Just got Red Sea Reefer 3xl 900 set up….ugh

[Flame2hawk]

Step one for building the cabinet said look for piece marked B1. None exists. By the poor diagram, I figured out the piece..it was marked RR. It’s gone south from there with no pieces matching instructions. The hardware is all marked well however. The unfortunate part is that there is also no YouTube or video tutorial. Customer service apologizes but has no solution. Crazy. Life’s too short to go through this frustration so I am either going to sell it and switch to Waterbox or get someone experienced who knows how to build it without the terrible instructions. Any ideas? I’m in Miami Beach Florida.

 

[Forty-Two]

Step one for building the cabinet said look for piece marked B1. None exists. By the poor diagram, I figured out the piece..it was marked RR. It’s gone south from there with no pieces matching instructions. The hardware is all marked well however. The unfortunate part is that there is also no YouTube or video tutorial. Customer service apologizes but has no solution. Crazy. Life’s too short to go through this frustration so I am either going to sell it and switch to Waterbox or get someone experienced who knows how to build it without the terrible instructions. Any ideas? I’m in Miami Beach Florida.

There's a few other threads on here about waterbox tanks of around the same size as the Red Sea Reefer 900 3xl - and their comments are very similar to yours; poor cabinet quality/design. Many of them seem to bend/bow or are not level. Some/most seem to not reccomend purchasing tanks of this size from Red Sea/Waterbox.

It seems that at this size - the profit/costs are mostly recouped through poor cabinet build quality. I researched this fairly extensively before buying a 225G tank.

The only real option seems to be to go with a custom build from a manufacturer with a good reputation.

 

[ninjamyst]

Innovative Marine. Aluminum stands. Instruction videos available, takes 30 mins to assemble and very light. Red Sea and Waterbox are similar qualities. Look at Cade too

 

[Flame2hawk]

Thx for feedback. My beef is with their instructions and lack of customer Centricity by not caring about accuracy of such. Additionally their response is ridiculous as they have not addressed this issue for years. As far as the quality of the set up once you are hassled by the process there are some who swear they are great and have good longevity while others feel quite the opposite. Before I can even test which side is accurate, they start off with a big negative….instructions awful, unmatched parts reference numbers, no reference numbers at all in most cases, no video tutorial and non responsive customer service in solving the problem. Saying sorry is just not good enough when you spend this kind of money and issue has existed for some time. Eventually customers need to speak with their wallets/pocket books so they get the message. Lesson learned….the hard way!

 

[Flame2hawk]

Innovative Marine. Aluminum stands. Instruction videos available, takes 30 mins to assemble and very light. Red Sea and Waterbox are similar qualities. Look at Cade too

Heard good things about innova however longest tank is only 70” and i needed 80”. Red Sea gets very close @79”+. However if I knew what I know now before buying, I would have passed on reefer set and pursued custom solution or another brand.

 

[whikx250]

Just finished putting together the cabinet on my 3xl 900. It was a little confusing but if you look closely at the pictures in the instructions you can match the predrilled holes or markings and with a little common sense...get through it successfully. Hard as heck to read the small print though. Had to take a pic and zoom in to read with my aging eyes. The sump set up is another matter though. Can't decide what configuration will work best. The cabinet seems to be a beast.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Just finished putting together the cabinet on my 3xl 900. It was a little confusing but if you look closely at the pictures in the instructions you can match the predrilled holes or markings and with a little common sense...get through it successfully. Hard as heck to read the small print though. Had to take a pic and zoom in to read with my aging eyes. The sump set up is another matter though. Can't decide what configuration will work best. The cabinet seems to be a beast.

Never said it couldn’t be done but just not very customer friendly and not worth my time. They cant even be bothered to put up a video tutorial. Too many good options available then deal with this hassle. If would have known would not have bought and would encourage all not to. So that said, once its at your house u have little choice but to go forward, so with munch frustration got through it and am now also at the sump stage…..for another day…

 

[Flame2hawk]

Well the sump was much easier to assemble then the cabinet which was ridiculously and unnecessarily short on adequate instructions or video tutorial. On to clean up, rock, sand and water….

 

[whikx250]

Im still struggling with the sump to return connection. Hardly any room. If I can figure it out Im anxious for the leak test.

 

[blaxsun]

Trust me, you don't know how much happier you are not having a Waterbox stand.

 

[whikx250]

I agree without a doubt...in todays YOUTUBE world, a representative from REDSEA needs to record an instructional assembly video. that just needs to happen. of course there will be a million different configurations but they should go with their vision and have support staff for the outliers.

 

[whikx250]

at $6k the product is of amazing quality. They would sell 15% more units IF they made a youtube channel and had instructional vids. People are wary of putting this monster together

 

[whikx250]

Trust me, you don't know how much happier you are not having a Waterbox stand.

what is a waterbox?

 

[whikx250]

I worked hard and paid cash

 

[whikx250]

I worked hard and paid cash

Only a fool would finance a fish tank

 

[whikx250]

Well the sump was much easier to assemble then the cabinet which was ridiculously and unnecessarily short on adequate instructions or video tutorial. On to clean up, rock, sand and water….

I have your avatar in my tank. exact sized fish. huge.

 

[blaxsun]

what is a waterbox?

The brand of aquarium/stand you don't want.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

The brand of aquarium/stand you don't want.

Why?
What are the issues with waterbox?

 

[Flame2hawk]

Im still struggling with the sump to return connection. Hardly any room. If I can figure it out Im anxious for the leak test.

I’m running out to home depot today to get plumbing to connect pump. The tank is half full of water and I’m seeding some “liferock” dry live rock
(which is actually dead rock) with fritz turbo start 900.

 

[blaxsun]

Why?
What are the issues with waterbox?

The stands are IKEA quality and customer service is abhorrent.