Hunter's Waterbox 40.2

[RedPhotog]

I finally got my Waterbox delivered yesterday, and I will soon be starting the process of moving the livestock from my 12g HOB system, into this glorious Waterbox 40.2 gallon AIO.  I have only had HOB style tanks, and this aquarium will be the biggest system I've owned or maintained. 

 

I wanted to go bigger, like 50g-75g with a sump, but felt like I needed to take baby steps with reefing, get to know how pumps and chambers work, and all of the stuff I never had to worry about with HOBs.  The biggest reason I got the 40.2 from Waterbox is to minimize as much stress to my livestock as possible.  I don't want to have another cycle and risk anything changing.  I want to get out of my 12g and into the 40.2 as quickly as possible.  Things are doing really well, I am seeing great growth and color, and I just want to give the reef a more space and quality in equipment. I can already tell this Waterbox aquarium is going to be a complete 180 from what I am use to, and it will tremendously improve the quality of life for my livestock!

The tank arrived in a wooden box tied to a wooden crate by freight.  The driver was super cool and brought the items inside my garage without me even saying a word.  By far the best packing job I have ever seen from a company selling glass to customers.  They really did a stellar job assuring me this tank was packed responsibly.  I mean, if you need a drill to open the box your aquarium comes in, chances are its gonna be ok right?!  : )

 

The tank has been running water overnight for a leak test.  When I left for work this morning, everything looked perfect.  I will post more pics of the tank outside of the packaging tonight.  And I will create a list of the equipment I am running now and what I plan to upgrade to. 

 

I am relatively new to the forums.  I don't post often or get much attention from anything.  This thread is to keep a diary of my new tank for myself, as well as to provide any info for anyone interested in upgrading an existing tank to a bigger one, or who is interested in the Waterbox AIOs.  I will do my best to provide all of the specs of both of my tanks, along with pictures and updates , of the steps I take to move my livestock into their new glass world.  I am very excited to share this experience with fellow reefers.  It had been about 8 months of solid researching before I made this purchase with Waterbox, and now it's time for me to play!  Stay tuned!

 

[WV Reefer]

56 minutes ago, RedPhotog said:

I finally got my Waterbox delivered yesterday, and I will soon be starting the process of moving the livestock from my 12g HOB system, into this glorious Waterbox 40.2 gallon AIO.  I have only had HOB style tanks, and this aquarium will be the biggest system I've owned or maintained. 

 

I wanted to go bigger, like 50g-75g with a sump, but felt like I needed to take baby steps with reefing, get to know how pumps and chambers work, and all of the stuff I never had to worry about with HOBs.  The biggest reason I got the 40.2 from Waterbox is to minimize as much stress to my livestock as possible.  I don't want to have another cycle and risk anything changing.  I want to get out of my 12g and into the 40.2 as quickly as possible.  Things are doing really well, I am seeing great growth and color, and I just want to give the reef a more space and quality in equipment. I can already tell this Waterbox aquarium is going to be a complete 180 from what I am use to, and it will tremendously improve the quality of life for my livestock!

The tank arrived in a wooden box tied to a wooden crate by freight.  The driver was super cool and brought the items inside my garage without me even saying a word.  By far the best packing job I have ever seen from a company selling glass to customers.  They really did a stellar job assuring me this tank was packed responsibly.  I mean, if you need a drill to open the box your aquarium comes in, chances are its gonna be ok right?!  : )

 

The tank has been running water overnight for a leak test.  When I left for work this morning, everything looked perfect.  I will post more pics of the tank outside of the packaging tonight.  And I will create a list of the equipment I am running now and what I plan to upgrade to. 

 

I am relatively new to the forums.  I don't post often or get much attention from anything.  This thread is to keep a diary of my new tank for myself, as well as to provide any info for anyone interested in upgrading an existing tank to a bigger one, or who is interested in the Waterbox AIOs.  I will do my best to provide all of the specs of both of my tanks, along with pictures and updates , of the steps I take to move my livestock into their new glass world.  I am very excited to share this experience with fellow reefers.  It had been about 8 months of solid researching before I made this purchase with Waterbox, and now it's time for me to play!  Stay tuned!

 

 

Yay!!! New tank!

 

Following along to see what you do with it. 😊

[Elizabeth94]

Awesome! Do you have any equipment plans or you still working that out? 

[RedPhotog]

3 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Awesome! Do you have any equipment plans or you still working that out? 

All new equipment, everything has been purchased and delivered.  The tank and cabinet were the last items to arrive.  The only thing I am reusing from my old system is the water and about 1/2 of the sand.  I have been storing gallons of water over the last few weeks by doing 30% water changes.  That and along with my QT's water, I should be good to fill the 40.2 with no cycle.  

 

I will post a list of old and new equipment along with my livestock tonight.  Stay tuned!

[RedPhotog]

Good morning! I want to share some pics and info of my current tank before I start the process of setting up my Waterbox. 

 

Gear - 

12gallon Aquamaxx rimless tank

AC30 HOB filter

Kessil A80 LED 

Cobalt Neo 50w heater

Hydor Koralia 240 Powerhead

 

I keep this tank very simple. I have the AC sponge in my filter that I swap out every 3 months, and I run PURA activated carbon that gets changed out every 2 weeks. I do water changed religiously. This tank has been up for about 15 months, and I haven’t gone more than 14 days without a change. It’s usually between 10-14 days. I use RSCP salt. I am getting an RODI system to put next to my water heater, but I’ve been getting distilled water from Walmart, and that’s the only water that goes in my tank. I’ve tried the LFS thing, turns out Walmarts distilled water is much better than the RODI supplies I’ve gotten from LFSs. Distilled water from Walmart is the best source for water if you don’t have an RODI system. It’s cheap, and it’s always tested 0 TDS for me. I’ve gotten 4-5 TDS from LFS water. 

 

Livestock 

B&W Clowfish 

Yellow Watchmen Goby

Red Candy Stripe Pistol Shrimp

2 Trochus Snails, 2 hermits, 

1 Emerald Crab

And probably over a dozen stripped round snail things that keep multiplying. I toss probably 10-12 snails a week. I also have a crazy population of Vermetid snails. Their numbers are dwindling now, I’m guess their source of food is being limited, and I don’t have to scrape the glass for algae as much as I use to when the tank was new and sorting itself out. It made problems for my purple haze monti, I had to dig out some snails to allow the coral to encrust on the rock it’s on, but they are no problem to me now. And I’ve read that they are a sign of good water quality. 

 

Corals

Elegance Coral, which my clownfish is hosting. Totally cool with that! He’s very gentle with the coral, always removes debris and waste from the tissue. It’s weird knowing the coral is cool with the fish because it will close up for anything else that gets near it. I don’t know how nature does it’s thing, but it’s like the 2 were made for each other. You can kind of see the EC is stretched up against the glass. It needs more space. More sand to stretch out on. More water to absorb. I’m very excited to get things going in the 40.2. 

 

Blastomussa - one of my favorite corals. 

 

Hydnophora - I’m nervous about this one...this coral is super aggressive, I’ve read probably the most aggressive coral that’s available in the trade. I carelessly mounted it too close to my sunset monti and I’m worried about future warfare. Haven’t seen any sweepers yet, but the two corals are growing, and the space is getting thinner between them as the weeks get on. 

 

Purple Haze Montipora

 

Sunset Montipora - my favorite coral in the tank. It covered a plug at the LFS i got it from and instead of breaking it apart to glue on a rock, I  just found a hole to stick the drag plug in, and it’s like a Christmas tree. 

 

Kenya tree - I borderline hate this thing. It drops limbs every other day, and I’m constantly cleaning up after it. I don’t want a Kenya Forest, it’s literally propagated itself 50 times over since I’ve had it. Super annoying IMO. 

 

7-8 lbs of special grade Carib sea live sand, 10 lbs of live rock. 

 

Im going to build the Waterbox cabinet tonight, and probably do one more WC before I start moving things over. I’ll post the gear going into my new tank next. I would love to hear what folks have to say about my process or how my tank looks now and what to expect with the 40.2 AIO. This will be my first AIO tank, I’ve never had a sump before. So please share me your thoughts. 

 

Stay tuned for the Waterbox gear and cabinet post! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RedPhotog]

Leak test finished, all is good. I knew there was gonna be a very slim chance for leaks. They test all of their aquariums for leaks before boxing them for shipping. 

 

I also assembled the cabinet that goes with the aquarium. The tank is 24x24x18, the 2424 stand took a little time to figure out, the directions were very minimal. No words, just pictures. There’s actually a better diagram on their website that shows more steps in the instructions. I can already tell this stand is gonna last. The wood is very sturdy, thick, and heavy. The hinges are very nice, and there’s a soft close bracket that makes the cabinet door swing nicely. Very pleased. 

 

New gear! 

I’ve decided to use the Innovative Marine Mighty Jet desktop pump for the return.  I know this pump will probably be a little OP along with the AI Nero 5 I purchased for flow. Both are controllable with lots of features and modes to choose from. I chose the Nero 5 over the MP10 because I like having a wavemaker that’s WiFi ready out of the box. The reviews for both of these pumps are solid and I’m excited to use them. I used the Mighty Jet during the leak test, and that pump is very strong and very quiet. I got the Sicce Syncra 2.0 as a backup pump. 

 

Kessil A360we with Mounting Arm 

I love Kessil! It’s probably the only light I’ll use in the hobby. The controls are idiot proof, Kessil logic guarantees an accurate spectrum with a seamless spread, and the shimmer is ridiculous. I’m gonna have to be very careful acclimating my corals under this light. My livestock has lived under the A80 this whole time with 15w, the 360 is 90w. It’s sooooo much stronger. Gonna have to work up from 15% intensity for awhile. I plan on mounting the light 8-10 inches from the surface with the mounting arm. I’m hoping it’s comfortable on the starfire glass, I’ve always used a piece of acrylic Velcro on the back of the tank in fear the brackets and screws will chew up the glass. 

 

Cobalt Neo 150w Heater 

Probably the only kind of heater I’ll use. The differential between powering on and off is a half degree. I also got an InkBird controller for the heater, but am finding the swing before coming on is too wide. The differential on the device is set to 1 degree, the biggest swing I’ve seen was from 76.4-78.3. That’s almost 2 full degrees of swinging before coming on, multiple times a day. Might just go with the Neo and come up with another plan for heater redundancy. 

 

XP Aqua Duetto ATO 

 

Im gonna wire the cabinet for electricity tonight and tomorrow. Get things dialed in before I do my last WC In the 12g. I should have everything transitioned before next weekend. Gonna take my time and enjoy the build.  I have 2 decent sized chambers im wondering what to do with. I’m thinking of getting a protein skimmer soon after everything is settled. 

 

 

[Gotem86]

 Great gear selection! I recently purchased a 7 gallon waterbox to test the quality for a much larger waterbox down the road. I have the same ATO and love it. I've had not a single issue with it in the five months that I've owned it. 

[RedPhotog]

1 minute ago, Gotem86 said:

 Great gear selection! I recently purchased a 7 gallon waterbox to test the quality for a much larger waterbox down the road. I have the same ATO and love it. I've had not a single issue with it in the five months that I've owned it. 

Do you have the Duetto or the Smart alarm version? I was intrigued by the XP because the sensors are so low profile, looks like a slick device. What larger waterbox are you interested in getting? I chose the 40.2 over the IM Mini 40. Fusions are easy to customize, but the overall quality of these tanks are much better I think. Waterbox customer service has been outstanding too. 

[Gotem86]

I'm not aware of the smart alarm version, though I'm pretty sure that I have the duetto and it also has an alarm. The alarm has gone off on me a few times when the reservoir ran dry. I'm looking to get one of the Reef Pro 230's next year or so.

[Wonderboy]

Tagging along - there's a lot of potential brewing here  :]  Your other tank looks great - definitely ready for more updates on this one   :]

[RedPhotog]

I got some stuff done this weekend with the new Waterbox.  Sorry it's been a little while since my last update.  Things are coming along, I should have water in this tank by the end of this weekend.

 

 

The tank is finally on the stand!  Really easy to put this cabinet together, despite the directions lacking words.  It feels very sturdy and water resistant, I love the hinges and the soft closing door.

 

 

I wasnt really happy with the cable housing options for the Nero 5, so I started to brainstorm options.  I picked up these suction cups with hooks at Michaels.  They are very sturdy, clear, and seem to hold the cable nicely.  I am not use to having a black cable stretched across the whole side of my tank, so this will take some getting use to, but I really dont see another option for this Nero5 cable.  I guess thats something the Ecotech company has over AI because their wires are on the inside of the tank I think.  But power has to reach the pumps some way or another.  If anyone has any ideas about housing wavemaker cables like this please share.  

 

 

 

 

I got the kessil 360 up with mounting arm.  I ran the mini cable too because I am getting the spectral controller very soon.  Does anyone have any info about the X controller working with the non-x lights?  Are there any features I wouldnt be able to use without having an x to x system?  I dont know if I should get the spectral A controller or the spectral X controller.

 

 

 

The inkbird controller I got for my heater has too wide of an accuracy window for my liking.  Heater is set to 78, controller is set to 78 with a 1 degree differential, but I am seeing a temp swing that is close to 2 full degrees during every on/off cycle.  I am thinking of reserving the inkbird for my water changing station, and getting a prewired Ranco, or an Aqualogic from Marine Depot.

 

https://www.marinedepot.com/aqua-logic-digital-temperature-controller-single-stage

 

 

The cabling is slowly coming along.  I got the light, pump, and wavemaker housed with velcro and adhesive cable clips.  Honestly this has become my favorite part of the build.  I use to work in TV as a news photographer, so mapping out electricity and the flow of equipment is very fun to me.  I cant wait to get the controllers in here.  That will be the final update before adding water.  I should have more pics and posts this weekend.  

 

[classlesseagle3]

Looks great! Heard nothing. But good things about those waterborne. Can’t wait to see this one filled up and stocked. 

[RedPhotog]

The tank transfer is complete! I love this tank! The quality I’ve heard and read about Waterbox is totally true. I’m not a veteran hobbyist by any means, but it’s obvious these aquariums are cream of the crop so to speak. 

 

Everything went pretty well during the transfer. I did however drop my YWG on the floor. He was flopping around for a few seconds, I’m glad I got him back in the water before my dog knew what was going on. She’s eaten a 6 line wrasse that has jumped out of a tank before. 

 

My blasto is super pissed at me. It’s gonna be closed for a few days, it didn’t like being in a bucket for an hour. My YWG and pistol shrimp are probably somewhere making a new burrow. 

 

Aquascape looks very short right now, I’m not gonna bother adding more live rock until I know for sure the tank is back to normal. I’ll probably get 10-15 lbs of live rock. 

 

The Nero 5 is an awesome pump. It is dead silent, and moves a lot of water. Being able to set a schedule and fine tune the flow is very convenient. Keeping things minimal right now until everything looks normal, then I’m gonna create a 24 hour flow schedule. This is the first wavemaker I’ve used where I can have a pulse or random flow. I’ve only had direct flow in my reef up until now. I’m mesmerized of the swaying back and forth. 

 

I can already tell the new tank will be a huge game changer from the 12g HOB I use to have. Excited to get to know the AIO universe! 

[Wonderboy]

Looking very nice! So much room! I'm excited to see what you do with it.

[RedPhotog]

1 hour ago, Wonderboy said:

Looking very nice! So much room! I'm excited to see what you do with it.

More room. More flow. More light. More filtration. Huge upgrade. I’m wondering what to do with the 2 chambers I have. Thinking about getting tunze 9004 skimmer, and I’ve heard the aquamaxx WS1 fits too. I also need to switch from filter socks to pads. InTank is coming out with all new media baskets for the larger waterbox AIOs. 

[RedPhotog]

I finally got around to building a rock structure for my aquarium. I went with the Carib Sea life rock. I chose life rock because my system is already a year and a half old, I wanted rock to match the maturity of my tank, and I didn’t want to introduce any more hitchhikers to the system. 
 

I built an island tower out of about 15 lbs of life rock with the Jurassic Gel and accelerator spray from BRS. This glue with the accelerator worked like magic! The glue almost instantaneously set after spraying the accelerator. 
 

This new tower will accompany the 10 lbs of live rock that is already in the tank. I am very happy with this life rock purchase. The rocks look better in person than in the pictures. Very pleased! 
 

next chore will be to build a screen top for my tank. Once that is built, I will start introducing more live stock. 
 

[RedPhotog]

Finally finished the aquascape. The life rock is a little more purple than the original live rock that I had in there. Glue worked really well, I’m pretty happy with it. What does everyone think? 

[Wonderboy]

Looks really good - I like the hole it creates in the middle a lot

[RedPhotog]

I finally found a candy cane trumpet coral that is radioactive enough looking to add to my reef. Since I started this reef tank, I’ve always wanted a nuclear green trumpet coral, but I was never able to find one as green as Homer Simpson’s uranium stick from the power plant. Until today! 
 

I also picked up a cleaner shrimp who has already molted, and doing cool shrimp shit like hanging upside down n sitch. 

[RedPhotog]

[RedPhotog]

[Elizabeth94]

Tank is looking really nice. I love what you did with your scape, I can just envision a couple nice sps pieces on the top right. I am still debating on a Gyre or Nero for my tank. One issue was the wire. But I think that outside magnet is coated and submersible. I might try mounting a couple from the overflow of my tank that way the wire can droop over the back out if sight. But I am not completely sure. I have never ran pumps on the back facing the front of the display, always ran mp10s side to side. 

 

You take nice clear photos too. Impressive!

[RedPhotog]

40 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Tank is looking really nice. I love what you did with your scape, I can just envision a couple nice sps pieces on the top right. I am still debating on a Gyre or Nero for my tank. One issue was the wire. But I think that outside magnet is coated and submersible. I might try mounting a couple from the overflow of my tank that way the wire can droop over the back out if sight. But I am not completely sure. I have never ran pumps on the back facing the front of the display, always ran mp10s side to side. 

 

You take nice clear photos too. Impressive!

I have the Nero on the pulse mode during the day and it replicates the gyre flow very nicely.  It is totally controllable and totally silent.  I literally cannot hear the thing with my ear pressed against the dry mag side.   I love the Nero.

[DNR88]

That's a very smooth looking tank and I'm also digging the scape, good luck with it! 😎

[RedPhotog]