Rob's Rea Sea Reefer 450
 

It's official, I'm taking the plunge and starting a new tank. I've only been in the hobby for 9 months, but I'm ready to upgrade my RSM 130 to the Red Sea Reefer 350. Unfortunately, the actual tank will not be shipping until February, but it doesn't stop me from starting with the other equipment:biggrin:.

I've started by picking up a Vertex Omega 180 at JL (for a crazy deal btw) this morning and was hoping to pick up some lights but could not make a decision.

My lighting budget is $1000 and they need to be controllable with the Apex

The lights currently on my radar are the 2 x Kessil 360W-E, Zetlight Qmaven ZT6600. The Vortech Radeon XR30W and the AI Hydra 52's are nice but will blow my budget.

The Evergrow lights seem to be in a good price range, but not controllable via Apex.

Any other LED lights I should be looking at?

thanks in advance for any input.

Pulled the trigger on a pair of Hydra 26's, also ordered pukani from Fiji Reef Rock.

I'm now pondering a different tank, the Cad Lights Artisan 100 gallon. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts?

Equipment List So Far:
2 x AI Hydra 26
Vertex 180i Skimmer
Vortec MP10 using in current set up
Apex Neptune (standard) using in current set up
Tunze ATO

Equipment to Go:
Tank & Sump - Red Sea Reefer 350 or 450 OR Cadlights Artisan 100
Powerheads - 2 x MP40 or Maxspect Gyre
Heater - ??

Am I crazy
 

Ok. Now I'm thinking of going for the Red Sea Reefer 450 or the CadLight Artisan 100 gal.

The "logic" I'm applying here is, the extra 12" of width on the Red Sea tank will give me more fish options. However total system volume between the two are comparable. Am I right?

The longer I think about it the bigger the tank gets....

A 120g is a nice size. I like the 4' version, but some larger fish are better suited to a 6' tank, so your choices are still out there.
Have you considered building your own system instead of buying what you are looking at ?
I ask as I feel some of those all-in-ones are super expensive.

I did consider and priced out custom options. By the time I finish the stand, sump and plumbing it came very close to the cost of these systems.

This being my second tank, I'm also not too keen on undertaking the plumbing myself... If something went wrong and I ended up flooding the house, the wife would behead me. She's been very understanding with my addiction to this hobby, I don't want to push her over the edge. Happy wife = happy life, and I get to keep my head too!

I hear ya

Why not go t5 for lighting you could do it for under 1000 and far better for color and growth then LEDs

I'm with you on this one for sure. The Reefer system will be cheaper and unless you are have some wood working skills to build/skirt a stand, it'll look much better too.

I believe the Reefer 350 with a white stand will be ~$1800, my 70 gallon tank, stand sump and plumbing was around the same cost and I got the tank and sump at 20% off. Once I consider a little more cost for ATO and plumbing, I definitely wish the reefer was available when I was shopping.

I can't wait to see the initial promotion they have on the systems. My basement flooded last year so I need to move all my tanks and a nice Reefer system upstairs may be in the cards so I can have an easier move.

Just wanted to give LEDs a try. Like the idea of not dealing with bulb changes.

I went with the reef breeders LED's and was a diehard t5 guy for ever. I am loving the ability to customize the power of the lights throughout the day. The shimmer is also a nice added bonus. As for growth, I've seen may LED tanks with great growth. I picked up my first t5's when Tek was releasing them, and I remember everyone saying they would never be able to grow many corals, and that was disproven. So time will also tell for LED's.