Red Sea Reefer 350 G2 catastrophic failure

[TerraMagnus]

This should come as a surprise to no one here, but the front seal on our Red Sea Reefer 350 G2 failed catastrophically last night and the whole tank emptied onto our floor in just a few minutes.

We reached out to their support team to seek remedy for the impact to us and premature loss on this major tank investment.

They came back with only an offer to give us a discount on purchasing a new tank from them.

This is a brief glimpse of the scene at our house.

EDIT: I think directly attaching the video file to this post didn't work. I've also uploaded it to YouTube as a short.

 

[BetteMidler]

The response from Red Sea is like escaping a burning building only to be struck by a truck.

Sorry you had to experience this.

 

[fishguy242]

Sorry to see this...time for a class action lawsuit is long past due ...

 

[TerraMagnus]

Red Sea has left us hanging. Their only and final offer was a discount to purchase a new aquarium system from them. I’m out thousands for the aquarium to say nothing of having to rip up my oak floors and subfloors for complete replacement. This has been a nightmare.

I also want to call out their business partner, Bulk Reef Supply, who I bought this tank through. I asked for their help in navigating this with Red Sea because surely they’ve had other customers with this problem and they are better able to get attention there than I am. They had a polite form letter declining to get involved.

 

[Buddy1234]

Sorry to hear this. What a nightmare! How old was the tank?

 

[dr_vinnie_boombatz]

Yikes sorry you're going through this

I was literally going to buy a new 250 G2 from BRS tonight or tomorrow... guess will keep looking. The whole "floating" front is the dumbest idea ever. Beyond stupid on RS part.

 

[Merge_595]

Red Sea just isn't the same. From a person who's had numerous Red Sea(and only)Tanks since 2015. The quality isn't the same. They're rushing to fill orders. And the customer service is absolutely terrible.

 

[Buddy1234]

Yikes sorry you're going through this

I was literally going to buy a new 250 G2 from BRS tonight or tomorrow... guess will keep looking. The whole "floating" front is the dumbest idea ever. Beyond stupid on RS part.

I believe Waterbox has the same design. It allows the doors when closed to align with the aquarium front.

 

[VintageReefer]

The floating front pane is not the problem, this design is used by many many manufacturers

 

[VintageReefer]

The problem is two part.

1) the stand is improperly designed with only one off center load bearing vertical support. This allows the left section. To have a large span that is unsupported leading to bowing. Look where the leak is. In the section that is not supported properly to the left of the support

This allows the bottom panel to bow, which puts increased pressure on the silicone, leading to the seam failure

2) this is a maybe. I read that Red Sea used and low grade silicone that was found to have contributed to the tank failures and they since have switched. I read it here. But is it true? I’m not positive

That stand though is not sufficiently braced. If the floor settled since install it would increase pressure as the stand adapts to the floor

 

[VintageReefer]

I hate to sound salesman like but if you are need of a replacement tank urgently, and want to avoid Red Sea, I have a connection at current USA and an incredible deal for forum members. It’s a complete 83g system, 48x20x20 for 1600 shipped, and it comes with tank, a overbuilt stand, sump, ato, plumbing kit, and curbside delivery

The details are all through my owners thread, and buy link is in post 19. Many of us bought it and find it is a very high quality tank and stand. Feel free to read the thread as research and to see picked and comments from those of us that bought it. There are only 7-8 left and then the deal is gone forever

Best reef ready tank deal of 2024 - whose looking for a new tank?

I’ve been holding off on posting this but now I’m ready I came across what I believe is the absolute best deal you’ll ever see on a reef ready system Background - Current USA had a custom tank built for their marketing photos. It’s all over their website under the sections for r24 led reef...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[mariano]

I am so sorry.. i have the same aquarium and that x&@%* is scary as hell. I hope you were able to save the livestock. i think is messed up of red sea to just turn their back on you. More messed up the fact BRS declined to help you.. these big companies keep taking our hard earned money. Until people stop buying from them, ill be the same circle.

 

[mariano]

Sorry to see this...time for a class action lawsuit is long past due ...

For real. they will keep getting away with it!, until this happens.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Sorry man. That's rough. All Red Sea needs to do is make a few adjustments to their stand and the tank should be fine. I have no idea why they are still selling tanks bound to fail in just a few short years.

 

[Reef-Mart]

I hate to sound salesman like but if you are need of a replacement tank urgently, and want to avoid Red Sea, I have a connection at current USA and an incredible deal for forum members. It’s a complete 83g system, 48x20x20 for 1600 shipped, and it comes with tank, a overbuilt stand, sump, ato, plumbing kit, and curbside delivery

The details are all through my owners thread, and buy link is in post 19. Many of us bought it and find it is a very high quality tank and stand. Feel free to read the thread as research and to see picked and comments from those of us that bought it. There are only 7-8 left and then the deal is gone forever

Best reef ready tank deal of 2024 - whose looking for a new tank?

I’ve been holding off on posting this but now I’m ready I came across what I believe is the absolute best deal you’ll ever see on a reef ready system Background - Current USA had a custom tank built for their marketing photos. It’s all over their website under the sections for r24 led reef...

www.reef2reef.com

People need to vote with their wallets and stop supporting these companies that clearly don’t care about their customers.

 

[VintageReefer]

People need to vote with their wallets and stop supporting these companies that clearly don’t care about their customers.

Absolutely. The owner of current USA is a super friendly guy and ran into a unique situation (details in my build thread) and had a surplus of 30 of these top of the line tank systems. They are selling them at or below cost, to HELP the community members affordably upgrade tanks, or to get new people to join the hobby. They decided they will not profit on these sales, and for some of our members that bought them, Current actually lost money on them.

 

[Trent H]

People need to vote with their wallets and stop supporting these companies that clearly don’t care about their customers.

Seriously stop supporting this brand!

 

[Bob Weigant]

I just got rid of my RS tank a month ago. Never had any issues with it but made sure it was a garage tank just in case something like this happened. Sorry for your loss. Couldn't even begin to imagine to cost to replace your floors and all your livestock

 

[Reef-Mart]

Absolutely. The owner of current USA is a super friendly guy and ran into a unique situation (details in my build thread) and had a surplus of 30 of these top of the line tank systems. They are selling them at or below cost, to HELP the community members affordably upgrade tanks, or to get new people to join the hobby. They decided they will not profit on these sales, and for some of our members that bought them, Current actually lost money on them.

Thats pretty cool! Customer service isn’t hard but Red Sea and BRS seem to have trouble these days, which is sad because I’ve used BRS for so many years.

 

[Tripod1404]

Front panel of my first RedSea tank started to separate after 2.5 years. I drained the tank and started a warranty claim. I got a warranty replacement aquarium that had the exact same issue after 2.5 years. I would advise anyone against Red Sea tanks.