Wrasse-cal's Waterbox 100.3 Build AKA "The Money Pit"

[Wrasse-cal]

Hey Wrasse..

Would you happen to know the inside dimensions on the sump side of the waterbox 100 cabinet?

Thanks

No problem. There's however no "sump side," as there's no divider wall on the 100.3 like on the 135.4. It's just open all across.

I took a tape measure and got 34" x 22" x 29" interior dimensions.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Lots of progress on the tank. Pictures coming soon! However, I've hit a hiccup.

I am having a problem figuring out how to correctly set up my XF-230 gyre via the Icecap Interface Module with my Apex.

I have the gyre connected to the interface module, the gyre power supply plugged into the EB832 and the interface module connected to a variable speed port.

The interface module lights up green (which I understand is good?) and the (bad?) red status light is off.

I can switch on and off the gyre by turning "on" the correct variable speed port on my apex fusion dahsboard.

The problem is the gyre will only run when "on," and only then, at 100%. If I set the correct variable speed port to auto on my fusion dashboard, the gyre doesn't run. I checked to see if the problem was with the program by using the wizard and changing the power rate for the variable speed port to a constant 100%, but the gyre still does not run on auto, and still just runs at 100% when set to "on."

Anyone know what is going on?

Edit: No idea what happened, but the problem remedied itself. Gyres are working fine.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Disaster. The sump on my Waterbox 100.3 developed a leak after less than two weeks of being full. I checked my plumbing. Bone dry. It's a leak.

Best I could tell, there was some sort of hairline leak or leaks on the left side of the sump--I assume at the silicone seal.

There may in fact be two leaks--one at the left rear by the return and the other also the left side adjacent to the sock chamber.

I drained the sump, but still could not find the actual spot the leak or leaks came from.

I'm so frustrated @Waterbox Aquariums.

Thus far, I've only been able to get in touch with Waterbox via this forum. Before sending a private message, I tried to call and email Waterbox customer support with no success. I only got voicemail.

Via a private message this morning, Waterbox says they are pulling a sump to send me, but no indication of how long that will take.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Disaster. The sump on my Waterbox 100.3 developed a leak after less than two weeks of being full. I checked my plumbing. Bone dry. It's a leak.

Best I could tell, there was some sort of hairline leak or leaks on the left side of the sump--I assume at the silicone seal.

There may in fact be two leaks--one at the left rear by the return and the other also the left side adjacent to the sock chamber.

I drained the sump, but still could not find the actual spot the leak or leaks came from.

I'm so frustrated @Waterbox Aquariums.

Thus far, I've only been able to get in touch with Waterbox via this forum. Before sending a private message, I tried to call and email Waterbox customer support with no success. I only got voicemail.

Via a private message this morning, Waterbox says they are pulling a sump to send me, but no indication of how long that will take.

Sorry to hear. I know how it feels to have a tank leak and it is depressing. Hopefully the replacement comes quickly.

 

[Caravanshaka]

That is not good news

let us know how they handle the situation!

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Day 2: Sump leak update-

Waterbox informed me that they are sending me a replacement sump. It'll apparently take five days for the replacement sump to get here. While I'm very happy Waterbox is sending me a replacement, I'm still really frustrated that a leak happened on effectively a brand new sump.

​

As an aside, this debacle did provide an interesting data point on the value/effectiveness of marinepure relative to pukani rock.

By way of background, when I started to culture my bleached pukani, I also added a a gallon bag of marinepure. The marinepure was in my sump prior to the sump failing. After I found the leak, I moved the marinepure, along with the sump water, to a brute can. The day before the failure I dosed ammonia to my whole system to check on the status of the cycle. The display tank water and sump water therefore had the same ammonia concentration when I moved the sump water to the brute can.

A few hours after the sump water went into the brute can, I tested ammonia in both the display tank water (which has the cured/curing rock and sand) and the sump water in the Brute can. Interestingly, the sump water tested zero for ammonia but the display still had a small trace of ammonia left.

My takeaway from this one data point experiment is that it does seem that the marine pure is a more effective media for nitrifying bacteria than pukani rock and live sand.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Yeah, I would be quite frustrated with that as well...especially since a saltwater leak can cause a lot of damage if not quickly handled (been there...17k in new floors).

Interesting on the marine pure. I have a 4x8 block and about 1/2 gallon of the balls in my sump. I moved the 1/2 gallon of balls into my curing tub with some new rock though, which seems to be moving along the cycle pretty fast. Not sure if I am going to keep them long-term though, as I've heard a lot of bad things about them recently regarding leaching aluminum.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Yeah, I would be quite frustrated with that as well...especially since a saltwater leak can cause a lot of damage if not quickly handled (been there...17k in new floors).

Interesting on the marine pure. I have a 4x8 block and about 1/2 gallon of the balls in my sump. I moved the 1/2 gallon of balls into my curing tub with some new rock though, which seems to be moving along the cycle pretty fast. Not sure if I am going to keep them long-term though, as I've heard a lot of bad things about them recently regarding leaching aluminum.

I've been following those marinepure threads. I don't plan on keeping leathers, which I understand are the corals most affected by elevated aluminum. That being said, my game plan was to cure the marinepure in the brute can for several weeks, then transfer the marinepure over to the tank/sump effectively doing a 100% water change and leaving behind all particulates in the can. I plan on doing a ICP test in a couple of months to see what my aluminum levels are, and if this method of "cleaning" the marinepure works.

 

[HolisticBear]

My takeaway from this one data point experiment is that it does seem that the marine pure is a more effective media for nitrifying bacteria than pukani rock and live sand.

Sorry about the leak, that is my nightmare.

That matches a BRS episode where they took a bunch of different rocks and a MarinePure block to compare water displacement to try and compare surface area. MarinePure beat Pukani, and Pukani beat the other dry rocks

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Sorry about the leak, that is my nightmare.

Thanks. I'm super frustrated. There is supposedly an estimated delivery date for my replacement sump of March 7th.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thanks. I'm super frustrated. There is supposedly an estimated delivery date for my replacement sump of March 7th.

Ouch, that's quite a wait for an integral part of the setup.

 

[PookieGV]

Sorry about the sump. I like your light mount. What material did you use to build it?

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Ouch, that's quite a wait for an integral part of the setup.

Agreed. On one hand, the sump has to get from Florida to California. On the other, this was Waterbox's error and, as you said, the sump is an integral part of the system. I would hope Waterbox would be doing everything reasonable to make this right--getting the replacement sump to me as quickly as possible would seem to me to be part of that obligation.

I'm supposed to get tracking information later today. I'll update when I do.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Sorry about the sump. I like your light mount. What material did you use to build it?

Thanks. I built it out of modular aluminum t-bar from www.8020.net.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thanks. I built it out of modular aluminum t-bar from www.8020.net.

FYI, I found a place that sells the same stuff quite a bit cheaper

www.tnutz.com

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Day 3: Sump Leak Update-

At my request, @Waterbox Aquariums sent me a PRO number to track shipment of the replacement sump. Per the tracking, the estimated delivery date is March 7th.

 

[Nht]

Things are progressing slowly.

I've been tinkering with the rock. After two tubes of epoxy, I'm pretty happy with the two individual components, though I've been working some various ideas on placement.

Display tank stand is built--mostly. The kit from Waterbox was missing a self-leveling foot. Unfortunately, because of the holiday, the part won't get here until tomorrow. Props to Waterbox, they quickly sent me another. Waterbox has been really great and very responsive. Thus far I'm very happy with my tank choice.

Unfortunately, because of the holiday, the foot won't get here until tomorrow. No worries though. The delay gave me time to assemble the stand for my light and test mount the Orphek!

This thing is really cool! Connecting the Orphek though was a PITA. The instructions are terrible. That being said, once I figured out what to do, it only took 30 seconds. Orphek though isn't kidding about the gateway needing to be line of sight to the fixture. I had to order a network switch so I can mount the gateway in the same room as the tank. There was only one wall between the router and the fixture and it wouldn't connect.

Hey just wondering where you got the lamp tree or did you dyi? If you dyied could you share that process and required materials? Thanks

 

[Wrasse-cal]

@Nht, I built the light stand out of modular aluminum t-bar from www.8020.net. I used the 20 series t-bar.

It wasn’t hard. The aluminum has slots so you can slide the pieces togeather with anchoring toggles. Actually building the stand took maybe 20 minutes.

The only difficult part was locating properly sized metric bolts so I could actually mount the Orphek using the existing screw holes in the fixture. I ended up having to order bolts from the UK.

The nice thing about 8020.net is that you can work with a designer who will prepare the plan. This meant I had someone checking to make sure all my lengths were right and all of the toggle holes were drilled at the right spots.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

@Chris@CoralVue

I set up my two gyres to run at alternating intensities, ramping up and down from 0% to 100%.

I however was having an issue with my XF-230 gyres when if they were getting a command via the Icecap Interface Module and my Apex to run at low power (less than 20%). If programmed to run at that moment below 20% power, the red status light on my interface modules would trigger and the controlled gyre would sputter and not start. If the program directed the gyre to run above 20%, the gyre functioned normally.

Coralvue support said the gyre won't function properly below 20% when using the interface module. This struck me as odd, because it appears the folks over at BRS have their gyres on their 160 gallon tank programmed to run on alternating cycles and use an apex with interface modules to control them. @randyBRS, is this true?

Do you have any information you can provide to clarify?

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Day 4: Sump Leak Update-

There is some conflicting information about the sump estimated delivery date. Waterbox sent me a message this morning indicating that the sump was out for delivery today. I'll be honest, that got me really excited.

When however I checked the tracking information from the shipper, the tracking PRO number still shows an estimated delivery date of 3/7 and that the shipment is presently en route to the destination carrier--not out for delivery.