Waterbox 50.3 Peninsula Upgrade Build - Thoughts & Recommendations?

Enad · Apr 30, 2023

Hi all,

I'm starting the planning phase for a tank upgrade to the Waterbox 50.3 Peninsula AIO. I'm coming from a Red Sea Max Peninsula, and so I'm looking for recommendations on Skimmers, Return Pumps etc.

The design of this tank is heavy on live rock, large coral population(transfering from my current tank), and a small-moderate fish population - It will have 3 fish to start, eventually adding in a pair of Mandarins, perhaps one or two other fish. Likely 6 or 7 total.

Skimmer: I'm looking at the Tunze 9004 or 9001 - I believe either one will fit into the Skimmer chamber. Looking for advice or recommendations on which would be better, or if there is another brand/model out there that would be better for this set up. I'd like to keep it within a $200 budget.

Pump: I was considering using the pump from the Red Sea I currently have, but I thought it might be nice to get something controllable. Does anyone have recommendations for a good controllable return pump? Preferably $100 budget, though I'm curious what extending my budget could get me. Wi-Fi control would be a nice perk.

General Lighting Recommendations: I'll be re-purposing my Red Sea LED50 and 12" AI Blade Grow that I use on my current tank. I was considering supplementing it with another 12" AI Blade GLOW. I'd like to create a more natural looking spectrum, while having the corals still pop with color. How does this sound for lighting?

Any and all recommendations or advice would be welcome!

Thank you!

blaxsun · May 1, 2023

Mandarins - you either need lots of rock (50.3 won't cut it) or get them hooked on frozen. Otherwise plan to be supplementing with pods on a regular (bi-weekly/monthly basis).

Pumps - Sicce makes a great SDC DC WiFi pump. Highly recommended.

Enad · May 2, 2023

blaxsun said:
Mandarins - you either need lots of rock (50.3 won't cut it) or get them hooked on frozen. Otherwise plan to be supplementing with pods on a regular (bi-weekly/monthly basis).

Pumps - Sicce makes a great SDC DC WiFi pump. Highly recommended.

I already seed pods every 2 months in my current setup. I was going to go for captive bred and try to get them eating frozen, while still supplementing pods every 2 months (or a bit more often if needed). I will probably wait a few months after transferring over all my live rock from my current tank into the new one before getting these fish, hopefully a good chunk of copepods will come along for the ride on the rock that is transferred over.

That Sicce SDC Wifi pump looks very nice. It's a bit pricey but I do appreciate the ability to control the flow, and with an app too. Would you happen to have any other recommendations, maybe non-wifi controllable pumps?

Any thoughts on Skimmer choice?

508_lagoonreef · May 3, 2023

I have a Waterbox 50.3 peninsula.Return pump is Sicce 1.5 and for Skimmer I’m running Tunze 9004

blaxsun · May 4, 2023

Enad said:
I already seed pods every 2 months in my current setup. I was going to go for captive bred and try to get them eating frozen, while still supplementing pods every 2 months (or a bit more often if needed). I will probably wait a few months after transferring over all my live rock from my current tank into the new one before getting these fish, hopefully a good chunk of copepods will come along for the ride on the rock that is transferred over.

That Sicce SDC Wifi pump looks very nice. It's a bit pricey but I do appreciate the ability to control the flow, and with an app too. Would you happen to have any other recommendations, maybe non-wifi controllable pumps?

Any thoughts on Skimmer choice?

The DC SDC pays for itself in <12 months with the electricity savings over a normal AC Silent.