Waterbox Infinia 125.3 build thread
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TimSt
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Hooked up RODI unit last night--pretty uneventful except for one drip-drip leak I can't fix. Slow enough that I can catch it with a paper towel while making water until replacement part comes in (it's the flush valve--already tried re-seating the tubing, as well as replacing the tubing).
Tank plumbing was an interesting experience--definitely a two-person job. Hard to align the fittings from the top and bottom with a deep tank and blacked-out overflow box. Wife was helpful and we got it done.
Waterbox recommends the Versa S2 pump for this tank, as well as the barb and screen kit. Only the screen is used; the barbs don't match the ID of the hose supplied by Waterbox. But the hose does fit on the standard pump discharge fitting with some heat and effort. Also installed the intake screen (screen has to be trimmed to size to fit the pump reservoir of the sump).
Now I'm just making water, babysitting everything to make sure no leaks, etc. With a 75 gpd RODI unit, it's going to take a few days to fill, based on my availability to babysit the system (not confident enough to let the system make water on its own right now).
Tank plumbing was an interesting experience--definitely a two-person job. Hard to align the fittings from the top and bottom with a deep tank and blacked-out overflow box. Wife was helpful and we got it done.
Waterbox recommends the Versa S2 pump for this tank, as well as the barb and screen kit. Only the screen is used; the barbs don't match the ID of the hose supplied by Waterbox. But the hose does fit on the standard pump discharge fitting with some heat and effort. Also installed the intake screen (screen has to be trimmed to size to fit the pump reservoir of the sump).
Now I'm just making water, babysitting everything to make sure no leaks, etc. With a 75 gpd RODI unit, it's going to take a few days to fill, based on my availability to babysit the system (not confident enough to let the system make water on its own right now).
Last edited:
TimSt
Community Member
As mentioned, a good deal came along for some live rock recently from a somewhat local reefer. So I had to accelerate my timeline--I was going to take it slow and get equipment over time and then set up the tank, but when offered the opportunity to get some cured live rock and save the $$ and effort of flying some rock in from Florida, things moved more quickly: I set the tank up (no powerheads or skimmer yet), got my RODI system operational, mixed first batch of saltwater in the tank, got the sump up and running, and then added the live rock (100 lbs.) two weeks ago. Rock was pretty clean: no hitch hikers other than a snail and a tiny green mushroom coral. Some of the rock had coralline algae; I'm pretty happy with what I got. Temporarily using a small pump to circulate water lower in the water column than what the surface returns are doing.
I've been testing ammonia, and no traces. With the snail and the mushroom, I realize I really have no bio-load in a tank this size. But since the rock came from an established aquarium, I'm assuming (!) that I probably won't see much of a cycle, if any. I am ghost feeding the tank and will monitor parameters. Threw in a few small hermits last night (Petco) for initial clean up.
I added Carib-sea Fiji pink sand this past weekend. Opted to follow the bag directions and not rinse (I've read the posts debating whether to rinse or not--some strong opinions out there). Tank immediately turned milky-white, but to my surprise, cleared within a few hours (I did use the flocculant bags that came with it). Will have to see if disturbing the sand bed through cleaning will stir up some murkiness.
I really like the Infinia's integrated electronics cabinet. Had to use those flat, short extension cords from Amazon to cut down on the plug profiles for the cover to fit though. There's still some room for a couple more electrical items and associated controllers (skimmer and at least one MP40)--I'll post pictures later. I'll do a final clean-up of the wires after those last two items are put on the system.
Since it'll be a while before I get a lid (I'll be doing a custom Toplids order), I don't think fish are in the near future--I'll be sticking with inverts like a CUC and maybe some shrimp. Once the lid comes in, I'll start the fish stocking, and then eventually get some 'beginner' corals.
I've been testing ammonia, and no traces. With the snail and the mushroom, I realize I really have no bio-load in a tank this size. But since the rock came from an established aquarium, I'm assuming (!) that I probably won't see much of a cycle, if any. I am ghost feeding the tank and will monitor parameters. Threw in a few small hermits last night (Petco) for initial clean up.
I added Carib-sea Fiji pink sand this past weekend. Opted to follow the bag directions and not rinse (I've read the posts debating whether to rinse or not--some strong opinions out there). Tank immediately turned milky-white, but to my surprise, cleared within a few hours (I did use the flocculant bags that came with it). Will have to see if disturbing the sand bed through cleaning will stir up some murkiness.
I really like the Infinia's integrated electronics cabinet. Had to use those flat, short extension cords from Amazon to cut down on the plug profiles for the cover to fit though. There's still some room for a couple more electrical items and associated controllers (skimmer and at least one MP40)--I'll post pictures later. I'll do a final clean-up of the wires after those last two items are put on the system.
Since it'll be a while before I get a lid (I'll be doing a custom Toplids order), I don't think fish are in the near future--I'll be sticking with inverts like a CUC and maybe some shrimp. Once the lid comes in, I'll start the fish stocking, and then eventually get some 'beginner' corals.
TimSt
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TimSt
Community Member
It's been awhile since I posted. Been through some ups and downs these last few months with the tank. A few rookie mistakes made, which I'll own up to here.
I've done some things either backwards or against conventional wisdom. I'll let you know how each of them is working out for me:
-so the general recommendation is not to introduce anemones for at least a year. Saw a good deal on an RBTA locally a couple of months ago that I couldn't pass up, so I got it. It wandered a little bit, but seems to have settled down and appears to be doing fine.
-it's also recommended not to introduce SPS until at least evidence of coralline algae exists and system is stabilized. Again, a local coral guy offered what I believe to be awesome deals on some SPS colonies in June, so I picked some up. With the exception of a birdsnest colony (more on that later), the others seem to be thriving. It was really cool to start with some decent-sized colonies. And I am finally starting to see little circles of coralline on the tank walls.
-as noted in an earlier post, I started off with a decent amount of live rock. Again, not wanting to pass up a 'good deal,' I added another 20 pounds in June in the hopes of increasing biodiversity. That, it did. And it also introduced aiptasia and vermitids to my tank!
-as I noticed the aiptasia population increasing, I put out a call for Berghia nudibranchs. Finally, some became available semi-locally, so I plopped down $100 for 10 of them and put them in the tank. Other than sighting one at night a while back, I haven't seen any of these little guys. But, I can't find any aiptasia either.
-soon after I noticed the vermitids spreading, I ordered 10 bumblebee snails with a clean up crew order (more about that later). Took a few days, but I've definitely seen the bumblebees on the vermitids, and I'm seeing fewer vermitid nets when I feed the corals. Hoping for another win here too.
-the CUC order included lots of snails, including Astrea, and a bunch of small hermit crabs. Everything went into the tank at the same time. The cerithid and nassurius snails 'woke up' right away and were mobile, but the Astreas didn't. The hermits descended on the Astreas and killed most of them (I think 2 out of 10 escaped). Lesson learned: hermits probably should have went in the sump for a few days until the Astreas were up and mobile.
-regarding the birdsnest colony: it was doing fine for a few weeks, and then when I returned home from a weekend away, it had started bleaching. No idea if it's the light intensity or parameters, but I moved it to slightly lower lighting and it seems to have stabilized.
-stupid rookie mistake: I had been testing for nitrates, and they've been sitting at 0. Fearing an onset of dinos, I assumed (stupidly) that phosphates were also at 0. I started dosing nitrates and phosphates according to an ATI calculator. Did this for a while, and then sent my water out for an ICP test (thinking about the Reef Moonshiner's method of dosing). Nitrates still at 0, but phosphates tested out at .34mg/l. So much for assuming my phosphates were 0! Got my hands on some Phosguard, but it worked too well. Went to 0 phosphates (and yes, my subsequent dino outbreak will be discussed shortly).
-one fish in the tank at the moment--a small maroon clown I ordered from Dr. Reef in May and received last week. Looks to be in great shape, but has no interest in the RBTA. Waiting until I get a lid for the tank before ordering more fish--I want a firefish, a wrasse or two, etc., all known to be jumpers. I do have an order in with TopLids. It's been a couple of weeks since I finalized the measurements with them, and was told 5-6 weeks for delivery. Looking forward to it, but praying my daughter and I measured accurately enough!
- Biodiversity looks good--lots of pods from small to large, bristleworms coming out at night, miscellaneous sponges, micro brittle stars, etc.
Finally, the big one: I had dinos. It took me some time to realize it, but after the snails started dragging brown tendrils behind them, and after finding a few tendrils on the corals, I knew something was wrong (I just thought the stuff growing on my rocks and back of the tank was some sort of slimy brown algae). I went out and got a microscope, and with all the resources here, determined I had Ostreopsis. I installed a UV and starting dosing nitrate and phosphate. Seems to be working--no more stringy stuff. But now I'm inundated with hair algae, and it's more of a brown color than green. Not sure how I go about correcting for that, as my CUC doesn't seem interested. I know I need to address the underlying cause(s), but need to still get rid of it. Thinking about a sea hare.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I put a lot in here, and hope if any rookies read this, they'll learn from my mistakes and successes.
I've done some things either backwards or against conventional wisdom. I'll let you know how each of them is working out for me:
-so the general recommendation is not to introduce anemones for at least a year. Saw a good deal on an RBTA locally a couple of months ago that I couldn't pass up, so I got it. It wandered a little bit, but seems to have settled down and appears to be doing fine.
-it's also recommended not to introduce SPS until at least evidence of coralline algae exists and system is stabilized. Again, a local coral guy offered what I believe to be awesome deals on some SPS colonies in June, so I picked some up. With the exception of a birdsnest colony (more on that later), the others seem to be thriving. It was really cool to start with some decent-sized colonies. And I am finally starting to see little circles of coralline on the tank walls.
-as noted in an earlier post, I started off with a decent amount of live rock. Again, not wanting to pass up a 'good deal,' I added another 20 pounds in June in the hopes of increasing biodiversity. That, it did. And it also introduced aiptasia and vermitids to my tank!
-as I noticed the aiptasia population increasing, I put out a call for Berghia nudibranchs. Finally, some became available semi-locally, so I plopped down $100 for 10 of them and put them in the tank. Other than sighting one at night a while back, I haven't seen any of these little guys. But, I can't find any aiptasia either.
-soon after I noticed the vermitids spreading, I ordered 10 bumblebee snails with a clean up crew order (more about that later). Took a few days, but I've definitely seen the bumblebees on the vermitids, and I'm seeing fewer vermitid nets when I feed the corals. Hoping for another win here too.
-the CUC order included lots of snails, including Astrea, and a bunch of small hermit crabs. Everything went into the tank at the same time. The cerithid and nassurius snails 'woke up' right away and were mobile, but the Astreas didn't. The hermits descended on the Astreas and killed most of them (I think 2 out of 10 escaped). Lesson learned: hermits probably should have went in the sump for a few days until the Astreas were up and mobile.
-regarding the birdsnest colony: it was doing fine for a few weeks, and then when I returned home from a weekend away, it had started bleaching. No idea if it's the light intensity or parameters, but I moved it to slightly lower lighting and it seems to have stabilized.
-stupid rookie mistake: I had been testing for nitrates, and they've been sitting at 0. Fearing an onset of dinos, I assumed (stupidly) that phosphates were also at 0. I started dosing nitrates and phosphates according to an ATI calculator. Did this for a while, and then sent my water out for an ICP test (thinking about the Reef Moonshiner's method of dosing). Nitrates still at 0, but phosphates tested out at .34mg/l. So much for assuming my phosphates were 0! Got my hands on some Phosguard, but it worked too well. Went to 0 phosphates (and yes, my subsequent dino outbreak will be discussed shortly).
-one fish in the tank at the moment--a small maroon clown I ordered from Dr. Reef in May and received last week. Looks to be in great shape, but has no interest in the RBTA. Waiting until I get a lid for the tank before ordering more fish--I want a firefish, a wrasse or two, etc., all known to be jumpers. I do have an order in with TopLids. It's been a couple of weeks since I finalized the measurements with them, and was told 5-6 weeks for delivery. Looking forward to it, but praying my daughter and I measured accurately enough!
- Biodiversity looks good--lots of pods from small to large, bristleworms coming out at night, miscellaneous sponges, micro brittle stars, etc.
Finally, the big one: I had dinos. It took me some time to realize it, but after the snails started dragging brown tendrils behind them, and after finding a few tendrils on the corals, I knew something was wrong (I just thought the stuff growing on my rocks and back of the tank was some sort of slimy brown algae). I went out and got a microscope, and with all the resources here, determined I had Ostreopsis. I installed a UV and starting dosing nitrate and phosphate. Seems to be working--no more stringy stuff. But now I'm inundated with hair algae, and it's more of a brown color than green. Not sure how I go about correcting for that, as my CUC doesn't seem interested. I know I need to address the underlying cause(s), but need to still get rid of it. Thinking about a sea hare.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I put a lot in here, and hope if any rookies read this, they'll learn from my mistakes and successes.
mpoletiek
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Wow, all this happened in January this year?
I am having an adventure with my infinia 165, but definitely taking it much slower. Dry rock, live sand, no lights for about a month. Literally turned the lights on today. Filled on 7/4. More details in this thread.
I should take a pic of my electronics cabinet. It's a bit of a mess, but was able to fit quite a bit inside it. Using velcro for the powerhead controllers and tap screws for the rest. The Apex EB is huge and takes up so much space.
I'm curious about the sump setup though. I've seen people put their skimmers both upstream and downstream of the refuge. Is there a preferred config for certain applications?
I am having an adventure with my infinia 165, but definitely taking it much slower. Dry rock, live sand, no lights for about a month. Literally turned the lights on today. Filled on 7/4. More details in this thread.
I should take a pic of my electronics cabinet. It's a bit of a mess, but was able to fit quite a bit inside it. Using velcro for the powerhead controllers and tap screws for the rest. The Apex EB is huge and takes up so much space.
I'm curious about the sump setup though. I've seen people put their skimmers both upstream and downstream of the refuge. Is there a preferred config for certain applications?
TimSt
Community Member
Something weird going on with my sump level. I haven't changed a thing lately, and noticed my ATO was pumping more often than usual (thanks Hydros app!). Checked the sump yesterday, and level in the return chamber had dropped a good inch.
I can't for the life of me figure out what could cause this seemingly random change. My only guess is something to do with the pump (Vectra M2), so I broke it down last night. The impeller magnet had a layer of slime on it, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
Anyway, put it back together and got the pump back up and running. Everything seems more or less stable, but I'm still fiddling with the gate valve. Went to bed last night with the level in the overflow slightly below the emergency drain, woke up this morning to water running down the emergency drain pipe.
Not sure if cleaning up the pump helped, but so far, so good---fingers crossed.
As an aside, I used this opportunity to pull out my carbon reactor and some rock from the sump, as well as remove the refugium divider. I recently bought the Akula UKS-160 skimmer and the Redsea Reefmat 500, and I wanted to see how they'd both fit--I was expecting to have to make some sump modifications to get them both in there. Surprisingly, they both fit in the main sump area! I am VERY pleased that I don't have to go cutting silicon to make things fit.
The plan is to install both this weekend. If I understand the directions, the biggest mod I'll be making is pulling out the drain pipe and cutting it to fit the hose on the Reefmat. Hopefully that goes without an issue. Results and pictures to follow.
I can't for the life of me figure out what could cause this seemingly random change. My only guess is something to do with the pump (Vectra M2), so I broke it down last night. The impeller magnet had a layer of slime on it, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
Anyway, put it back together and got the pump back up and running. Everything seems more or less stable, but I'm still fiddling with the gate valve. Went to bed last night with the level in the overflow slightly below the emergency drain, woke up this morning to water running down the emergency drain pipe.
Not sure if cleaning up the pump helped, but so far, so good---fingers crossed.
As an aside, I used this opportunity to pull out my carbon reactor and some rock from the sump, as well as remove the refugium divider. I recently bought the Akula UKS-160 skimmer and the Redsea Reefmat 500, and I wanted to see how they'd both fit--I was expecting to have to make some sump modifications to get them both in there. Surprisingly, they both fit in the main sump area! I am VERY pleased that I don't have to go cutting silicon to make things fit.
The plan is to install both this weekend. If I understand the directions, the biggest mod I'll be making is pulling out the drain pipe and cutting it to fit the hose on the Reefmat. Hopefully that goes without an issue. Results and pictures to follow.
TimSt
Community Member
My Reefmat 500 installation:
www.reef2reef.com
has anyone installed the reefmat 500 in an Infinia 125 3sump?
Looking for pointers on modifications required to install the Red Sea Reefmat 500 in a Waterbox Infinia 125.3 sump. TIA
www.reef2reef.com
TimSt
Community Member
Just got back from three weeks of travel; I was VERY nervous about leaving the tank in the care of others and really worried about any equipment failure. Since my wife was with me for the first week, I asked a neighbor to feed the clownfish each day, and check the ATO container daily and top off when needed. When my wife returned before me, same duties turned over to her. I was dosing phosphate and nitrate before the trip, but didn't want anyone else doing that.
I've been having trouble keeping a steady level in the overflow box, so rather than have someone adjust the gate valve every day or two as I had been doing, I opted to change the overflow box level to the level of the emergency overflow. I realize I was bypassing my Reefmat roller by doing this, but figured it would be best.
End result: lots of algae growth on the glass (I didn't want my caretakers to worry about scraping), but no livestock losses. As a matter of fact, the two RFAs I recently bought were almost double in size when I got back and look terrific. One of the RBTAs took a little trip around the tank, but I had nem guards installed over the MP40s for this eventuality. I do have one coral (staghorn) exhibiting tissue loss, and this continued to progress while I was gone. Everything else looks as it should.
I've been having trouble keeping a steady level in the overflow box, so rather than have someone adjust the gate valve every day or two as I had been doing, I opted to change the overflow box level to the level of the emergency overflow. I realize I was bypassing my Reefmat roller by doing this, but figured it would be best.
End result: lots of algae growth on the glass (I didn't want my caretakers to worry about scraping), but no livestock losses. As a matter of fact, the two RFAs I recently bought were almost double in size when I got back and look terrific. One of the RBTAs took a little trip around the tank, but I had nem guards installed over the MP40s for this eventuality. I do have one coral (staghorn) exhibiting tissue loss, and this continued to progress while I was gone. Everything else looks as it should.
TimSt
Community Member
Just placed a Dr. Reef order: a Katherine's wrasse, a McCosker's wrasse, a firefish, a neon goby, and a cleaner shrimp. Now the waiting begins...
Also purchased an acclimation box; will be putting the clown in there when the fish arrive, and hopefully he won't beat anyone up when released back to the tank. If he does, he'll have to be rehomed. My daughter won't like that.
Also purchased an acclimation box; will be putting the clown in there when the fish arrive, and hopefully he won't beat anyone up when released back to the tank. If he does, he'll have to be rehomed. My daughter won't like that.
TimSt
Community Member
So, Dr. Reef order placed in early October--received the order late last week. Dr. Reef didn't ship the Katherine's wrasse, as they said it wasn't healthy enough to ship--I got a refund for it. I also got another neon goby as a bonus! Everything else arrived in great shape and is doing well. My large amphipod population that's had the run of the tank until now (the clown never showed any interest in picking them off) is now being decimated by the McCosker's wrasse--he appears to be having a great time chasing them down and he's nice and fat. The neon gobies are likewise chasing down things too tiny to see--copepods, I assume.
The maroon clown, as planned, is in an acclimation box for now. I have another Dr. Reef order coming next week--a Springeri damsel, a Midas blenny, and a Royal Gramma. I'm going to let everyone settle in for a couple of weeks and then release the clown. If it looks like he's going to be a terror, he'll be rehomed immediately. Also a bit nervous about the Midas Blenny/Exquisite Firefish combo--hopefully I won't have a bully blenny, but will be keeping an eye on things.
The maroon clown, as planned, is in an acclimation box for now. I have another Dr. Reef order coming next week--a Springeri damsel, a Midas blenny, and a Royal Gramma. I'm going to let everyone settle in for a couple of weeks and then release the clown. If it looks like he's going to be a terror, he'll be rehomed immediately. Also a bit nervous about the Midas Blenny/Exquisite Firefish combo--hopefully I won't have a bully blenny, but will be keeping an eye on things.
TimSt
Community Member
The next Dr. Reef order arrived a few days ago. Just like last time, the fish arrived in great shape and have acclimated well to the tank.
I released the maroon clown from his box a little while ago. He's settling into his anemone at the moment--not bothering the other fish. Hopefully it stays this way.
Fish population at this point:
-Springeri damsel
-Exquisite firefish
-McCosker's wrasse
-Midas blenny
-Maroon clown
-Royal Gramma
-2 neon gobies
Inverts include a cleaner shrimp, a porcelain crab (had 2, one's missing), maybe a pom pom crab (haven't seen that tiny thing since I introduced it to the tank), a fighting conch, a few RBTAs, a couple of RFAs, hermits, and miscellaneous corals (torches, hammer, zoas, mushrooms, etc.).
I want to add a Katherine's wrasse and a Mandarin. I placed my order for these with Dr. Reef a little while ago, and asked for March 2023 shipment--it's getting too cold for my liking to ship fish now. That should round out the fish for the tank, I think.
Still slowly populating the tank with a variety of coral. Picking up some zoas locally off Facebook on Monday.
Biggest issue facing my tank right now: GHA. It's slowly being beat back into submission; rocks are almost 100% clear, but still grows thickly on the back wall. I'm dosing Microbacter Clean every week, as well as manual removal. It would be nice if I can get it off the back wall sometime--tank would look so much nicer. Asterea snails are working on it, but there's only a few of them.
I released the maroon clown from his box a little while ago. He's settling into his anemone at the moment--not bothering the other fish. Hopefully it stays this way.
Fish population at this point:
-Springeri damsel
-Exquisite firefish
-McCosker's wrasse
-Midas blenny
-Maroon clown
-Royal Gramma
-2 neon gobies
Inverts include a cleaner shrimp, a porcelain crab (had 2, one's missing), maybe a pom pom crab (haven't seen that tiny thing since I introduced it to the tank), a fighting conch, a few RBTAs, a couple of RFAs, hermits, and miscellaneous corals (torches, hammer, zoas, mushrooms, etc.).
I want to add a Katherine's wrasse and a Mandarin. I placed my order for these with Dr. Reef a little while ago, and asked for March 2023 shipment--it's getting too cold for my liking to ship fish now. That should round out the fish for the tank, I think.
Still slowly populating the tank with a variety of coral. Picking up some zoas locally off Facebook on Monday.
Biggest issue facing my tank right now: GHA. It's slowly being beat back into submission; rocks are almost 100% clear, but still grows thickly on the back wall. I'm dosing Microbacter Clean every week, as well as manual removal. It would be nice if I can get it off the back wall sometime--tank would look so much nicer. Asterea snails are working on it, but there's only a few of them.
Manny'sReef
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Would love to see pics more regularly.
TimSt
Community Member
You're right, this thread needs more pics. I'll post some this weekend after I do my weekly maintenance.
TimSt
Community Member
First fish casualty today; found one of the Neon gobies on top of the tank lid this morning. Apparently, the lid mesh is too wide for these tiny fish. I think all the others will be ok though.
