there are a lot of nice tanks out there, including the waterbox. was just recommending piecing together your own equipment that would help you learn about the tank in general and give you nicer equipment.
- lights i would recommend the 2x nicrew nava reef 135w or hyperreef 150 or 100(one is more blue and one is more white), but there are plenty of options out there both slightly cheaper too much more expensive. I would go look around some local fish stores (lfs) to see different brands of lights to find out what you prefer(the ai primes are known to melt lenses and are underpowered for the price)
- i would do 2x jebao dmp pumps(need to check flowrate and glass thickness before recommending which but 2x dmp 20 should be good) (waterbox only includes 1 nero 3 when they should give you at least 2)
- return pump, the largest dc return that can fit into the return section (this will allow you to use them at below 50% for nearly silent operation and using less wattage than an ac pump)
- inkbird heater controller and 2x eheim jager 150w or 200w (will give you piece of mind as heaters are usually the first thing to fail in reef tanks)
- you dont really need a skimmer but there are many out there and you can ask others here about there experiences with them
- for salt there are so many out there and most are good. I like red sea blue bucket as that matches my parameters well, but i got aquaforest on sale and ive seen no negative effects using it. instant ocean is great too especially as you are starting out and is super cheap on
amazon or chewy
- i like to use fritzyme 9 or 900 but the best would be to get a little live rock or media from an older reef to seed the tank with bacteria
- all for reef dosing solution but you most likely wont need that for a while. it is all in one so not three seperate for cal, alk, and mag. much simpler for you
- you dont really need any phosphate media unless you have high phosphates for some reason
- any granulated carbon will work but again not necessary
