Getting back into reefs after a decade away.. Questions

[bill-e]

Hi All,
I ran a softie tank for about a dozen years until a fire took it out. Now I'm ready to get back into it and between my old age and new technology in the decade I was away I thought I'd start with the Sandbed

I don't want a glass bottom reef. I had a deep sand bed for a dozen years and it worked well for the softies.. Which is what I want again.

So What is the current thinking... I'd actually like to do a deep bed again but wanted to ask the question.

I intend to do a 65 gal tank again but my fortune is better now and I'm not so young so I'm looking at a Red Sea 300 G2+ Max and my only real question about it is the LED lighting and whether or not LED is good enough for the softies and clams.

All comments are welcome.
Thanks
Bill

 

[griss]

Welcome back Bill. Be careful of Red Sea aquariums. There have been many reports over the years of them springing a leak at the seams. @Dustin07 had one leak not too long ago.

LEDs will work fine for a softie tank. Your budget will determine what works best for you. There’s nothing wrong with “Black Box” LEDs such as Phlizon, Viparspectra, etc. but you don’t have a lot of functionality with them.

 

[wvned]

LEDs can do most anything these days.
DSB is not much of a thing anymore. Many that do use them have a plenum under them and carefully control the flow into it.

 

[Dustin07]

My tank flourished under redsea 50w lights (this was a 40g system with no sump or filter).

after 5 years, I upgraded to a RedSea 425xl last November and by late January it sprung a catastrophic leak and I lost the entire reef.

.

my local LFS still runs RedSea and he has a 900l sysytem in his store but he was able to pitch me on the eshopps Mariner series as a replacement so i went with the M100, it's a 130 gallon system and I LOVE IT.

When I tried to ask RedSea about leaks, fixes, warranties, anything at all, the BLOCKED me from their facebook group and I couldn't get any help from their customer service. eshopps on the other hand has been awesome.

With my eshopps M100 I am running 2 x RedSea 90w lights and 2 x RedSea 50w lights in the middle because that's what I already had and I liked the app. however generally speaking, I would not send anyone to RedSea, their customer service is too horrible.

Eshopps on the other hand even sent me a gift basket, and reached out to me personally a few times during the setup process to see how I was liking my new tank. they are fantastic people.

The glass on my Mariner tank is thicker, and very clear. the plumbing and sump are solid. the bottom bracing is fantastic and the corner guards let me clean the tank to the edges without fear of cutting silicone. I really love this tank.