Looking for an all-in one, which one?

[FrankB1]

Anyone know of a store that has both the JBJ HQI 28 gal and a Red Sea Max in the Pittsburgh Pa area?

I'm torn between these two. Any opinions on either?

Thanks.

 

[acpoweradapter]

I have the JBJ and I couldn't be happier. But, if you don't have the money for a chiller I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Justinandkrista]

i like the RSM its ready right from the get go no mods needed.

 

[Reef-Ski]

I like my RSM.

The only negative things I have to say about the RSM would have to be the Hood issues.

I ended up going through three sets of cooling fans (got very noisy over time), two sets of moonlights (first ones stopped working), and three different timers (stopped working).

Now the good news is Red Sea has excellent customer service. Whenever I had a problem they sent me out a replacement right away no questions asked.

 

[acpoweradapter]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12551132#post12551132 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RSMreefer
I like my RSM.

The only negative things I have to say about the RSM would have to be the Hood issues.

I ended up going through three sets of cooling fans (got very noisy over time), two sets of moonlights (first ones stopped working), and three different timers (stopped working).

Now the good news is Red Sea has excellent customer service. Whenever I had a problem they sent me out a replacement right away no questions asked.

Why did you get a chiller for the RSM? Doesn't it only have two T-5s?

 

[StevieTdrill]

I do not have a chiller on my RSM. He was talking about the cooling fans but all new units from my knowldege have an imporved design. The older once would fail and make a hell of a noise. If you have an AC room than your RSM will not need a chiller. If not, you will have to look at extra fans or a chiller, in the summer my tank runs normally between 79-81

 

[acpoweradapter]

No, in his sig it says Current Prime 1/10 hp

 

[jamest0o0]

Cool someone else that lives in pittsburgh haha... anyway you could always order online, but some of the stores I go to are Burton's pets(mcnight road) and Elmers aquarium(monroeville)

 

[Reef-Ski]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12552306#post12552306 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acpoweradapter
Why did you get a chiller for the RSM? Doesn't it only have two T-5s?

I recently got the Sundial T-5 fixture for my RSM. The stock RSM lighting is actually power compacts and not true T-5's. The power compacts run much warmer, especially with the closed hood.

On the chiller-
Last summer with the stock hood my tank would run between 81 and 84 degrees with my AC running.

One hot day my tank reached 86 and I ended up loosing my Flame Angel This was on a day the family was gone and no AC running.

I decided that a chiller was worth the investment for peace of mind.

With the new T-5 fixture and not having the closed hood, my tank dropped down from the 81 degrees to 78 and it seems to be very consistent.

 

[acpoweradapter]

Ah, ok. I thought it was real T-5's. Thats odd that I never heard that before. Thanks for the info.

 

[StevieTdrill]

They have the diameter of T5 bulbs, but are PC 4 pin connectors and have the same bulb disign as PCs. Overall, they are very bright, I am keeping a lot of SPS can a clam under them with good growth rates. You can swap them out for PC bulbs to produce a different color spectrium of you like, the stock bulbs are 50/50