Any thoughts on the Red Sea Max 34 gal?

[jaxfishgirl]

I have been perusing through this message board for years. I have been obsessing about a small aquarium, I just dont know what to buy. The Red Sea Max looks too good to be true. I was just curious if anyone here has any opinions on the 34 gal Red Sea Max 130D. Thx

 

[runn3rb3an]

It looks very nice and if you have the money I would go for it... But it costs the same as a 180 gallon tank. I personally have the 29 gallon biocube which is very nice for less than half the cost of the red sea. I'm not personally willing to pay the extra 500 for minor bells and whistles. However nice they are

 

[jaxfishgirl]

yeah, i was looking at a biocube also. i dont have the room for a huge tank, as much as i would love to have a monstrous tank. i live in a one bedroom apartment. But thanks for the reply

 

[contraband629]

Ok I just looked at that tank and while it looks like a nice tank the price tag is really high for a tank that size. I can understand the desire to have a big tank. I really want one too but I anticipate a lot of moving over the next several years so I must settle my urge for fish keeping with a nano.

 

[jaxfishgirl]

yeah, it is a lot of money. i know the biocube has a 29 gal and the nano has a 28 gal. i am probably going to settle for one of those. now i just have to pick between those 2.

 

[majicmak]

Hi Jax,
That Red Sea could be my next tank. I am working with a Biocube 14, a fine tank. The Red Sea comes with a stand, $150 for the Bio stand. The Red Sea comes with a power driven skimmer that is worth $100. The Bio skimmer cost me $40 and does not work very well. The Red Sea has 110 watts of lighting with a built in timer. The Biocube can be upgraded to this level at a cost of $150 or so. The Red Sea has a 200 watt heater. $36. The Red Sea has two sump pumps.

They sell that Red Sea a couple of different ways. They have a Delux version with a test kit, gravel or live sand and other goodies. Or a stripped version for about $150 less. And they sell one that isn't black.
Mak

 

[cocoacf]

I would go with the 29 biocube! I had a 14g, and then a year later upgraded to the 29g. I love it! They have made a couple adjustments to the 29 compared to the old 29 they sold.
here are just a few of them:
- there is a window in the bioball chamber, so you can view what's going on in your sump from the back.(I've filled that area with LR instead)
- they fixed a filtration problem in the filter chamber.
- they added a raised back so that fish won't jump over into the chamber area.
It's so much nicer than my 14 was, too. It's a lot easier to take care of.

 

[yearofthenick]

In the past, I've had both the RSM 34g and the 14g biocube.
The Red Sea Max was one of my favorite tanks. Although it had quirks here and there, I loved how simple it was to use. The Skimmer was problematic from time to time, but hey, it was a REAL skimmer! In a Nano! The first 3-4 days all it did was shoot out microbubbles into the tank, but after that it started churning out skimmate pretty well.
The T5 lights did a great job of keeping my corals happy, though it was hard to keep SPS, even up high. Even with the two strong powerheads, it still could have used more flow.
Yesterday I bought a 28g nano cube Quad CF. It was a screaming deal from the doc's and I can't wait for it to ship so I can set it up. It's going to replace my 20g as my main tank, and I'm going to put an angler in the 20g. My wife thinks they're cute.
Jax, I sent you a Personal Message - check it out!

 

[soviettaco]

This is off topic but awesome tattoo!! Great coloring!