Which tank would you choose?

[LDog74]

First & foremost thank you to everyone on here that post & contributes to the threads. I have not only learned so much over the past 6 months but also saved time & money. I have always lurked in the background reading everyday but never posting a thread so here we go...

Background first. Been reefing for the past 10 years. Had a 50 gallon cube, sold the house and I sold the tank. Moved into a new house in San Diego and the wife wanted me to put up another tank to go with the theme (beach/water blah blah).
I didn't want to hassle with it but ended up setting up a Waterbox 40 gallon AIO. The tank has been up and running for the past 6 months and doing fantastic w/ 4 fish (pair clowns, flame angel, clown wrasse) rainbow anemone, LPS & SPS. My big regret is I wish I would have taken my time, planed it out and went with a much larger tank because reefing is addicting...
I bought an Apex, Trident & DOS two months ago knowing I am going to move up in size and will use it on the new set up.

So now here is where I need help. I was looking at the Red Sea XXL750 or the Waterbox 220.6. Now I am considering the Red Sea XXL900 or the Waterbox 220.6 reef pro plus. My concerns are... The Red Sea tanks have had some failures, at least on the 750's and that is concerning. I do not want to set up such a larger tank only to have to tear it down in 5 years or less due to leaks, etc... I want the next tank to last at least 10 years & I want to do it right the first time.

The cost difference between the WB 220.6 reef pro plus loaded vs the Red Sea XXL900 loaded is approximately $1K with the new WB pricing. (Don't get me wrong $1K is still a lot of money but if you are going big it's not a huge difference plus being 8" longer & 30 gallons larger tank display is a bonus).

If I go with the Red Sea 900: I will go with RS 900 skimmer, 5 Red Sea Led 90's, 2 RS Reefwave 45's and 2 Coral box DCA6000 pumps (trying to save some $$ here w/pumps) Red Sea offers a discount if you package which is what I would do.

If i go with the Waterbox 220.6 reef pro plus: 4 AI hydra 32, Nyos 160 skimmer, 1 Vectra M2, Nyos Torq & 2 Red Sea Reefwave 45's (Basically the WB package pricing)

It will be a mixed reef with lots of reef safe fish including tangs & heavy on the SPS. I have already purchased Marco Rocks for the reef aquascape & sand.

So long story short: Which tank would you choose & why?

Thanks again to everyone!
Lance

 

[lpsouth1978]

I LOVE my Waterbox 230.6 (predecessor to the 220.6). I have never owned a Red Sea tank but have looked at them in the LFS around town. There a some things that I like better about the Waterbox, and are the reasons I chose them over Red Sea when I got mine.

First is the return. The Red Sea tanks have just a single return outlet on the front of the overflow while the Waterbox has a return nozzle on either side of the overflow.

Second is the stand (at least the 750 vs 220.6). The 750 has just 2 compartments. One large one for the sump, and one smaller one for the electronics/storage. The waterbox has 3 compartments. One large one in the middle for the sum, and one smaller one on either end. One for the electronics/storage, and one for the ATO reservoir.

This brings me to the third thing. The ATO system. Red Sea has an ATO reservoir that sits on top of the sump and relies on a gravity fed system of top off. Also the reservoir is smaller the the Waterbox, which is separate and uses an ATO system of your choosing.

Finally, I prefer the layput and design of the Waterbox sump. This is totally personal preference my thoughts here are rather unimportant.

 

[Devaji]

Oh that is a hard one I was between the 230.6 and the 750 A while back I echo what @ipsouth1978 said there are some features about the WB I did like. I end up with a RS as at the time they could ship it out in 4 days where WB would take a month or more to get the tank in. we ended up buying a house with a perfect spot for a peninsula so i traded it over for the 650P
I would say both are great tanks.
have you look in to planet aquariums? if you dont need rimless they have some tanks at a pretty good price then there is the rimless series they do offer a 8'er looks real nice I would check it out for sure.

end of the tank its ford vs Chevy I guess figure out some of the features you need/want and go from there.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Waterbox although I would prefer Red Sea but many redsea tank failures on larger tanks lately which concerns me

 

[IKD]

I don’t own either, but if you mention the RedSea failures, then its fair to mention the Waterbox delivery issues. A number of complaints about damaged pieces, missing parts (incomplete delivery), wrong parts (sent freshwater lights). Like I said, I don’t own either of them, just wanted you to have as much info to decide with.

 

[this is me]

I don't own either but the Redsea glass blow out is enough to shunt me from even thinking about it.
Waterbox delivery issue is nothing compare to a leaking tank nightmare. It's an easy decision for me if I'm faced with these two options.

 

[Devaji]

as far as I know the blow outs on seals where only on the 750XL I believe they fixed that problem with the extra center support. with the 900 they redid the cabinet not note sure if I like the detached sump fuge thing...could be cool? could be a weak point for leaks?

have you joined the red sea FB group? thee are a few people on there that have the 900 it would be worth getting 1st hand experience from others that OWN the tank instead of us yahoos.

I really like WB 4 door design 1 for dry 2 for sump and 1 for ATO.
the RS ATO for the 750 is way to small but I looked at it like a free nano tank or coral QT tank but not an ATO. unless to plumb your RODI right in to it with many MANY fail safes then it could work...

you said you have time and want to go slow, so I would really shop around .

some options are:
the SCA 150 drilled for ext. overflow and Tslot stand for DIY, custom made stand lots of those tanks around.

the clear pro rimless was amazing prices like 1/2 of WB and RS and looks just like them. but they just dbled there price? might still want to shop around and see what out there with them tho. new to the scene so not tons of reviews yet.

look in to custom might find a good deal? or the dems you really want? I would love to go 30" wide or more.

good luck! I know choosing a tank and really tank up alot of mental band with.

 

[jstephens24]

I got a WB and was thinking about a RS750. reason I went with WB was the recent blowouts. I will wait couple months to get it which I did wait haha. Hardest part was the last week.