Waterbox Crystal Peninsula 7226 (228 G/863L) build in Dubai

[Flore]

Time for my second tank build thread. Let's see if I can keep it up this time, my first build thread didn't last long for various reasons"¦

This is my second reef tank. The first one is a mixed reef Red Sea Reefer 350, which I started around 3 years ago and looks like this at the moment - getting crowded:



Some of the equipment and all livestock will be slowly transitioned to its successor. Its had some ups and downs and I learned a few things along the way - right now suffering from a bit of algae and discoloration of my SPS, but generally speaking the last months things have been good.

I've always wanted a Peninsula tank and have been looking at the Reefer 650, but when Waterbox became available in Dubai, I decided to go for the biggest one I could get end in the end. I was happy with Red Sea so far but the feedback from Waterbox owners has been positive from what I've seen, so let's see how this goes.

After moving around furniture for a month and looking at various options, I've decided on the following positioning for the tank - it will basically be in the middle of the room not attached to any walls.



The equipment list looks like this:

- Eheim 300W + Eheim 100W Backup Heater
- Neptune COR20 Return Pump
- 2 Wave maker Gyre XF130
- 1 Ecotech MP40wQD for some turbulence
- 3 Ecotech XR30W G4 Pro (planning to mount on a custom made rail)
- Hailea 300A Chiller
- Aquamaxx Q5 Skimmer (I passed on the expensive brands after hearing good feedback on this in the local reefer group).

As you can see it will be a relatively simple setup without reactors and a refugium, I'll only do 2/3 part dosing and I use the Red Sea Coral Colours additives - so far it's worked reasonably well although I don't keep a lot of SPS or sensitive corals.

Going to control everything through the Apex system, been pretty happen with it in the Reefer 350:

- Neptune Apex Classic with ORP, ph, temperature, salinity probes
- Neptune ATK for ATO
- Neptune Leak Detection Probe (not decided yet where to put it)
- 2 Neptune DOS (Ca/Mg/KH/spare)
- 2 Neptune DDR Reservoirs
- Neptune WXM for Radion / MP40 control
- Neptune Optical sensor for ATO and sump water level monitoring
- Neptune AFS Feeder for holidays
- I also have a Neptune breakout box that I might use to connect some switches for triggering Feed or Maintenance modes without needing to open the App.

I'm currently assessing the best cabinet layout for the controllers and power supplies. As it stands, I chose to move the chiller outside the cabinet for space reasons and bring the ATO tank on the overflow side of the tank.

One of the downsides of the Waterbox is that the middle doors open on both sides, but the left and right one open only on one opposing side - cannot chose which one. This means I need to fill the ATO tank from the hole in the back of the cabinet, as I cannot open the door of this side easily due to the sofa. All the dry equipment will go on the front side of the tank where I can access the door.

Considering how big the tank is, the sump layout in general doesn't seem ideal, or at least it doesn't match my ideas - can't put my finger on it. The tank and cabinet quality looks very much on par with the Reefer though.

As for the scape, I'm imagining something along these lines:



One concern I still have is if running the Gyre's and the MP40 from the back wall will create enough flow all around, but I'd hate to have cables going to the front of the tank.

So when will all this happen? The tank is already here, cabinet built, and I started the wiring and preparation. Will post some photos tomorrow!

 

[Flore]

Some photos from the build and the tank.
I'll mount the Radeons on a custom aluminum rail from the ceiling.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Impressive start Flore! A free-standing tank sounds like a real challenge. Should look awesome! Good luck with the build!

 

[Flore]

Thanks.

I'm currently waiting for the MP40 and the ATK and some accessories, then it's time to fill the tank with water.

Will use cable trunking for a clean installation, attached a photo of the right side of the cabinet in progress.

 

[Flore]

Tank is full now, just need to adjust the salinity a bit and start cycling it. Plan to move over some rock from my current tank and also make water changes from the old tank to the new one to get things going.

Adjustment of the gate valve and return flow was pretty simple - it's not dead quiet yet but I think should be possible to get there, although the filter socks made a lot of noise.

Turned down the COR20 to 60% right now.

Have minor (just drops) leaking on the connection between the flexible return and the plumping, and need to raise the skimmer a bit I think, otherwise all looks good.

Getting the ATK in the next days, that's one of the last pieces in the puzzle.

 

[Flore]

I raised the skimmer using simple PVC pipe attached to the bottom with a bit of superglue. Might add some rubber feet to minimise the noise but at the moment there is barely any vibration.

Tank is almost up to the desired 1.025 salinity, then I'll seed it with some coralline and a bit of live rock from my existing tank.

I've been considering to remove the vinyl sheet from the back of the tank to further emphasize the "free standing" look. Asked Waterbox about it, and their answer was they don't know how easy it is, because they've never done it...

Still waiting for the ATK to arrive, that's the last major piece of equipment missing.

 

[Flore]

Some updates. The ATK has arrived, but they shipped the wrong power supply, waiting again and doing manual tank fills...

The tank is cycling and I moved a small piece of Green Star Polyp and a small Monti over from my old tank to see how things are doing.

Time for a clean up crew soon. In the meantime, starting the scape, most of the rock will come from the old tank though. Planning to make two rock structures, one in a V shape as on the photo, and a U shape with some shelves on the back.

Electrical installations in progress, should be quite a clean install in the end but most of the equipment is also still running on the old tank at this point.

 

[Flore]

Some updates from the install.

The ATK is still missing its power supply and it's fairly annoying - evaporation on this size tank with an open top is quite high.

Another issue is the MP40 - the 19mm glass, while theoretically still in range - is just a little too thick for a reliable magnet hold. Looking to either switch to an MP60 (wasting some money in the process) or maybe I'll find a way to support it with tape etc.

Continuing with the electrical installation. I plan to make a small switch box for common Apex activities like Feed Mode on the back of the tank, bought some simple switches for that, will share soon.

Other than that I moved over some more small frags, as the Monti and GSP have been doing ok for over a week.

I'll be traveling now for a week, but after that it's time to move more livestock from the Reefer, including a lot of its rock work.

 

[Brock0019]

updates?

 

[ronaldjeremy]

updates? I am thinking about getting the same tank, the red sea is just a tad too short for the space I have.

 

[Flore]

Am away this week, updates coming on Sunday or so!

 

[BayBHuey]

Hello Flore :wavehand:...love your setup...I was hoping I could pull up a seat to tag along and ask questions along the way?...Im a newbie and Im about to cycle my first tank and would love to learn from you as I see your just starting your new tank

Looking forward to your updates :tiphat:

BayBHuey

 

[Flore]

Hey BayBHuey, sure, let me know your queries, I'm no expert though.

Some quick updates:

- I've installed the ATO from Neptune but it's not running yet, will test this when I'm home to monitor...
- Connected my MP10 and Radions to the Apex using the WXM
- Moved some more corals (mainly frags) into the Waterbox

I need to adjust parameters a little bit before moving over more of the livestock into the new tank, will probably do that over this week and then plan a more significant shift on the weekend.

Some pics:

 

[Flore]

Some updates on the tank:

Installed the 3 Radion XR30 Pro Gen4, two of them came from my Reefer 350, one was new. My old Zetlight now sits on the Reefer for the next few weeks until everything is moved over.

The Radions are mounted on a custom Aluminum rail, I'm using the diffusors to get better light spread. Am pretty happy with the look.


Moved over some more rock from the Reefer as well, and a few more corals.

I also took off the black vinyl from the back glass except on the overflow area, think it looks better and it was quite easy.

One my Gyre's is taking a Vinegar bath right now, then I'll move it into the Waterbox as well. The second one will stay in the Reefer for a bit longer.

 

[Flore]

Be ready for some updates soon.. today was the big moving day!

 

[Flore]

As promised, here are some updates on the tank. Am pretty happy with the scape and overall look, corals more or less happy as well.

- Moved all the corals over
- Moved 3 Chromis and 2 Clown
- Purple Tang, Black Cap, Anthias, Midas Blenny are still in the old tank, alongside some snails. Will move those next week.

Once the old tank is empty, I'll plain to use it for quarantine for a few weeks and then this area will become a tank viewing spot with two chairs.

As mentioned last time, I removed the vinyl on the back except on the overflow area. Mounting the APEX display here.

Open points to address:

- Parameters: kH, Mg are a bit low, have started dosing now. Target is 7.5 for kH, 1300 MG, 450 Ca. Can't measure any Nitrate and Phosphate in the tank, had the same in my Reefer...

- Need to calibrate the Apex probes, Ph is showing too high according to Salifert and Red Sea tests, Salinity shows too low compared to Refractometer.

- Flow: With the right settings you can get flow all the way in the front of the tank, but the water movement is very limited. I've positioned the corals that should be happy in lower / slower flow (some Hammer and Frogspawn) in front, and kept SPS closer to the wave makers. Let's see how they react, otherwise I might add a bigger Gyre in addition to the existing 2, but I want to avoid having to put a pump on the front glass.

- ATO: The Neptune ATK has been a pain, and it seems one of the sensors isn't working, so going through the troubleshooting now...

- Skimmer: As a consequence, the skimmer isn't quite working the way it should owing to changes in water level.

- Cabling: The APEX modules and cables are still a mess, will sort this out in the next days, made provisions for mounting and cable runs already. I also plan to use a breakout box for some manual switches for Feed Mode, Storm, etc. Have also starting setting up the Homebridge server so I can use Siri to trigger commands on the tank, that should be neat.

 

[Flore]

As promised, here are some updates on the tank. Am pretty happy with the scape and overall look, corals more or less happy as well.

- Moved all the corals over
- Moved 3 Chromis and 2 Clown
- Purple Tang, Black Cap, Anthias, Midas Blenny are still in the old tank, alongside some snails. Will move those next week.

Once the old tank is empty, I'll plain to use it for quarantine for a few weeks and then this area will become a tank viewing spot with two chairs.

As mentioned last time, I removed the vinyl on the back except on the overflow area. Mounting the APEX display here.

Open points to address:

- Parameters: kH, Mg are a bit low, have started dosing now. Target is 7.5 for kH, 1300 MG, 450 Ca. Can't measure any Nitrate and Phosphate in the tank, had the same in my Reefer...

- Need to calibrate the Apex probes, Ph is showing too high according to Salifert and Red Sea tests, Salinity shows too low compared to Refractometer.

- Flow: With the right settings you can get flow all the way in the front of the tank, but the water movement is very limited. I've positioned the corals that should be happy in lower / slower flow (some Hammer and Frogspawn) in front, and kept SPS closer to the wave makers. Let's see how they react, otherwise I might add a bigger Gyre in addition to the existing 2, but I want to avoid having to put a pump on the front glass.

- ATO: The Neptune ATK has been a pain, and it seems one of the sensors isn't working, so going through the troubleshooting now... can't say Neptune is very supportive and accommodating so far, but let's see.

- Skimmer: As a consequence, the skimmer isn't quite working the way it should owing to changes in water level.

- Cabling: The APEX modules and cables are still a mess, will sort this out in the next days, made provisions for mounting and cable runs already. I also plan to use a breakout box for some manual switches for Feed Mode, Storm, etc. Have also starting setting up the Homebridge server so I can use Siri to trigger commands on the tank, that should be neat.

 

[jamesvader]

Hi, can you take a full photo of the sump, I’m curious to see if the entire sump takes up the whole space. I’m thinking about getting this system but I want to utilize a bigger sump

 

[Flore]

Hi, can you take a full photo of the sump, I'm curious to see if the entire sump takes up the whole space. I'm thinking about getting this system but I want to utilize a bigger sump

Hey, will do tomorrow, but in short you basically cannot add width and only very little depth.

 

[Flore]

Here are some photos from the sump central and front section.

Still work in progress, ripped out the cabling because of several issues with the Neptune ATK (https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sh...s-Experience-with-ATK-Kit&p=157110#post157110)