RedSea ReefControl

[Reef Jedi]

Who's seen the new RedSea Reef control? I didn't know they were working on a controller but at this point I feel they are very late to the game. Not sure if they are taking a page from apple's book and refining products that are already on the market and making it the best. Or if this will crack like their tanks. What are your thoughts?

What are your thoughts on this entering the market?

Do you think it will be better than Apex or Hydros?

Would you run out to buy one?

Lets discuss,

https://redseafish.com/smart-hardware/reefcontrol/

 

[Biokabe]

I personally don't care how well their controller system works. The way that they have handled their tanks is abhorrent and I refuse to give them my money until they can show years of good behavior.

But putting those feelings aside... I'm not sure that it really adds much that isn't covered by Apex. I notice that their discussion about the control only references controlling your tank from your phone with no mention of a desktop app, which is a complete nonstarter for me. If any control system doesn't include a way to control the tank from my desktop, I have absolutely zero interest.

 

[Bear22]

RedSea must be having issues with this controller system. They keep announcing dates for being on the shelves, but keeping pushing the date later and later in the year.

 

[EnterName]

I had a Reefer 625XXL (G1) and fortunately was able to replace it before it failed but it had shown first signs of a seam failure.

I had their ReefWave wavemakers that had to be cleaned extremely often or mucus would reduce their output to basically zero without you being able to tell from just looking at them. Small snails can get stuck in them and then you would need to disassemble the whole thing to make it work again. One of the two pumps I had failed completely within 2 years and had to be replaced.

I had the old RSK skimmer which overflows all the time and now have the new one with the overflow sensor. This works somewhat decently, but it still happens from time to time. The "integrated neck cleaner" causes detritus to accumulate extremely fast and then dropping down into the tank again.

I had their ReefLEDs where the AC/DC adapters failed very often causing the GFCI to trip. I had to replace all 3 of them until they seemingly upgraded them to hold for a bit longer than 12 months. They got very hot all the time and once they failed they even smoked a bit.

I will never buy a single product from them ever again if I can avoid it.

• They are willing to risk the life of my tank inhabitants, and me having to pay thousands in damages for a flooded living room.
• They are willing to repeatedly send me fire hazards disguised as AC/DC adapters even though I paid a lot of money for their LEDs and 5 bucks in additional production value would have probably fixed the issue.
• They openly admit to be incapable of building safe rimless tanks by putting an eurobrace around their new ones. Instead of fixing their bad silicone issue they just use more of it hoping it will help. They already use insanely thick glass which makes finding magnet-based products difficult and expensive.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I personally don't care how well their controller system works. The way that they have handled their tanks is abhorrent and I refuse to give them my money until they can show years of good behavior.

But putting those feelings aside... I'm not sure that it really adds much that isn't covered by Apex. I notice that their discussion about the control only references controlling your tank from your phone with no mention of a desktop app, which is a complete nonstarter for me. If any control system doesn't include a way to control the tank from my desktop, I have absolutely zero interest.

I also didn’t see any mention of desktop usability anywhere. My only gripe with my apex is the salinity probe. Not sure if any other option is better in that department but that’s the one probe that consistently drifts. Otherwise I’ll keep the apex course.

I had a Reefer 625XXL (G1) and fortunately was able to replace it before it failed but it had shown first signs of a seam failure.

I had their ReefWave wavemakers that had to be cleaned extremely often or mucus would reduce their output to basically zero without you being able to tell from just looking at them. Small snails can get stuck in them and then you would need to disassemble the whole thing to make it work again. One of the two pumps I had failed completely within 2 years and had to be replaced.

I had the old RSK skimmer which overflows all the time and now have the new one with the overflow sensor. This works somewhat decently, but it still happens from time to time. The "integrated neck cleaner" causes detritus to accumulate extremely fast and then dropping down into the tank again.

I had their ReefLEDs where the AC/DC adapters failed very often causing the GFCI to trip. I had to replace all 3 of them until they seemingly upgraded them to hold for a bit longer than 12 months. They got very hot all the time and once they failed they even smoked a bit.

I will never buy a single product from them ever again if I can avoid it.

• They are willing to risk the life of my tank inhabitants, and me having to pay thousands in damages for a flooded living room.
• They are willing to repeatedly send me fire hazards disguised as AC/DC adapters even though I paid a lot of money for their LEDs and 5 bucks in additional production value would have probably fixed the issue.
• They openly admit to be incapable of building safe rimless tanks by putting an eurobrace around their new ones. Instead of fixing their bad silicone issue they just use more of it hoping it will help. They already use insanely thick glass which makes finding magnet-based products difficult and expensive.

What did you switch to? I didn’t know about all the failures when I bought my P500 G2. It wasn’t until after I found out and was stuck for a while. Now I’ve been eyeballing a eshopps mariner.

 

[EnterName]

I personally don't care how well their controller system works. The way that they have handled their tanks is abhorrent and I refuse to give them my money until they can show years of good behavior.

But putting those feelings aside... I'm not sure that it really adds much that isn't covered by Apex. I notice that their discussion about the control only references controlling your tank from your phone with no mention of a desktop app, which is a complete nonstarter for me. If any control system doesn't include a way to control the tank from my desktop, I have absolutely zero interest.

I also didn’t see any mention of desktop usability anywhere. My only gripe with my apex is the salinity probe. Not sure if any other option is better in that department but that’s the one probe that consistently drifts. Otherwise I’ll keep the apex course.

I had a Reefer 625XXL (G1) and fortunately was able to replace it before it failed but it had shown first signs of a seam failure.

I had their ReefWave wavemakers that had to be cleaned extremely often or mucus would reduce their output to basically zero without you being able to tell from just looking at them. Small snails can get stuck in them and then you would need to disassemble the whole thing to make it work again. One of the two pumps I had failed completely within 2 years and had to be replaced.

I had the old RSK skimmer which overflows all the time and now have the new one with the overflow sensor. This works somewhat decently, but it still happens from time to time. The "integrated neck cleaner" causes detritus to accumulate extremely fast and then dropping down into the tank again.

I had their ReefLEDs where the AC/DC adapters failed very often causing the GFCI to trip. I had to replace all 3 of them until they seemingly upgraded them to hold for a bit longer than 12 months. They got very hot all the time and once they failed they even smoked a bit.

I will never buy a single product from them ever again if I can avoid it.

• They are willing to risk the life of my tank inhabitants, and me having to pay thousands in damages for a flooded living room.
• They are willing to repeatedly send me fire hazards disguised as AC/DC adapters even though I paid a lot of money for their LEDs and 5 bucks in additional production value would have probably fixed the issue.
• They openly admit to be incapable of building safe rimless tanks by putting an eurobrace around their new ones. Instead of fixing their bad silicone issue they just use more of it hoping it will help. They already use insanely thick glass which makes finding magnet-based products difficult and expensive.

What did you switch to? I didn’t know about all the failures when I bought my P500 G2. It wasn’t until after I found out and was stuck for a while. Now I’ve been eyeballing a eshopps mariner.

I have a Giesemann tank now and am quite happy with it.

 

[slingfox]

If I didn’t already have Hydros I might have given the RedSea system a shot if it is reasonably rocked. The RedSea app which I use to track my ATO, Reefmat, skimmer, and return pump is far better than Hydros and Möbius.

 

[LittleMaui]

It would be great to hear from some actual owners/users of the new Reefcontrol and powerbars. Nearly every video I see is just advertising hype. I'm curious, how is the WiFi since it has not network port, how does the bluetooth connections work, are the devices stable, can we do automations like APEX. Also, I use Home Assistant. Anyone used the github HACS to control the devices locally?

 

[LittleMaui]

Checking back in on this post. Anyone purchased the new Red Sea Reefcontrol or Reefcontrol Power 8? I added Reefcontrol Pro, 2 Power bars, 2 pH probes and an ORP probe to my system recently. Overall, a good experience. Unfortunately, Red Sea doesn't appreciate any feedback that might help improve the new products. Group members on Facebook are removed from the Red Sea group if they post any critical feedback or opportunities for improvement, with other users.

Some pros/cons of the Reefcontrol & Reefcontrol Power 8's I added:

Pros -
* Social media has focused on ease of use of the new Red Sea ecosystem of devices. Setup is simple and the Reefbeat app works for me.
* I added 2 pH probes and an ORP - setup was easy and straightforward. My ORP has been reading around 100 for 1 1/2 weeks now, which is not consistent with my previous probe, but I'm giving it time.
* WIFI - with no network port, WIFI is critical. So far so good.
* The ability to hardwire a power bar to the Reefcontrol Pro is nice and will likely ensure reliability when offline.

Cons -
* While the system can support 2 Power Bars - it's important to know that the outlets on a 2nd bar CAN NOT be controlled by probes on the other bar or main controller. For example, if you have heaters on both bars, you would have to add another temp probe to the 2nd bar to control that heater.
* Power bars CAN NOT be daisy chained. You can connect one power bar to a controller, but the 2nd bar is "stand alone".
* While easy of use, advanced reefers will likely look elsewhere. The ecosystem doesn't support any advanced programming. Each power bar outlet has 3 options - on/off, schedule and sensor (ie. temp,pH) control.

For smart home enthusiast familiar with Home Assistant, you can greatly expand the usefulness of these devices by using Home Assistant's Reefbeat integration. This is a game changer for anyone wanting to complete more advanced control of the devices and integrate them with other home automation. Be cautions - this also complicates things and increases risks of failure.

I look forward to hearing other users input!

 

[exnisstech]

Red Sea doesn't appreciate any feedback that might help improve the new products

Typical RS. If you can't sing praises they don't want to hear it.

 

[BryanM]

My truth is simply this, RS doesn't admit fault or really help at all regarding their failed tanks, and I refuse to give them $$$.