Why do people support Red Sea?

[NuckChorris]

So as the title suggests, why do people continue to support Red Sea? I just saw on another site, ANOTHER complete seam failure. How many corals and fish have died due to this company? How much money have people lost? And yet Red Sea never stands behind anything.

So my question is, why support this company? I refuse to buy not just their tanks, but any of their products. Not their algae scrubbers, not their lights, not their dosing products, not even their salt. I feel like if more would do so, then maybe they would fix their product and make something worth standing behind.

 

[exnisstech]

That's a good question I can't answer. I suspect many are newer to the hobby and unaware of the failures or they have that it won't happen to me mentality or believe the crap RS spews about having corrected the problem. They have an attractive product and you can get everything needed in a single package that runs on a single app. Many LFS push the tanks because they're normally available to ship quickly and people want it now. Their marketing department is probably better than any other tank manufacturers and they have a lot of other products that work very well. I love the app and my reefmat and reefdose but I added those before my reefer 170 failed and my 300 was starting so I replaced it before it failed.
Now they have a controller coming to market. They suck as a company IMO but they do take care of the shareholders.

 

[Waters]

If you stay away from their tanks, they have some good stuff lol.

 

[NuckChorris]

That's a good question I can't answer. I suspect many are newer to the hobby and unaware of the failures or they have that it won't happen to me mentality or believe the crap RS spews about having corrected the problem. They have an attractive product and you can get everything needed in a single package that runs on a single app. Many LFS push the tanks because they're normally available to ship quickly and people want it now. Their marketing department is probably better than any other tank manufacturers and they have a lot of other products that work very well. I love the app and my reefmat and reefdose but I added those before my reefer 170 failed and my 300 was starting so I replaced it before it failed.
Now they have a controller coming to market. They suck as a company IMO but they do take care of the shareholders.

Yeah, their marketing is top tier. They should spend some of their marketing money on the products. Smh. But I get new people buying the hype.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I agree that they still make an attractive looking complete setup and too many people buy with their eyes and not their brains. I myself have considered their tanks in the past based on how neat all of the equipment looks together and how well each component fits in the Red Sea ecosystem.

There's also a ton of reefers out there that are not a part of any forum and are mostly unaware of the issues surrounding the tanks.

Plus they keep coming out with new generations to make it look as if they've addressed the issue when clearly they haven't. That in itself is confusing.

 

[slingfox]

When I got into reefing a few years ago the RedSea Reefer G2 line had just come out. According to the RedSea marketing the G2 addressed the seam failure issues of the G1. Two and a half years later my seam started to fail which resulted in the tank getting replaced with a G3 under warranty!

I intend to steer clear of RedSea tanks going forward. That said, some of their other products are great including the Reefmat and the Reefdose. RedSea also has the best and most reliable app amongst all I’ve used in the reefing hobby.

 

[Rob A]

There was a guy on here humble bragging about his epic $12,500 red sea system that he was going to fill with the rarest corals and fish...basically talking down to anyone that didn't have a Red Sea system as expensive as his.

He hasn't updated since his epic unboxing ....Just saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[christinna77]

Until stores actually stop stocking Red Sea tanks and making them the primary option, people are going to keep buying them.

My LFS is a perfect example. For larger tanks, Red Sea is basically all they carry. If I wanted to buy a new tank from another brand, I'd have to order it online or ask them to custom order it. Last time I checked, they could not custom order Cade or UNS, but could do Eshopps. Which is a great brand, but is nowhere featured on their website or store.

For a lot of people, what's sitting right there at the LFS is what they're going to buy, especially if they're newer to the hobby and don't know about the issues.

 

[mikebrown]

I'm new to reefing, and I simply didn't know until I started searching for reviews of their systems. Luckily ya'll flooded the heck out of google search results and saved me some time.

 

[13rodo]

Like @christinna77 said, many many many LFS sell them. I love my LFS, but I’ve had to stop myself several times from interjecting into conversations with employees pushing Red Sea tanks to people. It’s hard to bite my tongue, but my LFS has to make ends meet.

 

[fish_collector]

Taking it home today is why people buy them. No one wants to wait months to get their new tank.

Yes RedSea has some great products, it’s just their tanks that suck. Unfortunately that’s the component that causes the most grief when it quits working

 

[GoAskAlice]

There was a guy on here humble bragging about his epic $12,500 red sea system that he was going to fill with the rarest corals and fish...basically talking down to anyone that didn't have a Red Sea system as expensive as his.

He hasn't updated since his epic unboxing ....Just saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it is an extremely low blow to call out a member posting about a system that perhaps your perception he was "bragging" about was more excitement and pride. And how short sighted and ignorant to then jump to the conclusion that because that person has not posted again is because of a tank failure?

I have Red Sea tanks. Would I have set up my 180 g had I been aware of the seam failures? Maybe not. And I do not make recommendations one way or another to anyone else just because I feel there is information out there to enable them to make a decision for themselves.

But comments like yours have no place in the discussion imo.

 

[Cael Gallery]

I used to have a reefer 750. If i ever get back into fishkeeping (i'd like to but current house is too small) i would absolutely avoid buying anything from them. I never had any issues with the actual tank itself. No leaks or anything, but i had constant issues with all of the equipment that came with the tank, especially the return pump and the roller mat, which was constantly breaking and disconnecting. Very often i'd come home and check on the tank only to find that the return pump has turned itself off (because it lost connection to the schedule from the app) and my fish are freaking out as a result. The rollermat had the same issue and would constantly disconnect and stop rolling, or sometimes it would fail mechanically by jamming.
Their tanks really do look good and everything is nicely presented and that's how they get people, but they're an actual garbage company. Their technical support was terrible too and they were unable to resolve any of my issues even after demanding via email that i do and show them a bunch of pointless stuff first which delayed the process by weeks.

 

[winxp_man]

If you stay away from their tanks, they have some good stuff lol.

This right here. Been using the RS ato system for two years, the reefmat since April. Have to say these two products sure work for me. It’s really pretty simple. Don’t buy their tanks, and they will stop selling on the market.

 

[DmitryB]

Didn't they just release a new line of tanks? I'm seeing stuff on front pages of places like BRS and other major online retailers.

I do use a ReefWave pump, but honestly, it's not that hard to avoid RS products if one wanted to boycott them. There are alternatives to all of it, and good ones too.

 

[rowenaad]

I would not look at a redsea tank but still using a lot of other dry goods from them. I think they are good in value for bucks

 

[Piotrek]

Wow, I was not aware of the risk of tank failure. At some point I looked at the price of the setup, compared it to what could be achieve by buying the parts separately and that was it for me.

 

[Pod_01]

When I purchased my Red Seas 250 system 7+ years back I do not recall rereading about seam failures and the systems were highly regarded.
Now that my seam failed this past weekend I can say this seam issue is real at least to me.

Anyways I spoke to the insurance person and he said that in our area most tank issues he sees are broken glass and perhaps two a year. He has not seen a seam failure!!! Had to show him video of the tank leaking…

It may be that Ref Sea figured out the customer base, most reefers move on long before the seam fail!!!

 

[Kooma]

It really comes down to manufacturing and market share. They are able to produce big tanks are a quick pace and fill stores with inventory. If GC or miracles could do the same they might replace RS in tank stores. They have the apple of tanks setup where its all a ecosystem that firs together and people like it.

They look like great tanka until they fail, i even looked at them before learning about issues here.

 

[BeanAnimal]

There's also a ton of reefers out there that are not a part of any forum and are mostly unaware of the issues surrounding the tanks.

It may be that Ref Sea figured out the customer base, most reefers move on long before the seam fail!!!

This forum and other reefing media represent small bubbles that have a lot of echos. Each bubble only represents a small percentage of LFS, or even online sales. Your typical LFS isn’t made or broken on R2R users, you (we) are not their demographic, even if we imagine that we are. RedSea is heavily market and sold effectively though LFS and online vendors who don’t see or rely on any of this.