What's up with the recent Red Sea Tank failures? 750XXL ? *UPDATE* Design Flaw CONFIRMED by Red Sea !!!

[Ross Petersen]

It would be in the interest of Red Sea (who are invariably reading this thread) to release data on failure rates, and to stop banning good people from their Facebook page. It seems like dozens (if not hundreds) of folks have been given the boot. "Don't bite the hand that feeds" comes to mind.

It is of no surprise that Red Sea are now releasing the S-series... larger tanks with a metal frame, top euro-brace, etc. All their 100+ gallon tanks should come with the option of anodized aluminum stands and increased bracing of the glass.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Thank you all for your responses. I agree 100%. All manufacturers can potentially have issues. It's how they resolve those problems that counts. Having a no hassle replacement for their tank, stand, etc. is very important to me. It would suck to have all the loss of livestock and home damage but there are other things to cover for that. Hopefully those affected didn't have any large premium increases as a result.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

It would be in the interest of Red Sea (who are invariably reading this thread) to release data on failure rates, and to stop banning good people from their Facebook page. It seems like dozens (if not hundreds) of folks have been given the boot. "Don't bite the hand that feeds" comes to mind.

It is of no surprise that Red Sea are now releasing the S-series... larger tanks with a metal frame, top euro-brace, etc. All their 100+ gallon tanks should come with the option of anodized aluminum stands and increased bracing of the glass.

This is something that concerns me. I'm a business owner too so I can understand damage control, but suppressing the information?

My business run more of an "identify and correct" model rather than "deny and deflect", when it comes to issues.

 

[Ross Petersen]

This is something that concerns me. I'm a business owner too so I can understand damage control, but suppressing the information?

My business run more of an "identify and correct" model rather than "deny and deflect", when it comes to issues.

100%. This is why many others are looking at Waterbox, IM, Joe at Glasscages, Planet Aquariums, Cade, and the likes.

 

[1Clown]

If you're in North America I don't see why anyone would opt for a Red Sea tank over a Waterbox, Glasscages, Cade and many many other custom builders out there. It just shows how powerful Red Sea are in this hobby that their tanks are always high on a lot of people's list when looking for new tanks.

 

[Marco S]

If you're in North America I don't see why anyone would opt for a Red Sea tank over a Waterbox, Glasscages, Cade and many many other custom builders out there. It just shows how powerful Red Sea are in this hobby that their tanks are always high on a lot of people's list when looking for new tanks.

CADE was not around when I bought my RS, but aren't they in Australia, not North America?

The ironic thing is when I bought my tank over 2 years ago I had narrowed it down to Red Sea or WaterBox and the main reasons I went with RS was because of the size of their sump and the much larger space to work on the sump and the fact that WaterBox was a lot newer and RS had been in the game for a long time. So two of my three main reasons are directly related to the design flaw in the stand. I am glad that RS sent me the retro fit kit, but I am getting an ulcer with worrying that it was too late and my tank is doomed to fail sooner or later. I check the seems every day and it has affected me enjoying the tank the way I should.

Unfortunately I am currently looking for a replacement tank because of this and will not be going with RS. I am looking at bigger tanks with a Euro brace and metal or solid wood stands. I will never purchase a large tank without a brace and steel or wood stand again.

 

[MikeIkerson]

Red Sea is not a chinese company, they produce their tanks in China like everybody else.

Planet aquarium makes their tanks in Arlington Texas. Last time I checked that wasn’t in China.

 

[PanchoG]

Planet aquarium makes their tanks in Arlington Texas. Last time I checked that wasn’t in China.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

Planet aquarium makes their tanks in Arlington Texas. Last time I checked that wasn’t in China.

Oh yah? Explain this.

 

[Doostur]

Local guy posted this.

 

[PanchoG]

Local guy posted this.

I thought they were replacing the tanks and also providing the new reinforce to avoid this failure mode.

Do you have different feedback?

 

[Ross Petersen]

I thought they were replacing the tanks and also providing the new reinforce to avoid this failure mode.

Do you have different feedback?

I have the peninsula 500 and requested the support brace for peace of mind. Red Sea said it was not needed. As I understand, the peninsula 650s have been given a support brace on new models.

I'm going to humbly request again as there is enough data to provide extra support.

 

[thumbsy]

I was going back and forth between the red sea and waterbox but I just couldn't pull the trigger on either. All the selling points looked too risky. The super clean silicone didn't seem like it had enough. You needed a mat to make sure the bottom panel wouldn't crack from some imperfection. All the high end guys seemed to be going the other way. Reef Savvy had like a eurobraced bottom and armored seams. Elos has a two layered multi paneled bottom with a ton of silicone so the tank can flex a bit.

Eventually I found the Planet Aquariums tanks, which were just like the old Oceanic I was replacing. They are rimless on top, but he bottom has a trim. It sits like a conventional tank, on the trim around the edges so no need for a mat. It's also 15mm glass and has a nice thick bead of silicone. Their internal overflows however are too big and kind of ugly.

 

[Marco S]

Local guy posted this.

Is this an old post or a new one? I am 99.9% sure that I have seen this before.

I know that during the peek it was hard to tell one tank failure from the other and they were all deleted, but this one looks extremely familiar. I remember seeing this pic with everything in the background, the failure where it is and the vise holding it together...so I think that either this is an old post or someone is being very shady.

 

[iMi]

Interesting. Are all models having these issues or just some?

 

[PanchoG]

Interesting. Are all models having these issues or just some?

This is an old issue, the tanks and stands were replaced if they had failures. The other 750XXL tanks received a free reinforcement to solve the issue.

 

[Marco S]

Interesting. Are all models having these issues or just some?

It was specifically the 750 XXL model that RS admitted to the design flaw in the stands for and released a retro fit kit to fix the issues. There were some reports of other tank failures during this time, but RS did not comment on them, (as far as I know) and they all seem to have gone away...so they may or may not have been legit IMO.

 

[Ross Petersen]

I am still awaiting a reply from Red Sea about the quality of construction of my tank (peninsula 500).

Red Sea deletes all feedback on its Facebook page that is remotely constructive, and immediately bans members that do so.

If they make a 750XXL that explodes (literally), it stands to reason some of the other larger models may not stand the test of time.

The glass is half full. Not full. Not empty. Red sea makes some great products (e.g., love their reef wave 25, test kits, and salt). They made a mistake in not being fully honest with their customers and vilifying hundreds by deleting them and banning constructive feedback online. They are now making larger models with eurobracing and a metal stand. This says something.

 

[Marco S]

I am still awaiting a reply from Red Sea about the quality of construction of my tank (peninsula 500).

Red Sea deletes all feedback on its Facebook page that is remotely constructive, and immediately bans members that do so.

If they make a 750XXL that explodes (literally), it stands to reason some of the other larger models may not stand the test of time.

The glass is half full. Not full. Not empty. Red sea makes some great products (e.g., love their reef wave 25, test kits, and salt). They made a mistake in not being fully honest with their customers and vilifying hundreds by deleting them and banning constructive feedback online. They are now making larger models with eurobracing and a metal stand. This says something.

Not sure what you are waiting for...RS has already said that the issue was just with the 750XXLs and no one else has anything to worry about. You probably won't get anything more from them.

EDIT: Figured I would add that most of the tank makers I spoke with when doing my research said that any tank 200 gallons or over would need a euro brace. Most would not make one without it. The RS 750 XXL is only 160 gallons. Their bigger ones they are making now with the euro brace are 200 gallons and over so that goes with what I was told. And the aluminum braced stands just makes sense with tanks of that size. Not sure what you think it says...

 

[Ross Petersen]

Not sure what you are waiting for...RS has already said that the issue was just with the 750XXLs and no one else has anything to worry about. You probably won't get anything more from them.

EDIT: Figured I would add that most of the tank makers I spoke with when doing my research said that any tank 200 gallons or over would need a euro brace. Most would not make one without it. The RS 750 XXL is only 160 gallons. Their bigger ones they are making now with the euro brace are 200 gallons and over so that goes with what I was told. And the aluminum braced stands just makes sense with tanks of that size. Not sure what you think it says...

So what they say is the holistic truth? Is it possible that they, or any other company, would not disclose full data for optics sake?