Waterbox. Bulkheads

Mike Arnold · Jun 1, 2019

Does anyone know where to purchase the waterbox bulkheads

Michael Gray · Jun 1, 2019

i would try coralvue. i would call them. they wont have them on the site. they have the same unions as the waterbox but you would just need the male threaded mm adapter that waterbox uses and id bet they can get it

Mike Arnold · Jun 1, 2019

Michael Gray said:
i would try coralvue. i would call them. they wont have them on the site. they have the same unions as the waterbox but you would just need the male threaded mm adapter that waterbox uses and id bet they can get it

I’ve already asked coralview; they don’t sell them. I even ordered the unions, but they aren’t even compatible with the ones on the Waterbox 135.4. The waterbox 135.4 has some weird oversized unions.

I ordered some bulkheads from China that looked exactly like the ones on the waterbox, but it turns out that the threads are not compatible

Here’s a side by side view

This is what I was hoping to do

So I attempted to purchase a 25mm standpipe from coralvue, but they have been out of stock for over a month

I can’t believe this is so difficult; I just need a compatible bulkhead or 25mm schedule 80 standpipe that I don’t have to order from overseas ‍

Thoughts, recommendations??

Thanks

Mike Arnold · Jun 7, 2019

Mike Arnold said:
I’ve already asked coralview; they don’t sell them. I even ordered the unions, but they aren’t even compatible with the ones on the Waterbox 135.4. The waterbox 135.4 has some weird oversized unions.

I ordered some bulkheads from China that looked exactly like the ones on the waterbox, but it turns out that the threads are not compatible

Here’s a side by side view

This is what I was hoping to do

So I attempted to purchase a 25mm standpipe from coralvue, but they have been out of stock for over a month

I can’t believe this is so difficult; I just need a compatible bulkhead or 25mm schedule 80 standpipe that I don’t have to order from overseas ‍

Thoughts, recommendations??

Thanks

Waterbox Aquarium plumbing mods sure would be easier for us plumbing challenged hobbyists, if Waterbox would just sell us some replacement parts‍

I was pretty excited when the last piece of my plumbing parts showed up from flexPVC. I was finally going to be able to add a manifold to my return

I guess I should invest in a set of calipers; it turns out that, not only is the thread type of the replacement bulkhead different (course thread), but the diameter is slightly larger (not more than an 1/8”) Needless to say, its back to the drawing board.

There is not a lot of info available when ordering these bulkheads, typically only the size of the slip in millimeters; I’m wondering if the color is an indicator of the thread type. The one that I ordered is black with course threads. I wonder if I found a gray one, if it would have the fine threads?

Thoughts?

Sporkwonder · Jul 10, 2019

Mike Arnold said:
Waterbox Aquarium plumbing mods sure would be easier for us plumbing challenged hobbyists, if Waterbox would just sell us some replacement parts‍.

I found this when I was looking for conversions about a week ago.

[/QUOTE]

Mike Arnold · Jul 10, 2019

Sporkwonder said:
I found this when I was looking for conversions about a week ago.

[/QUOTE]
this doesn't work for the WaterBox 135.4; the unions are non-standard. This video is created for WaterBox 100.3 owners. This would have been too easy. lol.

Actually I was stuck in a little bit of a tunnel vision; I was finally able to think outside the box a little; I decided to build the hard plumbed manifold from my Core-20 return pump up, and add barbed fitting to the top of the T, then connect a short hose from the manifold to the return's barbed fitting.

I'll be building that this weekend, and I'll update this thread with the pictures.

Thanks for the feedback

wmo168 · Jul 12, 2019

Why dont you watch this

Mike Arnold · Jul 13, 2019

wmo168 said:
Why dont you watch this

Waterbox has different plumbing setups for each model, and they all appear to use standard unions, and for the 130.4 a T on the return plumbing; unfortunately, this is not the case for the Waterbox 135.4; the plumbing is very proprietary and hard to modify. The 135.4 is an older model; I suspect that they made the move to standard plumbing parts in the newer models to allow more flexibility for custom plumbing needs

wmo168 · Jul 13, 2019

Call waterbox. They can sell you replacement

Mike Arnold · Aug 3, 2019

wmo168 said:
Call waterbox. They can sell you replacement

Waterbox was the first one I called. Here's the response :

"I'm sorry, we don't have anything for the return that wouldn't be a hose barb. I recommend you measure the hole in the glass and purchase parts based upon that. We don't have variations of plumbing for our aquariums at this time."

Mike Arnold · Aug 3, 2019

Here's the solution that I came up with

Reef.Exotico · Aug 29, 2019

@Mike Arnold I had so many issues trying to replace a busted bulkhead for my build. Waterbox refused to SELL me a replacement for my 100.3, because I did not it from them directly. I even offered to buy 2 AI Hydras 26. Still wouldn't
I also bought a whole bunch of different bulkheads from Ebay, Amazon, CoralVue, and some stores in the UK. Nothing fit the odd sized hole for the return line. Finally someone from LFS that I purchased my lights from helped me out and got the bulkhead sent to him from Waterbox. Customer service is terrible. Good to see you figured it out. Great job,

Michael Gray · Aug 30, 2019

agree i gave up with them and told them to keep the cabinet doors i used damaged ones.. they can careless about already paid invested customers. next tank is definitely not waterbox. they got to large of a company. customers dont mean much. i told them to forget sending me replacement doors for the second time. it was like 2 months since tank was delivered. and in turn, i got a T shirt and 2 felt socks that i dont even use. i mentioned i have no need for felt socks. ill be using mesh only. i got 2 felt socks. but hey we learn

Chewbacca · Aug 30, 2019

Local boat shop for bulkhead, Home Depot for the hard pipe and fittings.

West1 · Oct 28, 2019

I really hope there are a lot of satisfied US customers as this thread just put a stop to my 100.3 purchase.

This past Friday I mentally commited to Waterbox, not sure I'll be moving forward unless there is a random sale.
I have a hard time buying something that does not include proper fittings.
If selling in US, they should replace fittings to US fittings. The buyer should not have to go through this type of headache or spend more money. Customer service is not just answering questions in a timely manner imo.

Mike Arnold · Oct 28, 2019

West1 said:
I really hope there are a lot of satisfied US customers as this thread just put a stop to my 100.3 purchase.

This past Friday I mentally commited to Waterbox, not sure I'll be moving forward unless there is a random sale.
I have a hard time buying something that does not include proper fittings.
If selling in US, they should replace fittings to US fittings. The buyer should not have to go through this type of headache or spend more money. Customer service is not just answering questions in a timely manner imo.

West1, I wouldn't let my experience dissuade you from purchasing the Waterbox 100.3. You should investigate what others are saying about that model; I'm sure you will find that they are happy with their purchase.

Other than the sump/plumbing design, I'm satisfied with my purchase

Some things to consider about my experience:

I purchased the 135.4 at end-of-sale for that model. I was too impatient; I didn't want to wait a few weeks for the new model (Waterbox 100.3).

I wanted to customize the plumbing of the Waterbox 135.4; The out-of-the-box plumbing for this model is flawless and very very easy to setup.

If you want to customize the 100.3, the parts for this model are a little more standard and easier to convert to US standards:

NOTE: Waterbox was built on the metric system, and I'm used to US Customary Units. There were some difficulties making the conversions; however, my narrow vision caused most of my issues.

The Waterbox is a beautiful aquarium, and overall I am happy with my purchase

I hope this helps
Thanks
Mike

Reef.Exotico · Oct 29, 2019

West1 said:
I really hope there are a lot of satisfied US customers as this thread just put a stop to my 100.3 purchase.

This past Friday I mentally commited to Waterbox, not sure I'll be moving forward unless there is a random sale.
I have a hard time buying something that does not include proper fittings.
If selling in US, they should replace fittings to US fittings. The buyer should not have to go through this type of headache or spend more money. Customer service is not just answering questions in a timely manner imo.

They are having a sale that is coming up called Blue Friday. I think it’s this Friday.
Also my experience was different as I bought only the tank. Being a beginner I was hoping for help on setting up one of their products. Of which I receive no help.
Their tanks truly are beautiful. I also have one of their 20G Cubes. I recently had an issue with the return pump and Customer service resolved my issue and shipped out a new one the next day. I was totally surprised at how quickly they responded and resolved my issue. Looks like they’re fixing their customer service issues. Hope this helps.