Red Sea Max S-650 LED

[Eddie02169]

Good day, everybody. I'm looking into buying the Red Sea Max S-650 with LED lighting. I live in Massachusetts by the ocean, and was looking for current reviews regarding the system. Thank you in advance for any and all input. With the LED lighting, do you think I would still need a chiller considering our hot summers? I live in Quincy out on the neck, and do not have air-conditioning. During the summer it can reach the high 80s to low 90s here.

 

[mr_tap_water]

Welcome to RS
From what I've seen Red Sea have a good build quality and is a good choice IMO and I'm sure someone will come along soon unbearable to help you with this particular tank.

With your temperature it does sound like you need some sort of cooling system fans or a chiller to help keep those temperatures down as you should be aiming somewhere around the 77-79f Mk.

Other than that Will be looking forward to seeing your your new tank in the near future don't forget to show us lots of pictures tell us all about it,
Good luck with your new adventure[emoji846]


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[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

We keep our home at 73F have a RSM 250 & Stevesleds, no chiller and tank temps 79F which is just fine for my tank, fish and corals - hope this helps

 

[DaveK]

This is something your more or less going to need to try and see how it goes. It is possible to cool a tank to some extent by evaporate cooling, and using fans across the water surface.

I'd go with LEDs and possibly a fan across the water surface first, before I invested in a chiller.

Lastly, it is much more important that the temp remain stable, rather than going up and down.

 

[Pat24601]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

We keep our home at 73F have a RSM 250 & Stevesleds, no chiller and tank temps 79F which is just fine for my tank, fish and corals - hope this helps

Same here. I never needed a chiller and it was never even close once I switched to LEDs. Which is good because I hate chillers.

 

[Pat24601]

Good day, everybody. I'm looking into buying the Red Sea Max S-650 with LED lighting. I live in Massachusetts by the ocean, and was looking for current reviews regarding the system. Thank you in advance for any and all input. With the LED lighting, do you think I would still need a chiller considering our hot summers? I live in Quincy out on the neck, and do not have air-conditioning. During the summer it can reach the high 80s to low 90s here.

Actually, as I think about this, I missed that you saying you don't run any air conditioning even when it's in the 90s.

If so, you might need a chiller. I'm not actually sure as I've always run AC once things get that hot.

I think basically in order to really tell you'd need to have the tank up and just see. I certainly wouldn't buy a chiller until I was 100% sure I needed one. They are annoying, expensive equipment in my opinion. But, if you need one it's definitely good to have,

LEDs defintely help a lot with heat. At least, they do with me. But, I'm not sure it's enough to keep things comfortable if the tank is sitting in ambient 90s degree heat. Maybe, but I just don't know. I havent done that.

 

[Pat24601]

This is something your more or less going to need to try and see how it goes. It is possible to coll a tank to some extent by evaporate cooling, and using fans across the water surface.

I'd go with LEDs and possibly a fan across the water surface first, before I invested in a chiller.

Lastly, it is much more important that the temp remain stable, rather than going up and down.

As usual, I agree with this.

 

[SPR]

Hi Eddie and welcome!

I have the Max S 650 LED 2016 and you can see it on my tank thread under the Red Sea Max owners club.

As far as a review goes they are simply stunning. No wires or tubes hanging out like a science experiment just a beautiful piece of furniture in your home with a living reef inside it. They are plug and play other than no heaters/chillers. They are certainly not cheap, but you get what you pay for as far as build quality, glass etc etc.

Yes you can change the skimmer if you want, I did eventually as I learned in the hobby, but the C Skim is perfectly acceptable and works fine.

As far as the chiler is concerned, in reality were you are based, you will probably need to get one, but I would maybe wait and see as you can add it afterwards if needed. Even if you had AC, what happens if it fails when your away and the tank temp increases? I have a friend who had this happen and it wiped out his Max S 400 tank.

I'm based in the UK and the normal room temp is around 18-20c but the tank runs at around 25.5 to 26.8c roughly just from the pumps, lights etc. In our summers, Im borderline needing one and i have researched it ready and I can get next day delivery. I will get the Teco 1000 if and when I need it. Not the cheapest but I believe one of the best from what I've read.

I've spoken to my London based LFS on chillers and although they sell them, they told me to only get one if I absolutely needed it due to the noise, heat expelled etc etc. I also have the option of adding large bottles of frozen RO water to cool it if needed as it may be only a few weeks a year temps get to very high levels.

Anyway don't hesitate to ask if you need any help etc

Best wishes

 

[emvanburen]

Welcome! I am days away from closing on a house and putting a 650 in it. After boatloads of research I'm still jazzed about this model. If you get it we can swap start up experience! There are a lot of very helpful people here fwiw. I will essentially be rebooting my existing tank - almost everything will be new except some livestock. Ed


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[Pat24601]

Oh, absolutely! It's an awesome tank!