Manny's Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL

[Manny’s Reef]

Here’s a bright and cheery post. I received my R2R Secret Santa gift. My Santa went above and beyond, sending me a custom made frag rack. I wanted to share the creators IG post hoping his page will get some new followers. I couldn’t be happier with this gift. Best of all, as my messenger would prove, I’ve made a new reefing Buddy in the process.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Tank was swapped out yesterday. And no I didn’t have the LFS guys fill it. One of the above comments got to me and I’m not gonna risk getting dirty water from the LFS. Going to start filling either today or tomorrow.

I also got another shipment in the mail. This one came from ReefAutomation. I figure I’ll take this time to shout him out. @Derrick Picker runs an amazing YouTube channel. His content is top notch. It’s surprising he hasn’t picked up more traction because he is answering the difficult automation questions everyone is asking. On top of that, he’s doing weekly giveaways. Typically, the viewer pool is between 25-50 live viewers, which gives us a great chance of winning the giveaway. I was the lucky winner of one of his giveaways two weeks ago. Here is what I got.

The experience was pretty cool. I was watching the livestream in the living room while eating dinner with the family. My 8 year old daughter, who loves livestreams, watched with me. She was anxious because she knew there was a giveaway. I jokingly said to her, “I’m going to win it this time. I just know it.” She replied stating that she also had a gut feeling we were going to win. Then, Derrick called my name and my daughter went crazy, screaming “I knew it. I knew it.” It was awesome.

Anyhow, go check out his channel. My favorite playlist is his GHL vs Apex series. Although, he does come to the wrong conclusion

Derrick thank you for all that you do for the hobby. I wish nothing but the best for your channel.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Plumbed the tank this weekend. Setup the lights. Mixed water and started filling. I am about 50 gallons in and I noticed that there is a gap between the tank and the stand on the rights side. I stopped filling and contacted the LFS owner. Need to figure out what is going on.

 

[ariellemermaid]

Plumbed the tank this weekend. Setup the lights. Mixed water and started filling. I am about 50 gallons in and I noticed that there is a gap between the tank and the stand on the rights side. I stopped filling and contacted the LFS owner. Need to figure out what is going on.

Did you get this sorted out? I obsessively leveled my tank but after your post I tested with a piece of paper and found that I can slip it under pretty easily in some places but not others. I’m sure there’s going to be some settling on a tank this big and plus there’s that foam pad below it that probably needs to settle in. However I’m now considering filling with tap water because it would be an even bigger waste if I have to throw out 200g of DI water.

 

[AJsReef]

Always great to see another 750 build! Disappointing to hear them having so many manufacturing and shipping issues though. One would think they would have fixed them by now. That stand does seem concerning for sure

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Here is the response I received from Red Sea this morning:

"
Dear Manuel,

Thank you for submitting the pictures. After review, we do not see an integrity issue with the aquarium or the cabinet itself. While we can see a small gap in the corner between the bottom glass and the foam pad, this is localized and is not evidence that there is a problem or that the aquarium is going to fail and is not in itself a cause for concern. The tank is fully supported by the side, middle (models larger than the XL 300) and the rear wall, which is more than enough to ensure the integrity of the tank. The evidence for this statement is the tens of thousands of tanks that are in use around the world since they were first introduced over 5 years ago.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you notice any concerning changes to your aquarium and we'd be happy to assist.

Best Regards,
Chanh Tran
Red Sea Group"

I did reply asking if this meant they were accepting liability in case the gap led to something more catastrophic. I'll wait for their response. I assumed this was what they were going to say. I figured that perhaps a portion of the padding had been compressed during shipping and it just needs to settle in. I saw on another site that this was their response to another reefer.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Always great to see another 750 build! Disappointing to hear them having so many manufacturing and shipping issues though. One would think they would have fixed them by now. That stand does seem concerning for sure

I'm really hesitant to type this on a public forum because I know that the LFS is on here every so often. However, truth be told, I don't think that the initial chip was on Red Sea's end. I think the LFS guys chipped the glass and then delivered it anyways, hoping that I would accept that tank with the minor cosmetic damage. They unboxed it at their store. They built the stand, loaded it in the truck, and placed it on the stand. If my wife did not catch the dink, I don't know if they would have mentioned it or not. There was a team of 4 who were involved. Then, when my wife pointed it out, the LFS owner still contacted me and asked if I wanted to keep it or send it back. So, I don't know if RS is to blame.

As for this gap, sounds like its a non-issue according to RS. If this is true, and this is common with large tanks like this, then have they really done anything wrong up to this point? I don't know.

 

[AJsReef]

Interesting, I would be concerned with it for sure if the tank/stand are level then surely the 6' of glass on the bottom should have even contact across the pane?

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Interesting, I would be concerned with it for sure if the tank/stand are level then surely the 6' of glass on the bottom should have even contact across the pane?

Right. They provided a plausible explanation. They stated that during shipping, the mat sometimes get pinched by the crate on a corner. The mat remains compressed for a while but eventually evens itself out. If true, then the gap should have already started closing. I am skeptical but accept this theory as a possibility/probability.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

So after asking them to accept liability if I took their advice then something were to happen, this is what they responded:

Dear Manuel,

After discussing the issue with our team, I have realized that you were able to fit several sheets of paper, which is more than you should be able to. We would like to ask that you check the leveling of the aquarium and cabinet feet as this may be the cause of the gap and could affect the integrity further on. In order to fix the leveling, you would first have to empty the aquarium and make adjustment to not only the feet on the perimeter of the cabinet but also those feet in the interior of the base as well. Please let us know of your findings. Thanks.

Best Regards,
Chanh Tran
Red Sea Group

I feel cheated. Now that I've asked them to accept liability, they are concerned with leveling? Give me a break.

 

[ariellemermaid]

So after asking them to accept liability if I took their advice then something were to happen, this is what they responded:

Dear Manuel,

After discussing the issue with our team, I have realized that you were able to fit several sheets of paper, which is more than you should be able to. We would like to ask that you check the leveling of the aquarium and cabinet feet as this may be the cause of the gap and could affect the integrity further on. In order to fix the leveling, you would first have to empty the aquarium and make adjustment to not only the feet on the perimeter of the cabinet but also those feet in the interior of the base as well. Please let us know of your findings. Thanks.

Best Regards,
Chanh Tran
Red Sea Group

I feel cheated. Now that I've asked them to accept liability, they are concerned with leveling? Give me a break.

Yeah your gap looks really big. I’d be comfortable with the first response if we’re talking about a sheet of paper, but a gap you can see through on a photo is excessive.

 

[AJsReef]

Well well well.... Definitely double check the level. Not uncommon for the tank to shift after filling.

Heck, I just recently moved my tank and added additional leveling feet even just as a precaution.

 

[piranhaman00]

I'm really hesitant to type this on a public forum because I know that the LFS is on here every so often. However, truth be told, I don't think that the initial chip was on Red Sea's end. I think the LFS guys chipped the glass and then delivered it anyways, hoping that I would accept that tank with the minor cosmetic damage. They unboxed it at their store. They built the stand, loaded it in the truck, and placed it on the stand. If my wife did not catch the dink, I don't know if they would have mentioned it or not. There was a team of 4 who were involved. Then, when my wife pointed it out, the LFS owner still contacted me and asked if I wanted to keep it or send it back. So, I don't know if RS is to blame.

As for this gap, sounds like its a non-issue according to RS. If this is true, and this is common with large tanks like this, then have they really done anything wrong up to this point? I don't know.

How they can say that gap is ok is beyond ridiculous, that front panel would split before it even was fully filled.
Even a rimmed aquarium would be very sketchy and with rimless it’s not even a question, that is a huge issue.

So after asking them to accept liability if I took their advice then something were to happen, this is what they responded:

Dear Manuel,

After discussing the issue with our team, I have realized that you were able to fit several sheets of paper, which is more than you should be able to. We would like to ask that you check the leveling of the aquarium and cabinet feet as this may be the cause of the gap and could affect the integrity further on. In order to fix the leveling, you would first have to empty the aquarium and make adjustment to not only the feet on the perimeter of the cabinet but also those feet in the interior of the base as well. Please let us know of your findings. Thanks.

Best Regards,
Chanh Tran
Red Sea Group

I feel cheated. Now that I've asked them to accept liability, they are concerned with leveling? Give me a break.

My “pessimistic” (realist) posts are starting to come to more light it seems. I hope this ends up being a leveling issue! Although with one end being dipped in like that it appears the top of the stand is not level, leveling feet will not fix that.

Please understand I hope this goes well for you, I’m just quite frustrated seeing this play out frequently on forum, Good luck!

 

[Manny’s Reef]

How they can say that gap is ok is beyond ridiculous, that front panel would split before it even was fully filled.
Even a rimmed aquarium would be very sketchy and with rimless it’s not even a question, that is a huge issue.




My “pessimistic” (realist) posts are starting to come to more light it seems. I hope this ends up being a leveling issue! Although with one end being dipped in like that it appears the top of the stand is not level, leveling feet will not fix that.

Please understand I hope this goes well for you, I’m just quite frustrated seeing this play out frequently on forum, Good luck!

Thanks a lot. I’m on your team here. It’s not a leveling issue. It has to be the stand. Check these pictures out.

 

[ariellemermaid]

The tank is fairly rigid so it wouldn’t surprise me if the tank can be level without the stand being level (when empty anyway). The real question is whether you can level (especially that corner) of the stand without throwing off the leveling of the tank….

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Just got off the phone with RS customer support. Man these guys are good. Anyhow, even though the tank appears to be level to me, they want me to tinker with the stand some more. Just to rule out the possibility, I am going to empty the tank, reset all the little legs, and start over with the stand. I asked the LFS owner to send someone over for a second opinion as well. Red Sea customer service said they're sending over a box of salt to replace the wasted salt water being drained. That was nice of them. Anyhow, hopefully this is user error and the gap closes up with some adjustments.

For what its worth, as I shared with the rep, the gap really isn't as big as the pictures make it look. I posted the pics to the Red Sea FB page and people there are commenting on how massive the gap is. Maybe its a picture illusion but when you stand right in front of the tank, you can't see it. You have to bend to the right angle to see the gap. And the sheets of paper I stuck in between the gap are about 6 pages. The gap is probably between 1/32 and 1/16".

@piranhaman00 here's to hoping this can be resolved asap. Not gonna lie, this is starting to seem like a sign that I wasn't supposed to setup this tank. My 300 gallon crashed in September and this was the replacement for that. What a crazy 3 months it has been.

 

[piranhaman00]

Just got off the phone with RS customer support. Man these guys are good. Anyhow, even though the tank appears to be level to me, they want me to tinker with the stand some more. Just to rule out the possibility, I am going to empty the tank, reset all the little legs, and start over with the stand. I asked the LFS owner to send someone over for a second opinion as well. Red Sea customer service said they're sending over a box of salt to replace the wasted salt water being drained. That was nice of them. Anyhow, hopefully this is user error and the gap closes up with some adjustments.

For what its worth, as I shared with the rep, the gap really isn't as big as the pictures make it look. I posted the pics to the Red Sea FB page and people there are commenting on how massive the gap is. Maybe its a picture illusion but when you stand right in front of the tank, you can't see it. You have to bend to the right angle to see the gap. And the sheets of paper I stuck in between the gap are about 6 pages. The gap is probably between 1/32 and 1/16".

@piranhaman00 here's to hoping this can be resolved asap. Not gonna lie, this is starting to seem like a sign that I wasn't supposed to setup this tank. My 300 gallon crashed in September and this was the replacement for that. What a crazy 3 months it has been.

With a rimless tank there can be no gap whatsoever, it doesn’t matter how small. If the stand is made correctly there will be no gap.

Keep us posted

 

[Manny’s Reef]

With a rimless tank there can be no gap whatsoever, it doesn’t matter how small. If the stand is made correctly there will be no gap.

Keep us posted

I'll go along with their suggestions just to ensure that I am ruling out all possibilities. Red Sea seemed really confident in their product.

 

[mstgkillr]

Ya I'm not going that route either. I stocked up on filter socks during the black friday sale. I know the BRS guys like to act like changing filter socks out twice a week is a crazy amount of work but its really not. I've never struggled to keep up with changing them out. Literally I get into a routine where Monday and Friday after I wake up, before showering, I walk downstairs, pull them out, put new ones in, and jump in the shower. It's a simple portion of my routine. And way cheaper than $300-400 a year in supply.

I would be happy if I could get through an entire roll without having to remove the dirty fleece roll to finish off the remaining 25%-50% of the roll.

My unit is going to the trash... going back to filter socks.

 

[ariellemermaid]

I would be happy if I could get through an entire roll without having to remove the dirty fleece roll to finish off the remaining 25%-50% of the roll.

My unit is going to the trash... going back to filter socks.

I did see folks with the Clarisea saying that. That basically the pin is plastic and is designed to break under high motor tension except that the new XL rolls are causing such high tension that pins are breaking prematurely and thus people are splitting the roll half way through.

I posted a separate thread about mechanical filtration and surprisingly a lot of folks seem to be using none. Like filter cups with reef rubble, etc. while using turf scrubbers and the like to deal with export. Another guy started Reef Diapers with disposable socks (selling on Amazon) that would run about $120/yr if replaced every 3 days. However he’s still working on Red Sea flanges. So anyway it seems like there are lots of alternatives to socks and sock cleaning (and the Red Sea socks are silly expensive). I’m just going to start with fleece cups and adjust from there. Glad I explored the topic further before ripping my sump apart and assuming rollers were the end all be all solution!