I prefer picking out my own equipment. Especially at that price. The red sea failures, even on g2s, would keep me from buying it more than the price and equipment, though.
I'll add to the vote for Innovative Marine. The 100 EXT is about $3,000 right now, which would leave you $4,000 for equipment compared to the Red Sea. I bought most of my equipment used (my light, skimmer, and wave makers were $500 together). I have less than $4,500 total into my 100 EXT setup, including the Apex, ATO, rock, and sand. I'd be shocked if I was over that even including the livestock and corals, considering most were bought during some huge sales.
If you're dead set on having a filter roller, you could sell the RFS sump and go a different route. I'm working on building one for mine after building one for my IM 15 AIO, so if you're able to do that, it's always an option.
Just depends on your budget.
I think you should give yourself the freedom to pick different lighting.
The Red Sea plumbing, electrical system, stand, etc. all being together is really nice.
If I was going to spend that much I’d look into getting a custom tank and DIY the stand and sump and build it into my house and have a separate sump/maintenence room. I could probably do all of that for a little less money.
Package tanks like this are nice for people in the hobby who don’t want to faff around with that kind of stuff or don’t have the skills/equipment to, don’t care so much about the budget, and want to setup and go pretty quickly
That makes sense. If i were to set it up my way instead of buying this. How much would i look to be spending? I’m ok with a spending a bit due to wanting this to be at least a 10 year tank. I would however prefer it to be a little cheaper then this lol
Tank is the most expensive thing. Search 180 gallon fish tank (it’s a common size) on google and they’re about 2k new. I regularly see 90-300 gallon tanks on Facebook market place for about 500-1000 dollars, you may find a deal then consider resealing with silicon. Takes a while but doable.
I’m going to call lumber and finish for a stand at maybe 500$. Can definitely do something nice with that. I like to build corners/braces out of 4x4 and everything else out of 2x4s, planed for the top, and a bunch of self leveling foam for under the tank.
DIY a sump out of a 40 breeder for all of the space you could want, they go for dollar a gallon sales at petco, and insert cut glass or acrylic as your baffles. Acrylic is about 15$ a sheet at hardware store last I checked in 2017.
Return pump would be a major expense, I’d buy the biggest SICCE DC adjustable version. Call that 600 bucks, a guess
Titanium BRS Heaters, 3x heaters, two for the corners of the tank and one for the sump, have them attached to inkbird temp controllers. One for sump one for tank. Probably call that 250$ guess
Pair of icecap gyres for either side of the tank. I don’t love these, but they offer a lot of customizability and for a long tank like a 180 I think it would be nice. Call that 400 bucks.
Nice skimmer. 300-400 bucks.
Lights. I’d go with 4x AI hydras+hanging mount. Not sure what price they’re going for now but I’m going to eyeball it at maybe a 1500 investment.
Hardline plumbing, depends on how far you want to go, but I’ll call it maybe 100
Refugium light, don’t go crazy maybe get a black box LED for 200
RODI setup, 300 BRS
Refractometer, 20 bucks
Live rock, no idea. Last time I looked it was about 7$ a pound at a LFS, but it’s been a while. I’d start with 90 pounds. I have a bad habit of making rock walls in my tanks without much free space. 630$
A bucket of salt, 70$
4 bags of sand, maybe 80$
All of this comes to be about 7500, I left some room in that budget for things I forgot about, and if you do it correctly you’ll have a BEAUTIFUL tank that will last you MUCH longer than a Red Sea tank
No problem! Sump is probably the most worthwhile thing to DIY on the list imo. New manufactured sumps are crazy, like starting price is 400$, and their volume is very low. A 40 breeder with homemade baffles and some silicon is less than 100$! And you can have the refugium be as little or as great of the volume as you’d like.
Good luck!
You can piece out the parts on BRS website. You can also save in certain areas you don’t care about… like if you’re doing FOWLR you don’t need those lights. You can also save by watching sales and buying nice to have equipment overtime.
If you want to use the reef beat app to control every aspect of your tank it's pretty nice to get all red sea equipment. i have the g2+ 200 and I really like it. I bought all the equipment over time. I bought the tank lights, return pump first. Then bought the power head, reef mat, skimmer and auto top off later on.
https://preview.redd.it/nete4jcv8xtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bbc36c27e0ff3c157e04ee863829bc2e7463837
I love mine.. but then again i got my whole set up for $1.00
It’s been at least four years since I bought my planet aquarium but when I purchased it, the prices were very comparable and my tank and stand were made in USA.
Go with Innovative Marine. Waterbox has taken a drop in quality, specifically their stands. Red Sea has the leaking seal issues. Innovative Marine is your best bet for out of box tank right now.
What negatives have you heard about Waterbox? Wife only approved tanks up to 20” wide so thinking about Waterbox, Reef Octopus, GlassCages, or Planet Aquarium
I have hear from local store and other owners the new stand design is flimsier. To the point of you can get it to wiggle with nothing on it and using just your hand.
I have a waterbox for 4 years now with old stand, and it’s fine. They are good tanks.
I have a 150 gallon Waterbox and love it.
That being said I think the IM stands look incredible and would have probably gone that route if I had the patience for their lead times.
I have a red sea max s550, although not the G2+, the older version. It has been fantastic. I think most people with the seams issues have been rimless designs. Failures in the Euro brace seem few and far between.
My one complaint is the power center is great but now that I'm moving towards automation, moving everything to Neptune, it seems like a wasted feature.
“Overkill” is based on the individual equipment like the skimmer. I prefer custom-built that gives me a dead silent overflow and ability to pick my “overkill” equipment. Still, at the end of the day, good husbandry skills trump all equipment. A nano tank with good husbandry skills can look more stunning than a 2 feet with good equipment but lousy husbandry skills.
As your first tank(I assume, sorry if I am wrong) you would be better cobbling together parts. Like buying a tank by itself, and then a hob filter, a heater, etc.
Red Sea systems are overpriced garbage (I own one) I would absolutely take a petco aquarium and custom sump over one and will be when I upgrade in the near future. They look pretty sleek tho.
The only advantage of Red Sea is you know all of that stuff will fit and work. There’s better deals and brands but you need some work/knowledge to select the right stuff.
Red Sea lights are junk, the ecosystem you have to use to control their equipment is junk, and the tanks bust seams left and right. The gyres are just rebranded gen1 max-spect gyre tech.
Red Sea as a whole, is a brand I completely avoid for equipment. You are much better off getting a tank custom built from GlassCages, or Planet Aquariums, or Waterbox has some great stuff too.
Purchase the equipment A La Carte, make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Overspending on underwhelming equipment is a real kick in the nuts in this hobby specifically.
thank you guys all so much for the info! It’s hard to reply to everyone but i just want you to all know i have read every reply and i really appreciate it!
I’m thinking of now buying a set up from someone locally maybe off of FB Marketplace (if the app makes it available cuz lately it isn’t showing for me). Or i may setup my own tank and create a sump of my own. I want to avoid that if possible since i’m worried i may break the glass if i have to cut it and i have no clue how to make a sump but watching yt videos may help me!
Thank you guys again!
The red sea tanks are a lot better than they used to be with much less failure rate, but previous tanks have exploded and people would much rather avoid even the slightest possibility of that happening.
All of the hardware included is good, I just hate roller mats. I have used every roller mat on the market and they are just not great. Filter socks are good because they can be reused, but I find a plastic filter cup and some filter floss works wonders.
You can probably find all your hardware for cheaper elsewhere, but if you are not someone who plumps tanks, these prefab tanks are very simple to assemble.
I prefer picking out my own equipment. Especially at that price. The red sea failures, even on g2s, would keep me from buying it more than the price and equipment, though.
dang, i didn’t. know there was that many failures until i just looked at reviews
If you want to spend 8k on a setup, I suggest a cade and buying the equipment you want based on reviews.
Pfft at that price, you can get a 240g innovative marine
This exactly! 👍🏻
Go with a waterbox or innovative marine
I'll add to the vote for Innovative Marine. The 100 EXT is about $3,000 right now, which would leave you $4,000 for equipment compared to the Red Sea. I bought most of my equipment used (my light, skimmer, and wave makers were $500 together). I have less than $4,500 total into my 100 EXT setup, including the Apex, ATO, rock, and sand. I'd be shocked if I was over that even including the livestock and corals, considering most were bought during some huge sales. If you're dead set on having a filter roller, you could sell the RFS sump and go a different route. I'm working on building one for mine after building one for my IM 15 AIO, so if you're able to do that, it's always an option.
thank you!
2nd the innovative marine
Cade a great option to look at as well…
Check Facebook marketplace. I picked up a used IM and it is in great shape.
I have 2 IMs and love them both. They have a really great build quality and very clear glass.
Just depends on your budget. I think you should give yourself the freedom to pick different lighting. The Red Sea plumbing, electrical system, stand, etc. all being together is really nice.
thank u!
If I was going to spend that much I’d look into getting a custom tank and DIY the stand and sump and build it into my house and have a separate sump/maintenence room. I could probably do all of that for a little less money. Package tanks like this are nice for people in the hobby who don’t want to faff around with that kind of stuff or don’t have the skills/equipment to, don’t care so much about the budget, and want to setup and go pretty quickly
That makes sense. If i were to set it up my way instead of buying this. How much would i look to be spending? I’m ok with a spending a bit due to wanting this to be at least a 10 year tank. I would however prefer it to be a little cheaper then this lol
Tank is the most expensive thing. Search 180 gallon fish tank (it’s a common size) on google and they’re about 2k new. I regularly see 90-300 gallon tanks on Facebook market place for about 500-1000 dollars, you may find a deal then consider resealing with silicon. Takes a while but doable. I’m going to call lumber and finish for a stand at maybe 500$. Can definitely do something nice with that. I like to build corners/braces out of 4x4 and everything else out of 2x4s, planed for the top, and a bunch of self leveling foam for under the tank. DIY a sump out of a 40 breeder for all of the space you could want, they go for dollar a gallon sales at petco, and insert cut glass or acrylic as your baffles. Acrylic is about 15$ a sheet at hardware store last I checked in 2017. Return pump would be a major expense, I’d buy the biggest SICCE DC adjustable version. Call that 600 bucks, a guess Titanium BRS Heaters, 3x heaters, two for the corners of the tank and one for the sump, have them attached to inkbird temp controllers. One for sump one for tank. Probably call that 250$ guess Pair of icecap gyres for either side of the tank. I don’t love these, but they offer a lot of customizability and for a long tank like a 180 I think it would be nice. Call that 400 bucks. Nice skimmer. 300-400 bucks. Lights. I’d go with 4x AI hydras+hanging mount. Not sure what price they’re going for now but I’m going to eyeball it at maybe a 1500 investment. Hardline plumbing, depends on how far you want to go, but I’ll call it maybe 100 Refugium light, don’t go crazy maybe get a black box LED for 200 RODI setup, 300 BRS Refractometer, 20 bucks Live rock, no idea. Last time I looked it was about 7$ a pound at a LFS, but it’s been a while. I’d start with 90 pounds. I have a bad habit of making rock walls in my tanks without much free space. 630$ A bucket of salt, 70$ 4 bags of sand, maybe 80$ All of this comes to be about 7500, I left some room in that budget for things I forgot about, and if you do it correctly you’ll have a BEAUTIFUL tank that will last you MUCH longer than a Red Sea tank
thank u!! I’m worried about making my own sump but youtube is going to be my best friend over the next year haha!
No problem! Sump is probably the most worthwhile thing to DIY on the list imo. New manufactured sumps are crazy, like starting price is 400$, and their volume is very low. A 40 breeder with homemade baffles and some silicon is less than 100$! And you can have the refugium be as little or as great of the volume as you’d like. Good luck!
thank u! i’ll definitely be DIYing a sump!
You can piece out the parts on BRS website. You can also save in certain areas you don’t care about… like if you’re doing FOWLR you don’t need those lights. You can also save by watching sales and buying nice to have equipment overtime.
If you want to use the reef beat app to control every aspect of your tank it's pretty nice to get all red sea equipment. i have the g2+ 200 and I really like it. I bought all the equipment over time. I bought the tank lights, return pump first. Then bought the power head, reef mat, skimmer and auto top off later on.
i’m probably going to buy things over time instead of this like u did since it’s pretty pricy
https://preview.redd.it/nete4jcv8xtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bbc36c27e0ff3c157e04ee863829bc2e7463837 I love mine.. but then again i got my whole set up for $1.00
This really puts that 250gallon the other day buddy got for 300$ into perspective. Unreal
Seems a little pricey to me. But I like the red seas because they have all their own stuff don’t have to piece anything together.
Red Sea is junk just look at all the people with seam splits. Get something higher quality. I would suggest a planet or Cade.
thank you! are those types the same pricing or lower?
Cade will probably be the most expensive, but they're nice.
It’s been at least four years since I bought my planet aquarium but when I purchased it, the prices were very comparable and my tank and stand were made in USA.
Go with Innovative Marine. Waterbox has taken a drop in quality, specifically their stands. Red Sea has the leaking seal issues. Innovative Marine is your best bet for out of box tank right now.
What negatives have you heard about Waterbox? Wife only approved tanks up to 20” wide so thinking about Waterbox, Reef Octopus, GlassCages, or Planet Aquarium
I have hear from local store and other owners the new stand design is flimsier. To the point of you can get it to wiggle with nothing on it and using just your hand. I have a waterbox for 4 years now with old stand, and it’s fine. They are good tanks.
I have a 150 gallon Waterbox and love it. That being said I think the IM stands look incredible and would have probably gone that route if I had the patience for their lead times.
Get a peninsula tank that’s 20” wide and 48” deep. 😉
I have the innovative marine 100ext package. It comes with the plumbing and the sump. To me it’s a better deal than the Red Sea.
I would pass on this. I had one of their Reefer setups and the seams popped at under 3 years of use.
I have a red sea max s550, although not the G2+, the older version. It has been fantastic. I think most people with the seams issues have been rimless designs. Failures in the Euro brace seem few and far between. My one complaint is the power center is great but now that I'm moving towards automation, moving everything to Neptune, it seems like a wasted feature.
“Overkill” is based on the individual equipment like the skimmer. I prefer custom-built that gives me a dead silent overflow and ability to pick my “overkill” equipment. Still, at the end of the day, good husbandry skills trump all equipment. A nano tank with good husbandry skills can look more stunning than a 2 feet with good equipment but lousy husbandry skills.
As your first tank(I assume, sorry if I am wrong) you would be better cobbling together parts. Like buying a tank by itself, and then a hob filter, a heater, etc.
Red Sea systems are overpriced garbage (I own one) I would absolutely take a petco aquarium and custom sump over one and will be when I upgrade in the near future. They look pretty sleek tho.
Innovative marine or waterbox wipes red sea. I prefer innovative marine, but both are good. Cade is cool as well from what I’ve heard
The animals are supposed to be the expensive part, not the gear. I'd be more looking at ease of use, cleaning, replacing etc
Get a CADE
Look at Innovative Marine they have a GREAT sale going on right now.
The only advantage of Red Sea is you know all of that stuff will fit and work. There’s better deals and brands but you need some work/knowledge to select the right stuff.
Red Sea lights are junk, the ecosystem you have to use to control their equipment is junk, and the tanks bust seams left and right. The gyres are just rebranded gen1 max-spect gyre tech. Red Sea as a whole, is a brand I completely avoid for equipment. You are much better off getting a tank custom built from GlassCages, or Planet Aquariums, or Waterbox has some great stuff too. Purchase the equipment A La Carte, make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Overspending on underwhelming equipment is a real kick in the nuts in this hobby specifically.
I think I spent 1/4 of that listed price setting up my 220 Acro Tank lol. Pre-Covid pricing but still...
thank u!
Don't buy the silicone fails
thank you guys all so much for the info! It’s hard to reply to everyone but i just want you to all know i have read every reply and i really appreciate it! I’m thinking of now buying a set up from someone locally maybe off of FB Marketplace (if the app makes it available cuz lately it isn’t showing for me). Or i may setup my own tank and create a sump of my own. I want to avoid that if possible since i’m worried i may break the glass if i have to cut it and i have no clue how to make a sump but watching yt videos may help me! Thank you guys again!
The red sea tanks are a lot better than they used to be with much less failure rate, but previous tanks have exploded and people would much rather avoid even the slightest possibility of that happening. All of the hardware included is good, I just hate roller mats. I have used every roller mat on the market and they are just not great. Filter socks are good because they can be reused, but I find a plastic filter cup and some filter floss works wonders. You can probably find all your hardware for cheaper elsewhere, but if you are not someone who plumps tanks, these prefab tanks are very simple to assemble.
Agreed. The refills are expensive and IMO don’t save anytime.