Aquariums. Worth the extra cost?

[QuinnLee512]

I wouldn’t sleep on Innovative marine either. For the price I feel their tanks are top notch. My ExT 100 is 3/4” glass I think other brands don’t go that thick with that size

I am currently looking at the 75 EXT and Cade 900. Trying to decide whether the Cade is really worth the extra 2k.

 

[bnord]

Waterbox? no. Cade, yeah - don’t even give it a second thought... In terms of brand names, I’d rank them Cade, Cade, Cade, Red Sea and then Waterbox (the latter being last because apparently they have very crappy Ikea-ish stands).I have 2 Cades and never a regret

 

[bnord]

I have two cades, a 180 and a 90 frag/lagoon. For me the stand as a piece of furniture.
The plumbing is stellar and the electrical control panel is it stand out.
also have an IM 40 and the stand while nice and sturdy is an aquarium stand. The Cades are quality pieces of your room decor

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

The super large water boxes now come with aluminum reinforced stands.
I bought a used Red Sea. It’s a good tank, but not a great tank. But I still enjoy it.
I love the look of Waterbox.
I know nothing about Cade.
I’m not into custom built. I like plug and play.

 

[MmeAssoc]

I'm loving my Cade 900 - it looks fantastic and it seems like a lot of thought went into the design. The gravity-fed ATO and the power management system have both been really useful.

The only very slight drawback for me is that it's a little deep - I'm 5'2", and it's hard to reach the sandbed. I think some of the other brands are 10cm or so shallower, which would help.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

The new red sea with aluminum stands or cade or fiji are good options IMO if you want a (more/most) complete factory setup. Innovative marine (for less $$) has a nice tank and aluminum stand, leaving you to pick the sump and plumbing, ato, and extras you want.

EDIT: the cade is a bit wider/deeper footprint--that's nice for aquascaping. If this was my price range--i'd look at the

EXT 150 Lagoon Aquarium: https://www.innovative-marine.com/shop/EXT-150-Lagoon-Aquarium-w-APS-Stand-Black-p238794385​

three feet by four feet is an amazing footprint.

 

[mdb_talon]

Depends on the person. For me paying anything more than a lowball offer on a used tank is definetely not worth it

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

I am currently looking at the 75 EXT and Cade 900. Trying to decide whether the Cade is really worth the extra 2k.

Aside from stand features/look, it depends what you want for a sump IMO and it's features. I like external overflows, but if the sump had the features i want and i could live with an internal overflow, you can easily spend a lot on sumps and plumbing, mounting brackets, etc. (I sure did, not once but twice, with IM aquariums). Not to mention time spent building.

 

[Michael-JT]

I just a post yesterday on another red sea tank busted seam at 3.5 years old. Seeing way to much of that.

I had a smaller red sea and wasn't that impressed tbh... huge overflow... crappy gate valve is disappointing.

.

I just picked up a used Red Sea 160 gal rimless for a few hundred bucks.

Reason was the original Red Sea stand for it was bowing and falling in the front. Was causing the seal in the front of the tank to start coming apart. It hadn't started to leak...yet. but it was a when, not if.
Turns out the original big Rea Sea stand had no lateral support going across the front of the tank and the weight of the tank was putting a dip in the front going across the middle.
Red Sea acknowledged this as a flaw in their cabinet design and had already put out V2 of the stand. Was sending this person a new stand and tank under warranty. And didn't want either the old stand or tank returned.

Think this (Red Sea admitted) flawed cabinet design affected the tanks you saw?

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome back to the hobby!
I have 2 Red Sea Tanks. Very happy with both.

 

[Tamberav]

I just picked up a used Red Sea 160 gal rimless for a few hundred bucks.

Reason was the original Red Sea stand for it was bowing and falling in the front. Was causing the seal in the front of the tank to start coming apart. It hadn't started to leak...yet. but it was a when, not if.
Turns out the original big Rea Sea stand had no lateral support going across the front of the tank and the weight of the tank was putting a dip in the front going across the middle.
Red Sea acknowledged this as a flaw in their cabinet design and had already put out V2 of the stand. Was sending this person a new stand and tank under warranty. And didn't want either the old stand or tank returned.

Think this (Red Sea admitted) flawed cabinet design affected the tanks you saw?

Many are likely related. They deleted a lot of facebook posts to try and hide things. Heavily filtered it. Crappy business model imo.

Regardless the tanks seemed very dated and janky in some ways. I realize they have a new more pricey version now that fixed some of that.

What's up with the recent Red Sea Tank failures? 750XXL ? *UPDATE* Design Flaw CONFIRMED by Red Sea !!!

09/30 RED SEA CONFIRMS DESIGN FLAW!!! Original post below. I have seen a few failures lately, especially on their big tanks. A few reports on their 750xxl in last few weeks. One 750xxl had the back pane blow out. The other started leaking at the bottom. Their Facebook group page is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Kfactor]

I still think if your spending that kind of money I would get a custom and stand and plan it out how you want it .

 

[Cwentz758]

I am currently looking at the 75 EXT and Cade 900. Trying to decide whether the Cade is really worth the extra 2k.

I love my 100EXT the tank itself I feel is top notch. The APS stand is nice (I have the white one) the doors could use better magnets but really that’s it. There’s plenty of room for a sump in stand as well

 

[Jeffcb]

Many are likely related. They deleted a lot of facebook posts to try and hide things. Heavily filtered it. Crappy business model imo.

Regardless the tanks seemed very dated and janky in some ways. I realize they have a new more pricey version now that fixed some of that.

What's up with the recent Red Sea Tank failures? 750XXL ? *UPDATE* Design Flaw CONFIRMED by Red Sea !!!

09/30 RED SEA CONFIRMS DESIGN FLAW!!! Original post below. I have seen a few failures lately, especially on their big tanks. A few reports on their 750xxl in last few weeks. One 750xxl had the back pane blow out. The other started leaking at the bottom. Their Facebook group page is...

www.reef2reef.com

Lol, They don't try and hide anything on our Facebook Group. If some one has a warranty problem the moderator asks the client to contact Red Sea support and file a claim. RS support is the best bare none. There are a lot of hang around's on our Facebook Group that don't even own a Red Sea product but hang around to trash talk every thing they can. Trolls I guess. Warranty claims and trash talkers is not what our FB group is for. Its a group of dedicated reefers who own RS tanks and share there experiences and knowledge with each other.

 

[QuinnLee512]

I love my 100EXT the tank itself I feel is top notch. The APS stand is nice (I have the white one) the doors could use better magnets but really that’s it. There’s plenty of room for a sump in stand as well

The white color is what I want. I think that will tip me towards the 75 ext. I had wanted the 100 but I don't have the wall space unfortunately. :-(

 

[QuinnLee512]

I'm loving my Cade 900 - it looks fantastic and it seems like a lot of thought went into the design. The gravity-fed ATO and the power management system have both been really useful.

The only very slight drawback for me is that it's a little deep - I'm 5'2", and it's hard to reach the sandbed. I think some of the other brands are 10cm or so shallower, which would help.

The Cade 900 is 4" taller than the standard 55" heights of most brands. I'm 5'10" and I think a 59" height would be a pain in the butt without standing on something.

 

[sfin52]

Hi all
After 5 years out of the hobby after losing my tank to a 1 in 50 year flood to the town and now buying out of town.
I am looking to get my hands wet again soon.
And after spending a few days searching. I didn’t find this question asked.
I found a lot of questions of what is better and what would others pick.

Is it worth the extra cost between some brands of tanks.
I am looking at the following

Aqua one reefsys 326 - $1750 Aud
Waterbox 130.4 - $2800 Aud
Redsea reefer 425xl - $3150 Aud
Cade pro reef s2 1200 - $3500 Aud

Is it worth an extra $1000 for a waterbox?

What about glass cages.

 

[Michael-JT]

Lol, They don't try and hide anything on our Facebook Group. If some one has a warranty problem the moderator asks the client to contact Red Sea support and file a claim. RS support is the best bare none. There are a lot of hang around's on our Facebook Group that don't even own a Red Sea product but hang around to trash talk every thing they can. Trolls I guess. Warranty claims and trash talkers is not what our FB group is for. Its a group of dedicated reefers who own RS tanks and share there experiences and knowledge with each other.

I will agree with you on the Red Sea customer support. The claim my friend put in was handled very quickly and he had his new tank and stand at the door in under a week.
According to the story:
Very simple, very quick, and very free.
Well, except for shipping. That's how I got the old tank for a couple hundred. I paid the shipping fees on his new tank. And was rushed to come get the old tank out because the replacement was shipping so quickly.

 

[Luna Lagoona]

I've got 3 innovative marine tanks. The aluminum stands are rock solid. Best mass produced stands available IMO. I looked for a long time and wasn't impressed with the thought of water spilling because of a flimsy stand.

Something worth mentioning, there's a lot of great designs out there for wooden stands if you are willing to DIY, but I do feel the APS stands are pretty expensive for what they are, but they are nice!

I am very happy with the quality of my IM 25 Lagoon, but am looking at the Cade and others heavily. I want to get a bigger tank eventually.

Being in Canada, IM are some of the only ones around/available. It's hard to find anywhere that would ship a CADE tank. Also as much as I want to go custom I feel like prefab tanks are more reliable in that they have a longer track record you can review and the builds should be more consistent. (I've never had a custom made tank though, and again finding someone locally may not be an option depending on where you are)


I also can't find a lot of info on local/Canadian custom builders these days. Most stuff is dated 2017 so I doubt they are getting regular business

 

[Wasabiroot]

Cade tanks are relatively new but from what I see they are quality built and very user friendly. I love their built in power solutions. It comes down to what you are comfortable spending, but I would get a Cade over a Waterbox, personally.