Waterbox Owners Opinions Wanted

[OffTopic]

Hello,

So I was thinking about my tank next year and I have kept looking into the Waterbox 100.3 or 130.4. They look like really good looking tanks, and I saw one in person at my LFS and it looked really good. I do how a few questions though for you water box owners.

1.) Pretty easy, do you like the tank, is it made out of good quality materials.

2.) Do you like the stand, I was considering just building one myself but if you guys like the quality and looks why do an unneeded expense.

3.) Can you use a different sump than it comes with? Or are the fittings and bulkheads proprietary? If they are is it easily DIY able to switch them out to standard stuff?

Thanks

 

[JoshH]

Deleted

 

[rahusky]

I just bought a AIO Waterbox. I am pleased with the quality and great customer service (first tank arrived cracked, they answered my FB message in about 3 minutes and had a new tank sent to me the next day.

 

[pecan2phat]

While I only have their 40.1 which is discontinued now, I have to say in regards to the glass and construction, it's quite nice.
My comparison is to low iron glass, quality of finished/beveled edges, silicone work.
Tanks that I have to compare with are Red Sea, Cadlight and Glass Cages.
Cadlight is horrible, will stay away forever. One and only thing they did right was use real wood for their stands but so called "piano finish" had more orange peel effect then a self painted car.
Glass Cages in it's early days, sloppy silicone and beveling not great.
Red Sea, nice but I like the Waterbox better.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Hello,

So I was thinking about my tank next year and I have kept looking into the Waterbox 100.3 or 130.4. They look like really good looking tanks, and I saw one in person at my LFS and it looked really good. I do how a few questions though for you water box owners.

1.) Pretty easy, do you like the tank, is it made out of good quality materials.

2.) Do you like the stand, I was considering just building one myself but if you guys like the quality and looks why do an unneeded expense.

3.) Can you use a different sump than it comes with? Or are the fittings and bulkheads proprietary? If they are is it easily DIY able to switch them out to standard stuff?

Thanks

I have the "old" model 100.3 tank.

1. Tank is good quality. Seams are nice. Glass is nice. The new all glass overflow--which I do not have--looks even better.

2. The stands is very nice. I had some very small issues with a blemished piece on the stand, but Waterbox immediately replaced it.

3. The fittings are not standard US spec. It is possible however to use a metric conversion fitting/union and use standard pvc for whatever you want to plump. I did this with my tank.

 

[JoshH]

Deleted

 

[OffTopic]

I do believe Waterbox has replaced all there plumbing on there newer models with standard fittings as this was one major complaint from customers on the early models. Would be worth double checking but I believe that was a big selling feature they noted when they rolled out the new lines.

Hmm, I will check that out as I wouldn’t want to have that hassle

 

[JoshH]

Deleted

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I do believe Waterbox has replaced all there plumbing on there newer models with standard fittings as this was one major complaint from customers on the early models. Would be worth double checking but I believe that was a big selling feature they noted when they rolled out the new lines.

@Waterbox Aquariums is this true?

 

[OffTopic]

If it's metric, it's just a matter of one extra fitting, not a huge issue if you're already under there plumbing away

Yeah you are right, I just never plumbed anything before, so the whole idea of plumbing is pretty daunting. Any other Waterbox owners on R2R?

 

[JoshH]

Deleted

 

[WonderSak1]

Hello,

So I was thinking about my tank next year and I have kept looking into the Waterbox 100.3 or 130.4. They look like really good looking tanks, and I saw one in person at my LFS and it looked really good. I do how a few questions though for you water box owners.

1.) Pretty easy, do you like the tank, is it made out of good quality materials.

2.) Do you like the stand, I was considering just building one myself but if you guys like the quality and looks why do an unneeded expense.

3.) Can you use a different sump than it comes with? Or are the fittings and bulkheads proprietary? If they are is it easily DIY able to switch them out to standard stuff?

Thanks

Hi! I don't have a 100.3 or 130.4 but I do have their 135.4g and their 10g. WaterBox tanks are beautiful.

1. The materials used is great. Seems look great. Glass is super clear.

2. The stand is amazing as well. Side note mine came with a bad panel and WaterBox sent another asap. Their customer service is top notch.

3. Looks like there people answered that 1 for u already. I never had a problem with the plumbing.

Just want to add in, again their customer service is probably the best experience I've ever had with a company. Jessica is great they really go out of their way to get whatever the issue is resolved. Also that 2 year warranty is huge.

 

[OffTopic]

Hi! I don't have a 100.3 or 130.4 but I do have their 135.4g and their 10g. WaterBox tanks are beautiful.

1. The materials used is great. Seems look great. Glass is super clear.

2. The stand is amazing as well. Side note mine came with a bad panel and WaterBox sent another asap. Their customer service is top notch.

3. Looks like there people answered that 1 for u already. I never had a problem with the plumbing.

Just want to add in, again their customer service is probably the best experience I've ever had with a company. Jessica is great they really go out of their way to get whatever the issue is resolved. Also that 2 year warranty is huge.

Thank you for your input. I was reading how there warranty/customer service was pretty good when I was reading through @Fudsey build thread. This tanks seem to be some of the top quality the industry has to offer.

 

[Fudsey]

I love my 135.4 ! ! ! And Jess @Waterbox Aquariums is the best ! ! !

 

[MURedhawk]

I have had the 100.3 about 1 month. Looks great, solid stand, really quiet - love it so far.
Glass overflow looks really nice.
Stand seems much more sturdy than and heavy than my old custom stand from R&J.
(although the R&J stand was still very nice with reef canopy)
One wish would be slightly larger ATO reservoir, but I’m going to add a black 10-12g acrylic one next to stand. The open tops evaporate ATO tank about every 5-6 days. Then can use ATO reservoir for either refugium or dosing container storage area.
Plenty of room in stand for DJ power strips x3, Tunze ATO, Aqua UV, ph and temp monitors, water detectors, etc.
Two thumbs up so far!

 

[OffTopic]

Thank you all for your input. I was already pretty sold before I made the thread but now I absolutely am!

 

[mnml]

I got my 2018 130.4 on 8/15. So far no regrets on my purchase decision. Happy with the quality of the tank and stand. The plumbing is metric. The stock return can accommodate a standard 3/4" barb fitting. The second sock filter chamber is a little noisy. You can put a filter pad on top of it to make it silent. I opted for a Klir fleece filter which makes it dead silent as well. I'm having to refill my ATO every 5 days. Also, their customer service is stellar. I pinged them with a bunch of questions and requests which were all answered within 24 hours.

 

[frydaddy]

I have the 100.3, if I had to do it over again, I would go with Red Sea. Their QC is not is good as advertised, so be prepared for issues.

 

[ddoc185]

I am living it now. Spent 5 grand on a 180 gallon tank and I can’t assemble the stand due to a defec and was shipped the wrong lights. filed a claim with no answer and no one answers their phone in customer service. Very disappointed

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

So, I voted "other" because I think the difficulty of maintaining the sand bed is directly proportional to the size of the tank. I have had a standard 120 for years and think I'm going to go bare bottom on my next adventure.