[freska11]

I've had a 33L FOWLR for about a year now, and ever since have wanted a reef tank. That being said, I still have so much to learn, and part of what appealed to me in the Red Sea Max is it's "plug in play" claim to fame. Has anyone had any experience with this tank? It's been a top choice for me so far b/c it's self contained, and unlike my current tank, won't have cords, tubes, etc hanging everywhere. Also, b/c of it's design it seems as though it would be a lot easier to maintain. I have a few questions:

1) How many fish can I max out in this tank?
2) What is a water chiller, and will I need one?
3) Am I limited by what kinds of coral I can put in the tank?
4) Are there other components that are necessary that they don't acknowledge?
5) Are there other tanks with the same design that I should look at instead?

Any opinions/comments appreciated. Thank you.

[WILLIAM1]

Instead of a red sea max you should look into the solona tanks heres a nice link to them with tons of info.
Solana - Aquarium System | Current What's Next

[ianizaguirre]

yea solanas are plug and play also

[Proud Texan]

Yes the red sea max is a pretty good unit to buy when you want to get into reef-keeping or just want something that looks cool.
You can fit a diverse amount of species in the max and you can hold quite a few. The max and Solanos are good plug and play systems. but you may also want to look in to a Aqua-Pod,Nano-Cube, or BioCube. There not atsactly plug and play but there an option. If you want somthing a little bit cheaper than a max or solano but want something a bit better than what i just said you may want to try the 28 gal nano-cube HQI:Nano Cube Aquarium Kit: JBJ Lighting 28 gallon Nano-Cube HQI Aquarium Set

[freska11]

thanks for the info. i guess one of my biggest concerns is how few fish i'll be able to put in the tank...if i transfered water from my current tank to the RS Max would i be able to start putting coral and fish in the red sea max immediately or would i have to wait?

[freska11]

also what exactly is a water chiller, and would i need one?

[WILLIAM1]

Not really a chiller is normally used for tanks hosting MH lighting. A smaller tank even my 90 gallon I use walmart fans. A water chiller is a device that cools the water internally and returns it back to the tank at a specific degree when the tank gets to hot. Like a air conditioner.

[pistorius4]

I have owned a Solana for a little over 3 months. It is my first reef tank and so far I have had some good success. I will share some of my opinions thus far on the system. Please remember that I am new and these are just my opinions.

It has a top off system. Great idea but the bottles are so small that the most I have gotten out of them is 2 days max. It is kind of a pain to keep filling them up. I would upgrade to a better system in the future.

It has a glass top. It gets salt build up quite fast and you must continue to clean it. With the halide light you will see a boost in temperature with the top on. I have ditched the top. I have some serious evaporation happening but my temps are stable at 79 to 80 degrees with the 150w. halide.

It also comes with a protein skimmer that I hear isn't that bad of quality. I have not been able to get it to skim appropriately yet but most likely this is due to user error. This is a real plus to have in a reef tank!

I do recommend getting the halide light. You can get the pendant like I did or chose a more traditional model. The pendant is not for everyones taste . I do like it though. I am running radium 20k bulbs and love the color.

I have received many compliments on the styling of the tank and think you will be pleased with the design.

I have removed the bioballs and put in some chaetomorpha with a hang on light.

All in all I think you will be happy with the tank and its easy maintenance.

If you have any more specific questions please let me know.

[freska11]

pisto-thanks for the response.

i did some research, and found out that RED SEA MAX has released a bigger tank the RSM 250 in Europe...but I haven't found it anywhere online for sale in the US. anyone have any info? it's obviously a lot more expensive, but it looks great given what little info i know.

[RyanG]

Saltwater Aquarium Forum, Reef Blog, Coral Reef Aquarium, Saltwater Fish » Blog Archive » Red Sea Max 250 - 66 gallon aquarium

Search in the Blog section for more Red Sea Max 250 posts

[pistorius4]

They always say bigger is better. If you have the money go as big as you can. It is much easier to maintain the water parameters in a larger tank. That red sea looks pretty nice.