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

[victoria casella]

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.

So mine hasn’t failed yet… I contacted red sea yesterday for their opinion… I was told to get water out now! My tank is 2016 reefer 525xl it had a small bubble in the bottom front seam that just got huge! So Red Sea told me that it is out of warranty but they will give me 900.00 of a new one straight from them… would you get a new one? Or get another brand? Right now I have my animals in trash cans and pumps cords everywhere ugh!

 

[LARedstickreefer]

So mine hasn’t failed yet… I contacted red sea yesterday for their opinion… I was told to get water out now! My tank is 2016 reefer 525xl it had a small bubble in the bottom front seam that just got huge! So Red Sea told me that it is out of warranty but they will give me 900.00 of a new one straight from them… would you get a new one? Or get another brand? Right now I have my animals in trash cans and pumps cords everywhere ugh!

I might chance it on a G2 version if I was being offered $900 off…

I can’t see Red Sea just shrugging over all of this and not getting to the bottom of it with their newer G2 line.

-Matt

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would not reward them with the patronage, given the overall situation. I don’t know the whole package cost or what $900 means to them in terms of profit or loss. I would shop elsewhere and ask for some wiggle room to help make up the difference.

 

[GotItOnAmazon]

I have a reefer 300g2 been up for 2 years now with no issues

 

[Lavey29]

So mine hasn’t failed yet… I contacted red sea yesterday for their opinion… I was told to get water out now! My tank is 2016 reefer 525xl it had a small bubble in the bottom front seam that just got huge! So Red Sea told me that it is out of warranty but they will give me 900.00 of a new one straight from them… would you get a new one? Or get another brand? Right now I have my animals in trash cans and pumps cords everywhere ugh!

Call your LFS see if they can temporarily house your livestock

 

[BeanAnimal]

Call your LFS see if they can temporarily house your livestock

I would be terrified of disease, but I guess if that is the only choice.

 

[jp_75]

I have RS XL 425 for 5 years no issues.
It’s actually for sale right now because i upgraded to bigger tank.

 

[victoria casella]

I have a reefer 300g2 been up for 2 years now with no issues

Mine has been up since 2016 not a single issue till recently. I loved my tank till now mostly because what I have to go through to change tanks…

 

[victoria casella]

I would be terrified of disease, but I guess if that is the only choice.

Yes… the real problem is…my life has been crazy for the last year an I let 8-20 year old corals die…so it was either tear it down or stock with so I bought my savings worth of fish… and all is doing so good! Now they’re living in trash cans!

 

[~MD~Reefs~]

So mine hasn’t failed yet… I contacted red sea yesterday for their opinion… I was told to get water out now! My tank is 2016 reefer 525xl it had a small bubble in the bottom front seam that just got huge! So Red Sea told me that it is out of warranty but they will give me 900.00 of a new one straight from them… would you get a new one? Or get another brand? Right now I have my animals in trash cans and pumps cords everywhere ugh!

I had a similar situation. Started getting bubbles in seams and was told to drain immediately but since I was less than a year out of warranty, they only offered me $900 credit towards the same size system or larger. Which meant giving them at least 3k. I decided not to give them anymore of my money.

 

[victoria casella]

I might chance it on a G2 version if I was being offered $900 off…

I can’t see Red Sea just shrugging over all of this and not getting to the bottom of it with their newer G2 line.

-Matt

Yes I’m really torn! I like the 230 waterbox but $900 off is a lot! They’re all about the same price… give or take a few bucks

 

[~MD~Reefs~]

Yes I’m really torn! I like the 230 waterbox but $900 off is a lot! They’re all about the same price… give or take a few bucks

How long did they give you to use the credit? They only gave me 90 days lol. 90 days to cough up 3k. Part of the reason why I decided not to.

 

[Dom]

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.

I don't think it is our job to convince you. The evidence is there.

I agree with you; they are the nicest looking tanks out there. But are the worth the obvious risk? There is only one way to find out.

I also agree that Red Sea tanks (and their products in general) are over-priced.

A used one might be the way to go. I'd just be sure to see it running with water.

Good luck!
Dom

 

[laxer23]

Put my order in for a GlassCages build.

 

[victoria casella]

I had a similar situation. Started getting bubbles in seams and was told to drain immediately but since I was less than a year out of warranty, they only offered me $900 credit towards the same size system or larger. Which meant giving them at least 3k. I decided not to give them anymore of my mon

I had a similar situation. Started getting bubbles in seams and was told to drain immediately but since I was less than a year out of warranty, they only offered me $900 credit towards the same size system or larger. Which meant giving them at least 3k. I decided not to give them anymore of my money.

Yeh I’m still trying to decide… it will still cost over 3k! So did you replace it? With what?

 

[~MD~Reefs~]

Yeh I’m still trying to decide… it will still cost over 3k! So did you replace it? With what?

No I didn’t replace it. It’s now just an expensive vivarium lol. Actually got me into dart frogs and apart from this one I have 3 other setups now.

 

[victoria casella]

No I didn’t replace it. It’s now just an expensive vivarium lol. Actually got me into dart frogs and apart from this one I have 3 other setups now.

I love dart frogs I had them for years, but couldn’t afford both frogs and reef!
I ordered the 750 lol! I had just stocked it with all new fish… So I went for it… I’m gonna make the old one into an estuary with my mangroves and pipe it to the other one as a huge refug! With only about 30 gallons, I think it’ll be OK with a little silicon or 5200… I did catch it before it leaked and redsea told me to get the water out now! I did! lol

 

[victoria casella]

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.

I did it I ordered a new 750 g2 I hope I did the right thing, but I have to say that Red Sea did stand behind it and I’m hoping that they fixed all the problems… but we’ll see. I know what I’m looking for now anyway if there’s something wrong with it…. Most the seam problems were there at the start just very small… If I see anything suspicious, I’m sending it back! There’s been a lot of failures, but there’s a lot of tanks. Still running with no problem…. the new stand is definitely better than what is on my old one! But I’m gonna put them side-by-side and use the old one as my refusium with only about 30 gallons of water in it and my mangoes so I wanted the stands to match I figure get what you like. Nothing’s made like it used to be and taking the braces off of an aquarium was bound to have some problems and red sold a lot of them ….but it sure looks good.

 

[victoria casella]

No I didn’t replace it. It’s now just an expensive vivarium lol. Actually got me into dart frogs and apart from this one I have 3 other setups now.

That vivarium looks awesome! What kind of top do you have on it? I’m trying to figure out a top for my new tank. I hate these flimsy. Do it yourself thingies

 

[~MD~Reefs~]

That vivarium looks awesome! What kind of top do you have on it? I’m trying to figure out a top for my new tank. I hate these flimsy. Do it yourself thingies

I got the lid from @Kraken Reef and also the evaporation cover to keep humidity for the frogs in. It was easy to drill holes into them for the mistking nozzles. Really recommend their lids, and great customer service. I also have one of their other lids for my Max E 170