Kyle Bruin
Community Member
Well, I'm back in the hobby with a top of the line Waterbox 130.4 Platinum Reef aquarium. I've only really had AIO tanks (I've also run a 125g cichlid tank with Fluval canister filters) so this is a real treat. I'm excited to have a true sump and full size skimmer and since I travel a decent amount, I'm looking forward to automating more and having a bit more forgiving of a system than a nano aquarium. That said I'm also planning to keep this tank as fish only with live rock. There's a ton of reasons for why I personally want to go with FOWLR, but mainly decreased testing (or emphasis on so many correct water parameters), time to maturity, cost, problems and loss, feeding. I'm sure there are people on both sides of all these things, but for me if I can decrease just a little of the demands having a tank while still having an engaging centerpiece to my living room that will be a major win.
So about getting a Waterbox... I almost purchased a Red Sea tank, but just kept holding off for the right time to buy. I must have looked at RS tanks a 1000 times, but man am I glad I waited and found Waterbox. They have such an amazing product. From the tank size, sump layout, features, glass clarity and shape/edges, its a winner all around. I couldn't be happier with the tank.
I'll be documenting the build here as I go. I've actually had it now for a while so I'll try and catch up from unboxing to cycling (where it's at as of this posting). I'll update the equipment and stocking below as they change.
Current Full Tank Shot:
Current Equipment List:
Tank: Waterbox 130.4 Platinum Reef
Return Pump: Current-USA eFlux 1900 gph
Wave Pumps: 2x Current-USA eFlux 1050 gph
Lighting: 2x 48" Current-USA Orbing Marine IC LED
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 160
Heater: 2x Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 200w
ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155
Controls: Tripp Lite Power Bar, Current-USA Loop Bundle w/ Bluetooth
Testing: Milwaukee MA887 Digital Refractometer, Milwaukee MW102 PH and Temperature Meter, API Saltwater Master Test Kit
Stocking (Planned):
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) - Transfer from current tank
1x Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula) or Potter's Angelfish (Centropyge potteri)
3x Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum) or Ignitus Anthias (Pseudanthias ignitus)
1x Copperband Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) or Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavvissimus)
1x Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus)
1x Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
1x Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
1x Spotted Puffer (Canthigaster jactator)
1x Wrasse (unknown)
Disclaimer: I know that is probably a heavy stocking list. I'll be going slow and monitoring how the tank is handling each addition. The skimmer I have is oversized (up to 250g) and there is a decent amount of rock work for any of the more timid ones. My LFS also has most of the above in relatively small sizes. I know they won't all stay that way... blah blah blah... for example a 1-2" Blue Tang may eventually get to 12"... but not for years. I can't see years into the future in most aspects of my life. Overcrowding years in the future will be an issue for another day. As long as the tank and fish are healthy and I'm not right on the line, that'll be my metric.
Unboxing:
I ended up getting the tank at my LFS. It was in-stock and they offered a pretty good fish credit along with a slight discount. It came in a crate (tank and sump) and two boxes (stand). Waterbox takes great care in their packaging. Everything was well thought out and of considerable quality. The crate went into the bed of my truck, while I fit the boxes in the back seat of the cab.
Crate with the top wood piece removed. Really solid crate construction.
Inside Packaging
Packaging details, corners covered, gaps filled with solid foam pieces
Stand Assembly:
Once it was home it was time to assembly the stand. They seem to give you the same pieces regardless of stand size so I had a lot of extra feet for the stand. The stand came together pretty easily. Some of the hardware was a little cheap and soft, easy to strip or you had to be careful of over-tightening. I managed to assemble it all solo. Took a few hours to get done start to finish. I'll mention now that it might be worth planning where you are going to hang certain items in the stand. I ended up wanting to mount a control panel for all of the Current USA equipment I had and measuring and drilling the pegs was a real chore once it was all assembled.
The tank comes with push rods to pop the door out to open it. Once I installed I noticed the doors kinda bounced on them and were loud. There is another piece in that same bag, a round washer and screw. Turns out the screw was magnetically attracted to the end of the push rods. I put two and two together and tried to install them on the inside of the door. There is an included anchor, but I skipped it. I really wish Waterbox and pre-drilled this. It was hard to figure out exact placement and to counter sink it properly. It came out okay on one door, but the other was off a little. Still helps keep the doors from bouncing, but would have been nice for them to actually prep that at the factory...
That leads me to another point, directions are a little lacking. They have some pretty good youtube video walkthroughs and some online documents, but they are pretty generic and some things/pictures don't seem to 100% match up to what you have in front of you. I know this is an import product and that supply chain and working abroad can be difficult, but I hope Waterbox makes this a priority and spends some money on glossy well documented instructions. You paid a lot for the tank, they should have high quality documentation for everything. Parts list with quantity, labels, stickers, etc. This is all pretty standard stuff. Instructions for the stand, plumbing, water levels, measurements, best practices, is all sorta scattered around the internet and social media channels right now. If you wanted to know what size the plumbing is you need to go to the website and look up the unit. That should be listed somewhere on the product itself or documentation that comes with it in my opinion.
Anyways, all that is pretty minor stuff and I managed around the small short comings without too much trouble. Somehow thou, I forgot to take any pictures of the stand fully assembled, but there are plenty of those around. Once I got it in place it was time to position it and get the tank on it. I leveled the stand first by methodically unscrewing the legs until they touched the floor and then a little extra turn to ensure they were pressing onto the floor. It took some time and even had to flip the stand on its side to really get them all. Honestly this seemed like a less than ideal way to level the tank and disperse the weight. It is really hard to get to some of the feet and there are just so many of them its even more difficult to ensure they are all even. Just do your best. I do like that it is off the ground an inch or two. Really helps for when the inevitable spill happens. Good to know your stand won't be sucking it all up.
It took 3 strong guys to get the tank into place, but really it was just two with a third hand to steady, guide around doors, open doors, etc. I was able to slide it around with my hand to ensure it was flush with the stand.
Plumbing/Sump:
Next up was plumbing. It more or less came together without anything interesting happening. It did require a second set of hands to get the bulkheads tightened around the bottom of the tank. It ships with black plastic click lock hose clamps. That worked okay on the barb they provided but was too small for around my pump's barb. I'll be swapping them with stainless steel screw clamps from McMaster. My Current-USA pump fit in the space really nicely and came with a barb that fit the supplied hose. I pushed the sump all the way against the back wall. This put the two return pipes more or less centered in their respective chamber.
The area for the skimmer is really big. My oversized skimmer from NYOS fits in there just fine and there is for sure more area to add something else with it. I attached my two heaters horizontally on either side of the skimmer. These are the best heaters and really make the best use of the space. Also the NYOS skimmer is seriously beautiful. I can't wait to fire it up.
The ATO area got me kinda scratching my head. There is a small hole (just larger than my 1/4" tube) that is about .298" in diameter in the top corner between the ATO and the return pump chamber. Presumably to route your 1/4" tube from one side to the other. But I really didn't like just dangling the tube through it. First it looked really unfinished and second as I found out later a standard Tunze ATO pump is pretty powerful. In fact it actually was able to move the 1/4" back and spray the inside of my stand. Luckily I was there to witness it and got right on it. I wish the hole was bigger and that they supplied a 1/8" NPT bulkhead to 1/4" push to connect. This line should be properly secured. The hole is an interesting idea, but doesn't seem all the way thought through or finished. It would be an easy fix to elevate the sump even more. For now I'm still looking for what I'm gonna do.
I did reach out to Waterbox and to their credit they are pretty responsive both via their website and Facebook. I appreciate that they actually have someone dedicated to responding to customers. In regards to the above they confirmed its intended use, but beyond that couldn't really explain it other than you should just stick your 1/4" through... Also, they host weekly live events to talk about their product and document projects they are working on at their office. They are pretty good about curating their social media communities and seem to respond to message boards too. Overall the blitz seems to have worked as there are a ton of comments on facebook of people that were gonna buy a Red Sea (like me) and went another direction. So while I may gripe over some documentation or small design concerns, they are trying to stay pretty engaged and will at least try and give you an answer.
Sump Shot:
Next up aquascaping, water making, and filling the tank. Thanks to those that are following along and I've still got a ton of questions rattling around in my head over what I want to do or how to make improvements. That'll probably be the subsequent post with all my projects or tuning questions I have.
So about getting a Waterbox... I almost purchased a Red Sea tank, but just kept holding off for the right time to buy. I must have looked at RS tanks a 1000 times, but man am I glad I waited and found Waterbox. They have such an amazing product. From the tank size, sump layout, features, glass clarity and shape/edges, its a winner all around. I couldn't be happier with the tank.
I'll be documenting the build here as I go. I've actually had it now for a while so I'll try and catch up from unboxing to cycling (where it's at as of this posting). I'll update the equipment and stocking below as they change.
Current Full Tank Shot:
Current Equipment List:
Tank: Waterbox 130.4 Platinum Reef
Return Pump: Current-USA eFlux 1900 gph
Wave Pumps: 2x Current-USA eFlux 1050 gph
Lighting: 2x 48" Current-USA Orbing Marine IC LED
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 160
Heater: 2x Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 200w
ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155
Controls: Tripp Lite Power Bar, Current-USA Loop Bundle w/ Bluetooth
Testing: Milwaukee MA887 Digital Refractometer, Milwaukee MW102 PH and Temperature Meter, API Saltwater Master Test Kit
Stocking (Planned):
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) - Transfer from current tank
1x Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula) or Potter's Angelfish (Centropyge potteri)
3x Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum) or Ignitus Anthias (Pseudanthias ignitus)
1x Copperband Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) or Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavvissimus)
1x Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus)
1x Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
1x Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
1x Spotted Puffer (Canthigaster jactator)
1x Wrasse (unknown)
Disclaimer: I know that is probably a heavy stocking list. I'll be going slow and monitoring how the tank is handling each addition. The skimmer I have is oversized (up to 250g) and there is a decent amount of rock work for any of the more timid ones. My LFS also has most of the above in relatively small sizes. I know they won't all stay that way... blah blah blah... for example a 1-2" Blue Tang may eventually get to 12"... but not for years. I can't see years into the future in most aspects of my life. Overcrowding years in the future will be an issue for another day. As long as the tank and fish are healthy and I'm not right on the line, that'll be my metric.
Unboxing:
I ended up getting the tank at my LFS. It was in-stock and they offered a pretty good fish credit along with a slight discount. It came in a crate (tank and sump) and two boxes (stand). Waterbox takes great care in their packaging. Everything was well thought out and of considerable quality. The crate went into the bed of my truck, while I fit the boxes in the back seat of the cab.
Crate with the top wood piece removed. Really solid crate construction.
Inside Packaging
Packaging details, corners covered, gaps filled with solid foam pieces
Stand Assembly:
Once it was home it was time to assembly the stand. They seem to give you the same pieces regardless of stand size so I had a lot of extra feet for the stand. The stand came together pretty easily. Some of the hardware was a little cheap and soft, easy to strip or you had to be careful of over-tightening. I managed to assemble it all solo. Took a few hours to get done start to finish. I'll mention now that it might be worth planning where you are going to hang certain items in the stand. I ended up wanting to mount a control panel for all of the Current USA equipment I had and measuring and drilling the pegs was a real chore once it was all assembled.
The tank comes with push rods to pop the door out to open it. Once I installed I noticed the doors kinda bounced on them and were loud. There is another piece in that same bag, a round washer and screw. Turns out the screw was magnetically attracted to the end of the push rods. I put two and two together and tried to install them on the inside of the door. There is an included anchor, but I skipped it. I really wish Waterbox and pre-drilled this. It was hard to figure out exact placement and to counter sink it properly. It came out okay on one door, but the other was off a little. Still helps keep the doors from bouncing, but would have been nice for them to actually prep that at the factory...
That leads me to another point, directions are a little lacking. They have some pretty good youtube video walkthroughs and some online documents, but they are pretty generic and some things/pictures don't seem to 100% match up to what you have in front of you. I know this is an import product and that supply chain and working abroad can be difficult, but I hope Waterbox makes this a priority and spends some money on glossy well documented instructions. You paid a lot for the tank, they should have high quality documentation for everything. Parts list with quantity, labels, stickers, etc. This is all pretty standard stuff. Instructions for the stand, plumbing, water levels, measurements, best practices, is all sorta scattered around the internet and social media channels right now. If you wanted to know what size the plumbing is you need to go to the website and look up the unit. That should be listed somewhere on the product itself or documentation that comes with it in my opinion.
Anyways, all that is pretty minor stuff and I managed around the small short comings without too much trouble. Somehow thou, I forgot to take any pictures of the stand fully assembled, but there are plenty of those around. Once I got it in place it was time to position it and get the tank on it. I leveled the stand first by methodically unscrewing the legs until they touched the floor and then a little extra turn to ensure they were pressing onto the floor. It took some time and even had to flip the stand on its side to really get them all. Honestly this seemed like a less than ideal way to level the tank and disperse the weight. It is really hard to get to some of the feet and there are just so many of them its even more difficult to ensure they are all even. Just do your best. I do like that it is off the ground an inch or two. Really helps for when the inevitable spill happens. Good to know your stand won't be sucking it all up.
It took 3 strong guys to get the tank into place, but really it was just two with a third hand to steady, guide around doors, open doors, etc. I was able to slide it around with my hand to ensure it was flush with the stand.
Plumbing/Sump:
Next up was plumbing. It more or less came together without anything interesting happening. It did require a second set of hands to get the bulkheads tightened around the bottom of the tank. It ships with black plastic click lock hose clamps. That worked okay on the barb they provided but was too small for around my pump's barb. I'll be swapping them with stainless steel screw clamps from McMaster. My Current-USA pump fit in the space really nicely and came with a barb that fit the supplied hose. I pushed the sump all the way against the back wall. This put the two return pipes more or less centered in their respective chamber.
The area for the skimmer is really big. My oversized skimmer from NYOS fits in there just fine and there is for sure more area to add something else with it. I attached my two heaters horizontally on either side of the skimmer. These are the best heaters and really make the best use of the space. Also the NYOS skimmer is seriously beautiful. I can't wait to fire it up.
The ATO area got me kinda scratching my head. There is a small hole (just larger than my 1/4" tube) that is about .298" in diameter in the top corner between the ATO and the return pump chamber. Presumably to route your 1/4" tube from one side to the other. But I really didn't like just dangling the tube through it. First it looked really unfinished and second as I found out later a standard Tunze ATO pump is pretty powerful. In fact it actually was able to move the 1/4" back and spray the inside of my stand. Luckily I was there to witness it and got right on it. I wish the hole was bigger and that they supplied a 1/8" NPT bulkhead to 1/4" push to connect. This line should be properly secured. The hole is an interesting idea, but doesn't seem all the way thought through or finished. It would be an easy fix to elevate the sump even more. For now I'm still looking for what I'm gonna do.
I did reach out to Waterbox and to their credit they are pretty responsive both via their website and Facebook. I appreciate that they actually have someone dedicated to responding to customers. In regards to the above they confirmed its intended use, but beyond that couldn't really explain it other than you should just stick your 1/4" through... Also, they host weekly live events to talk about their product and document projects they are working on at their office. They are pretty good about curating their social media communities and seem to respond to message boards too. Overall the blitz seems to have worked as there are a ton of comments on facebook of people that were gonna buy a Red Sea (like me) and went another direction. So while I may gripe over some documentation or small design concerns, they are trying to stay pretty engaged and will at least try and give you an answer.
Sump Shot:
Next up aquascaping, water making, and filling the tank. Thanks to those that are following along and I've still got a ton of questions rattling around in my head over what I want to do or how to make improvements. That'll probably be the subsequent post with all my projects or tuning questions I have.
). Lost a clown (jumped post move), but otherwise everyone's still good. I am finally settled here and setup the QT system. I have a Kole tang in there now that came in with a pretty bad bacterial infection, fingers crossed.
