# red sea max 250 opinions?



## woodchuck (Aug 24, 2010)

hihi all,

glad to find this great forum and hope to get some opinions and recommendations here.

i want to setup my first ever marine tank (had freshwater before), and i found it hard to find a tank with the following criteria:
- around 60 gallons (think this is ideal size for me)
- curved glass/seamless tank (must have)
- matching cabinet (really nice to have)
- integrated refugium (nice to have)
- integrated filtration/circulation (ideal to have)
- LED lighting system (nice to have)

the red sea max 250 was the only thing i could find (http://www.redseamax.com/redseamax/250Temp/redseamax/index.html).

it's very expensive too, was only able to find it at the usa big als website for $1599 US.

i have seen regular curved glass tanks (without cabinet) for $199 cdn at the big als store on kennedy, but then i would have to buy all the other pieces/components separately. however i have zero experienced with setting up salt water aquariums.

what are your thoughts about this tank? is it worth the price? or should i buy the cheaper tank and all parts separately and build a DIY aquarium? or are there other brands or tanks that are similar and/or offer better value?

does anyone know any stores/dealers/online stores that sell this tank in the GTA?

thanks in advance for any opinion, advice and/or recommendations.

-w


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

That link doesn't work because of the bracket, but here it is:

http://www.redseamax.com/redseamax/250Temp/redseamax/index.html

The only thing I can say about that tank is that it's pretty, I don't know anything about salt water setups.


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## ctrlf (Feb 20, 2010)

I don't know who carries the RSM 250 in Toronto, but Aqua Valley has it for $1800+tax. 

Buying a used setup is vastly cheaper. Especially if it's your first salt tank, because someone getting out of the hobby usually wants to unload their rock, additives, test kits, refractometer, whatever. I would have easily paid 3x retail for everything I got with my tank.

As for that RSM tank specifically, I haven't seen it. With any AIO I would poke around some forums and see what upgrades people are doing to it. (If I had done this I would have known that I would be immediately replacing the skimmer on my AIO tank, because google is full of people complaining about how loud it is.)

The other thing to consider is: What livestock are you planning to keep? Lighting is the biggest pricetag with reef tanks, by far. LED is way out of my budget, but personally I wouldn't be happy with the (likely) mediocre T5 in the RSM because I love SPS and clams.


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