Waterbox Reef Pro 180.5 Build Thread

Kryptonian

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Tank Start - 5/16/2020

Starting my first "build" thread. I say "build" since Waterbox did a majority of the building, I'm just trying to puzzle piece a bunch of legos together to make a successful reef :)

I've always been fascinated with the ocean and have traveled to many different parts of the world, snorkeled, snuba'd, or scuba'd many places including Costa Rica, countless beaches in Mexico, the Virgin Islands, BVI, Florida, and Hamilton Island and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I'll never turn down a chance to go deep-sea fishing and regularly have an ocean documentary going on the television. My wife grew up spending her summer on beaches in the south of France, with saltwater tanks in her home (many around 200 gallons), and has shared my interest in the ocean. We finally pulled the trigger on a 75-gallon tank about two months ago, quickly became obsessed with the hobby, and have just upgraded to a 180 Waterbox. Keeping both tanks healthy and happy is a challenge we're excited to take on!

(Updated) STOCK LIST:
180 Waterbox Mixed Reef:
Emperor Angel
Regal Angel Misbar (Red Sea)
Regal Angel (Indo-Pacific)
Blonde Naso Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang (x2)
Mocha Gladiator Clown
Gladiator Clown
Earmuff Wrasse
Sunburst Anthias
Firefish
Coral Banded Shrimp
Pink Lemonade BTA
Rainbow Acid Rain BTA
Red Sherman BTA
+CORALS

75 FOWLR + some ZOAs that can't go with the other tank:
Black Ice Clown (x2)
Yellow Head Jawfish
Flame Angel
Melanurus Wrasse
Blue Damsel
Purple Dottyback
Cleaner Shrimp

(Updated) EQUIPMENT LIST:
180 Waterbox:
XR15 Gen5 BLUE (x2)
VorTech MP40wQD (x2)
NYOS 220 Protein Skimmer
AquaMaxx Reactor - Chemi Pure Elite
Lifegard Aquatics Pro-MAX Body Amalgam High Output UV Sterilizer 55watt
Hygger 500watt Heater
Apex EL Controller
Apex Energy Bar 832
Apex Auto Top-Off
pH and temp probes
Apex Cor20 Return Pump

75 FOWLR:
CurrentUSA Orbit Marine 36" Bluetooth IC Loop Pro Dual LED
CurrentUSA eFlux Wave Pump 1050 (x2)
Reef Octopus Classic 1000 HOB Skimmer
Marineland Emperor 400 HOB Filter
Aqueon 300 Watt Heater
 
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Kryptonian

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The tank arrived! I only spent about 3-4 days very nervous because I had NO idea how I was going to deal with a 1,000 lb package. I have about 30 steps leading to my front door. Luckily, I have a long walkway (about 40 yards or so) leading to my back door downstairs. That's the room the tank is going in!

The delivery guy with the freight company was a HUGE help. He used his lift to drag the tank all 40 yards to my backdoor (with Tom and I pushing it up the hill) even through a little mud. Hats off to that guy, would be a very different situation right now without him.

Part of the packaging took a bit of a hit, but luckily no tank damage..

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Day 1 - Tom and I got everything inside. Now, I was initially hoping for much more progress at this point. After attempting to lift the ~500-600 lb hunk of glass, my ambition shrunk to fear. (1) How am I going to get this inside? (2) How in the world am I going to lift it onto the stand? (3) How is this plywood box going to hold ~2,250 lbs? No más bueno! We're in Covid-19 quarantine over here and I'm considering who I'm ok with coming to help... Not everyone around me is exactly being safe... At least I build the cabinets. The tank fit through the sliding glass door with less than a quarter-inch to spare on each side.

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Kryptonian

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Day 2 - Tom came back to help and brought Travis this time! Figured we'd need a third set of hands to get the tank up. Now just to add a little brainpower + physics and we just might get the job done. Luckily, I had about 40 boxes of laminate wood flooring. They worked 95% as well as I'd expect a 2x4 to work and got the job done. Just had to teeter-totter the tank up until we were high enough to lift and slide..

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Kryptonian

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Day 3 - Sump construction.

This is my first time using a sump, so prepared myself ahead of time with some research. My wife ordered the Algae Barn refugium starter pack so that comes in two different shipments, one for refugium media and bacteria, then a second with macroalgae and copepods (to be added in about 5 days). Have the Red Sea Reef Mature on standby but hopefully won't need it.

In the sump I have a a Nyos 220 Protein Skimmer, a Hygger 500W Heater (another 300W on standby but temp is holding with just the 500 at 78 degrees), and an Apex COR-20 Return Pump. Some broken pieces from the CaribSea LifeRock were also tossed in the refugium. Added a purple refugium light as well.

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Only running the sump at 40% to get everything started and running the protein skimmer with minimal air but getting a lot of foam. Hoping that will cool down in the next few days so I can correct air-water ratio and increase sump speed.
 
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Kryptonian

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Day 4 - Aquascaping and Tank Equipment

In the tank:
16" CaribSea LifeRock Mega Cave (52 lbs)... IT's BIG
24" CaribSea LifeRock Mega Arch (28 lbs)
CaribSea LifeRock Shelves (40 lbs)
CaribSea LifeRock Coral Tree (23 lbs)... I'd suggest just buying shelves and making your own tree.
160 lbs of CaribSea Arag-Alive Reef Sand. Makes about a 2-3 inch sand bed.

Tank Equipment: (on the way)
EcoTech VorTech MP40wQD x3
Radion XR15 Gen5 Blue x3

We knocked out aquascaping on the 7th, 8th, no probably 14th try. Here it is! Can't wait for the Radions to be on the tank and not this dinky little light! It gets the job done for cycling though.

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Day 5 - Control board construction (this will probably take a month to perfect, maybe longer) Looking to install at least one corner fan in the cabinet to circulate new air and reduce equipment heat.

Equipment:
Apex Energybar 832
Apex EL Controller - Neptune Systems
Temperature Probe
Double Junction pH Probe
Apex WXM EcoTech Wireless Module
EcoTech VorTech MP40wQD Controllers (x3)
EcoTech ReefLink Wireless
Apex Leak Detection Kit
Hygger Heater Controller
Apex COR-20 Controller
iPad mini, mount, and charger

Soon to be added: DIY for now..
Apex TRIDENT
Apex Auto-Top Off
Apex DOS
 
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BighohoReef

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Looking amazing! How are you like the Waterbox setup instructions? I've heard they've gotten quite a bit better. Already planning our next tank after the 135.4. Looking forward to some more updates!

@SK_maui You should be thinking this size ;)
 
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Kryptonian

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Looking amazing! How are you like the Waterbox setup instructions? I've heard they've gotten quite a bit better. Already planning our next tank after the 135.4. Looking forward to some more updates!

@SK_maui You should be thinking this size ;)
Errr, instruction manual wasn't that great. One sided piece of paper that just had pictures of pieces and you kind of have to interpret where they go and how to connect them. If you have any experience setting up ikea furniture, you'll figure it out lol.. Much nicer quality than ikea of course but same general construction concept. I had to look on the waterboxaquariums.com website, find my aquarium, and look at the sump sales sheet to see how to piece that together. Actually finished the sump, leak tested, moved the tank all the way against the wall, filled with 170 gallons and then popped a major leak in the overflow and had to undo/reconstruct the sump with basically no room to work.. Was a pain but got the job done.

We were seriously considering the 220 since it was only about $300 more for an additional 40 gallons. What ended up deciding was the wall we wanted the tank to go on. The 220 would've stuck out a few inches on both sides and looked awkward. Huge upgrade from the 75 gallon tank we have upstairs though.
 
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Kryptonian

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We've added FISH! Tank parameters are coming down and stabilizing and friends have been added.
Moved one of the clowns that was upstairs down into this tank because the other two upstairs are clearly pairing.

Blue Hippo Tang
Mocha Gladiator Clown
Sunburst Anthias
Firefish
Coral Banded Shrimp (vanished the second we added and haven't seen it in 4 days)

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Equipment update: Two XR15 Gen5 BLUE and a few EcoTech MP40s should be here by the end of the week! Pumped! Looking to add a third XR15 in the next couple weeks before we add any coral.
 
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Tank update! Two of the XR15 BLUE Gen5 are finally here! Only back-ordered for months. Can't wait to get the third.

New tank mates are here too! We've added an Emperor Angelfish and another blue tang (this one is super small). We wanted to get the second blue tang in asap so it could bond with the larger blue already in the tank.. and it worked! They actually sleep vertically up against each other. Pretty neat!

A few new corals going in tomorrow. Will update the thread with pictures when the lights sunrise.

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Everything Aquatics

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Tank update! Two of the XR15 BLUE Gen5 are finally here! Only back-ordered for months. Can't wait to get the third.

New tank mates are here too! We've added an Emperor Angelfish and another blue tang (this one is super small). We wanted to get the second blue tang in asap so it could bond with the larger blue already in the tank.. and it worked! They actually sleep vertically up against each other. Pretty adorable.

A few new corals going in tomorrow. Will update the thread with pictures when the lights sunrise.

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this is an amazing tank
 
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Kryptonian

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UV Sterilizer up and running. No way I was fitting this thing in the tank so punched a hole in the wall behind the tank to set up in closet. WOW did it clear some very murky water in less than 2 hours. Thing of beauty!

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Kryptonian

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Clowns even get in on the seaweed clip! It's really nice to have a low aggression tank. Was worried about a few of these guys butting heads with each other. Wife is glued onto idea of a powder-blue.. say goodbye to low aggression.


 
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Kryptonian

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Awesome tank! Been looking at these but not sure how I would fit it through my door :D
It fit through that sliding glass door with about 1/3" to spare. I was very worried I was going to have to remove the glass door to make the opening big enough. I really didn't plan ahead to receive something that weighed 1,000 pounds. Got very lucky with help.

Just curious, how tall is the 16” mega cave? I’m looking at that for a 24” cube tank, but can’t find dimensions on the height. Thank you.
Sorry, haven't been back to build thread in a while. The one I received was a bit bigger than listed. It's about 20" wide, 16" deep, and 12" tall.
 
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