Is Red Sea worth it?

[Tide2water]

Looking at swapping my Nuvo 20l AIO and my 29g Biocube into a Red Sea e170. Found one on marketplace for $850. I am EXTREMELY wary of Red Sea, due to all of the seam failure horror stories. I am in love with the dimensions and drool over the thought of the idea of having a sump again. Can someone either freak me out more and prevent the purchase, or calm my nerves and tell me everything is going to be ok?

 

[1ocean]

well you did all the reading you said and you read the good and bad stories. so if you get it just be EXTREMELY ready when you come home one day and have all the water on the floor. You can tell yourself "I told myself but did not listen"

 

[UncommonSense]

Looking at swapping my Nuvo 20l AIO and my 29g Biocube into a Red Sea e170. Found one on marketplace for $850. I am EXTREMELY wary of Red Sea, due to all of the seam failure horror stories. I am in love with the dimensions and drool over the thought of the idea of having a sump again. Can someone either freak me out more and prevent the purchase, or calm my nerves and tell me everything is going to be ok?

That’s pretty steep on the price still, unless it’s a complete system with livestock and enough equipment to justify it…

I’ve seen more than a few Red Sea tanks with either questionable seams in the photos, or photos taken to hide the seams (angle, glare) on the used market…

Many of owners of these tanks are reading the same things you are, looking at their tank, and deciding to try to quit while they’re ahead/try to recoup their losses/pass the problem on to the next schmuck!

TLDR: no. Not worth it. Not in a million years!!! People are literally giving these tanks away…

 

[KrisReef]

BRS has a 170 that is listed as a 54 and another one that is listed as a 34 gallon tank? I wasn’t sure what size a 170 is, a lot of other sites list them as a 45 gallon tank so I can’t say what size they actually are. I didn’t look up the dimensions or else I could calculate that statistic. It looks like a nice setup!

What matters most is how much water they hold, and even the specific amount isn’t certain in this one.

I think you should buy it and see how much it can hold and for how long it can do that for. All the negative posts cannot hold true for the entire population of these tanks, since some people are still using them today.

Get what you like. The price is ok and live your dreams and don’t worry about what others think, it’s not that much water as long as it makes you happy.

 

[CBonito]

"I'm looking to pay money for a tank that dumps my reef on the floor...can anyone help?"

 

[AmateurAlchemist]

You don't have to look far to find posts with tanks being filled on the floor, structural bracing being removed or just straight up wonky stands on uneven floors. I'd buy a smaller, new tank over any used tank, Red Sea or otherwise. You don't know what idiot has had their hands on it.

 

[castellanamattia]

Honestly, I would never buy a used tank from people you don’t know, since you won’t know how they maintained their tank (like AmateurAlchemist said). If you want a smaller tank, I personally would look into Nyos Opus tanks — I’m a very happy owner of the Nyos Opus G2 300 G2 Pro-Line — or the DD Reef Pro tanks.

On the other hand, I think seam failures in Red Sea tanks primarily occur in larger tanks, like 350 liters or more. If you want to take the risk, go ahead and get a Red Sea tank.

I know new tanks are expensive, but I’d rather pay more for a new tank than risk a possible disaster with a cheap one.

 

[Trixter227]

I think you have a few good opinions on here. Im not going to express mine as i have zero experience with redsea.
I will however post this screenshot lol.
I backed out of this post and immediately see this one 2 posts down!

 

[Reefer Matt]

I wouldn’t let others influence your purchasing, it’s YOUR money. Instead, I suggest doing research into the product in question, and maybe ask for specific reviews on it, rather than that of the entire brand.

 

[Seansea]

I have a red sea 350 g2 that has been up and running 3 years. No problems. I look at the seemz weekly but would do this on any tank. I think the g1s had the problems.and mostly larger tanks. I would check to see if this is a g2 and like others said 850 is kind of pricey for that size unless your getting lights, skimmer fleece roller etc

 

[exnisstech]

I love my reefer 170. It makes an interesting conversation piece .

EDIT:

 

[Tide2water]

Here’s the setup:

 

[Featherweight]

Mine leaked, I'd not recommend a used red sea at 5 dollars because you will be buying a new tank or quitting when this one does burst

 

[Tide2water]

Update: I did purchase the tank for $600. Been in the process of setting it up for the last few weeks.

Needed the outside piece for the overflow.
Didn’t come with a return pump.
Recirc pump is dead.
Red Sea valve for the overflow leaks.

My biggest conundrum is the water level in the tank is 4” below the rim even with the new Various 4 running at full speed. Is this part of adjusting the valve or am I missing some regulating piece? Is water supposed to flow from the recirc chamber to the overflow chamber?

Should have just bought a new setup that didn’t require daily inspection of the seams to sleep ok.

 

[UncommonSense]

My biggest conundrum is the water level in the tank is 4” below the rim even with the new Various 4 running at full speed. Is this part of adjusting the valve or am I missing some regulating piece? Is water supposed to flow from the recirc chamber to the overflow chamber?

Wait… you’re saying the display tank and sump are up and running, recirculating with no water passing through the plastic teeth in the top of the overflow chamber (weir)?

If so, the seam(s) between the overflow chamber and the tank are compromised, and water is leaking around the overflow box from the display area!

 

[NanoSteam]

As @UncommonSense said sounds like the seal between that back chamber and the glass is shot, I wonder if it's acrylic which would make sense why it failed. They don't bond well to glass with silicone if at all.

If you do dare to continue running this tank you can seal this up with aquarium specific 100% silicone which is basically the only option for acrylic to glass despite it not working well.

 

[UncommonSense]

I wonder if it's acrylic which would make sense why it failed. They don't bond well to glass with silicone if at all.

(At least on their medium/larger tanks) both G1, and G2 Red Sea tanks use a glass overflow box with plastic weir insert siliconed on top!

(You can see the seams on the sides of the overflow box)

— You can actually cut these glass boxes out intact without too much fuss!

— if you're willing to invest the energy into a lot of glass cleaning, you can re-silicone the complete overflow box back in place!

 

[jsmkmavity]

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NanoSteam]

(At least on their medium/larger tanks) both G1, and G2 Red Sea tanks use a glass overflow box with plastic weir insert siliconed on top!

(You can see the seams on the sides of the overflow box)

— You can actually cut these glass boxes out intact without too much fuss!

— if you're willing to invest the energy into a lot of glass cleaning, you can re-silicone the complete overflow box back in place!

That makes sense, the construction of the 170 looks identical to the AIO baffle on my 26g Max Nano and I think it may just be glass.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

No, there are are just too many Red Sea seam failure, visible seam bubble, plumbing leak, sump issue, stand design concern, customer service, horror stories out there on social media to justify taking a chance with one of their tanks.