Red Sea Risk?

[ncsuben]

Alright folks. Still conducting lots of research before jumping into reefing. Went to the LFS yesterday and had a good conversation about Red Seas, leaking issues, and the new Euro bracing on the G3 systems. Then today I saw a potential "deal" on an unopened Red Sea 625 G2+ that another store is selling because the client who ordered it no longer wants it - $3k. Therefore, warranty will likely still stand as it is unopened and on the pallet (so I'm told). However....I note the fear of Red Seas in the forums and have watched many leak videos and posts......which leads us to the poll:

 

[Quietman]

It's likely fine as most Red Sea tanks didn't leak or fail. But...

If you're just getting into reefing you really want to minimize the chances of anything going wrong that you can control. There will be a ton of issues that will go wrong you can't control on your first tank. Why add the risk to your first experience.

Plus, I doubt you have the equipment to manage the risk. Experienced long term reefers are going to have extra tanks, tubs, buckets, ability to produce lots of water fairly quickly, extra salt on hand. That changes the total risk in my mind if an experienced reefer who knew what they were getting into and how to manage a catastrophe wanted to buy the same tank.

Go a bit smaller (only for the money - any tank is fine for beginner if you have the money - it's just scale really) and get a new gen Red Sea or something else.

Good luck with your journey.

 

[exnisstech]

The original person who ordered the tank in the first place probably came to their senses. Warranty covers tank only. Loss of livestock and home damage is not covered. Check with your insurance to see if water damage from a leaking aquarium is covered. My policy does not have coverage unless the tank is broken by accident like a kid throwing a rock through it or similar accident.
My first redsea tank reefer 170
RIP

My second purchased before the 170 failed. I'm currently making arrangements to replace this reefer 300 g2. I'll never buy another RS tank and IMO until they admit the silicone they use is the cause of the failure and have a correction I recommend no one add one. All the BS they spouted about it being only larger tanks and lack of a center support causing the failure is just that, BS. Euro bracing is not going to correct silicone failure and is just more BS . What next Gen 4, Gen 5 with no correction or admission of the real problem?

My current G2 300 vertical and horizontal end seams.

 

[ncsuben]

It's likely fine as most Red Sea tanks didn't leak or fail. But...

If you're just getting into reefing you really want to minimize the chances of anything going wrong that you can control. There will be a ton of issues that will go wrong you can't control on your first tank. Why add the risk to your first experience.

Plus, I doubt you have the equipment to manage the risk. Experienced long term reefers are going to have extra tanks, tubs, buckets, ability to produce lots of water fairly quickly, extra salt on hand. That changes the total risk in my mind if an experienced reefer who knew what they were getting into and how to manage a catastrophe.

Go a bit smaller (only for the money - any tank is fine for beginner if you have the money - it's just scale really) and get a new gen Red Sea or something else.

Good luck with your journey.

I greatly appreciate the perspective @Quietman. All solid points.

Our thoughts on bigger are primarily for the fish and building out the corals over time. My wife's goal fish is a Tomini Tang and mine is a One Spot Foxface. So the 60" of swim space in the 525 and 625 is very appealing. While we definitely want a true reef tank and not a FOWLR, our fish/coral focus I would say is sort of 60/40.

 

[ncsuben]

The original person who ordered the tank in the first place probably came to their senses. Warranty covers tank only. Loss of livestock and home damage is not covered. Check with your insurance to see if water damage from a leaking aquarium is covered. My policy does not have coverage unless the tank is broken by accident like a kid throwing a rock through it or similar accident.
My first redsea tank reefer 170
RIP

My second purchased before the 170 failed. I'm currently making arrangements to replace this reefer 300 g2. I'll never buy another RS tank and IMO until they admit the silicone they use is the cause of the failure and have a correction I recommend no one add one. All the BS they spouted about it being only larger tanks and lack of a center support causing the failure is just that, BS. Euro bracing is not going to correct silicone failure and is just more BS . What next Gen 4, Gen 5 with no correction or admission of the real problem?

My current G2 300 vertical and horizontal end seams.

Can't tell you how much I appreciate these photos. Thank you!

 

[LPS Bum]

I have the same model (a gen 2 reefer 625). It’s over 3 years old, and I’ve never once had a problem. I’ve set up 2 other gen 2 reefer systems as well, and they’ve never had a problem

Still, there are plenty of reports of Red Sea aquariums failing, even the Gen 2 models. All aquariums, regardless of the manufacturer, pose some degree of risk. That’s a great deal. I say go for it.

 

[Tripod1404]

I got two Red Sea tanks fail. The original failed at around 2.5 year mark, was warranty replaced. And the replacement also failed around 2.5 mark. Simply, never again. My $150 aquaeon tank had less issues in 12 years compared to RS tanks.

In both cases I was able to transfer everything to a rubber tub and drain the tanks before it started to leak. But I can’t properly word how stressful that process was. RS doesn’t agree to replace it until the seam is about to burst. So you will need to live with a ticking time bomb for months. And then, one day, as the seam is about to give up, you need to drain it like an emergency without any planning. I literally had to drain mine at 11 PM, after coming back from a vacation.

They could give life time warranty on the tank and I would still not get one, since cost of the tank is least of my worries when it comes to the risk of a busted seam, which IMO, they did not address.

 

[exnisstech]

Can't tell you how much I appreciate these photos. Thank you!

I wish I could say it was my pleasure but it really isn't. I just like to provide evidence of the failures I've experienced so people can make an informed decision. Just because someone doesn't experience a failure doesn't reduce the risk.
My 300 is under warranty but i haven't filed yet because all they will do is send a new tank. I really do not want to set another RS tank up. If I do get a replacement I'll most likely sell everything and move on.
I have to remove everything in this tank and I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[petcellar]

I have the same model (a gen 2 reefer 625). It’s over 3 years old, and I’ve never once had a problem. I’ve set up 2 other gen 2 reefer systems as well, and they’ve never had a problem

Still, there are plenty of reports of Red Sea aquariums failing, even the Gen 2 models. All aquariums, regardless of the manufacturer, pose some degree of risk. That’s a great deal. I say go for it.

I have a G2 failing now, and not even at the two year old mark yet.

I'd be a bit worried about any G2. For sure they don't all leak, but seems like the G2s are still being a bit of a problem.

If I was bent on getting a Red Sea I'd probably spring for the G3 at this point.

I'm not sure money saved on a G2 would be worth the anxiety.

But obviously YMMV.... just an opinion. :)

 

[Biokabe]

Another Red Sea survivor here.

The warranty on the tank is not worth it. As others have said, it only covers a replacement of the same tank. It doesn't cover livestock, equipment, home damage, or any compensation for the stress of swapping an active tank.

If it were anything other than a tank, I'd say go ahead and roll the dice on something that's a good deal with a warranty. But it is a tank, and unless you've experienced the unique pleasure that is having the water inside of your tank suddenly decide that it would like to be outside of the tank, you really don't know what you're signing yourself up for.

Most likely your tank would not fail; most likely, even if it does fail, it would take several years before it does so. But I personally would never sign up for that. Better to save your money and get something that is far less likely to fail on you.

By the way, you can keep both a tomini tang and a one-spot foxface in a 4' tank without issue. You don't need to go up to 5' if those are your dream fish. If you can swing the space for it I'd still recommend going with a 5' tank, because that just opens up so much for you (especially if fish are what you really like).

 

[dvgyfresh]

It’s not the tank , it’s the silicone they use. They won’t admit to being the silicone and the same type is used in the tanks they make today - wouldn’t touch Red Sea even if it was free…

 

[Mengchhorn Chhun]

I was debated of getting RS 300 too but after going through this forum and see how bad it is, im going with WB now.

 

[IceNein]

It’s not the tank , it’s the silicone they use. They won’t admit to being the silicone and the same type is used in the tanks they make today - wouldn’t touch Red Sea even if it was free…

The thing I just can't wrap my head around is why don't they just change silicone? Let's say for the sake of argument that the silicone isn't actually the problem. Public perception is that it is. This is pushing people away from buying their tanks.

So just change the dang silicone to something proven.

The cost of the silicone is such a small fraction of the overall tank cost. Glass, labor, silicone. It's penny wise pound foolish and the damage is their reputation.

 

[dvgyfresh]

The thing I just can't wrap my head around is why don't they just change silicone? Let's say for the sake of argument that the silicone isn't actually the problem. Public perception is that it is. This is pushing people away from buying their tanks.

So just change the dang silicone to something proven.

The cost of the silicone is such a small fraction of the overall tank cost. Glass, labor, silicone. It's penny wise pound foolish and the damage is their reputation.

It would be them admitting to all their tanks are messed up, I doubt they would want to do that , much easier to do a structural fix then admit that. Not all red seas fail but I have seen enough to not go down that route

 

[exnisstech]

The thing I just can't wrap my head around is why don't they just change silicone? Let's say for the sake of argument that the silicone isn't actually the problem. Public perception is that it is. This is pushing people away from buying their tanks.

So just change the dang silicone to something proven.

The cost of the silicone is such a small fraction of the overall tank cost. Glass, labor, silicone. It's penny wise pound foolish and the damage is their reputation.

I agree with @dvgyfresh they will not admit it. Even if they have changed or do change the silicone I doubt they would admit it. They've already lied about the cause too many times. It was the stands now it's euro bracing that is the cure. I think they only way we'll know the problem is fixed is waiting 5 or 6 years and see if the reported failures start to decline and even that could happen if sales decline. And now they are getting ready to enter the controller arena so much of their focus is probably there. They'll sell a full package with everything needed for a successful reef tank all in one ready to go package including the controller and people will probably buy it. Who doesn't want a single app to run everything?

 

[Largeangels]

After all the stories of RS tank failures I've read on this board I would never take the risk on one. Even if it was for free. I'm not rising damaging the house, loosing everything or having to remove it all to set up in a new tank.

 

[LPS Bum]

I have a G2 failing now, and not even at the two year old mark yet.

I'd be a bit worried about any G2. For sure they don't all leak, but seems like the G2s are still being a bit of a problem.

If I was bent on getting a Red Sea I'd probably spring for the G3 at this point.

I'm not sure money saved on a G2 would be worth the anxiety.

But obviously YMMV.....

I’m sorry to hear that. That’s awful. Yep, exactly. Just an opinion, which we’re all entitled to.

My experiences have fortunately been very different from yours. I’m not defending Red Sea, just stating that I haven’t had any issues. As is human nature, I think the people that have been burned by their Red Sea aquariums failing tend to be very vocal about it, whereas those of us who have not had that problem have little to no reason to mention it under normal circumstances.

All aquariums can leak, regardless of the manufacturer. But as you wrote, YMMV.

 

[petcellar]

Yep, exactly. Just an opinion, which we’re all entitled to.

My experiences have fortunately been very different from yours. I’m not defending Red Sea, just stating that I haven’t had any issues. As is human nature, I think the people that have been burned by their Red Sea aquariums failing tend to be very vocal about it, whereas those of us who have not had that problem have little to no reason to mention it under normal circumstances.

All aquariums can leak, regardless of the manufacturer. But as you wrote, YMMV.

We are both on the same page. Certainly not saying you aren’t entitled to your opinion

 

[LPS Bum]

We are both on the same page. Certainly not saying you aren’t entitled to your opinion

Oh yeah, I understand. I feel bad for you and everyone else who had that happen. It’s an aquarium owner’s worst nightmare. I just hope I don’t join that unfortunate group one day.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I’ve had my RS G2 P500 set up for over a year and a half. No issues and I inspect the seams daily when I’m watching the tank every night. I read all the bad reviews but I also read all the good ones too. I still went with RS after all my research. No tank is perfect and they all have some sort of issues. That is a good deal and I wish I could snag it I’d put it in my basement next to the bar.