While I want to keep this thread about MY build. I'd like to do a quick review on my experience with Waterbox so far.
Waterbox Initial Review:
Ordering and Payment:
I initially had ordered the Waterbox 20 cube AIO tank and shortly after ordering decided I would prefer the Marine 35.1. I sent Waterbox an email requesting information on updating my order to this tank. They quickly responded and were able to upgrade my order after trading just three emails. The staff came off as friendly, helpful and professional so they get a thumbs up from me off the bat. They also offer payment plans which I did opt for (times are tough for a reefer) with zero percent interest for twelve months. I thought this was great and I am sure it helps them out as a company with sales. One unfortunate side to shipping an aquarium are the cost to ship. I have never had anything delivered via freight but the charge for shipping was one hundred and fifty dollars. I initially thought this was a little steep but hoped it would result in a safely shipped aquarium.
Shipping and Delivery:
I did have a bit of a wait time for the shipping to be completed. When I ordered the tank the website said to expect 6 weeks for delivery. I am in no rush so I didn't mind but the tank did end up arriving in 3 weeks so that was a nice surprise. The shipment arrived via UPS in a lift gate truck. I went outside to meet the driver when I saw him pull up to my house. I will not lie, when I saw the shipment for the first time I was slightly worried. The box itself had been completely shrink wrapped with the stand and light on top of it. It appeared to be completely intact however, two of the four legs that hold the box off the ground were busted off and it was leaning considerably to one side. This was either the result or the cause of one of the braces on the pallet it came on being busted as well. It was at least placed on a second pallet for more support. While I do no blame Waterbox for this in anyway, there is a reason behind me sharing this and I will get to that in a moment. When I scheduled the appointment for the shipment to be dropped off the UPS worker told me that the drivers would not be able to bring the shipment up to my house and it would have to be left at the end of the driveway. I figured I would ask the driver if he would be willing to bring it up to my garage and he did so that was nice. I didn't want to have to lug two hundred and twenty five pounds of aquarium up my driveway. So he brought it up and I got everything in my garage to do an initial inspection. I checked the light and stand first. These were both in separate cardboard boxes and they made it fine through shipping. Next, I worked on the Waterbox itself. This was in a box that was stapled closed on the sides with the top screwed in to it. The material of the box appeared to be a super dense cardboard. I originally thought it was a wooden box before I had it taken apart if that gives you any idea of the density. After unscrewing the top off, I noticed really how well this thing was packed for shipping. There was very little room for anything to move around and there was foam and cardboard everywhere to absorb any shocks during the shipment. The plumbing was inside with the tank and the sump was inside the tank with foam in between glass panes to keep them from touching. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of shipping materials and think it was worth the shipment fee. The tank, sump and all equipment arrived looking immaculate.
Stand Assembly:
Upon initial inspection of the stand, the material looks high quality and all of the hardware looks nicer than average. I will say there were 3 cam screws that came stripped. That was a little confusing. It looked like someone took a drill and ran the bit around the top of it and I could not use them at all. Luckily it did come with spares so I had enough to be covered. It also came with plastic covers for the cam locks that match the cabinet. These have a small "+" in the center of them so they would push right into the cam lock and stay there. I thought this was a nice touch however, they appear to have drilled the holes for the cam locks too far and they sit far enough back where the covers will not reach them to stay in place. This is a minor annoyance and I am sure I can come up with something to cover them with. Each piece of the stand itself has a sticker with a letter on it to make the instructions easier to understand. I originally tried to peel one of these directly off the stand and noticed it left almost all of the glue on the stand. The sticker was totally smooth on the side where it had previously stuck to the stand. So, the first thing that came to mind to remove this was acetone. This was a bad idea. If you take anything from this post let it be
DO NOT USE ACETONE ON THE STAND TO REMOVE STICKER RESIDUE. When I did it, it started to remove whatever coating was on the stand and the towel I used with the acetone turned black. There was a smudge on the stand where I used it and you could tell it was removing the coating. Luckily this is going to be where the sump will be sitting so it will be out of sight. I used a hairdryer on all the other stickers prior to peeling them off and this left little to no residue on the stand. Without the few hiccups I ran into with the stand, it probably took me a little over an hour to assemble. It certainly could take less since I easily get distracted. The assembly procedure was straight forward and simple.
Tank and Sump:
The tank and sump look very nice and professionally built at first glance. It isn't filled yet but all of the silicone seams were definitely done by someone who knows what they are doing. The tank itself is a 17.7 inch cube holding 22 gallons and the sump is 15 by 12.6 by 15 inches holding 11.2 gallons. There is a 2.1 gallon RO reservoir built into the sump. This seems a tad small to me but if that ends up being the case, I will just use an external one. The back of the tank has an overflow that takes up the entire back pane. The overflow feeds directly into two itty bitty 2.75 inch filter socks. I will probably use these during the cycling process but will change to some other means of mechanical filtration later on. After the filter socks there are two large baffles on either side of the tank that feed into the center where the drain, emergency drain and return are located. I think this area is large enough for me to place my heaters and I may or may not place them here depending on how distracting I think the power cords coming out of the top are. The sump fits almost perfectly in the stand so there will not be any room for keeping anything else inside of the stand. There may be some room to add a shelf or mount some other equipment to the side panels further down the road.
Plumbing:
The plumbing was packaged well with the threaded pieces taped up to avoid any damage during shipping. All the pieces feel glued well and were very easy to install. It took 10 minutes to assemble at most.
Overall:
I think this tank looks sharp. The all black stand looks seamless from the front. The black glass backing within the tank is also nice and will be easy to clean if necessary. I have to say I was a little weary of the price point for this tank but I am over all very happy with my first experience with Waterbox Aquariums. Though I haven't filled the tank at this point, from what I have seen thus far, I would recommend them to new or experienced reefers. Assuming all goes well with this tank, I would definitely consider being a return customer when it comes time to upgrade.
TL;DR:
Ordering - Easy and painless.
Payment - Thumbs up for 0% interest payment plans.
Customer Service - Friendly, helpful and professional.
Shipping - Three weeks due to backorder. A+ on packaging for shipping.
Delivery - Comes on a lift gate. UPS is rough on packages (I would know. I worked there for four years)
Stand - 1 hour assembly time. DO NOT USE ACETONE TO REMOVE STICKER RESIDUE.
Tank and Sump - Look amazing.
Plumbing - None yet.
. I may make some changes to this still. It’s only about 7 or 8 inches tall currently so I may create a cave or ledge for the top right section. Let me know what you think. This is my first time trying to do something other than just stacking rocks.
I did get my plumbing in and that went smoothly. While I was doing this I thought the return chamber in the sump looked awfully small. I took out my pump and found out the footprint on my pump is too big to fit. I could remove the base of it and shimmy it in there making it stand partially on end but this is my “do it right” tank. So I will be looking for a new pump.
