Coralbox WiFi Doser Friend or Foe?

CMMorgan

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So I'm at a crossroads. I've been running one BRS 1.1 ml for Alk. I had bought 2 here on the Marketplace but I was holding the other for the new build to do two part. I just went to install it and the previous owner did not flush it and it is just impacted with Calcium. I know that I can replace the hose and nozzle for cheap. I'm just wondering if I should take the opportunity to upgrade to a 3-4 head doser, so I can add Trace Elements and maybe phyto down the road. I can always do the fix on the BRS and pay it forward to someone else. The motors are great.

I found the Coralbox wifi doser new on Reefbuilders at a very good price. (Before the person in the marketplace asks - no, I do not want to buy another used doser on it's second owner.)
Overall, it looks easy to calibrate and it would likely meet my needs. Good price, small size, can be mounted vertically or horizontally....

Here are my concerns:
I went to the Coralbox website and it is basically Engrish. That makes me concerned about customer service.
The website also says to replace the heads every 6-12 months. At $10 a pop x 4 - that is certainly not a cheap maintenance item. Anyone with experience, is that a typo?!! I'd rather drop a few bucks more at the beginning than $40-80 a year in heads.
This unit has been out for a few years, I see them for sale used regularly - are they becoming obsolete or is the maintenance issue causing folks to upgrade?

With Red Sea and others getting in the game and advancing the technology, I'm afraid of blowing $200 bucks and realize that I bought a piece of garbage. Not saying that I think Red Sea or BM have it all figured out either - just curious what owners of the Coralbox unit feel about the unit - regrets or a keeper? Definitely want better than Jaebo and not wanting to go broke on this thing.
 

BoxKing

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I bought the 4 head doser at my LFS for $150. I only did this to hold me over while my pre-order of the ReefDose was being fulfilled, and bc the Versa Pumps were out of stock.

Out of the box.. simple setup.
From my personal experience - these are JUNK, and are unreliable. None of the heads held calibration, and thats just unacceptable to me. My Buddy offered me 100$ for it, and I gave it to him for free.

Long story short... I walked into my LFS the following week to see 4 Unicorns in their display box VERSA PUMPS - I bought all 4- canceled my Pre Order of the ReefDose.
 

BoxKing

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For the money... I'd say go with the Red Sea ReefDose... its a good price for a 4 headed doser, and it looks legit!!!
Assuming it lives up to the commercials :)

May I ask how you plan to dose Phyto? I was looking into this, but my success so far with dosing Phyto has been roughly 10ml, every other day/by hand - how can one dose without this stuff being refrigerated; or does this stuff last like AB+ at a one week dosing clip?
 
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jgirardnrg

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So I'm at a crossroads. I've been running one BRS 1.1 ml for Alk. I had bought 2 here on the Marketplace but I was holding the other for the new build to do two part. I just went to install it and the previous owner did not flush it and it is just impacted with Calcium. I know that I can replace the hose and nozzle for cheap. I'm just wondering if I should take the opportunity to upgrade to a 3-4 head doser, so I can add Trace Elements and maybe phyto down the road. I can always do the fix on the BRS and pay it forward to someone else. The motors are great.

I found the Coralbox wifi doser new on Reefbuilders at a very good price. (Before the person in the marketplace asks - no, I do not want to buy another used doser on it's second owner.)
Overall, it looks easy to calibrate and it would likely meet my needs. Good price, small size, can be mounted vertically or horizontally....

Here are my concerns:
I went to the Coralbox website and it is basically Engrish. That makes me concerned about customer service.
The website also says to replace the heads every 6-12 months. At $10 a pop x 4 - that is certainly not a cheap maintenance item. Anyone with experience, is that a typo?!! I'd rather drop a few bucks more at the beginning than $40-80 a year in heads.
This unit has been out for a few years, I see them for sale used regularly - are they becoming obsolete or is the maintenance issue causing folks to upgrade?

With Red Sea and others getting in the game and advancing the technology, I'm afraid of blowing $200 bucks and realize that I bought a piece of garbage. Not saying that I think Red Sea or BM have it all figured out either - just curious what owners of the Coralbox unit feel about the unit - regrets or a keeper? Definitely want better than Jaebo and not wanting to go broke on this thing.
I think the Jebao is actually better than the Coralbox. I own both. Now, I love most products I get from Reef Breeders but the Coralbox doser is not one of them. It loses prime constantly even with check valves installed. That's been demoted to just dosing aminos to feed the corals for now. I bought 3 Kamoer X1 Pro 2's for dosing the big 3 and sleep much better at night.
 

Uncle99

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This Jebao DP-4 has worked continuously for 4 years now.
I have not cleaned it once.
Came with an extra head.
 

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York1

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I have two of them. One works great and the other is junk. Ill be replacing them with kamoer pumps
 
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CMMorgan

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I bought the 4 head doser at my LFS for $150. I only did this to hold me over while my pre-order of the ReefDose was being fulfilled, and bc the Versa Pumps were out of stock.

Out of the box.. simple setup.
From my personal experience - these are JUNK, and are unreliable. None of the heads held calibration, and thats just unacceptable to me. My Buddy offered me 100$ for it, and I gave it to him for free.

Long story short... I walked into my LFS the following week to see 4 Unicorns in their display box VERSA PUMPS - I bought all 4- canceled my Pre Order of the ReefDose.

Now, I love most products I get from Reef Breeders but the Coralbox doser is not one of them. It loses prime constantly even with check valves installed.

I have two of them. One works great and the other is junk.

Marvel No GIF by Morphin

Yea, that basically confirms everything that I was worried about.

The Versa is way out of my price range. I may just have to give the ReefDose 4 a go.
Fish Tanks Direct still has it at the Intro Price of $315. Everywhere else has gone up to $349. Even the hose kit is discounted. I was looking at a $200 budget, another $120 or so isn't going to kill me if my husband doesn't ask questions. LOL

The phyo thing is a big maybe. I may find some other use. I don't want to dose phyto into the sump and then have it run through the UV. I'm just looking for simplicity, less plugs and reliability and flexibility.

Hopefully, being a Red Sea guinea pig won't haunt me later. It's about 3/4" wider than the space I had allocated, so I'm going to have to do some rethinking. It does not look like the mounting bracket hangs vertically. I could, however make a litte shelf to hold it up or change locations.

Great feedback from everyone. I was laying awake last night having one of those this is too good to be good thoughts. Gotta listen to the spidey sense when it is telling you to run.
 

jgirardnrg

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Marvel No GIF by Morphin

Yea, that basically confirms everything that I was worried about.

The Versa is way out of my price range. I may just have to give the ReefDose 4 a go.
Fish Tanks Direct still has it at the Intro Price of $315. Everywhere else has gone up to $349. Even the hose kit is discounted. I was looking at a $200 budget, another $120 or so isn't going to kill me if my husband doesn't ask questions. LOL

The phyo thing is a big maybe. I may find some other use. I don't want to dose phyto into the sump and then have it run through the UV. I'm just looking for simplicity, less plugs and reliability and flexibility.

Hopefully, being a Red Sea guinea pig won't haunt me later. It's about 3/4" wider than the space I had allocated, so I'm going to have to do some rethinking. It does not look like the mounting bracket hangs vertically. I could, however make a litte shelf to hold it up or change locations.

Great feedback from everyone. I was laying awake last night having one of those this is too good to be good thoughts. Gotta listen to the spidey sense when it is telling you to run.
I'm going to buy the Red Sea as well and see if it lives up to the hype. I'm going to try to grab one while I'm at RAP in NY on the 26th.
 
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CMMorgan

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I'm going to buy the Red Sea as well and see if it lives up to the hype. I'm going to try to grab one while I'm at RAP in NY on the 26th.
I'll let you know if mine arrives before then. Supposedly, they were going to be released as early as yesterday but well... we know how estimates work. I was desperately wanting to go to RAP Orlando or Aquashella but that three hour drive would kill my neck.
 
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CMMorgan

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Hoping for the $315 price at the show but who knows... everyplace has them marked at full retail including Fish Tanks Direct now.
1623174261940.png

Wow - I literally just did this. I bet they had not updated when the Intro ended and my order raised a red flag on their end. I thought it was weird that EVERYONE was at the full price but them. Kudos to them for honoring it. Must be my lucky day. LOL Sorry you missed it.
I even get a free algae scraper - LOL.
 

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Just popping in here to beg you not to buy a coralbox doser. Ours has failed so many times that I launched it across the parking lot. At least it fails off and doesn't constantly dose so that's a benefit
 

jgirardnrg

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1623174261940.png

Wow - I literally just did this. I bet they had not updated when the Intro ended and my order raised a red flag on their end. I thought it was weird that EVERYONE was at the full price but them. Kudos to them for honoring it. Must be my lucky day. LOL Sorry you missed it.
I even get a free algae scraper - LOL.
See? This is why we can't have nice things! You ruin everything!
 
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CMMorgan

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Just popping in here to beg you not to buy a coralbox doser. Ours has failed so many times that I launched it across the parking lot. At least it fails off and doesn't constantly dose so that's a benefit
I would have loved to have seen that. It would have been a good Reel on your Insta. LOL

Definitely won't buy the Coralbox. Gotta take good care of those Rics and Zoas you are sending me this week.

We will definitely file the Coralbox in the "Foe" box.
 
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CMMorgan

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Also, the reduced price is supposed to go on until 6/30 according to Red Sea
Lots of greedy vendors then...
They will all point to some fine print that says subject to change without notice.
They may have raised the price if demand was outpacing anticipated supply.

I expect that the Tunze Ecochic refugium light and macro reactor will come back in stock eventually at twice the price because they simply sold too many of them. Vendors will raise prices to slow demand to allow the manufacturing to catch up. I'm sure by black Friday, the MAP pricing will throw out some sales.

I have yet to see an industry that has such control over pricing as this one. Pretty much a level playing field.... either everyone gets a sale or noone does.
 

jgirardnrg

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Lots of greedy vendors then...
They will all point to some fine print that says subject to change without notice.
They may have raised the price if demand was outpacing anticipated supply.

I expect that the Tunze Ecochic refugium light and macro reactor will come back in stock eventually at twice the price because they simply sold too many of them. Vendors will raise prices to slow demand to allow the manufacturing to catch up. I'm sure by black Friday, the MAP pricing will throw out some sales.

I have yet to see an industry that has such control over pricing as this one. Pretty much a level playing field.... either everyone gets a sale or noone does.
Well Red Sea is going to be at the show and I will paying them a visit to see if they honor their lower price. I suspect they will... if they don't, I still plan on getting one. I mean if $34 breaks me I should not be in this hobby.
 

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