Red Sea tank opinions

H

Hewster

New member
So I am in a dilemma. (yes I know, I should have done more research and waited but that is not the advice I am looking for).

I have always wanted to get a bigger tank but a few things stopped me. I started in the hobby with a 55g freshwater which I converted into my SW tank, and it is not drilled.

I was going to buy a bigger tank, but in an effort to save some money by not having to buy a new tank and new stand.... and also being a little nervous putting a 100-130 gallon tank on the first level of my home and not in the basement I decided not to.

Right now this is my setup:
55g standard aquarium from petco with a nice stand
3 current 1050 powerheads
Fluval 406 canister (temporary until my sump arrives)
Current IC PRO LED's (yes I know they are not the strongest, they just fit my tanks lid the best)
55gallon (package) from TBS
Waiting for a sump/refugium from lifereef


After looking into overall prices, and how crammed by 55g is with the liverock from TBS... I am sort of regretting my current path after seeing the redsea tanks. I feel like I should have at the least just bought the 88g Red Sea tank which is only twice as much as the sump from lifereef.... but I would be getting a bigger and better tank, new furniture, a system where I wouldn't have any HOB, ATO.. etc....

So any thoughts are welcome on:
  • Quality of Red Sea components such as sump, skimmer, ATO, lights, etc.
  • Weight of the tank on a normal first level home. (fairly new higher quality house, built in 2005)
  • Red Sea MAX vs Red Sea REEFER series...


These are the tanks I was looking at:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reefer-xl-425-complete-system-88-gal-red-sea.html
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reefer-450-complete-system-92-gal-red-sea.html
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reefer-xl-525-complete-system-108-gal-red-sea.html

And yes, I know I will always want more more more.
 
If you can fit the 525, i'd go with that. I have the 170 and really like the tank. The quality is great and I like that all you need to get the tank going is a pump. The ATO works well enough for me not feel like I need one right away.
 
I don't own one, but from what I've seen they are very nice setups all around.
My only gripe with them is the dimensions. They really really need to come out with a "deep dimension" line. Their front to back measurements are too narrow for my tastes.
If they had something sized more like 48x36 I probably would have went with them instead of Elos.
 
Personally I would get the XL 425, lighting will be far easier and cheaper on the 4' length. T5 and LED hybrid is what I am going to on my new tank, have the Reefer Nano right now and really like everything about it except too small. lol
 
Hmm... yea even if I just did the 425, all that it would do is make my tank wider (current tank is way too skinny which is one reason why I want to change, 13 inches wide :/)since the rest of the dimensions are nearly identical to my 55g, which could be beneficial for my current lighting.
 
It does not. The Reefer Series only comes with the tank, sump, stand and plumbing. IMO this is the best option as it allows you to customize everything else... lights, return pump, skimmer, reactors, etc.
 
Okay. Overall, red sea a good option? The more I think about it I definitely want to do this before my corals and sponges start spreading. I don't want to break a well established reef and the 13 inch width is just irritating me... And makes me nervous. I had to stack the rock against the back wall to allow for a small gap of sand in the front. They are all very sturdy but still, a landslide makes me nervous.

If I didn't do red sea, are there other similar options out there? having all of the stuff built in to include the stand is a huge plus to me, but if there's a better tank with stand option that wil be similar in price when addiding the sump, please let me know....

Completely different topic, do you all tend to stack rock in the middle or against glass? Or both?
 
I think for price vs quality, the Red Sea Reefer Series is hard to beat. Are there better options, sure... but they will cost you.

I wouldn’t stack rocks against the back panel glass as that will lead to dead zones devoid of flow. Going from 13” to 20+” will make a world of difference in your aquascaping options.
 
Alright thanks.

Any experience with the red sea ATO? Is it just the one float valve that I see in the picture? I am hyper paranoid about flooding and was about to make an ATO with multiple fail safes to include the tunze ATO. Although, the supplied ATO doesn't appear to be very large and if it got stuck open maybe it wouldn't be enough to create that large of a flood based on all of the extra space with the display and sump combined?
 
Hewster said:
Alright thanks.

Any experience with the red sea ATO? Is it just the one float valve that I see in the picture? I am hyper paranoid about flooding and was about to make an ATO with multiple fail safes to include the tunze ATO. Although, the supplied ATO doesn't appear to be very large and if it got stuck open maybe it wouldn't be enough to create that large of a flood based on all of the extra space with the display and sump combined?
Click to expand...

I run over staturated Kalk through mine for the last 18 months for all my top off no problems at all. Just clean the float every 4th water change (once a month) 20 min vinegar soak and back to brand new.
 
Got my eyes set on either a P650 or 750XXL once the fundage comes in with the tide :).

Go for it. As suggested, go with the the deeper depth tank if possible.

Sincerely,

David
 
I have a 525xl very nice tank!!

-- return pumps -- my experience

Reef Octopus VarioS-8 $370

I got this pump when I setup my tank. Worked fine. I had planned to get a backup pump incase of failure but of course procrastinated. 6 months later the AC-DC supplied died. Luckily I had a crappy old AC pump that keep my tank going. The customer support was good and they sent out a new one, but would be a couple days.

Jebao DCS-12000 $110

Before I even tried support I decided to get a better backup pump asap. amazon prime next day. To my surprise the Jebao pumps as good if not better and is just a quiet. (I can barely hear either) It also had better attachment parts included. I has 2 full sets of 3-4 barb sizes. nice!

Dont get me wrong the VarioS-8 is a good pump. I just dont think its better than Jebao in any way I can tell. I tried the Jebao mostly because Ron Reefman uses/likes them. The VarioS-8 is now my backup I dont see any reason to switch back.
 
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