OK People with Red Sea Reefer Failures... Convince me not to....

[Ziggy17]

So you’re insinuating that all these people scrape the glass under the sand? The majority are the front lower seam under a couple inches of sand… I highly doubt that’s the issue with a scraper.

 

[Borat]

So you’re insinuating that all these people scrape the glass under the sand? The majority are the front lower seam under a couple inches of sand… I highly doubt that’s the issue with a scraper.

The other part that's vulnerable is the side seams for the front glass..

Remember: most failures (for "unknown reason") occur at the point of front glass attachment. "Mysteriosly" the rear glass is not prone to seam failure.

 

[Ziggy17]

The other part that's vulnerable is the side seams for the front glass..

Remember: most failures (for "unknown reason") occur at the point of front glass attachment. "Mysteriosly" the rear glass is not prone to seam failure.

There’s no mystery. The rear glass is supported by the stand and overflow. The front pane and sides have less to no support, causing the seam failures.
It’s best to know about something before you chime in. But hey, you be you.

 

[Troylee]

The other part that's vulnerable is the side seams for the front glass..

Remember: most failures (for "unknown reason") occur at the point of front glass attachment. "Mysteriosly" the rear glass is not prone to seam failure.

Overflow is helping support that. I’ve seen the smaller ones let go at the top seams on rimless and that could very well be your conclusion but not the bottom center.

 

[BeanAnimal]

i know a guy who knows a guy who read a story about another guy..

Seriously, it reminds me of those stories of uncontrollable Lexus cars that could not have been stopped by its owners back in 2009-2010). It only happened in the US - which was strange as well.. None of those owners could explain why they didnt try to turn off the ignition key, hit hand break or push break harder or simply switch the gear to neutral.. That craze faded into nonexistence after a few years - as if nothing happened.

I suspect that existing seam failures are caused by people who have obsession with keeping the glass clean even near seam. Those seams are simply not designed to withstand that form of abuse for very long and inevitably fail. If you dont do that (slam glass cleaner blade into seam) - your tank is probably good for many years to come..

I have reefer 425 for over 5 years now - cant complain!

We typically agree...in this case, not so much.

Ignoring the overwhelming number of available first hand failure accounts compared to other brands...

Occam's Razor would dictate that if this was an end user related issue that the same failure rate would prevail over all tank brands proportionately to their market share.. If you want to argue that that not be the case, then the Razor would dictate a design difference (flaw?) that made these systems more prone to failure under "normal" use compared to other brands.

As for the Toyata (Lexus) recall - it has no bearing whatsoever to this.

Side note:

If you have never been in a stuck throttle situation, it is easy to say "ahh just turn it off, or throw it in neutral, or stand on the brake, etc.). I have had (3) different instances in my life... A VW Jetta (broken throttle cable wrapped in linkage)... a 900+ 1968 Camaro setup for drag racing, bound linkage (in a parking lot... don't ask)... and an RM125 dirt bike.

Side note: The common belief that "brakes are always more powerful than the engine" is also somewhat misleading. Yes, in theory that is correct. In a stuck throttle situation at speed, it is common that significant brake fade occurs long before the vehicle comes to a stop or a manageable speed or safe crash speed. In any case, interesting subject, but not related here.

Anyway... I think most of the issues appear to be with the G1 tank and how the company handled it. I have no dog in the fight, nor do I care.

 

[Borat]

There’s no mystery. The rear glass is supported by the stand and overflow. The front pane and sides have less to no support, causing the seam failures.
It’s best to know about something before you chime in. But hey, you be you.

Yeah, my front glass is supported by the feeding magnet. That must be it.. - the reason why I don't know the guy who knows the guys who heard about red sea tank failure..

 

[Ziggy17]

Yeah, my front glass is supported by the feeding magnet. That must be it.. - the reason why I don't know the guy who knows the guys who heard about red sea tank failure..

Here’s two questions for you Captain Awesome.

1) How many emails and phone calls do you have with Red Sea Support staff regarding a failed seam?

2) If the unsupported front pane and thickness of glass wasn’t the issue, why did they use thicker glass and use added supports under the front pane on the new generation?

The internet has given folks like you a voice, so there’s that.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

I’m a huge fan of acrylic aquariums. Never had one bust a seam lol

 

[Ziggy17]

I’m a huge fan of acrylic aquariums. Never had one bust a seam lol

I had one. For the most part I loved it. The only rub was how easy it scratched. it scratched if I sneezed near it.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

I had one. For the most part I loved it. The only rub was how easy it scratched. it scratched if I sneezed near it.

Hmm. Mine are all acryptic and not scratched. Do you use plastic scraper blades? You know you can buff them out. Glass scratches but you can’t buff it out

 

[Ziggy17]

Hmm. Mine are all acryptic and not scratched. Do you use plastic scraper blades? You know you can buff them out. Glass scratches but you can’t buff it out

This was going back 20 years, but I’m sure it was mostly carelessness. And I’m sure the material now is much better.

 

[Tamberav]

Red Sea admitted it, seems proof enough.

The tank itself is the minor cost in reefing. The corals, fish, and ongoing cost of additives, salt, food, electricity are the real cost over time.

Just pony up for the G2 if you like how Red Sea looks and think the cost is worth it over competitors.

I had a G1 and no failure but it was one of their smaller tanks.

I thought the sump was annoyingly small/terrible layout, the ATO container too small, the plumbing was metric for added annoyance If you wanted to change anything, the valve to control the drain was touchy and not even a gate valve (seriously, why?), the internal overflow was large and ugly.

Good thing I bought it used. Would have been annoyed to pay full price for it. I did not get the hype at all for G1. I believe some of the poor design was fixed in G2.

Even if your seam doesn’t blow, a G1 is just a dog turd wrapped in a pretty box. Just an opinion though.

 

[Peanut]

Does anyone know in the same model tank, what the physical differences are between the G1 vs G2 vs G2+

 

[dontbuyxenia]

countless people, myself included, have had catastrophic failures that killed all their fish, coral, and caused significant damage to their home. Countless people have also dealt with Red Sea who very flippantly denies any wrong-doing. The issue that afflicts these tank is a front seam split nearly every time. Terrible company, terrible tanks, terrible issue. Oh yeah, also super overpriced. DO NOT BUY

 

[Ziggy17]

Does anyone know in the same model tank, what the physical differences are between the G1 vs G2 vs G2+

Thicker glass in the G2 and the G2+ and presumably a different silicone supplier. The G2+ also comes with a nice ATO kit instead of a gravity fed. The G2 + do not come with a ATO reservoir like the previous models, you have to buy it separately.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

So I've read the myriad of threads here about Red Sea Reefers failing and ruining the world. I currently have an old school 90 gallon reef tank that has the overflow (this was from WAY before people drilled their tanks) that has caused issues to the point where I fear the stand's integrity is in question. Time to upgrade to a new tank. I love the look of the Red Sea Reefers (who doesn't?) and begin looking for a tank.

The new one's seem overpriced. I check the used ones and come across the threads here. Uh Oh! Red Sea Reefer tanks fail and destroy the earth, one apartment at a time. Some say it is the seam from the factory...others blame indiscriminate tank cleaning...still others claim their tank wasn't level or that the stand itself was bowed... all interesting claims from people who have never actually seen the tanks in question...

But the biggest commonality in the threads is that everyone "knows a guy" who had a Red Sea Reefer catastrophic failure. I spent an hour reading through and came across 4 legitimate, verifiable, stories of people with FIRST HAND experiences, and two of those were catastrophic, and only one had a photo.

Meanwhile, others refer to "hundreds of instances" but I don't really see hundreds of instances. There are thousands of reports of people seeing the Loch Ness Monster, after all. (Pictures or it didn't happen!) Since the next part of the story is a complaint on how Red Sea won't honor their warranty, I assume these people got photos, because no one is honoring any claims without photos.

I've been in the hobby for 30 years, with 20 of those at the pro-level. I've seen tank failures. If Red Sea is that bad, I would think that reputable dealers like BRS would drop them (Isn't BRS all about standing behind their hobbyists?)

Long story short - I want to hear your first hand accounts of buying a Red Sea Reefer that had a catastrophic failure. Not a tank with a bubble in the seam, or a story about a friend of a friend or a guy who was deleted on FB. Let's see these compiled into one thread. Please don't reply with your opinions on why you wouldn't buy one, or why you shouldn't get a used tank, or your opinion on whatever.

Let's show that Red Sea Failure footage!

Convince me, through your own first hand account, why I shouldn't buy one.

Why don't you convince us why we should purchase one. Why we should ignore all of the warnings from owners of these tanks that have failed and take the plunge. Spend thousands of dollars and years building our perfect reef and should never have that doubt in the back of our minds every time we see another post in a failure. How we should not loose sleep after we see something that we aren't sure was there last time we did tank maintenance. Not saying every tank is going to fail, or any red sea will ever fall again, or that they fail at a higher rate than any other tank. I just know I could never fully trust one.

 

[Borat]

Here’s two questions for you Captain Awesome.

1) How many emails and phone calls do you have with Red Sea Support staff regarding a failed seam?

2) If the unsupported front pane and thickness of glass wasn’t the issue, why did they use thicker glass and use added supports under the front pane on the new generation?

The internet has given folks like you a voice, so there’s that.

Zero - as I said, I didn't have any issues with my tank ever. Can't say for others - and some seem to be very defensive rather than "hmm.. maybe I should not be cleaning the glass area near the seam".. Anyway.. hope this was somewhat helpful for some.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

i know a guy who knows a guy who read a story about another guy..

Seriously, it reminds me of those stories of uncontrollable Lexus cars that could not have been stopped by its owners back in 2009-2010). It only happened in the US - which was strange as well.. None of those owners could explain why they didnt try to turn off the ignition key, hit hand break or push break harder or simply switch the gear to neutral.. That craze faded into nonexistence after a few years - as if nothing happened.

I suspect that existing seam failures are caused by people who have obsession with keeping the glass clean even near seam. Those seams are simply not designed to withstand that form of abuse for very long

Zero - as I said, I didn't have any issues with my tank ever. Can't say for others - and some seem to be very defensive rather than "hmm.. maybe I should not be cleaning the glass area near the seam".. Anyway.. hope this was somewhat helpful for some.

Cleaning glass near the seam seems like a reasonable thing to do though. I don’t think anyone is shoving a razor deep into the silicone.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Zero - as I said, I didn't have any issues with my tank ever. Can't say for others - and some seem to be very defensive rather than "hmm.. maybe I should not be cleaning the glass area near the seam".. Anyway.. hope this was somewhat helpful for some.

I am not following the logic. I am glad you had no problems but can't figure out the rest. On one hand you dismiss the "failures" as hearsay and on the other blame them on people cleaning their tanks?

I think Borat is being contrary just to be Borat?

 

[dmsc2fs]

This entire thread is sort of silly. It should of ended with the 2nd post being: "Nah, you go do whatever you want." put your adult pants on and make your own decisions.