I’m curious, did WB ever addressed the imperfections on the cabinet doors? I’m thinking of getting the same tank but am concerned with the quality of tank/stand.

Looking forward to seeing your updates.

 

[Tripptastic]

Very nice build. I’m curious, did WB ever addressed the imperfections on the cabinet doors? I’m thinking of getting the same tank but am concerned with the quality of tank/stand.

Looking forward to seeing your updates.

It's funny that you ask. They did not address the stand. In the email I sent them, I attached pictures and noted the problem, but the imperfections (bubbles in the paint), are hard to see from a distance. I know where they are but only because I'm so OCD. I am about to skin the stand with a furniture grade vinyl wrap, so I'll sand down the few imperfections and no one will ever know. If you were to run your hand over the stand, and use a high power light, you would spot them right away. The stand seems to be good quality overall, but it looks like some sweaty grunt packaged it, because the boards were dirty. I can tell you that their quality control and production facility isn't as clean as one would believe. But don't let me sway you against the company and equipment. I still very much love it, even with the flaws that came with the tank and stand. Just know going into it that you are not going to get something perfect.

 

[Tripptastic]

I did warn everyone that this would be a slow build, lol, only because I am such a perfections and OCD. I have been working on three things the past week 1) Options for mounting the AI Prime HD 2) the rock and 3) Researching furniture grade vinyl wraps.

 

[Tripptastic]

1) With my AI Prime HD, if I had the 100.3, or basically any tank larger than my 24x24 foot print, I would be able to mount the AI Prime HD and bracket between the side of the tank and overflow box, on both sides, keeping them symmetrical. With my smaller footprint, I only need one light, which is perfect because I already had one. My issue is, even if I cut a notch in the overflow lid, the bracket doesn't fit in the overflow box because of the return T line. Even if I cut the screw down, it would be too tight, so I decided to hang the light. I purchased the hanging kit and loved how low profile it looked. My only issue was that I was going to see a power cable, no matter how I hung it and I wanted to hide it. I found a fixture at Lowes for $20 that I was able to gut. I just wanted the fixture to run the hanging kit's steel wire and the Prime's power cable through so you can't see it at all. It took a while, but as you can see from the pictures, the Prime has a plug-in-play connector and it was easy to disconnect the wires to run through the tub. I ordered an HMS bracket kit, which came with a 4' extension power cable with works with all Aqua Illumination lights. The power cable will run up the pendant's conduit into the attic and then it will come right back down behind the stand. I use to work for Verizon long, long ago, and fishing walls is really simple.

I love clean lines, which the tank and stand have, and I wanted to mount the light into a normal household fixture so it doesn't stand out at all. From the attached pictures, you will noticed that plug connector on the cable would not fit through many lighting fixtures because of the large diameter, so I took the light apart.