Waterbox platinum, defect or not?

ejim · Aug 2, 2018

Hi guys,

I bought my first tank and I don't know jack about what's normal and what's not. It's an Waterbox 70.2. The silicone on the outside edge of one corner. The bottom third looks fine, the top 2/3 looks like there's a bit of separation. I post pics below of the bottom vs top. Can one expect this because nothing is perfect when it comes to tanks. Is this cosmetic only? Should I be concerned and contact Waterbox?

Thanks.

Crabs McJones · Aug 2, 2018

Have you emailed them to see what they say? Otherwise @Waterbox Aquariums has a rep on here that may know.

Raege · Aug 2, 2018

I would contact them. For the money spent and piece of mind worth the call.

ejim · Aug 2, 2018

Hey thanks for the replies. I'm weary to contact the company first about stuff I know nothing about. I like to have some general knowledge about the norms beforehand. I've had companies in other industries give me the general blow off saying everything is fine until I ask around to find out it's really not.

DesertReefT4r · Aug 2, 2018

I would want a replacement, even if it was purely cosmetic. Uneven silicon smears are normal but I dont trust bubbles, peeling or gaps.

ejim · Aug 2, 2018

It's not really a tear, it looks like they didn't apply enough silicone during manufacturing. I stuck a piece of wood splinter that was laying around in my garage and at two points it went in about 4-5mm. 1-3mm in other places. The glass is 10mm. I'm not pushing anything in either, simply just place the thin wood splinter into the hole.

ejim · Aug 2, 2018

DesertReefT4r · Aug 2, 2018

If there is a 5mm deep gap then hell yeah I woul return it. That 50% missing from that spot and a weak point. I would not accept this on a new aqaurium. If it was used I would clean it up and apply new aquarium silicon or just reseal that pannel.

infinite0180 · Aug 2, 2018

From what ive read their customer service is excellent. I would contact them asap, they will take care of it!

reeftivo · Aug 2, 2018

their trying to build a rep since their pretty new. they may help but you need to get on this fast!

read their defect/damage policy. 24 hours to report once received. Hopefully they see that it is a mfg defect. I can clearly see that!!!!!!

let us know what they say. i've been eyeballing one of their tanks at a LFS for a while now and I'm curious to how they handle this for you

ejim · Aug 2, 2018

reeftivo said:
their trying to build a rep since their pretty new. they may help but you need to get on this fast!

read their defect/damage policy. 24 hours to report once received. Hopefully they see that it is a mfg defect. I can clearly see that!!!!!!

let us know what they say. i've been eyeballing one of their tanks at a LFS for a while now and I'm curious to how they handle this for you

I really had to dig to find the 24 hour reporting of defect/damage rule you're talking about. It's on a side page away from them warranty disclaimer. I've got to believe the the intent of that is for damage/defect caused by the shipping preocess, like a shattered, chipped glass, etc. It'd be pretty crazy if it applied to other situations. I mean, it says "Waterbox will NOT honor damage or defective claims once the product has been assembled and the aquarium has been placed on a cabinet and taken off the original pallet base."

I mean, I kinda have to take it off the pallet to look at it.

The general warranty is good for 2 years.

I've for 3 kids under 5 running around, if there's even a slight chance someone bad might happen with it, I'm not risking it. I think at this point, even if they say it's okay, I'll probably have to use my return protection benefit with my credit card company.

Jennifer from waterbox gave me an initial response that she agrees that it does not look normal and will have to confer with her team. Shes been very responsive with my other questions before this so we'll see what happens with it.

Waterbox Aquariums · Aug 2, 2018

Yes, we will be getting a replacement out for this of course. Just waiting for warehouse to get back to me on inventory as this is the overstock 75.2 model from our 2017 line up. Either way we will of course get you taken care of

Jess

ejim · Aug 9, 2018

Waterbox has been very prompt in this whole process. Received a replacement tank within the week. This is the new tank. I did notice that the bottom mat didn't cover the entire bottom, it left off about 4/5 of an inch in the front exposing the entire front edge.

I'm not picky about cosmetic issues in general and require everything to be perfect.

I have contacted them about it. I know that everyone make a big deal about the importance of making sure that the tank sits on a flat surface. Marineland even have their cube sitting on a topless stand and with only about 1.5 inches of the perimeter of the tank sitting on the stand. So I figure edge support is important. In this case it looks like the edge would be free floating on the stand once I set it up.

I'm waiting to hear back, if they say it's safe then I'm good with it. A little disappointed in the quality control department though. It's been a long time coming and I literally have everything else ready to go.

Waterbox Aquariums · Aug 9, 2018

ejim said:
Waterbox has been very prompt in this whole process. Received a replacement tank within the week. This is the new tank. I did notice that the bottom mat didn't cover the entire bottom, it left off about 4/5 of an inch in the front exposing the entire front edge.

I'm not picky about cosmetic issues in general and require everything to be perfect.

I have contacted them about it. I know that everyone make a big deal about the importance of making sure that the tank sits on a flat surface. Marineland even have their cube sitting on a topless stand and with only about 1.5 inches of the perimeter of the tank sitting on the stand. So I figure edge support is important. In this case it looks like the edge would be free floating on the stand once I set it up.

I'm waiting to hear back, if they say it's safe then I'm good with it. A little disappointed in the quality control department though. It's been a long time coming and I literally have everything else ready to go.

Hey Jim, just emailed you back on this. Yes it is normal and the way the system is meant to be produced

mnml · Aug 10, 2018

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the update. It’s good to know that WB was responsive and replaced the tank. I’m debating between WB and RS for my tank purchase and was a little concerned with WB being that they are relatively new compared to RS. However, their willingness to make their customer happy will have a big influence on my purchase decision.

Good luck with the rest of your tank build and look forward to see more updates.

Reefltx · Aug 11, 2018

ejim said:
Waterbox has been very prompt in this whole process. Received a replacement tank within the week. This is the new tank. I did notice that the bottom mat didn't cover the entire bottom, it left off about 4/5 of an inch in the front exposing the entire front edge.

I'm not picky about cosmetic issues in general and require everything to be perfect.

I have contacted them about it. I know that everyone make a big deal about the importance of making sure that the tank sits on a flat surface. Marineland even have their cube sitting on a topless stand and with only about 1.5 inches of the perimeter of the tank sitting on the stand. So I figure edge support is important. In this case it looks like the edge would be free floating on the stand once I set it up.

I'm waiting to hear back, if they say it's safe then I'm good with it. A little disappointed in the quality control department though. It's been a long time coming and I literally have everything else ready to go.

That’s normal, my Red Sea is the same way.

Kyl · Aug 11, 2018

If there's one thing I've learned with tanks, be very vocal about anything you may believe is a material or manufacturing defect. Better to be wrong and corrected by the manufacturer than hear SPLOOSH half a year down the road. Glad to see WB took care of that tank promptly for you.

ejim · Aug 16, 2018

Waterbox Aquariums said:
Hey Jim, just emailed you back on this. Yes it is normal and the way the system is meant to be produced

Thanks Jess,

I appreciate the great customer service. The tank is cycling and I’m looking forward to years of enjoyment ahead.

bfishb · Aug 20, 2018

I can chime in here. Red sea sucks in customer service. I bought a reefer 350 tank second hand, with no plumbing. It's been a nightmare trying to figure out a way to deal with this issue. I called red sea and was told to buy a complete set up if I wanted the plumbing. I attended aquashella over the weekend and was lucky enough to win the waterbox 70 that they donated and reef 2 reef raffles off. I was talking to a store owner from Ohio that used to sell red sea and he had some complaints also. If something on the plumbing broke there was a core charge to get the replacement piece. Secondly, he had a young girl with terminal cancer that he was trying to get red sea to help out with in some way. I can't say if he wanted them to donate it or he wanted to just pay wholesale on the tank. They blew him off in a mean way and he doesn't sell them anymore. He switched to waterbox and had a outing but praises for them. Also if they want they want to use the metric plumbing parts in stead of standard, they should stay on the other side of the pond. Btw waterbox donated the tank for the girl. I personal wont buy any red sea products in my lifetime again. I'd like to see them as a business fail. We are in a hobby, not a cutthroat business as they seem to think. Waterbox all the way