What do you guys think about these HelloReef kits?

[Crabs McJones]

canned bread is real. just fyi

Ever have cheeseburger in a can? I assume it tastes exactly how we think it would taste lol

 

[ieatbugman]

I kinda want to eat that now.

Ever have cheeseburger in a can? I assume it tastes exactly how we think it would taste lol

 

[mmodo]

I can see the appeal to having one but I don't think it would meet my needs as a hobbyist unless I really wanted a small office tank for some reason. I personally don't care for cube tanks and I think the AIO set up this one has allows for more fish deaths because it's sort of set up as an "all you need" without any further research needed and it's just a small tank.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I kinda want to eat that now.

Right there with you, I'm curious now to see how it tastes

 

[X-37B]

Looks like a decent system.
I went with the IM 15 for a little over $100. This way I could add what I wanted. The Kraken lid was more than the tank, lol.

 

[cba191]

I'm thinking about the red sea 20g for 750. I do t have anything currently.

 

[IceNein]

I'm thinking about the red sea 20g for 750. I do t have anything currently.

Please rethink the Red Sea tanks. Do some research on their long history of failures. Supposedly the problems have been fixed with the newer generations, but in my opinion the G2 line has not been out long enough to know for certain if they have.

 

[rtparty]

I like the tank, and the blade light. The Carib sea rock is terrible, the power head is terrible, the sicce return pump is terrible. There’s no incorporated top off, not even a bottle fill gravity type. No temp controller either.

Would rather have seen it like this
-tank
-blade
-auto top off of sorts
-ioaoi dc controllable return pump
-INKBIRD temp controller with heater
-Marco rock instead of carb sea rock
-buy your own flow pump because the stock one is junk.

It certainly doesn’t have everything that’s needed but it’s marketed well and people will buy it. Not a fan.

After seeing plenty of “tests” with the new Marco rock, I’d never touch it

When put in the ocean, it won’t grow anything for years. Many, many reefers have struggled with in the last couple years as well. They swap it out and boom, instant change in the tank

 

[jackson6745]

After seeing plenty of “tests” with the new Marco rock, I’d never touch it

When put in the ocean, it won’t grow anything for years. Many, many reefers have struggled with in the last couple years as well. They swap it out and boom, instant change in the tank

Interesting, first I’m hearing about this. I’ll search it . My experience with Marco has been the opposite. I’m not even a dry rock fan, but I have added Marco rock structures from Chandler rocks to 2 systems (also containing Australian live rock) and they have become freckled with Coraline in 7 weeks and look natural in a few months. The acros and ICP tests have all been on point, so it’s not leeching anything. I’ll try putting an encrusting Monti on it, which I never do, just to see if it encrusts the rock lol.

With these hello reef kits, I was given one for my son back in December. The kit is missing a lot of necessary stuff so it was an added expense of a gift lol. The Carib sea rock that came with it was very dense. Like purple painted lead lol. The thing that I found odd is when I was drilling the rock, it was more like I was drilling into a resin rather than natural rock. Not sure where they source their rock, or if it’s synthetic, but it was dense bricks with no porosity, the attributes which make rock poor quality.

Another thing to think about.
I ordered a live Marco rock package last summer, which is essentially dry macro in the ocean for a few years, and it came in loaded with life. Not sure where guys aren’t getting ocean life on it. Something is suspect there.

 

[rtparty]

Interesting, first I’m hearing about this. I’ll search it . My experience with Marco has been the opposite. I’m not even a dry rock fan, but I have added Marco rock structures from Chandler rocks to 2 systems (also containing Australian live rock) and they have become freckled with Coraline in 7 weeks and look natural in a few months. The acros and ICP tests have all been on point, so it’s not leeching anything. I’ll try putting an encrusting Monti on it, which I never do, just to see if it encrusts the rock lol.

With these hello reef kits, I was given one for my son back in December. The kit is missing a lot of necessary stuff so it was an added expense of a gift lol. The Carib sea rock that came with it was very dense. Like purple painted lead lol. The thing that I found odd is when I was drilling the rock, it was more like I was drilling into a resin rather than natural rock. Not sure where they source their rock, or if it’s synthetic, but it was dense bricks with no porosity, the attributes which make rock poor quality.

Another thing to think about.
I ordered a live Marco rock package last summer, which is essentially dry macro in the ocean for a few years, and it came in loaded with life. Not sure where guys aren’t getting ocean life on it. Something is suspect there.

My old Marco rock grew coralline very quickly as well. It was the switch recently, like last couple years.

I believe we will see some experiments with growing frags on different medias in the near future to see if any of them work “better” than others

 

[Anna K]

I think it's a great little tank, especially when it comes to offering videos to explain everything. People might call this a Walmart/PetSmart/PetCo tank, but for some people, that's all they really have. So don't knock people who want to get into a hobby with the bare minimums for right now. You always need fresh blood to keep something alive, and if a small kit like this is the key to get more people interested/invested in saltwater and the care for it, then I'm for it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I will say, I saw these in person at RAP Orlando this year. They are neat little tanks, and nice for those who want to get their feet wet in the hobby.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

I’ve yet to come across a kit that didn’t sneak in some suboptimal components to make up their profit margin.

You are better off just piecing out a system.

A nano reef without an ATO is just asking for trouble.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

I will say, I saw these in person at RAP Orlando this year. They are neat little tanks, and nice for those who want to get their feet wet in the hobby.

Big difference between setting one up for a day to sell them and actually owning one long term.

Targeting impulse buyers.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

Ever have cheeseburger in a can? I assume it tastes exactly how we think it would taste lol

The American genome cannot be the same as the rest of ours.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

For me, ATOs have never been necessary on my nano or pico tanks. I also keep a fairly sealed lid and an air pump. Been like this for years but if you don't have a lid and live in a dry place, you should have one.

I have seen these in person and seem to be great. Just about the same as any other reef kit. BRS even had their own kits. I have yet to see a kit, even a bare bone that didn't need to have parts swapped.

Look for the tank that has the size and fit you want. Most of the stuff you will want to swap out. If the tank in the kit does work, see if you can buy just the tank and price out the rest.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

For me, ATOs have never been necessary on my nano or pico tanks. I also keep a fairly sealed lid and an air pump. Been like this for years but if you don't have a lid and live in a dry place, you should have one.

I have seen these in person and seem to be great. Just about the same as any other reef kit. BRS even had their own kits. I have yet to see a kit, even a bare bone that didn't need to have parts swapped.

Look for the tank that has the size and fit you want. Most of the stuff you will want to swap out. If the tank in the kit does work, see if you can buy just the tank and price out the rest.

I've never had an ATO on my pico tank as well. I just keep a bowl of RO water beside it and top it off every couple of days

 

[IceNein]

Oh man, I do not understand people who don't use an ATO. It was literally my first purchase. For me, living in a coastal city, so not super dry, I found that after about three days the return pump seemed dangerously close to being uncovered. I ordered a ReefBreeers ATO for under $100 and it's been working like a champ for the last eight months. A+++, would buy again.

 

[Besieged]

From the same episode

Canned bread...

Isn't that beer?

 

[Besieged]

Oh man, I do not understand people who don't use an ATO. It was literally my first purchase. For me, living in a coastal city, so not super dry, I found that after about three days the return pump seemed dangerously close to being uncovered. I ordered a ReefBreeers ATO for under $100 and it's been working like a champ for the last eight months. A+++, would buy again.

Wasn't quite my first purchase, but definitely one of the first, and had it well before water ever went in my system.

Didn't have one on my last tank ~17 years ago, and it was a constant struggle. Many other things I did wrong on that system, but keeping up with evap was always a chore.

As it is, on my combined 64 gallon system, I go through about half a gallon or more per day. Far better and easier to let the ATO do the work and minimize salinity swings than having to make habit of doing it by hand, whether it was every day (unlikely) or wound up being every few days (far more likely) and making the livestock suffer for it.