Need Help with Setup -- Buying Red Sea Reefer 250

esther · Oct 23, 2019

I'm looking to get back into hobby after some time. We're probably buying a used Red Sea Reefer 250 in the next week or so. I'm only buying tank, stand and sump. Trying to setup a system with all used products. Looking to have a mixed reef tank.

I'm in no rush to set system up, so all recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance for your help!

gobble · Oct 23, 2019

Wow that's a really vague question. I got back in about 4 years ago with a Reefer 250 then pretty quickly upgraded to a 450 and now a 750XXL.

Skip the used and wait for the black Friday sales. Everyone wants 90 cents on the dollar for their used stuff. It's not worth screwing around.

esther · Oct 23, 2019

gobble said:
Wow that's a really vague question. I got back in about 4 years ago with a Reefer 250 then pretty quickly upgraded to a 450 and now a 750XXL.

Skip the used and wait for the black Friday sales. Everyone wants 90 cents on the dollar for their used stuff. It's not worth screwing around.

That’s what I’m afraid of. Buying a 250 and wanting bigger and better like 3 months later. How do you like your 750? Have you had any issues?

gobble · Oct 23, 2019

So far I love the 750 but I've only had fish in it about 2 weeks. Once you get started again it's hard to stop.

phatduckk · Oct 23, 2019

Have you decided whether you want a controller or not? That may impact the recommendations folks make

esther · Oct 23, 2019

phatduckk said:
Have you decided whether you want a controller or not? That may impact the recommendations folks make

I'd like to automate as much as I can, but I'm not going to jump into it immediately. Any recommendations?

phatduckk · Oct 23, 2019

esther said:
I'd like to automate as much as I can, but I'm not going to jump into it immediately. Any recommendations?

nothing super specific since I’m new to the hobby and haven’t experienced enough variety in equipment. but it’s definitely worth consideration: ie if you think you’re gonna get an Apex it might be a good idea to narrow down pumps, power heads and lights etc to stuff that is controllable by the apex.

it’s nice to be able to control and program everything from one place as opposed to hopping between apps or fiddling w/ annoying remotes during common tasks.