Red Sea Reefer s-850 G2 or Waterbox Infinia 215.5

[M4hd1]

Hi All,

After practicing for 2 years on my Red Sea Reefer 250, the time has come to scale up this LPS coral passion. I am hesitating between 2 models, the Red Sea S850 and the WB infinia 215.5. I am based in the EU and in Appartement, so WB is a bit less spread here, so difficult to judge from a visit to a LFS.

Here is what I like about the Red Sea S850:
The extra tank in the sump (for frags)
The extra room in the stand (the sump does not take up all the space), to store stuff.
The Rollermat ready sump

Here is what I don't like about the Red Sea S850:
No electrical cabinet
No manifold

Here is what I like about the Waterbox Infinia 215.5:
The Manifold
the Electrical cabinet
the Aluminium black doors!

Here is what I don't like about the Waterbox Infinia 215.5:
No room in the cabinet

My project is an LPS-dominated tank, with 15-20 fish.
The sump will have a refugium and a skimmer (Nyos). 1 UV (just in case, therefore manifold is a +).
1 or 2 media reactors. 1 Rollermat. 1 Mastertronic.
As I am not really gifted with my hands, I would like to avoid as much as possible modding, the best I can do is fair cable management.

I would like to hear from you guys about this choice, what do you consider important for the selection?
I like both brands and I think those are 2 solid choices, but I would like to have the best for my use case.

 

[GoVols]

Thanks for starting your first post and thread

From my personal Red Sea customer support in the USA

I‘d advise staying put with Red Sea.

 

[bdouglas119]

I have not used a water box tank, but was in a similar position when I purchased my Reefer S-1000. I was comparing to the Waterbox LX320. I have had my S-1000 for about a year now and I think I made the right choice. Here are my reasons:

1. The split sump allows me to have my fuge separate so no more growing algea all over my pumps and skimmer like a traditional sump.
2. I like that the tank is Eurobraced with armored corners. Just feels like a better long term solution
3. Although no electronics cabinet, I was able to build a cabinet into the spare space that houses everything neatly. At the moment it even holds dosing containers that I plan on moving to my fish closet once I get a some Neptune Dos pumps.
4. The new G2 being ready for the filter roller is awesome. I wish mine


I do agree a manifold would be nice, and I’m surprised this isn’t something redsea considered. Other then wishing for a manifold to install small things without needing a second pump I don’t have any other cons for the Reefer S series. I think you’d be happy with it

 

[Elliott ll]

Red Sea is far superior in every way, including customer support.

 

[blaxsun]

Adaptive Reef makes great equipment panels and cabinets to mount all your electronics.

 

[Tonycass12]

After purchasing a waterbox I will never ever buy another product from that company again. The stands are junk and the customer service is a nightmare.

 

[MD51]

After purchasing a waterbox I will never ever buy another product from that company again. The stands are junk and the customer service is a nightmare.

WB Infinia all the way. If your concerned about cabinet space you can always have a custom sump built to free up a little. Customer Service - top notch. Delivery Experience the best I’ve ever had. 2 Hour Notice - they text you and when you click on the link you can follow GPS seeing exactly where they are at. Driver waited 45 minutes for me to get home. Already Pallet Jacked the 2 crates up to my garage. Helped me inspect both Tank and Stand.

 

[Tonycass12]

WB Infinia all the way. If your concerned about cabinet space you can always have a custom sump built to free up a little. Customer Service - top notch. Delivery Experience the best I’ve ever had. 2 Hour Notice - they text you and when you click on the link you can follow GPS seeing exactly where they are at. Driver waited 45 minutes for me to get home. Already Pallet Jacked the 2 crates up to my garage. Helped me inspect both Tank and Stand.

They wouldn't even send a truck to my home had to drive an hour to the fed ex freight warehouse and pick it up. Best part was no ramp to get anything out of 5he building so they had to drop my pallet on the ground and I had to disassemble to hand lift all the components into my work van. Customer service was little to no help when it came to issues on my stand. I paid extra for the premium UV resistant stand and a good number of the inserts for the leveling feel had collapsed into the stand or gotten filled with the paint from the stand so badly I had to run a tap into them to clean the threads. When I spoke with customer service I was told that if I wanted them to do anything about it I would have to re crate it and drive back to fed ex freight warehouse for it to be sent back. Completly unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. Wish I would have known what I was getting into beforehand, I would have told them when I got a call that they wouldn't deliver to just have it sent back and re fund my money.

I still am running that waterbox tank but will be going custom for my next upgrade.

 

[blaxsun]

Get the Red Sea - you won't have any regrets (or takes your chances with Waterbox).

 

[MD51]

Live in FL so fortunate that WB has a phenomenal driver they’ve partnered with that does there deliveries here up through TN. Can’t trust FedEx or UPS with a tank.

 

[Tonycass12]

Live in FL so fortunate that WB has a phenomenal driver they’ve partnered with that does there deliveries here up through TN. Can’t trust FedEx or UPS with a tank.

Well just FYI, if your not in waterboxes territory(the southeastern part of the US) you don't get a choice in who the shipper is. Im glad everything worked out well for you but all the waterbox stories I've heard over the last couple years are way more negative then positive.

 

[MD51]

Yes Sir

 

[Cell]

After having a poor experience with WB myself, I'd go with the G2.

 

[M4hd1]

Ok, thank you all for your different feedback, I think the balance goes a bit in favor of Red Sea, interestingly mostly because of logistic issues/concerns.