Reef Factory - My opinion!

[CasperOe]

I recently came across some pretty harsh criticism of Reef Factory; a Polish manufacturer of reefing equipment being introduced into the US market via BRS most noticeably being marketed in the US market by BRS. First, I want to offer my sympathies to the individual who wrote the "review", it's frustrating to say the least when support from these companies doesn't manage to sort out our issues within the time frame we're expecting.

Now, to "balance" that thread, allow me to share my experience with Reef Factory.

I have been a customer of RF pretty much since they entered the UK market and as with any other maker (.. and new start company!) I have experienced ups and downs as well. However, as a general, while issues have been had, I have had nothing but support when any issues have arisen.

Lukasz and Maksym from the support team are both knowledgeable and helpful. What I have seen though over the past 12-18 months is that response time has gone down quite drastically as RF have expanded their business to cover the Australian- and now the US market. This needs to be addressed - and Marek (one of the founders) are aware of this already.

I would recommend RF!

You can always find the bad reviews; just go on Trust Pilot or any similar services online. No-one writes a long post like this just to tell other reefers how awesome a brand is. You will find similar bad feedback towards Neptune Systems, CoralVue and other makers of automation products as well.

Here's my short opinion on all the products that I owned (.. and the ones that I have sold!):

KH Keeper Plus - Has been solid for me for almost three years. Within the first two months I had the PH probe changed under warranty. Towards the two years mark, the reading started to drift so I changed the probe myself to the new glass-type. It is worth noticing that I change all my PH probes every two years. I calibrate the unit every three months (.. or when I remember). I would say that it's a bit cheaply build with flimsy plastic and acrylic and that it can be a little noisy - but it does what it's supposed to do.

Smart Tester - I have two unites; one for PO4 which works flawlessly and just does what it's supposed to do - and one for Mg. The Mg reagents does not seem to work properly which is a shame. I have tried four batches and I have yet to make it work properly.
Now, I don't worry too much about that - I will not be using the unit for Mg but for NO3. Needless to say though, RF should ensure that working reagents are supplied to their customers.

Power Switcher - I use three. They work. No issues to report.

Thermo Control - I use three. They work - and they look awfully slick on the wall. One issue I have with these is the price point. They are too expensive for what they are; yet I bought three anyway. Supply and demand I suppose. RF can charge what people are willing to pay.

Smart Roller - An absolute work horse. I tried it out for 6 months from release and I had no issues. Again, it feels a little flimsy, but it does what it is supposed to to. It is not as well build as the Red Sea one though. I bought it to try it- then I sold it when again. If you're invested in RF then get it. If you don't care about brand, one app for all etc. then get the Red Sea.

Smart Feeder - I have one! It's basically an Eheim autofeeder in fancy clothes which is not necessarily a bad thing! RF chose to rebrand one of the most solid units on the market and add their own touches and smart-functionality to it. I approve! And it is somewhat reasonably priced considering other "smart" options on the market.

Smart Wave - Ah, another rebrand; this time a Jebao powerhead! As with the Smart Feeder, RF has gone with a rebrand-approach to one of the most solid units on the market and add their own touches and smart-functionality to it. Now, this one is (in my opinion!) too expensive! I got one to try it out. I am happy with it and I will keep it- but you'd be just as well off with a Nero 3 - or simply a Jebao!

Dosing Pump Pro X1/X4 - Hands down the best dosing pumps I have ever used. Build like a brick house, silent AF and so, so easy to mount, set up and calibrate. Over the moon for these ones, would recommend anyone to buy them ASAP.

Dosing Pump (the old one!) - Cheaply build, flimsy, plastic - Not worth it! Sorry RF, this was a terrible product! The housing cracked, WiFi didn't work, calibration would last a Sunday morning etc. Nah, this was an own goal!

Salinity Guardian - Had the probe changed three times under warranty, when the fourth probe arrived broken in the mail, I wanted my money back. I never got this unit to work properly. Now; what I will say is that I got a steady salinity reading, it just wasn't the actual salinity. I have the same issue with the Neptune Apex - so I think it's down to the fact that it is just very, very hard to make conductivity probes work properly.

PH Meter - Well, it works! Nothing to say.. Changed the probe after two years to the new glass type. As stated above, I would change my probes after two years anyway!

- - - - - - - - - -

Now, for the things I havent tried yet - the lights! While I have no intention of buying the Reef Flare Pro lights as I already have a handful of Radion G6's (unless someone wants to swap me??) - I do intent to purchase the new Reef LED bars once released in the UK.

I am choosing these over the AI Blades as I have seen really, really good results with the G1 at one of my local shops here in Glasgow. My experience with them once they arrive will be covered in my build thread

Thanks for reading along - I felt this topic needed a second opinion! I am happy to elaborate further on the points above if anyone needs any more information.

Happy reefing!

 

[1112-425XL]

Good info, very thorough! Thanks for taking the time.

 

[CasperOe]

Good info, very thorough! Thanks for taking the time.

I felt a strong urge to vent my opinion! It's not often I can get anyone to actually listen..

 

[1112-425XL]

I felt a strong urge to vent my opinion! It's not often I can get anyone to actually listen..

Some opinions carry much more weight than others...

 

[merkmerk73]

You posted this exact same post in the reef factory thread, and now you wanted to make another thread to post the same stuff?

Are you gettin paid by them or something?

I'm half polish so I want to support the company, and the girl they use in their youtube vids is hot so there's another plus, but I haven't been impressed with how difficult it is to get their equipment setup and calibrated.

And offering low range calibration solution is insane - we should be calibrating between 7 and 10, or 4, 7, and 10 - not just 4 and 7.

 

[Naturalreef]

I recently came across some pretty harsh criticism of Reef Factory; a Polish manufacturer of reefing equipment being introduced into the US market via BRS. First, I want to offer my sympathies to the individual who wrote the "review", it's frustrating to say the least when support from these companies doesn't manage to sort out our issues within the time frame we're expecting.

Now, to "balance" that thread, allow me to share my experience with Reef Factory.

I have been a customer of RF pretty much since they entered the UK market and as with any other maker (.. and new start company!) I have experienced ups and downs as well. However, as a general, while issues have been had, I have had nothing but support when any issues have arisen.

Lukasz and Maksym from the support team are both knowledgeable and helpful. What I have seen though over the past 12-18 months is that response time has gone down quite drastically as RF have expanded their business to cover the Australian- and now the US market. This needs to be addressed - and Marek (one of the founders) are aware of this already.

I would recommend RF!

You can always find the bad reviews; just go on Trust Pilot or any similar services online. No-one writes a long post like this just to tell other reefers how awesome a brand is. You will find similar bad feedback towards Neptune Systems, CoralVue and other makers of automation products as well.

Here's my short opinion on all the products that I owned (.. and the ones that I have sold!):

KH Keeper Plus - Has been solid for me for almost three years. Within the first two months I had the PH probe changed under warranty. Towards the two years mark, the reading started to drift so I changed the probe myself to the new glass-type. It is worth noticing that I change all my PH probes every two years. I calibrate the unit every three months (.. or when I remember). I would say that it's a bit cheaply build with flimsy plastic and acrylic and that it can be a little noisy - but it does what it's supposed to do.

Smart Tester - I have two unites; one for PO4 which works flawlessly and just does what it's supposed to do - and one for Mg. The Mg reagents does not seem to work properly which is a shame. I have tried four batches and I have yet to make it work properly.
Now, I don't worry too much about that - I will not be using the unit for Mg but for NO3. Needless to say though, RF should ensure that working reagents are supplied to their customers.

Power Switcher - I use three. They work. No issues to report.

Thermo Control - I use three. They work - and they look awfully slick on the wall. One issue I have with these is the price point. They are too expensive for what they are; yet I bought three anyway. Supply and demand I suppose. RF can charge what people are willing to pay.

Smart Roller - An absolute work horse. I tried it out for 6 months from release and I had no issues. Again, it feels a little flimsy, but it does what it is supposed to to. It is not as well build as the Red Sea one though. I bought it to try it- then I sold it when again. If you're invested in RF then get it. If you don't care about brand, one app for all etc. then get the Red Sea.

Smart Feeder - I have one! It's basically an Eheim autofeeder in fancy clothes which is not necessarily a bad thing! RF chose to rebrand one of the most solid units on the market and add their own touches and smart-functionality to it. I approve! And it is somewhat reasonably priced considering other "smart" options on the market.

Smart Wave - Ah, another rebrand; this time a Jebao powerhead! As with the Smart Feeder, RF has gone with a rebrand-approach to one of the most solid units on the market and add their own touches and smart-functionality to it. Now, this one is (in my opinion!) too expensive! I got one to try it out. I am happy with it and I will keep it- but you'd be just as well off with a Nero 3 - or simply a Jebao!

Dosing Pump Pro X1/X4 - Hands down the best dosing pumps I have ever used. Build like a brick house, silent AF and so, so easy to mount, set up and calibrate. Over the moon for these ones, would recommend anyone to buy them ASAP.

Dosing Pump (the old one!) - Cheaply build, flimsy, plastic - Not worth it! Sorry RF, this was a terrible product! The housing cracked, WiFi didn't work, calibration would last a Sunday morning etc. Nah, this was an own goal!

Salinity Guardian - Had the probe changed three times under warranty, when the fourth probe arrived broken in the mail, I wanted my money back. I never got this unit to work properly. Now; what I will say is that I got a steady salinity reading, it just wasn't the actual salinity. I have the same issue with the Neptune Apex - so I think it's down to the fact that it is just very, very hard to make conductivity probes work properly.

PH Meter - Well, it works! Nothing to say.. Changed the probe after two years to the new glass type. As stated above, I would change my probes after two years anyway!

- - - - - - - - - -

Now, for the things I havent tried yet - the lights! While I have no intention of buying the Reef Flare Pro lights as I already have a handful of Radion G6's (unless someone wants to swap me??) - I do intent to purchase the new Reef LED bars once released in the UK.

I am choosing these over the AI Blades as I have seen really, really good results with the G1 at one of my local shops here in Glasgow. My experience with them once they arrive will be covered in my build thread

Thanks for reading along - I felt this topic needed a second opinion! I am happy to elaborate further on the points above if anyone needs any more information.

Happy reefing!

Thanks for the detailed review! My keeper is consistently 1dkh off. Probe is spot on, calibration is spot on, reagent mix is spot on. Tried all 3 mixing speeds. Can’t figure out what else to check.

 

[CasperOe]

Thanks for the detailed review! My keeper is consistently 1dkh off. Probe is spot on, calibration is spot on, reagent mix is spot on. Tried all 3 mixing speeds. Can’t figure out what else to check.

TBF, what you want is a trend; whether it is 1dKH off constantly doesn't really matter too much- as long as it is constant Most importantly is that you know- and then you can take it from there..

What are you comparing it against if I may ask?

Mine is about 0.5-0.6 off my Hanna checker. As long as I know- then I am quite happy! it's about the trend for me, i don't really care if it read 8,9 or 10 - as long as I know what's going on..

 

[CasperOe]

You posted this exact same post in the reef factory thread, and now you wanted to make another thread to post the same stuff?

Are you gettin paid by them or something?

I'm half polish so I want to support the company, and the girl they use in their youtube vids is hot so there's another plus, but I haven't been impressed with how difficult it is to get their equipment setup and calibrated.

And offering low range calibration solution is insane - we should be calibrating between 7 and 10, or 4, 7, and 10 - not just 4 and 7.

Nope- I get paid nothing! But thank you for your input- the thread this was posted in originally is closed for comments- it's between the vendor and the customer only - so I thought I'd give it up in an open forum where people can actually debate!

Thats more fair, don't you think?

If you may share your opinion, so may I! That's the beauty of this forum

As for calibration solution, I am using Hanna 4 / 7. Easily accessible most places online. Works a treat.

 

[Naturalreef]

TBF, what you want is a trend; whether it is 1dKH off constantly doesn't really matter too much- as long as it is constant Most importantly is that you know- and then you can take it from there..

What are you comparing it against if I may ask?

Mine is about 0.5-0.6 off my Hanna checker. As long as I know- then I am quite happy! it's about the trend for me, i don't really care if it read 8,9 or 10 - as long as I know what's going on..

Thanks for the reply! I should have stated, it constantly varies with its readings. It’s 1 dkh off from my Alkatronic, Mastertronic and Hanna alk tester. They are all within .1 dkh except the keeper. All 3 other testers are consistent. If the keeper would be off by 1 dkh and show consistency, I would feel better.

But with a new tank of expensive Sps frags, I’m not willing to trust it in its current state. The keeper would definitely be causing alk swings if I let it do its thing. My Alkatronic was rock steady and I mean rock steady, but it won’t fit in the new location. I have been using automatic testers since they came out and am familiar with maintaining them and calibrating them. I’m out of ideas with why this one is jumping around.

I use Bactobalance and thought there might be a film, but probe was clean. Keeper led is also off so it doesn’t promote growth of bacteria or algae.

 

[CasperOe]

Thanks for the reply! I should have stated, it constantly varies with its readings. It’s 1 dkh off from my Alkatronic, Mastertronic and Hanna alk tester. They are all within .1 dkh except the keeper. All 3 other testers are consistent. If the keeper would be off by 1 dkh and show consistency, I would feel better.

But with a new tank of expensive Sps frags, I’m not willing to trust it in its current state. The keeper would definitely be causing alk swings if I let it do its thing. My Alkatronic was rock steady and I mean rock steady, but it won’t fit in the new location. I have been using automatic testers since they came out and am familiar with maintaining them and calibrating them. I’m out of ideas with why this one is jumping around.

I use Bactobalance and thought there might be a film, but probe was clean. Keeper led is also off so it doesn’t promote growth of bacteria or algae.

Aha, I see! Now that's a slightly different issue I agree! That would keep me on my toes as well for sure, auto tester are no good if you can't trust them (..somewhat!).

Just out of curiosity, are you using the new glass-style probe or the older plastic one that the unit was originally shipped with? I have had some issues with the old probe in both the KH Keeper and the PH meter but the new glass-style one seems to be solid so far!

I have never owned the Alkatronic, wanted to get one but ended up going with RF and Apex.

 

[Naturalreef]

Aha, I see! Now that's a slightly different issue I agree! That would keep me on my toes as well for sure, auto tester are no good if you can't trust them (..somewhat!).

Just out of curiosity, are you using the new glass-style probe or the older plastic one that the unit was originally shipped with? I have had some issues with the old probe in both the KH Keeper and the PH meter but the new glass-style one seems to be solid so far!

I have never owned the Alkatronic, wanted to get one but ended up going with RF and Apex.

It came with the old plastic version. But every time I check it, it’s spot on with ph 4 and 7. The last thing I may try before ditching it and installing the hydros alk tester, is to change out the reagent pink nozzle. I noticed that the stream looks a little restricted during a test. Even though it dispenses a set amount during calibration, I wonder if it’s not dispensing enough during a test for the ph probe to notice a drop at the correct time if that makes sense. I like how compact the equipment is, which is why I’m spending extra time to figure this out.

 

[CasperOe]

It came with the old plastic version. But every time I check it, it’s spot on with ph 4 and 7. The last thing I may try before ditching it and installing the hydros alk tester, is to change out the reagent pink nozzle. I noticed that the stream looks a little restricted during a test. Even though it dispenses a set amount during calibration, I wonder if it’s not dispensing enough during a test for the ph probe to notice a drop at the correct time if that makes sense. I like how compact the equipment is, which is why I’m spending extra time to figure this out.

I hope you get it sorted out! The idea with these testers are to make our lives easier! I do enjoy to tinker with these things, but at my own initiative - not because it's broken!

The amount of times I've had to take my Trident apart because something wasn't working.. At least now I know the inner works of the unit very, very well

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

Great review.
I think people can be a little suspicious with RF reviews on social media as they are known to sponsor a few "well known" UK reefers on Instagram & YouTube who are very vocal in their posts regarding the items.
an unbiased review is refreshing.
I haven't had much experience, purely the single doser & roller & I must say the quality of my redsea units did blow both away.
As mentioned previously I would consider the smart tester for phosphate but it's punchy price point may keep me using the hanna.

 

[CasperOe]

Great review.
I think people can be a little suspicious with RF reviews on social media as they are known to sponsor a few "well known" UK reefers on Instagram & YouTube who are very vocal in their posts regarding the items.
an unbiased review is refreshing.
I haven't had much experience, purely the single doser & roller & I must say the quality of my redsea units did blow both away.
As mentioned previously I would consider the smart tester for phosphate but it's punchy price point may keep me using the hanna.

I wish I was sponsored- and here I am having to pay for all my stuff myself! It's a disgrace really!

As stated above, my Smart Tester (PO4) is working really, really well. The Mg.... ehm, it's a bit more tricky! They have promised me a couple of reagent sets of the pre-release NO3 because I keep pestering them; so maybe I will be "fully sponsored" one day.. Doubt it though..

 

[Thales]

I recently came across some pretty harsh criticism of Reef Factory; a Polish manufacturer of reefing equipment being introduced into the US market via BRS.

BRS isn't introducing the US market to RF. Several smaller distributors have been working with RF for a year and a half or more, spending lots of time and effort on helping RF refine their products and introduce them to the market. RF recently decided to go with BRS, leaving the other folks high and dry.

 

[CasperOe]

BRS isn't introducing the US market to RF. Several smaller distributors have been working with RF for a year and a half or more, spending lots of time and effort on helping RF refine their products and introduce them to the market. RF recently decided to go with BRS, leaving the other folks high and dry.

I didn't know that, that's a shame! I will correct that up on the top- thanks for highlighting that! We have had a couple of changes to the UK distributors as well.

 

[chousecat]

I have the Reef Factory 4 head doser that I like a lot, have had it for about a year now. I couldn't believe how good of a deal it was price wise. Super reliable, great interface and it was like a good $100 cheaper than the Red Sea one. Contemplating on getting their Salinity Guardian and Level Keeper. When I get a bigger tank I want to get two X1 Pros to do AWCs.

 

[CasperOe]

I have the Reef Factory 4 head doser that I like a lot, have had it for about a year now. I couldn't believe how good of a deal it was price wise. Super reliable, great interface and it was like a good $100 cheaper than the Red Sea one. Contemplating on getting their Salinity Guardian and Level Keeper. When I get a bigger tank I want to get two X1 Pros to do AWCs.

I am glad you have had a better experience with the "old" dosing pump than I did.. One if the not so good products in my experience, so it's nice to see there's good ones out there as well!

When you get the salinity guardian, don't expect the world! You will likely not get a "correct" reading- but most a trend if anything is changing..

 

[gbroadbridge]

And offering low range calibration solution is insane - we should be calibrating between 7 and 10, or 4, 7, and 10 - not just 4 and 7.

The endpoint of an Alkalinity titration is around pH 4.5.

Calibrating the pH probe at 7 and 10 would be insane when you are trying to accurately measure pH 4.5.

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

I am glad you have had a better experience with the "old" dosing pump than I did.. One if the not so good products in my experience, so it's nice to see there's good ones out there as well!

When you get the salinity guardian, don't expect the world! You will likely not get a "correct" reading- but most a trend if anything is changing..

I think this is my issue with a lot of this automation tech.
This isn't aimed at reef factory specifically in any way I must add.
I know we are using hobby grade equipment & salinity probes are finicky but a vague "trend" isn't good enough for me.
£300+ for misinformation doesn't appeal.
My £25 refractometer can give me a precise reading(if correctly calibrated of course).
It's more work which is the trade off of course