WaterBox Platinum 135.4 vs. Red Sea Reefer XL 525

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In case you were wondering how WaterBox stacks up against Red Sea Reefers. Check it out!

WaterboxVSRedSea.jpg
 
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cmcoker

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Also the top of the reefer stand has a foam mat, guess it's not actually attached to the tank.. do the weirs teeth come off for cleaning? And what is Waterboxs warranty like? I didn't see anything on the site, or how to contact tech support...
 

TheHarold

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@Waterbox Aquariums why u do false advertising ;Blackeye

@revhtree I know they're a sponsor but their claims are blatantly false, the red sea has a fully removable overflow top, a foam mat under the sump, soft close doors, leveling mat attached to bottom, glass overflow box, etc. Their so called comparison consists of blatant lies.
 

Antics

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Red Sea advertises ultra clear glass too. Whats the difference between low iron/ultra clear? Or is it just Red Sea marketing on the glass?
 

TheHarold

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Red Sea advertises ultra clear glass too. Whats the difference between low iron/ultra clear? Or is it just Red Sea marketing on the glass?

Red Sea Glass is low iron glass, same as here.
 

TheHarold

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Then why is Waterbox saying Reefer's don't have low iron glass? LOL

This advertisement makes no sense.

Its blatant false advertising.

I was looking at the other product descriptions: have you ever heard of multi-polywood? res:stant painting? Sounds to me like this is a chinese mimic of the red sea reefer.

IpDngPu.png
 

Antics

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Alright, well I took the time to go through the "comparison" chart.

Overflow - this appears wrong. Looks like Red Sea does have a glass overflow with acrylic/plastic at the top.
Low Iron Glass - All 5 sides? I'm assuming they're advertising having a low iron glass bottom and back as opposed to Red Sea's 3 viewable angles? Misleading.
24" width - I mean technically true? The 525xl is 22.6" wide.
Leveling mat attached to bottom - Red Sea provides this for the top of the stand.

Stand UV/Waterproof - Red Sea advertises weatherproof, epoxy-painted finish on their cabinet, so... misleading?
Leveling feet - I don't think Red Sea has "leveling" feet, but they do have feet on the bottom of the stand which is used to level?
Soft Close Doors - Red Sea uses a push to open/close spring. I don't know how soft close is defined but I'm considering this a wash?

ATO - First legit thing that the Waterbox appears to do better
Standard size filter socks - this is a good point, Red Sea does use an odd size.
Foam under sump - to my knowledge Red Sea does provide foam for the sump.
Dual return nozzles - Red sea only has one by default.
Fully removable overflow top - Red sea does have a removable top.
Transparent sump cover - Something else Waterbox appears to offer that Red Sea doesn't.
Easy removal of filter socks - This is highly questionable to me? I've never considered the Red Sea filter socks difficult to remove?

So of the 17 things listed half of them seem false or intentionally misleading, and then a quarter are debatable and Waterbox rounds it out with actually having 2-3 features/changes that are actually better.
 
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TheHarold

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Alright, well I took the time to go through the "comparison" chart.

Overflow - this appears wrong. Looks like Red Sea does have a glass overflow with acrylic/plastic at the top.
Low Iron Glass - All 5 sides? I'm assuming they're advertising having a low glass bottom and back as opposed to Red Sea's 3 viewable angles? Misleading.
24" width - I mean technically true? The 525xl is 22.6" wide.
Leveling mat attached to bottom - Red Sea provides this for the top of the stand.

Stand UV/Waterproof - Red Sea advertises weatherproof, epoxy-painted finish on their cabinet, so... misleading?
Leveling feet - I don't think Red Sea has "leveling" feet, but they do have feet on the bottom of the stand which is used to level?
Soft Close Doors - Red Sea uses a push to open/close spring. I don't know how soft close is defined but I'm considering this a wash?

ATO - First legit thing that the Waterbox appears to do better
Standard size filter socks - this is a good point, Red Sea does use an odd size.
Foam under sump - to my knowledge Red Sea does provide foam for the sump.
Dual return nozzles - Red sea only has one by default.
Fully removable overflow top - Red sea does have a removable top.
Transparent sump cover - Something else Waterbox appears to offer that Red Sea doesn't.
Easy removal of filter socks - This is highly questionable to me? I've never considered the Red Sea filter socks difficult to remove?

So of the 17 things listed half of them seem false or intentionally misleading, and then a quarter are debatable and Waterbox rounds it out with actually having 2-3 features/changes that are actually better.

5 sides- its a rimless tank- are they actually trying to advertise a low iron bottom ;Bored

You put it well. I concede they may have 2-3 interesting changes, but the lack of contact information on their site, blatant false advertising, spelling/grammar errors in their product descriptions, and overall attempt to deceive customers is very discouraging. As is their lack of response as they watch this thread with all the lies being pointed out.
 

dmw913

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Another interesting note: The chart lists both tanks as having schedule 80 assembly ready plumbing. I honestly don't know what "assembly ready plumbing" means but I can tell you that Red Sea ships the 250, at least, with metric PVC so I'm not sure the two green checkmarks on this one is accurate or not.

All that being said, and the "liberties" that may have been taken with the chart, I saw the Waterbox at MACNA and it's a beautiful tank quite similar to the Reefer and clearly a competitor for that market share. I'm thrilled with my Red Sea but did not know about Waterbox at the time. I think it would have made my decision more difficult, at least.
 
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Hey guys, thank you for your feedback. We are only pointing out features that we feel are an improvement or different over what was currently out on the market. As far as your listed concerns:

- Removable overflow top - with WaterBox the whole top of overflow is removable for cleaning/access to plumbing versus just the teeth grates on the Red Sea
- Foam mat under sump - this is not advertised on the Reefer series so if that is true we will adjust that to be equal between the two systems
- Glass overflow - 100% of WaterBox overflow is glass, it is not a combination of glass and plastic
- Our mat is attached to the tank itself which yes is a minor detail but still a difference
- Yes Red Sea is low iron glass as well. WaterBox uses a high quality low iron glass on all sides, just a stated difference
- Red Sea has weatherproof, epoxy-painted finish on their cabinet doors only, we have double UV coating on all pieces of the cabinet actually making it waterproof all around not just the doors
- The feet on the Red Sea Reefer are not leveling feet, WaterBox has actual feet that can be adjusted for leveling

Some of the advantages or differences are minimal but we are doing a comparison. For anyone who has had the chance to see our aquariums at Global, Central Show or MACNA then you have seen the quality and features for yourself. The price point is also a great advantage as well.
 

TheHarold

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- Removable overflow top - with WaterBox the whole top of overflow is removable for cleaning/access to plumbing versus just the teeth grates on the Red Sea

Wrong. You can remove the overflow top on a red sea reefer as well for access to plumbing or cleaning.

- Foam mat under sump - this is not advertised on the Reefer series so if that is true we will adjust that to be equal between the two systems

Thank you, it is on the reefer as well.

- Glass overflow - 100% of WaterBox overflow is glass, it is not a combination of glass and plastic

But that is deceiving as 95% of the red sea overflow is also glass, just with removable plastic teeth. Your overflow box uses rubber gaskets, so its not 100% glass either :)


- Our mat is attached to the tank itself which yes is a minor detail but still a difference

The Red Sea mat is attached to the stand- it is not "loose" as the comparison implies, nor is attached to the tank any different.

- Yes Red Sea is low iron glass as well. WaterBox uses a high quality low iron glass on all sides, just a stated difference

You say 5 sides compared to red sea's four- so you are advertising a low iron bottom of the tank? Just confused there :)

Hey guys, thank you for your feedback. We are only pointing out features that we feel are an improvement or different over what was currently out on the market.
Some of the advantages or differences are minimal but we are doing a comparison. For anyone who has had the chance to see our aquariums at Global, Central Show or MACNA then you have seen the quality and features for yourself. The price point is also a great advantage as well.

Not trying to shoot you guys down, the price point seems very good compared to red sea. Just didn't like the comparisons that I knew were false. Check out some spelling in product descriptions too when you have a chance!

 
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TheHarold - thank you for your feedback. I will get with my marketing team to make any adjustments necessary to this comparison or provide more detail to what we are comparing.
 

Reefer1978

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Hey guys, thank you for your feedback. We are only pointing out features that we feel are an improvement or different over what was currently out on the market. As far as your listed concerns:

- Removable overflow top - with WaterBox the whole top of overflow is removable for cleaning/access to plumbing versus just the teeth grates on the Red Sea
- Foam mat under sump - this is not advertised on the Reefer series so if that is true we will adjust that to be equal between the two systems
- Glass overflow - 100% of WaterBox overflow is glass, it is not a combination of glass and plastic
- Our mat is attached to the tank itself which yes is a minor detail but still a difference
- Yes Red Sea is low iron glass as well. WaterBox uses a high quality low iron glass on all sides, just a stated difference
- Red Sea has weatherproof, epoxy-painted finish on their cabinet doors only, we have double UV coating on all pieces of the cabinet actually making it waterproof all around not just the doors
- The feet on the Red Sea Reefer are not leveling feet, WaterBox has actual feet that can be adjusted for leveling

Some of the advantages or differences are minimal but we are doing a comparison. For anyone who has had the chance to see our aquariums at Global, Central Show or MACNA then you have seen the quality and features for yourself. The price point is also a great advantage as well.

Just shot yourself in the foot with this comparison. I actually saw advertisements for your tanks a while back, before MACNA, etc, and was impressed, like competition, like companies doing similar designs. But now it's apparent you took a successful design, and added a whole bunch of fluff to try and capitalize on their success. Shame.
 

KJoFan

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At the end of the day aren't all aquariums just glass boxes that hold water? I mean...really. Every company has to advertise/exploit their own little nuances on the same product in order to promote it over others. I don't own either one so I can't speak to the legitimacy of the claims made here. If you don't like the advertising strategy of WaterBox, don't buy it. Fairly simple.
 

TheHarold

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Im not trying to be overly critical. All I know about their aquariums is what is on their site and this comparison. If WaterBox Platinum series came out a few years ago, I would definitely be considering it instead of Red Sea! I would love to see one in person, @Waterbox Aquariums you need to get a retailer in Miami!

Given my corals are hitting the glass on all sides, my future upgrade could be a WaterBox instead of another Red Sea Reefer.
 

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