Help us Decide! Redsea MAX 130d vs ELOS 20g Mini

ReefEnabler

ReefEnabler

Premium Member
Hello,

I have my own large reef that I tend to, but lately my wife (recently joined the forums as N00bietanker) has been wanting to set up her own small tank in a room upstairs that she will be decorating with a modernish style.

She mostly wants to keep anemones/clowns but probably some LPS, and I might even stick some SPS frags in there to see what happens (if lighting is good enough).

Of course as a lover of DIY I offered to build it, but she's of the view that I already spend too much time on tank-related DIY projects so she'd rather just get a package deal and then make small tweaks as we need to.


After looking around, the Redsea MAX 130D and the ELOS 20g MINI are two top contenders.

Obviously we prefer the look and features of the ELOS.

Some advantages ELOS has:
A sump with topoff reservoir (vs all filtration crammed BEHIND the tank for redsea)
LED lighting system sounds much brighter than the 2 x 55w PowerCompact that the Redsea has. Can anybody verify that for me???
ELOS is a more attractive design to us


Redsea 130D: $750
Red_sea_max_tank_L.jpg


http://www.marineandreef.com/Max_Co..._Red_Sea_RedSeaMax_p/rrs40111-withcabinet.htm


ELOS 20g Mini: $1600
EO7111_92.jpg


http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...eandStand&utm_campaign=mdcse&site=google_base

anybody care to talk us out of one or the other or suggest an alternate?

Thanks,
Ryan and Caroline
 
um, the mini.....................................

your kiddin right ;)? the mini is quality that will last the red sea is a chinese all in one with throw away equipment included.

you can get the mini for cheaper if you order it without the elite then you can have a nice 150W DE radium 20k over it...
 
no not kidding, but she feels guilty over the higher price so I need others to help convince us that it would be worth it :)


good idea on replacing the lights.

but I'm still curious how much PAR the 18 x 3w fixture puts out.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14489228#post14489228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefEnabler
no not kidding, but she feels guilty over the higher price so I need others to help convince us that it would be worth it :)


good idea on replacing the lights.

but I'm still curious how much PAR the 18 x 3w fixture puts out.
Click to expand...

not sure on the par the elite is pretty nice, but i prefer open source technology like halides and t5 as apposed to proprietary stuff like the Elite. if anything goes wrong with a halide system you can have it back up and running in an hour tops, if the elite fails you could be waiting over a month.

i know you just had a child so money Isn't something you can just throw away right now, however i think the mini is pretty darn cool.
 
lol yea the mini is cool lol....The design is perfect.... I just figuring how to fix this room I reall y want to start painting soon but im probally gonna not be able to since my husbands mom will be using that room in less then a week:(
 
Found this thread with some PAR numbers:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1583247

The elite is putting out some pretty weak PAR numbers from 78cm


Diamond Lumenarc III with BLV of 400w 400 w 307 0,77
E-Power with Elos Spectra of 250w 250 w 382 (max 449 min 315) 1,53 (max 1.8 min 1.26)
E-lite 64 w 30 0.47
Pl of 39w 48 w 15 0.31

Yes at 78cm or ~30" the e-lite is putting out less than 10% the light a 400 lumenarc could push.
 
Shes being fussy but we both have colds so it is understandable:-)....Yea i secretly started an account but didnt realize it keeps you signed on so the news is out....Its kinda like facebook for fish lol
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14489335#post14489335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefEnabler
where are you able to find the mini without the e-lite? I haven't been able to see that....
Click to expand...

i think you have to contact Jesse about custom orders.
 
Ok I PM'd him.

According to him on the ElosUSA forums, the E-lite will be going on sale soon for $749???? Seems really expensive for 18x3w LEDs. FWIW the test I posted above was testing brightness near the "edge" of the hotspot, at 30", so I'm sure the elite does put out some good brightness in the center.


But maybe the Mini could be had for under $1000 without the e-lite? If so that would be awesome :)

A white Aquamedic oceanlight would go great on this tank.
 
I would get the ELOS, for sure.. but if money is a deciding factor, which it looks like it is (from your posts).. why not get the solana?
 
dont like the solana? rimless euro look of the elos, price of the redsea but with metal halide lighting. has all the usual all in one features.
 
doesn't matter to me but she really dislikes the black background in the solana. I suppose it could be painted white with some 2part epoxy paint I have left over.... Could pour it in for a smooth finish.

The stand would have to be painted white as well since I dont think they offer a white stand.


But I want to see if I get a reply from ElosUSA about the light-less Elos first. We might be able to get it at a cometitive price.

We already have one of these aquamedic oceanlight's that was going to be used for a coral QT tank that would be a good match for the elos:

AQ1717_99.jpg
 
Have you seen the Elos in person? There is one in use/on display at a LFS near me (I'm not to far from Elos hq). The leds in that setup are putting out some very yellow light, not a bright white like i would expect, i would attribute it too there being only a few blue leds in the fixture. Other than that it is a very nice setup, the sump with built in topoff is really nice. In the display that I have seen, they do have a few SPS growing, however with the yellow light, their colors don't look the greatest.
One thing that i do find annoying is that when you look top down, you can see the reflection of the individual leds on the surface of the water, so you don't get a good top down visual, unless you turn the lights off (but that is also just person preference).
Getting it with MH would be the better option in my opinion (which as mentioned they do).
 
Thanks for the info.

I got a reply from Jesse of ElosUSA and he suggested that I try contacting some retailers like MarineDepot, AquariumSpecialty and Premium Aquatics to see if any of them will offer without the E-lite.

Contacted and waiting to hear from them. Scott from AS usually gets back quick.



FWIW, if you find that the E-Lite is too yellow for certain SPS, you could get one of these for $50 (less on ebay):

http://www.divinelighting.com/par-3...5.html?zenid=f279b291a9e782b0892c3c2bc2cb8d7f

12 x 1w Blue LEDs
Puts out a fairly narrow beam of light with insane PAR. PAR levels stay above 1000 up to about 10" away. I am going to use some of these to supplement certain areas in my 220G tank :)

Depending on how much area you wanted to hit you might mount it pretty far away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jason2459
Triton vs. Aquamedic AWT vs. Hobbyist kits API Salifert Elos RedSea Hanna etc
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
22K
canadianeh
C
B
WTB Solana tank, elos mini, or red sea max
Replies
2
Views
576
BigFeesh
B
natedogg
Nate's Elos Mini Build Thread
2 3
Replies
42
Views
11K
neuro
neuro
Aaarrrggg
Aaarrrggg's Elos Mini Build
5 6 7
Replies
131
Views
48K
Aaarrrggg
Aaarrrggg
tsutaoka
Elos Mini vs. Current USA Solana...any opinions?
2
Replies
24
Views
4K
erichatesmice
E
Back
Top