Pre-made "complete systems"

[msmith619]

I am thinking about my next tank. I am pretty sure it will be a seahorse/blennie/gobie/soft coral/zoas tank. I am considering some of the pre-made complete systems since this will be a smaller tank (30-60 gallons). I have read about Current's Solara system (34 gallon) , BioCube (34 gallon), and RedSea Max and have seen some flaming reviews from a few dissatisfied customers. Looking for better information. Long pre-amble for:
Who has one of these systems and how satisfied are you with it? Did you need to alter or modify it to fit your needs?
My alternative is to get a 55 gallon or a bow-front 45 gallon, drill it for reef-ready and build from scratch.
Mike

[Third Coast Tropical]

I dont think Biocube makes a 34 gal,it is a 29 gal......If you are only doing soft corals, the standard Biocube with no MH lights should work fine, and will be the least expensive.....good luck....

I have 3 biocubes, bought my 3rd just yesterday...I house my clown pairs in them...I love them all so far...the first one i have has my black saddlebacks in it and mushrooms, zoos, cup coral, cabbage coral, xenia, glove polyps..It is kicking b*utt!!!....I will probably pick-up a couple of Solanas (w/o stand or lights) in the near future for my larger species.....

Before i started getting the cubes (and actually I am still using it), i had a 75 gal standard partitioned into 3 sections keep my pairs separate.....while this worked, it wasnt designed that great, I need to re-vamp it...had water flow issues and never had spawns....so, i decided each paor was getting their own home....to me, amazingly, the maintenance on 3 cubes us far less than on one large system...Thats my 2 cents....good luck

[ACE]

Have you seen the Finnex?

[msmith619]

Have you seen the Finnex?

No. I didn't know about Finnex, will look it up.
Mike

[msmith619]

Looked it up and now it seems I have 4 choices: CAD signature, Finnex, RSM, and Biocube.
All have complete systems in the 29-39 gallon range.
Reviews seem to rate RSM as beautifull but needing to have it's innards replaced (protein skimmer, change the lights, add a power head)and the Finnex and CAD signature series being ugly but much better quality.
Anyone have these set ups and can give personal experience?
Mike

[Gseclipse02]

finnex build

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=34413

just ask sean he has had a million tanks it seems

[cbianco]

Anyone have these set ups and can give personal experience?

My Finnex 30

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48448

[msmith619]

OK, Red Sea Max makes a 65 gallon now. I found one in San Antonio. Perfect size for a seahorse/softie/LPS tank. I have read some bad reviews of the RSM protein skimmer on hhr smaller model. Anyone have one or can tell me how good the 65 gallon system is? It has 6 T5 lights, good enough for LPS?
Mike

[Gseclipse02]

the lights wont be an issue ... we had a cheesey 6 bulb set up that had some crappy reflectors on 4 of the bulbs and 2 bulbs had real reflectors and sps was doing in good in my gf's 29g tank

[brewercm]

If I remember correctly it has a pretty basic reflector, I don't even rembember exactly but think it was straight without any kind of bends on it. If you wanted to look at one close up they had one Aquarium Designs off of 281 and Brook Hollow down here in San Antonio. Not too far of a drive for you, but be prepared for sticker shock on that thing.

[msmith619]

OK, decision made! I have done a LOT of reading on aquarium systems that come complete. Critics of all the available systems have faund faults with each. Some say the lights need to be changed, others say the skimmer is worthless, some say you need additional pumps, etc. I found a GREAT review on Red Sea Max last night at around midnight (and forgot to bookmark it and now I can't find it to link it!:at_wits_end:) that was many pages long.
The testor recieved the Red Sea Max 250 (65 gallon) several months before it was available to the public. While he was very critical of the 34 gallon, he was full of praise for the 250. He rated everything, lighting, protein skimminer, water flow, refugium, filtration, cabinet design, temperature/fans, etc. He says it is not only a beautiful piece of furniture but that Red Sea Max has listened to all the criticism of the 130 and fixed all the issues. The light consists of 6 T5 bulbs and he was able to keep sps corals. While it comes complete, it does have the flexibility to allow you to add things, such as a chiller or extra pumps. The componants are modular and designed to be easily replaced should they ever fail. The price can run from $1400-1700 depending on where you shop and it has been listed as being pricey. I know my 75 gallon cost over $3500 to set up and I bought EVERYTHING used to save all I could. I am sure if I had gone for new equipment and top-of-the-line stuff it would have been well over $5000. I think the price is fair.
Next month I hope to have enough change put together to go buy the Red Sea Max at AD (need a truck to get it home to Boerne!) and start a new tank! Then I will be posting a new tank build. This will be a seahorse, softie, LPS tank with a smattering of docile fish: Mandarin, jawfish, royal gramma and maybe a Bangai. This is going to be fun!
Mike

[Jarob]

I was looking into geting one of those too, just too expensive for me

[manhorsedog]

i love the little all in one set ups. You really just have to stay on top of water changes and its easy. I find my biocube14 to be the easiest of all my tanks to keep things happy.

[manhorsedog]

one thing about the red seamax that I do not like is the need for a chiller. They my have a way around it but most people end up having to get one.

[msmith619]

The red sea max 250 uses 6 t-5 lights with 2 built in cooling fans. No chiller needed unless you are making a temporate quarium. They fixed the heat issue.
Mike

[manhorsedog]

thats awesome! i now have t-5's on my 75g and they are cool to the touch and produce more light than any fixture i have owned.

[msmith619]

I found the link to the Red Sea Max 250 review, posted below if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181220

Mike

[ballardjr2000]

Well to add to it i got the marineland corner flow its a 90 i will be sure to let everybody know how that goes. It came a a complete system minus the skimmer i had that already though so no biggy. i paid a heafty price of 1900 for stand, top, t-5's heater tidepool II filtration its filled and now i am awaiting the arrival of the live rock i ordered.

[cbianco]

I am thinking about my next tank.

So what did you find out Mike?

Hint, hint, a Finnex tank would make a fine addition to anyones home!

:)

Christopher

[msmith619]

Going with the Red Sea Max 250 (65 gallon) system. Look for (yes, another!) tank build post to start some time next month. I wanted a little bigger than a 29-34 gallon system and the 65 is perfect for my plan:
4 sea horses, seahorse safe varieties of LPS/Zoas/softies, mandarin, royal gramma, yellow-head jawfish, Bangaii cardinal,and helfricki firefish.
Mike