New Reefer still in the planning phase.

[madoleh]

Hello everyone,
My name is Moe and new to saltwater tanks. I'm an IT professional in the Chicagoland area. I'm still deciding what I want to do and go with. In the past, I've had freshwater aquariums.
I'm trying to find the right setup for a beginner and looking at setups around 50g. Not trying to break the bank since this is my first attempt at saltwater.
The RS Reefer Max 200 g2+ caught my eye because it comes with everything needed to automate (my geekness kicks in when I can automate everything after the tank is fully setup).
What is everyone's thoughts on this?
I'm interested at hearing what everyone recommends.

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board!

i'm not experienced in the many different tank setups you can get from those well known vendors, but i do have my eye on the IM Nuvo series since RedSea seems to be having a seam issue in some of their tanks.

 

[Reef By Steele]

Welcome to the reef. I have several Red Sea tanks from the 75 gallon 350 to the 210 gallon S1000. Love them. As for automating, Red Sea offers a lot, but my LFS got me started with the Neptune Apex systems and I have them running all of my tanks (7).

 

[bvanfish]

Hello everyone,
My name is Moe and new to saltwater tanks. I'm an IT professional in the Chicagoland area. I'm still deciding what I want to do and go with. In the past, I've had freshwater aquariums.
I'm trying to find the right setup for a beginner and looking at setups around 50g. Not trying to break the bank since this is my first attempt at saltwater.
The RS Reefer Max 200 g2+ caught my eye because it comes with everything needed to automate (my geekness kicks in when I can automate everything after the tank is fully setup).
What is everyone's thoughts on this?
I'm interested at hearing what everyone recommends.

Got a nice waterbox 25 start kit for sale if you want - I am also in the chicago land area, PM me for more details.

 

[jsker]

Have you looked at the Aquaforest tanks? Very nice system. I had @Joe Glass Cages build my last tank, custom size. The tank is still waiting for me to find a permanent home. I cannot wait to set the tank up, when we are somewhat settled.

 

[Gman83]

Welcome!

 

[TX_REEF]

Hello everyone,
My name is Moe and new to saltwater tanks. I'm an IT professional in the Chicagoland area. I'm still deciding what I want to do and go with. In the past, I've had freshwater aquariums.
I'm trying to find the right setup for a beginner and looking at setups around 50g. Not trying to break the bank since this is my first attempt at saltwater.
The RS Reefer Max 200 g2+ caught my eye because it comes with everything needed to automate (my geekness kicks in when I can automate everything after the tank is fully setup).
What is everyone's thoughts on this?
I'm interested at hearing what everyone recommends.

Welcome! check out waterbox before you pull the trigger on red sea. I wish I had researched more before buying my current display, I was simply smitten with the reefer display at my LFS and dove right in without another thought.

 

[madoleh]

Welcome! check out waterbox before you pull the trigger on red sea. I wish I had researched more before buying my current display, I was simply smitten with the reefer display at my LFS and dove right in without another thought.

I've been considering WB, but when I called, the models I was interested in were out of stock. I signed up to be notified when they are back in, so I'm waiting another couple of weeks.

 

[TX_REEF]

I've been considering WB, but when I called, the models I was interested in were out of stock. I signed up to be notified when they are back in, so I'm waiting another couple of weeks.

It's worth a little wait to get exactly what you want. I made a post previously above what I love and hate about my red sea reefer, if it helps you at all:

Pros

• looks amazing in my opinion, super clean design. I love the rimless open top look, even if it means more evaporation
• Great dimensions in my opinion, deep and wide enough for an awesome scape, but shallow enough to reach down to the bottom as needed
• custom fitted stand, sump and plumbing. You can almost everything you need all in one kit
• I personally love the rear center combined drain and return, it means filtered water is effortlessly disbursed
• runs silent if set up properly (you'll only hear the hum of your skimmer, if you choose to have one
• lots of custom fitted accessories (I fitted a reefmat 500 to it and personally love it)
• G2 version has thicker glass and protective plastic over the silicone seams to (hopefully) eliminate the silicone seam failure issues. Time will tell, but it seems solid to me. Just don't be slamming your mag float or whatever you use to clean the interior glass up against the seams.

Cons

• The stand is HORRIBLE to assemble, and frankly feels cheap for such an expensive system. I'd much rather solid wood or metal.
• The ATO reservoir for gravity-fed top off seems great and works well at first, but it's actually way too small, prevents you from using the sump space fully, and in my case the float valve and rubber tube that allow the fresh water to flow down constantly clog or something. I replaced this with an optic ATO with external reservoir to eliminate all of these issues, but it's a shame because now everything is not under stand stand. I'm currently gearing up to use the ATO reservoir as a rimless freshwater planted tank instead
• fairly expensive
• you will lose some jumping-prone fish if you don't add a custom fitted cover
• I don't like all of the "best fitting" red sea accessories (i.e I went with kessil for lighting, octopus skimmer), so fitment can be a little challenging
• the sump looks great but I HATE how tight it is. there is next to zero space behind and around it for magnet-mounted accessories (heaters, ATO sensor, etc) check my reefer 350 build thread for pics of just how tight it is. I even removed baffles to make more room for the skimmer, reef mat and algae turf scrubber.
• The center rear overflow has pros like I said, but it also causes the issues of needing a custom cover since it's not a perfect rectangle (if you want a cover) and the overflow stack can also disrupt even flow from powerheads. I have 2 mp40s and 2 cheap powerheads for surface agitation to combat this.
• The doors on the stand are super annoying to open and close. Again, at this price point, disappointing

 

[Wrassenaround]

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world Moe. Waterbox are great tanks. Take things slowly. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[Pvtgloss]

 

[Uncle99]

I think your idea is sound. Automation for sure.
Also consider redundancies.
Welcome 2R2R!

 

[KrisReef]

Good fortune on your search for a new system. You can save lots if you find a used tank, turnkey with all the automation you want. I waited until a local guy was shutting down his fish tank and got tank, sump, return pump + spare, and more for the price of the sump only. These things are easy to spend money on and difficult to sell when you have to move and don't want to deal with that process.

Once you find the tank and stuff, look into getting liverock if you didn't buy a tank that already had it.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[zheka757]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Fish Styx]

Greetings and welcome to the reef!

 

[NeedAReef]

I love the look and automation as a geek myself of the RS but far too many horror stories on here about them, I went low tech with Aqua Japan, do not regret it one bit. pun intended

 

[Fish Styx]

I love the look and automation as a geek myself of the RS but far too many horror stories on here about them, I went low tech with Aqua Japan, do not regret it one bit. pun intended

Ahhhhhhh!!! I see what you did there!!

 

[1112-425XL]