Waterbox Infinia 150.4 and Mixing Station Build

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Starting my Waterbox 150.4 build and including my mixing station I'm finishing off for fun. I'm upgrading from a Biocube 32 thats been established for about 4 years. Goals are to have a mixed reef, automated as possible, and organized. I've taking it slow and planning/acquiring equipment for about 6 months now. Of course all the sales this time of the year have added some extras to the list to the point that my home office is full of equipment and boxes and I cannot wait to actually get the rock, sand and water in this tank so I can really get this moving and clear out my home office (that starts tomorrow).

Equipment list:
Aquarium
Waterbox 150.4 w/ Controller Box and stand
Syncra SDC 7.0 return pump
2x Orbit 4 Cross Flow pumps
1x MP40 with battery backup (as a just in case backup)
2 x Reefi Uno 2.1 Lights
Reef Octopus Elite 150 INT Skimmer
ClariSea SK-3000 Filter Roller
Duetto 2 ATO
Pentair 25 Watt UV - Syncra SDC 3.0 for UV
Apex/Trident Pro and Apex NP w/ MXM, Adaptive Reef Toggle Box, Gro Light for refugium
2x Dos Quiet Drive Pumps
2 x Scuba 400 Watt
CaribSea Rock and Sand - See thread here for the aquascape I'm working on (Feedback appreciated)
Assorted other stuff for sump, organization, etc.

I'll update with pics as I go through the process.

The mixing station (below) was a challenge as I used to just have my RODI beneath the kitchen sink and would do about 4 gallons a week with a bucket. Not a big deal considering I was doing a biocube and was in the next room, but there was no way I was doing that with the Waterbox. Space is limited as we are in a townhouse, so had to go in the laundry room with the only place being about 2 feet wide between the HVAC and hot water heater. Mixing station is a gravity feed system using 2 x 15 gallon square containers with lids and a BRS 7 stage pro and Iwaki Pump to pump upstairs to the aquarium. Using an Aquatec booster pump to control pressure and feed from washer hookups up and above to the other side of the room. Have dual redundancy with a float valve and flood guardian. Whole thing is on wheels and the opposite side of the RODI system has a basket for backup filters/sediment. I fitted with a 75 foot python hose and python clean and fill hook to pump upstairs. Ignore the bottom plumbing in the picture, I screwed up initially and am redoing the lower half that feeds to the Iwaki pump. Entire thing is also on wheels so I can move to change HVAC filters or get to other equipment. Python hose get's removed and hung above so it's not in the way. All equipment controlled by a rackmount power center so I can easily flip off heater/powerhead, etc in the mixing station.

 

[TommyP]

nice build! I upgraded from the 45g red sea e-max 170 (no sump) to this same tank this year. Love it so far. I did not get the controller box though or use the ATO tank. I moved over my 5g container from my other build. I am seeking alternate options for ATO storage.

Whats the footprint to that square 15g? Im going too fast through the 5g bucket for me, only 3-4 days.

 

[kevgib67]

I’m upgrading from a Biocube 32next year, it will be 4 years old as well, to a waterbox 190.4, my biggest concern is water changes. I’ll be following and learning, thanks!

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

nice build! I upgraded from the 45g red sea e-max 170 (no sump) to this same tank this year. Love it so far. I did not get the controller box though or use the ATO tank. I moved over my 5g container from my other build. I am seeking alternate options for ATO storage.

Whats the footprint to that square 15g? Im going too fast through the 5g bucket for me, only 3-4 days.

Measurements for the mixing station container is :

16" L x 16" W x 17-1/2" Hgt.​

I got them from US plastics. Lots of different options, but pricey. They are really strong and well made though so unless I upgrade to much larger tank I think I’m set.

I’m pretty excited about this upgrade and love the quality of the tank.

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

I’m upgrading from a Biocube 32next year, it will be 4 years old as well, to a waterbox 190.4, my biggest concern is water changes. I’ll be following and learning, thanks!

Trust me, coming from a bio cube I’m sure I’m going to be learning a lot too. Happy to share along the way. Even building that mixing station was a big learning experience! Good luck with your future upgrade as well!

 

[kevgib67]

Trust me, coming from a bio cube I’m sure I’m going to be learning a lot too. Happy to share along the way. Even building that mixing station was a big learning experience! Good luck with your future upgrade as well!

Thanks, I’m going to read and learn and might have to pick your mind down the road, happy reefing!

 

[BigAl07]

This is going to be a GREAT build I'm looking forward to following your upgrade journey

 

[Gumbies R Us]

This is shaping up to be an awesome build!

 

[gastone]

Nice looking build, Jon. Along for the ride

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Got some time to finish the aquascape and mortar pieces together and put sand in. Reversed the scape given position of tank in the room. Gave myself enough room to work on the sides, but it is close to the wall. Unfortunately, it’s a sacrifice I have to make. Wish I had more room to work with, but it was a negotiation with the wife. Just a few adjustments on plumbing and I’ll start work on the sump equipment while first batch of water mixes. Still waiting on a few pieces of equipment to come in including heaters which I had to reorder. The heaters I ordered were too long…..oops. I’ve also learned that my dogs do not like me on step ladders and the largest/oldest one does not like the sound of pouring sand.

Overall I love the choice I made, but I’m not a fin of the Waterbox lids. I see an upgrade in my future but it will do for now.

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Started adding water and the mixing station has been fantastic except for one thing that I can’t seem to figure out. The pump gets all water upstairs to the tank with the exception of about 1 gallon of water getting stuck and not getting to the tank. Looked at other posts and didn’t see anything similar. I assume it’s due to not having enough pressure to carry that last little bit. If anyone has thoughts/tips that would be great because I’m at a loss. I can deal for now but kind of a pain and had a bit of blowback with water everywhere in the laundry room after flipping the pump off.

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Lights came in this week and they are awesome. Easy setup and config. They are off during the cycle which started today. Tested out the orbits and forgot to decrease power. Sand everywhere in the tank. Lots of lessons learned mostly due to rushing, but it’s cycling. So from now on I’m taking it slower. Waiting on my adaptive reef controller cabinet to be delivered (hopefully this week) so I can start organizing equipment. Goals for the upcoming week: cycle, test, wire management, uv mounting, shelf installation.

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Cycle is done but have had a few delays in getting everything setup the way I want. Definitely a learning experience along the way and a bit of a learning curve on the Neptune Apex system which I’ve been slowly configuring.

Both of my heaters were defective and wouldn’t get above 76 degrees but averaged 75. Sicce customer service was fantastic and I had replacements within a few days and within a day of installing them I was at my desired temp and they haven't been more than .1 degree off since.

I had also purchased an adaptive reef controller cabinet V2 and had it replaced 3 times due to damage during shipping . 4th time was perfect. BRS was awesome through it all, but I’d be wary of ordering it if anyone is looking at the new version cabinet. Not sure if UPS had a grudge against me or the cabinet but they cracked each time. Might also be the packaging.

Unfortunately, with the cabinet being a couple of feet away and my desire to keep most controls in the adaptive reef cabinet, I’ve been on the hunt for some extension cables for the pump on my skimmer and my UV pump. Cable for the skimmer was easy to find and is on the way and I'll splice the float cable to extend it so it reaches the controller box.

The UV pump proved to be more of a challenge and I contacted Sicce again to see if they could recommend anything, but there was nothing they could offer. After research for a while I may have found a solution a and it was cheap enough to give it a try. Also bought extension cables for the Gro light.

Put the Dos pumps up but found the magnets on the WB internal controller cabinet weren’t strong enough so I put two simple latches on the to reinforce them. After the 10th time I grazed it while doing wiring or working on the sump I got tired of the cabinet face falling. Problem solved and a simple/cheap solution.

I put in wire channels along the back, but slowly I may redo this as the cabinet and Apex system come together and I start organizing cords. I haven't put the caps on those channels to hide the wires as I am still working on the wiring, etc. I have discovered I am not good at cable management, but dangit I will get it right. So many awesome examples of good wire management on this site and others that I’m determined to be organized and have it nice and neat.

Some other things I'm working on:
I'm crafting two small shelves for the left hand side to store supplies. I found some supports that latch into the WB stand and will cut shelves and paint with marine grade black paint. To attach them to the supports, I found some glass shower supports that should attach to the wood and the supports on the stand. This may happen later rather than sooner given the challenges on extension cords/etc. Sometimes I have good ideas, sometimes they don’t work out. We'll see on this one.

I crafted a mount for the UV using the neat aquatics mounts and using JB weld to clamps. I plan to mount them on the back of the stand once I figure out the pump issue. It seems pretty strong and will give me extra room in the cabinet without having that giant UV in there.

Tonight I transferred my two clowns to the tank after doing a big water change yesterday. Coincidentally they were the first two I got 4 years ago on my biocube.

Next steps:
*Continue refining wiring and control cabinet (pic so far attached)
*Wait for extensions for UV/Skimmer (should be a couple of days
*Continue editing/learning about light schedules - started this last night. Been reading on Reefi posts and FB groups as well. Using a default setting for LPS and setting the acclimation period to gradually bring the lights up. Once I add corals I'll take the same approach.
*Learn and program/refine apex
*Setup Automated testing for trident
*Setup Dos pumps
*Migrate 3 more fish from my old tank (Royal Gramma and Cardinals)
*Move over a couple of corals when I add the fish.
*Order a cleanup crew once I start seeing the need

Edit: My pics aren't great, but I'll do some better ones soon/once I make more progress. Will also provide some more detailed shots of solutions/ideas i've implemented.

 

[Salty_Jon_NoVA]

Snow and the SBB auction over the weekend slowed progress. It's been a while since I had done an auction and I forgot just how much I enjoy them. Got some nice pieces coming later this week and spent way too much money.

Skimmer is now dialed in and I spliced the extension for the float switch. I did start working on the programming of the Apex which has been good to help me learn everything it can do, but overall it is working really well. I also just received some of the extension cords for some of the equipment (backup MP 40 extension cable, Y cable for skimmer varios controller to Apex and DC24 cables). Pods are arriving today, so I'll start them in both the main tank and the refugium.

Clowns seem pretty happy in the Waterbox but I don't think they are used to the flow from the Orbits compared to the biocube. I did remove the anemone covers from the Orbits as it was really restricting flow. I put the mesh guards that came with them on instead of the 3d printed ones I bought and the flow is much better and adjusted them down to a max power of 30% with both doing a random pattern for most of the day, a low power feeding period, and a low power reverse schedule late evening for a few hours. They still tend to hang out in one place in the tank and explore minimally though.

I had planned on putting a couple more fish in the Waterbox, but I am having a tough time catching them with a nets. #1) my frag rack was in the way in the biocube, #2, too much rock work in the biocube #3, the Nyos fish catcher is really big for a biocube. Frag rack was mostly zoas and a frag of GSP so I ended up dipping the frags and transferring to the Waterbox (so many bristleworms....). I also did the same with a small zoa island i had in the Biocube. Zoas started to open back up last night and I will say, the colors under the Reefi lights are pretty stunning compared to what I am used to in the biocube.

Still going to give the Nyos fish catcher a try. I've left it in the biocube in a wider open space and started feeding through it last night. Seemed there was some interest after about 15 minutes, but no takers. Will tie a string to the magnet tonight and sit across the room away from the tank tonight and see if the works. Any other ideas? I can't take the rock work out of the biocube as it is mortared together and I do not want to disturb my bubble tip anemone who will be in there until the WB is mature enough to handle him.