- If you already watched the Spotlight Video
on the water box frag tank right behind me,
you may be wondering,
Matthew, why?
My first frag tank was a 40 gallon breeder DIY setup
that I bought from PetSmart.
I drilled the tank myself, I installed an overflow,
I put in a trigger system sump
and bought an acrylic habitats frag rack.
When I took down that tank,
I downsized to an innovative Marine 25 gallon lagoon system.
Honestly, both tanks worked great
but then we started a new series at BRS,
the one we just launched
where I build 40 to 60 different tanks
with all sorts of different livestock options.
So the first reason I got this water box frag
105.4 is size.
I needed a place to store my coral frags,
colonies, nems, fish and other livestock
as a holding pen
between these different tank builds.
The second reason is aesthetics.
This isn't something I typically share
with you guys at home
but I make all these videos from my living room here
in Palm Springs, California.
Since I'm quite limited on space,
it's really important for me to have a clean and organized
workspace because it's part of my home.
I'm also very limited on the filming angles and options
I have.
So installing this water box frag system behind me
gives a whole new backdrop for all of these videos.
The third reason I got this system,
more filtration power,
more filtration options and a place to hide all of the gear
and the fourth and final reason
I got this tank right here is
I just really like water box systems.
A couple years ago,
I actually built a water box marine system
in my neighbor's home
and I thought it was gorgeous in there.
So I was actually just really excited at the opportunity
to put one of these water box tanks in my own home.
I honestly can't see a total beginner setting up
one of these water box systems as their first
frag tank,
it's just overkill
but I absolutely could see a total beginner
setting up one of these frag systems as a shallow reef tank.
It's just a gorgeous, functional
and well thought out system
and hobbyists is who just want the top of the line
frag tank for their own home.
Then the water box frag systems
are absolutely for them too.
Rather than go step by step
and show you how to put the stand together,
which would be incredibly tedious,
I'm just gonna share with you the tips,
tricks and mistakes I'm made along the way
so you can avoid them.
Firstly, once assembled,
these cabinets are incredibly sturdy
but during assembly, the opposite is absolutely true.
Like most Ikea furniture,
these cabinet stands rely on cam locks and screws
to Fasten the pieces together.
These are actually quite flimsy during assembly
at holding the pieces together.
If you're not careful and accidentally bend a piece
or just walk away for a moment and it starts to tilt,
you could snap the screw in half.
Until you have more than one piece assembled
and it's secure,
have a helper hold the piece
at a 90 degree angle to make sure it doesn't break.
Number two, speaking of cam locks and screws,
it can be a bit tricky to get the hang of these
if it's your first time.
First off, don't over tighten the screw.
The holes are pre-drilled and sometimes slightly off kilter
and there's nothing you can do about that.
When putting two panels together,
sometimes you'll have to slightly bend the screw to fit it
into the pre-drilled hole.
I really can't stress enough how absolutely crucial it is
to keep the panels at a 90 degree angle during assembly
or you will snap the screw in half.
When inserting the lock portion,
oftentimes the pre-drilled hole is barely large enough.
Don't use a hammer like me,
just use a Philips head screwdriver
with gentle pressure are moving the lock back and forth
until it pushes into place.
Sometimes the cam lock will turn the full 180 degrees
and sometimes it won't.
Just make sure the cam lock is tight enough
to secure the pieces together.
Oh my goodness, I almost forgot something crucial.
Number three, even a tiny piece of sand
can scratch the heck out of these panels.
Be sure to only place the un-assembled panels
on something soft like carpet, a rug or towels
and never do what I did and put them on cement
or hardwood floors and push them around even a few inches.
I barely moved my cabinet doors on my hardwood floor
and look at the scratches I made.
It's complete my fault, so don't be like me,
put 'em on something soft.
Tip number four,
the wooden and dowels are easy to break
but incredibly important for the overall
structural integrity of your cabinet.
When installing, it's best to only use
a downward pressure with your hand
but if you need to use a hammer,
use extra care not to snap the dowels in half.
If you aren't careful
like I wasn't careful, you can remove a broken dowel
by just finding a small screw,
screwing it into the broken dowel
and grabbing a hammer and prying it out.
And my fifth and final cabinet tip for you,
the adjustable feet are super awesome
but difficult to adjust and basically impossible to adjust
once you put water in the tank.
I'd recommend leveling the stand twice.
The first time before you put the sump
or the display tank on top
and the second time after you put the empty sump
and the empty display tank on top
if it needs to be adjusted.
For setting up the plumbing,
we're gonna start with the bulk heads
and overflow box first.
Follow the diagram and be sure the rubber O ring
is correctly attached to the drain and return lines.
If the O-ring isn't installed properly,
the bulkhead will leak.
To screw the bulkhead into place,
It is easiest to have two people for this job.
One person holding the wet portion
and the other in the cabinet screwing in the dry side.
Tight in securely by hand
and if you have to use a wrench,
don't over tighten it
because you could break the glass and destroy the tank.
Finish with the overflow box plumbing
by attaching the outlet assembly
and screwing the lock-line nozzles into place.
In this frag 105.4,
the sump goes into the back right of the cabinet.
Attach both the primary and emergency drain lines,
tightening them firmly by hand.
Use the plumber's tape to wrap the threaded portions
of the manifold and screw tightly into place.
Use the two included plastic hose clamps
to securely attach the flexible tubing to your return pump.
Install the two filter socks,
the included silencer goes into the front sock.
I always like to double check to make sure the bulkheads
are properly installed and leak free
and I do that by pouring a pitcher of RODI water
into the overflow box,
I go beneath and I check for leaks.
If I don't find any leaks in the bulkhead,
then I fill the entire system up with saltwater,
turn on the return pump
and check all the rest of the plumbing
for small leaks and tighten the pieces as necessary.
Moving on to the gear I chose for the system.
Every decision I made had the end goal
of a frag tank in mind.
Starting out, number one, with our lights,
we went with two aqua illumination hydro 32s
with the 18 inch flex arms.
I attach them slightly closer to the outer edge of the tank
so as not to create a par hot spot in the middle.
I went with 12,500 Kelvin at 45% intensity.
I chose this because it's blue enough to make the colors pop
while not overly blue and color blinding me
and making life look orange.
Why did I choose 45%?
Because I actually measure the par levels with my par meter.
My goal was to have par readings between 75 and 125
at the level of the frag rack.
Second piece of gear is the wave maker
and we went with the Maxspect Gyre XF330.
I set it to random flow at 100% max,
I have it super close to the surface
so it's not blasting any corals directly.
I originally added two of the gyres to the tank
but one of them wasn't working so I pulled it out
but I'm actually quite happy
with how much flow is being put out by the one gyre.
Third piece of gear, frag racks.
One of them is a DIY black egg crate frag rack
and the other is a professionally made
acrylic frag rack from acrylic habitats.
For the protein skimmer,
I went with the Reef Octopus 150INT.
It actually came with my Luxe 90 system
and it works fantastic.
I will eventually upgrade to a DC pump,
maybe the VarioS pump and just replace the AC pump
that it currently has
or I'll change out the protein skimmer entirely
and switch to a space saving model
that has the pump in the body itself
just to give me a little bit more room
in the main sump compartment.
To keep my tank fully cycled
since there's no sand or rock inside,
I used a large box of the Marine Pure spheres
that I seeded for a month in one of my other tanks.
I'm not sure that one box of those spheres
is gonna be enough,
so I also have two of the Marine Pure plates
and if I need to add them to keep the tank cycled,
I will soak them overnight in salt water
and a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only.
The sixth piece of gear are the heaters
and I chose the Innovative Marine 400 watt
dual PTC Helio heaters.
This is a pure luxury item for me.
Way more expensive than other options,
the acrylic magnetic holders,
the titanium remote temperature probe with magnetic mount,
the low profile titanium heaters
and the solid state ceramic chips
which are crazy safe and keep a ridiculously tight
heating margin
make these my overall favorite heaters.
For the heartbeat of my system,
I chose the Eco-tech Marine Vectra S2 DC return pump.
This is actually the first Vectra I've ever owned.
I've used and actually still use
the Reef Octopus VarioS pumps and I love those
but since Ecotech is now one of our sister companies
and I absolutely love their Vortec,
I figured I'd give it a shot.
With a 100 gallon system,
I'm attempting to turn over my water volume
about three times an hour
so I want something around 300 gallons per hour
at the level of the tank.
So the S2 with a total maximum output
of 1500 gallons an hour
is definitely a little overkill
but I have it tuned to about 50%
and I like it because when I choose to use the manifold,
I can crank it up
and I know there's enough juice in the return pump
to power both.
The eighth piece of gear is the auto top off system.
I have an almost 10 year old Tunze osmolator
running in my tank right over there.
So decided to get a new one to see how it works.
Unsurprisingly, it sets up exactly the same
but oh my goodness,
the pump on the new Tunze osmolator
is so much more powerful.
It actually scared me
the first couple times it turned on
because the water came shooting out so fast.
Since this is a frag tank,
obviously I'm gonna have to dose
so I went with the Kamoer X1 pro dosing pump.
I actually use three of these right now,
one in each of my systems
and once they're set up, they work fantastic.
I'm dosing Tropic Marin, All-For-Reef that I mix at home
and I just have it in a BRS jug.
I've got my wires and controllers so organized,
thanks to the deluxe controller from adaptive reef.
I've actually owned both the standard control board
and the deluxe control board
and I much prefer the deluxe
because it has way more pre-drilled holes
for hiding your wires.
The 11th piece of gear is the Neptune System's
ApexEL controller.
The last Apex I owned was seven or eight years ago
so I figured it was time to try the new ApexEL
from another one of our great sister companies.
I'm using the Apex magnetic probe rack
to secure the temperature and pH probes.
I'm currently using the Apex to control
my backup Ehaim Jager Heater,
to monitor my pH and energy consumption
and to turn and off my gear for water changes
but I definitely plan on adding some new
Neptune gear in the future.
For mounting options,
if the controller came with the mount screws
like the S2 did, I use those.
Otherwise, I bought a couple of large rolls
of heavy duty Velcro from Amazon
and cut it out to attach to the control board.
In order to get that super polished look,
don't overlook wire management.
I bought a giant pack of reusable Velcro cable ties
and split sleeving from Alex Tech.
The 14th piece of gear was a wifi outlet.
Since the eight lets on the EB eight bar
were not enough to cover all of my gear,
I purchased another wifi outlet
to put inside my cabinet stand.
Click over here to check out the water box
frag system for yourself
and over here to check out my beginner
coral recommendations
and as always everyone,
thanks for watching, happy reefing, be well.
We'll see you next time.