Redsea Reefer vs Cadlight Artisan 2

[enchelycore808]

Well its about time for an upgrade and I'm stuck between the red sea reefer 350-450 and the cad light artisan 100. I like the features of the reefer series but I like the 24" front to back of the artisan. Anyone with exp on either tank care to sway me one way or the other? I realize that the reefer is only 4" narrower but Im having a hard time giving up those 4". Tank will be primarily for a school of anthias flavoguttatus. Maybe the reefer 450 with the 5' length? Decisions! :headwally:

 

[CJBuckeyes]

I am just setting up a cadlights artisan 70g, and the stand and tank are very nice. The sump is much bigger than the redsea, and the stand height is nice. However, the customer service is pretty bad. If you need something from cadlights, good luck.

 

[enchelycore808]

Thats what I hear about there customer support. It seems I have read a lot of reviews about cad lights where the tank was scratched or the glass had a wave in it and how hard it was to get help with it. On the other hand, it seems those who didn't have a problem with the tank out of the box in the first place love the tank.

 

[ninjamyst]

I was in the same place as you and I decided on the Red Sea Reefer 350. Going to order it soon. Search online and you will find LOTS of complaints about CadLights plumbing and sump design. Their sump is bigger but I read thread after thread of people having to redo their plumbing completely. For the money they are charging, you would expect decent plumbing. Their customer service also is hit or miss.

 

[CJBuckeyes]

I redid all my plumbing. the stock plumbing is a joke. No regrets though, the tank, stand and sump are top notch. I ordered through marine depot and it was at my door in 4 days.

I ordered the lamptree direct from cadlights, and it took two weeks to ship (after emailing them a few times) and showed up missing some parts.

 

[Mark75]

I recently set-up an Artisan 50g. and love the tank, stand, and sump. The return pump and plumbing is garbage and the protein skimmer works,..okay.

To be fair I purchased the Artisan on sale for $799 and expected to upgrade the equipment, if the price is close I would go with Red Sea but that was not the case for me.

 

[Reef or Die]

I have a 70 cadlights and am happy with the quality. I am looking to upgrade and like the same 2 options of you. 2 cons of the Red Sea for me. 1- not 24 inches deep and the bigger issue for me is the fact the Red Sea doesn't have 48 inches of stand space for the sump. It looks they they compartmentalized the stand which I don't like. I asked if that wood could be removed and was told it was part of the support

 

[TylerHaworth]

I was trying to buy a CADLights aquarium, but I went another route because I couldn't get them to respond... If the pre-sale support was that miserable there was no way I would ever get anything done post-sale.

 

[ninjamyst]

Also keep in mind that the current line up of Artisan tanks are pretty short in width compared to Red Sea Reefer. 50g Cadlight is a 24" cube. 70g Cadlight is 36". On the other hand, Red Sea Reefer 50g is 36" and 75g is 48". I prefer a longer tank for more swimming room.

The smaller sump on the Red Sea Reefer is a negative but it's a good compromise for more space to organize your non sump equipments like Apex controllers, dosing pumps, etc.

 

[enchelycore808]

Thanks for all the replies! Damn to bad their customer service sucks.. I really like the width better then the length. Decisions not getting easier. Maybe if I went through a second party like marine depot for cad lights Id have better support?

 

[ijnoj09]

I just setup a Cadlights Artisan 70G. I ordered it through my LFS who gave me a decent discount but I ended up upgrading the skimmer and pump. Other then that I've been pretty satisfied with the tank and stand. Sump is built well but I think it could've been designed better. I was debating between the cad and red sea reefer myself but in the end I liked the 24" depth of the cad.

 

[soulpatch]

I know its not on your list but a lot of people on here have had decent luck with sc aquariums pnp systems. Similar to cad lights but their customer service actually answers the calls/emails...

 

[moondoggy4]

808 Are you Ca? there will be a show this Oct and I bet you Cad Red Sea and SCA will be there with a whole bunch of tanks and great deals on them on the last day.