dontbuyxenia
Community Member
I know this is controversial, but there is no way red sea tanks are worth the money at all in the slightest. I bought a red sea 250 after moving and needing to downsize from my 150(which was just a standard 150 from planet aquariums I purchased from my lfs). It was somewhat sudden and I didn't want to go through the hassle of designing, purchasing, and installing plumbing; I found a good deal so I decided to get it. I bought the system used for a price of $800. It had only been used for a year and everything worked fine. So I figured I would outline the things I don't like about the system to warn others but hopefully have some input from to improve these issues.
1. The "all in one"/"plug and play" lie: The red sea 250 system cost $1824. That includes the tank, stand, sump and plumbing. How is this plug and play? Theres nothing even to plug in as it doesn't come with a return pump. I think that most people would agree that to just get the tank started you would need to put in at least another $1000. You could easily spend over $3000 including the tank and not have any fish or coral. Thats insane for a tank with a system volume of 65 gallons. You could easily find a tank at least twice the volume including stand and probably a sump for the same price or less. Even other all in ones like IM give you a pump, media, and a top. Luckily I had a bunch of extra stuff from my 150 but for someone starting out it would be ridiculous.
2. The lack of space: One of Red sea's main selling points is that you wont have to spend time and money buying different pieces of plumbing and filtration equipment to put your system together. For a beginner who has no experience in what to look for in buying equipment this is a good reason to buy Red sea. But for more experienced reefers who are looking to run more sophisticated equipment such as gfo reactors, calcium reactors, auto dosers, or an ato(i will cover this more later) they will be greatly restricted by space. The sump takes up a considerable amount of space and leaves just a small area, about 14inx20in, to store EVERYTHING else. My stand looks like a bomb went off. Between auto doser pumps and containers, wires for the heater, refugium light, skimmer, and return pump there is almost no room to store anything else. This is because the opening for wires require that they be stretched across the sump from the left side. And the sump has to be installed on the left. This means wires get covered in salt creep and take up valuable space in the storage area.
3. The ATO: The ATO is famously hated among red sea owners. This should be no surprise since all it is is a cheap float valve system with no real fail safe in it except for the fact that the volume when filled is not enough to overflow the sump. That's fine if you don't mind losing sensitive species to a large salinity swing. Now granted, I have had no reliability issues with the ATO and the feature for adjusting the water level in the return pump compartment is very nice. My main issue is how it is positioned. Since the ATO sits on top of the sump, it is high above everything else so it is difficult to access. You can't pour the bottom half of a 5 gallon jug into it as you cant tip the jug over enough to get the water out. This means you need to empty the water and scoop it in with a cup or something. And forget trying to take the ATO out and filling it. The reservoir is a small glass tank with an open top so there would be no way to reinstall it without sloshing water all over the place. And that open top quality makes you lose lots of extra water due to evaporation. The design is so poor that it makes way more sense to just get another ATO, especially if your house is as dry as mine. The design could have been fixed so easily too. Just make the reservoir a closed top jug with a hole at the side and include a funnel to pour the water into. Almost like a gas tank or oil for your engine. But it is so obvious that red sea instead chose to forego functionality for aesthetic by keeping their minimalistic glass box instead of a custom plastic jug that would have made sense. Instead I have to keep a new ATO outside of the tank stand as there is no room inside the stand for one.
4. The quality issues: Red sea has a reputation of quality in general. That is until you start to have problems with your tank and find all the red sea owners with the same problem. From seam leaks to the incredibly annoying defect with the drain plumbing that causes the tank to sound like a toilet 24/7, red sea has its fair share of issues. Personally, my tank is way louder than my 150 ever was. If the dial on the drain line isn't tuned exactly right it is extremely loud. Many people replace this part with one from home depot. For a near $2000 tank kit, this is unacceptable.
Conclusion: Red sea systems are great if you like how they look. That's it. After owning one for the past 6 months I can tell you that it isn't worth it. The equipment is not better. It requires mods to make it function optimally and you will be spending hundreds of more dollars before ever putting a fish in. In my opinion, red sea takes advantage of people with the idea that they will provide you with everything you need to get you a tank that looks like the ones on their website or at fish stores(btw, red sea requires displays in stores that sell their tanks, the stores aren't necessarily choosing red sea because they want to). I understand that many people love red sea reefer tanks. And not all red sea products are bad either, just the tanks(and test kits lol). If you want to buy a red sea tank, just do your research and think about how your money is being spent and where else it could go. Cheers!
1. The "all in one"/"plug and play" lie: The red sea 250 system cost $1824. That includes the tank, stand, sump and plumbing. How is this plug and play? Theres nothing even to plug in as it doesn't come with a return pump. I think that most people would agree that to just get the tank started you would need to put in at least another $1000. You could easily spend over $3000 including the tank and not have any fish or coral. Thats insane for a tank with a system volume of 65 gallons. You could easily find a tank at least twice the volume including stand and probably a sump for the same price or less. Even other all in ones like IM give you a pump, media, and a top. Luckily I had a bunch of extra stuff from my 150 but for someone starting out it would be ridiculous.
2. The lack of space: One of Red sea's main selling points is that you wont have to spend time and money buying different pieces of plumbing and filtration equipment to put your system together. For a beginner who has no experience in what to look for in buying equipment this is a good reason to buy Red sea. But for more experienced reefers who are looking to run more sophisticated equipment such as gfo reactors, calcium reactors, auto dosers, or an ato(i will cover this more later) they will be greatly restricted by space. The sump takes up a considerable amount of space and leaves just a small area, about 14inx20in, to store EVERYTHING else. My stand looks like a bomb went off. Between auto doser pumps and containers, wires for the heater, refugium light, skimmer, and return pump there is almost no room to store anything else. This is because the opening for wires require that they be stretched across the sump from the left side. And the sump has to be installed on the left. This means wires get covered in salt creep and take up valuable space in the storage area.
3. The ATO: The ATO is famously hated among red sea owners. This should be no surprise since all it is is a cheap float valve system with no real fail safe in it except for the fact that the volume when filled is not enough to overflow the sump. That's fine if you don't mind losing sensitive species to a large salinity swing. Now granted, I have had no reliability issues with the ATO and the feature for adjusting the water level in the return pump compartment is very nice. My main issue is how it is positioned. Since the ATO sits on top of the sump, it is high above everything else so it is difficult to access. You can't pour the bottom half of a 5 gallon jug into it as you cant tip the jug over enough to get the water out. This means you need to empty the water and scoop it in with a cup or something. And forget trying to take the ATO out and filling it. The reservoir is a small glass tank with an open top so there would be no way to reinstall it without sloshing water all over the place. And that open top quality makes you lose lots of extra water due to evaporation. The design is so poor that it makes way more sense to just get another ATO, especially if your house is as dry as mine. The design could have been fixed so easily too. Just make the reservoir a closed top jug with a hole at the side and include a funnel to pour the water into. Almost like a gas tank or oil for your engine. But it is so obvious that red sea instead chose to forego functionality for aesthetic by keeping their minimalistic glass box instead of a custom plastic jug that would have made sense. Instead I have to keep a new ATO outside of the tank stand as there is no room inside the stand for one.
4. The quality issues: Red sea has a reputation of quality in general. That is until you start to have problems with your tank and find all the red sea owners with the same problem. From seam leaks to the incredibly annoying defect with the drain plumbing that causes the tank to sound like a toilet 24/7, red sea has its fair share of issues. Personally, my tank is way louder than my 150 ever was. If the dial on the drain line isn't tuned exactly right it is extremely loud. Many people replace this part with one from home depot. For a near $2000 tank kit, this is unacceptable.
Conclusion: Red sea systems are great if you like how they look. That's it. After owning one for the past 6 months I can tell you that it isn't worth it. The equipment is not better. It requires mods to make it function optimally and you will be spending hundreds of more dollars before ever putting a fish in. In my opinion, red sea takes advantage of people with the idea that they will provide you with everything you need to get you a tank that looks like the ones on their website or at fish stores(btw, red sea requires displays in stores that sell their tanks, the stores aren't necessarily choosing red sea because they want to). I understand that many people love red sea reefer tanks. And not all red sea products are bad either, just the tanks(and test kits lol). If you want to buy a red sea tank, just do your research and think about how your money is being spent and where else it could go. Cheers!
Last edited:
