Budget Friendly Waterbox 25 Build

[jellyfish123]

Hello reefers,
I've decided to do a little build thread of my Waterbox Peninsula 25 tank which I started in December 2024.
I have always kept freshwater fish and never looked at Marine due to the high costs but after doing some research I realised it shouldn't be too expensive compared to my planted high tech tank.
The double edged sword about the reefing hobby I would say is that people quit the hobby too easily and too soon. I can't blame them. On the plus side, for budget conscious reefers like me, the secondhand market is a nice haven for lightly used reefing supplies at a really good price.
I picked up this Waterbox 25 tank for 100 AUD and added a Sicce Silent 1.0 (terrible choice, will explain further down) for the return pump.
As for the tank stand, I bought an Ikea BESTA stand and reinforced it myself with extra brackets and timber ($55).
My local aquarium store Gallery Aquatica here in Australia was extra helpful and they're truly a one stop reef supply shop.
I will add more comments and photos as we go and remember minor details but first things first, 1st Dec, rockscape done!
Tank was flooded the same night and the substrate/sand I used was Aquaforest Biosand. Great fine sand that doesn't actually get blown around.
So far Tank + Pump + Stand = 210 AUD.

 

[jellyfish123]

Equipment/Consumables as of Dec 1st (Links attached)
Waterbox 25 Peninsula Tank
Got it very cheaply on Facebook marketplace and looks great, good size. Reefing here I come!
Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0
Has Silent in the name, fits the AIO return chamber, what's not to like right? WRONG. This thing sucks in my experience. (More to come later on this.)
Aquaforest Bio Sand
Inexpensive and good sized bag for the tank I was going for. Sand is fine and white, just what I'm after.
Comes with a vial of bacteria so it becomes technically "Live Sand". Really love this product.
IKEA BESTA Tank Stand
This fits the waterbox tank really well. Reinforced it with Timber lying around the house. 10/10 fit. Thanks IKEA.

Photo: State of the tank as of 1st Dec, 2024.

 

[stE26wy14]

Update pic as of now?
Looks cool with the freshwater style! But if u are planning on doing coral, and a couple fish, u will need way more, for hiding spots and whatever

 

[jellyfish123]

Update pic as of now?
Looks cool with the freshwater style! But if u are planning on doing coral, and a couple fish, u will need way more, for hiding spots and whatever

I will add an updated pic soon. :) It's my first time doing a reef scape so Im learning as I go. I don't plan to keep a lot of fish. Currently there is a pair of clowns in there and that's it. Maybe one day a coral goby. Mainly focused on keeping Euphyllia and meaty substrate corals. Buying corals slowly whenever I see a good sale!

 

[stE26wy14]

I will add an updated pic soon. :) It's my first time doing a reef scape so Im learning as I go. I don't plan to keep a lot of fish. Currently there is a pair of clowns in there and that's it. Maybe one day a coral goby. Mainly focused on keeping Euphyllia and meaty substrate corals. Buying corals slowly whenever I see a good sale!

Cool! Still recommend making the aqua scape bigger, think of it like a big boulder, u don’t really want gaps in the tank/no real empty space basically, look at my build thread, I got a nice arch going on, and it provides a lot of natural cover, u should have around 15-25lbs of rock rn
Either way, me like!

 

[jellyfish123]

Cool! Still recommend making the aqua scape bigger, think of it like a big boulder, u don’t really want gaps in the tank/no real empty space basically, look at my build thread, I got a nice arch going on, and it provides a lot of natural cover, u should have around 15-25lbs of rock rn
Either way, me like!

The empty space between the two arches will slowly be filled with Zoa rocks and frogspawn rocks as a "Bridge" of some sort. That's the vision at least!

 

[stE26wy14]

The empty space between the two arches will slowly be filled with Zoa rocks and frogspawn rocks as a "Bridge" of some sort. That's the vision at least!

Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh
Now that’s why time traveling should be invented!

 

[jellyfish123]

Lights
As a budget conscious aquarist who likes nice things, I had to do my thorough research for lights.
Every one was recommending AI Prime HD 16, looked great to me but the wallet wouldn't appreciate it very much. Luckily I stumbled upon many people recommending Noopsyche K7 Mini on this forum and stating how good the PAR performance is. I found one on Facebook Marketplace again for $30. 1/10 price of AI Primes here so this light was a no brainer and it's actually really great!

Wavemaker
I really liked the look of the Nero 3 wavemakers. I really disliked the price of the Nero 3 wavemakers.
So again, China to the rescue. A friend of mine helped me order the Jebao MLW-20 from Taobao. I don't even find myself using the Wifi and app functionality. The thing is silent and I run it at minimum settings at 30%. Great product, built well and if it breaks I'm happy to buy another one and will still cost me less than the AI Nero 3.

AIO Chambers 1, 2 and 3
1: Filter Cup with filter floss.
2: 2 chunks of live rock, a few balls of pre-seeded bioballs, 1litre of Seachem Matrix
3: Return Pump

Pic: Tank with the lights and wavemaker installed (Lights not tuned yet and wavemaker placement not adjusted).

 

[DoupaZzz]

Lights
As a budget conscious aquarist who likes nice things, I had to do my thorough research for lights.
Every one was recommending AI Prime HD 16, looked great to me but the wallet wouldn't appreciate it very much. Luckily I stumbled upon many people recommending Noopsyche K7 Mini on this forum and stating how good the PAR performance is. I found one on Facebook Marketplace again for $30. 1/10 price of AI Primes here so this light was a no brainer and it's actually really great!

Wavemaker
I really liked the look of the Nero 3 wavemakers. I really disliked the price of the Nero 3 wavemakers.
So again, China to the rescue. A friend of mine helped me order the Jebao MLW-20 from Taobao. I don't even find myself using the Wifi and app functionality. The thing is silent and I run it at minimum settings at 30%. Great product, built well and if it breaks I'm happy to buy another one and will still cost me less than the AI Nero 3.

AIO Chambers 1, 2 and 3
1: Filter Cup with filter floss.
2: 2 chunks of live rock, a few balls of pre-seeded bioballs, 1litre of Seachem Matrix
3: Return Pump

Pic: Tank with the lights and wavemaker installed (Lights not tuned yet and wavemaker placement not adjusted).

I have the same wavemaker and my torch corals love it since it has a pulsing option. Mine has been running for almost a year with no problems.

 

[jellyfish123]

I have the same wavemaker and my torch corals love it since it has a pulsing option. Mine has been running for almost a year with no problems.

It is a great wavemaker and at times, I even felt like its stronger than I wanted and I'm running it at 30%. A lot of people don't like to mention Jebao/Jecod because they are copies or clones of AI but this brand is the best value for money and makes the hobby affordable. I feel like being affordable in this hobby will be beneficial to the scene in the long run and a lot of smaller companies and chinese alternatives are now providing that and making reefing available to more people. I'm all for it. Glad to hear your Jebao is going strong!

 

[DoupaZzz]

It is a great wavemaker and at times, I even felt like its stronger than I wanted and I'm running it at 30%. A lot of people don't like to mention Jebao/Jecod because they are copies or clones of AI but this brand is the best value for money and makes the hobby affordable. I feel like being affordable in this hobby will be beneficial to the scene in the long run and a lot of smaller companies and chinese alternatives are now providing that and making reefing available to more people. I'm all for it. Glad to hear your Jebao is going strong!

Hopefully it does turn into a more affordable hobby, I want to start big projects but that means spending a looot of money. I cant imagine how hard and expensive people that started this hobby had it lol.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Lights
As a budget conscious aquarist who likes nice things, I had to do my thorough research for lights.
Every one was recommending AI Prime HD 16, looked great to me but the wallet wouldn't appreciate it very much. Luckily I stumbled upon many people recommending Noopsyche K7 Mini on this forum and stating how good the PAR performance is. I found one on Facebook Marketplace again for $30. 1/10 price of AI Primes here so this light was a no brainer and it's actually really great!

Wavemaker
I really liked the look of the Nero 3 wavemakers. I really disliked the price of the Nero 3 wavemakers.
So again, China to the rescue. A friend of mine helped me order the Jebao MLW-20 from Taobao. I don't even find myself using the Wifi and app functionality. The thing is silent and I run it at minimum settings at 30%. Great product, built well and if it breaks I'm happy to buy another one and will still cost me less than the AI Nero 3.

AIO Chambers 1, 2 and 3
1: Filter Cup with filter floss.
2: 2 chunks of live rock, a few balls of pre-seeded bioballs, 1litre of Seachem Matrix
3: Return Pump

Pic: Tank with the lights and wavemaker installed (Lights not tuned yet and wavemaker placement not adjusted).

You got a great price on that light!

 

[jellyfish123]

Cycling
- Shop recommended Continuum Bacter Gen M (Dr.Tim's was out of stock)
- Added Ammonia to 2ppm.
- Waited 3 weeks while the wife kept asking "When can we add fish".
- Lost patience, bought 2 chunks of live rock and seeded bioballs in the middle chamber
- 0ppm Ammonia in 2 days. Bonus brittle starfish from the live rock. Still going strong to this day.
- Off to the shops for a pair of clownfish right before Christmas.

Photo: First official tank inhabitant , Brittle Starfish!

 

[jellyfish123]

And we have our first official livestock purchase! Got this pair for $50 for a Christmas special. One is a misbar, one is a standard Occelaris clownfish.

 

[jellyfish123]

 

[officialreefbros]

Nice!! How did you reinforce the stand?

 

[Rhetoric]

Love the tall rocks! Simple and clean scape. Following along.

 

[jellyfish123]

Nice!! How did you reinforce the stand?

I added extra panels inside the stand with sturdier commercial grade pieces of wood. So its like a smaller cupboard inside the stand.

 

[Raptor72]

Tagging along. Always looking to see what others have done with their WB 25

 

[Rawsreef]

Loving this set up. I’m really amazed at how well that tank fit on the ikea stand!