Red Sea 130D love it or hate it?

reefgal1965 · 01/04/2013, 08:10 PM

I just bought a 29 Bio cube and have decided I want one more tank.

I am looking at the Red Sea 130D or maybe a Deep Blue 57 gal or a 30 frag tank. I am not familiar at all with tanks that have sumps as my previous saltwater tanks (many years ago) were the bio cubes in the 29 14 and 8. So I am used to the higher maintenance of nanos though I would never get the 8 again I felt like a slave to that tank, the 14 wasn't much better.

I really prefer soft corals such as ric's, shrooms and zoos. If I go with the rimless 57 or 30 I would get really nice led lights as I really love the looks of them and the fact that they last a long time is a bonus.

As for fish I like to keep that simple and nano sized as well. My bio cube will only have 2 fish, a firefish and maybe a clown. Haven't put that in stone yet because I have a good long time to think about it. I set up the tank on the 1st of Jan don't plan on a cuc until first part of Feb maybe a few soft corals middle to end of Feb and first fish the beginning of March. Second and final fish a month or so later.

So all that info to ask if anyone has the Red Sea 130D with the supposed improvements on skimmer and lights would you buy it again? Is it worth the serious $ or would I be better off with a rimless and buying everything separate.
Thank you for any and all help. I have been reading reviews until I feel like my eyes are ready to pop.

Mark Bianco · 01/04/2013, 09:36 PM

I purchased a RSM130D a little over a year ago, and to be honest I have a love hate relationship with it. I started off with 3 anomies a green, purple, and a orange long tenical anomonies with 3 fish, and some zoos The tank does a wonderful job of keeping them all happy the orange anemonies has split three times. Within a years time I have replaced both circulation pumps, the fan in the back, light bulbs, and the lighting fan is getting very noisy, and for the skimmer its useless in my opinion. IMHO not worth the money. Deep Blue 57 would be the way to go.

mikmac · 01/04/2013, 09:45 PM

I have the RSM 250 and it has similar problems. You mine as well not even turn the skimmer on. The fans are very noisy ciirculation pumps haven't given me too much trouble...YET!!!

reefgal1965 · 01/04/2013, 10:12 PM

Yikes! Thanks guys I had a feeling that was going to be the case. I have gone to many different sites just looking at Red Sea posts and there are a lot of problem threads everything from lights, noise, constantly replacing stuff, skimmer still not working properly, even some threads of cracked tanks! (That would cause my hubby to seriously freak!)
The LFS that I go to is good, there is a young guy who works there that lives in the same town as me and is willing to come set up the sump and run over the "ins and outs" of this type of tank for what I consider a very reasonable charge so now the task of pricing out everything I will need!
Any reason you wouldn't pick the Deep Blue 30gal frag tank?

maR1o · 01/05/2013, 07:03 AM

I am an owner of the RSM 250 as well, and its loud. I love the look but the fan noise and all the noise from the skimmer makes me regret buy it.

bnumair · 01/05/2013, 08:46 AM

i am personally not a big fan of all in one units. i like to customize and mess around with equipment, such units leave no room for that(much).

01/04/2013, 08:10 PM	#1
reefgal1965 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Central CT Posts: 3	Red Sea 130D love it or hate it? I just bought a 29 Bio cube and have decided I want one more tank. I am looking at the Red Sea 130D or maybe a Deep Blue 57 gal or a 30 frag tank. I am not familiar at all with tanks that have sumps as my previous saltwater tanks (many years ago) were the bio cubes in the 29 14 and 8. So I am used to the higher maintenance of nanos though I would never get the 8 again I felt like a slave to that tank, the 14 wasn't much better. I really prefer soft corals such as ric's, shrooms and zoos. If I go with the rimless 57 or 30 I would get really nice led lights as I really love the looks of them and the fact that they last a long time is a bonus. As for fish I like to keep that simple and nano sized as well. My bio cube will only have 2 fish, a firefish and maybe a clown. Haven't put that in stone yet because I have a good long time to think about it. I set up the tank on the 1st of Jan don't plan on a cuc until first part of Feb maybe a few soft corals middle to end of Feb and first fish the beginning of March. Second and final fish a month or so later. So all that info to ask if anyone has the Red Sea 130D with the supposed improvements on skimmer and lights would you buy it again? Is it worth the serious $ or would I be better off with a rimless and buying everything separate. Thank you for any and all help. I have been reading reviews until I feel like my eyes are ready to pop.

01/04/2013, 09:45 PM	#3
mikmac Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 102	I have the RSM 250 and it has similar problems. You mine as well not even turn the skimmer on. The fans are very noisy ciirculation pumps haven't given me too much trouble...YET!!! __________________ We have two ears and one mouth. We were made to listen twice as much as we talk! So shut up and listen!!!

01/05/2013, 08:46 AM	#6
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	i am personally not a big fan of all in one units. i like to customize and mess around with equipment, such units leave no room for that(much). __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

01/04/2013, 09:36 PM	#2
Mark Bianco In Memoriam Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Infinity and Beyond Posts: 2,445	I purchased a RSM130D a little over a year ago, and to be honest I have a love hate relationship with it. I started off with 3 anomies a green, purple, and a orange long tenical anomonies with 3 fish, and some zoos The tank does a wonderful job of keeping them all happy the orange anemonies has split three times. Within a years time I have replaced both circulation pumps, the fan in the back, light bulbs, and the lighting fan is getting very noisy, and for the skimmer its useless in my opinion. IMHO not worth the money. Deep Blue 57 would be the way to go.

01/04/2013, 10:12 PM	#4
reefgal1965 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Central CT Posts: 3	Yikes! Thanks guys I had a feeling that was going to be the case. I have gone to many different sites just looking at Red Sea posts and there are a lot of problem threads everything from lights, noise, constantly replacing stuff, skimmer still not working properly, even some threads of cracked tanks! (That would cause my hubby to seriously freak!) The LFS that I go to is good, there is a young guy who works there that lives in the same town as me and is willing to come set up the sump and run over the "ins and outs" of this type of tank for what I consider a very reasonable charge so now the task of pricing out everything I will need! Any reason you wouldn't pick the Deep Blue 30gal frag tank?

01/05/2013, 07:03 AM	#5
maR1o Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 52	I am an owner of the RSM 250 as well, and its loud. I love the look but the fan noise and all the noise from the skimmer makes me regret buy it.