Danny McElroy
Active Member
I just ordered a new Red Sea Max S-650 and would love any feedback from anyone with advice, experience, and/or recommendations on the system.
Red Sea Max S-650
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Wilcar350z
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Hi, I curantly own a Red Sea max 650 and the only thing I kept is the tank and stand I replace the lights, skimmer and most of all the pumps on the back. I regret buying this tank I could of build a better tank for the same money or a little extra.but good luck with it hopefully you like it.
Wilcar350z
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Danny McElroy
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Thanks for sharing, mine arrived today with the back glass of the aquarium portion cracked originating from one of the drilled holes... ugh!!!n
Wilcar350z
New Member
No problem, sorry to hear that. Another thing you should get is a chiller if you live in a hot state those light are really close to the water and they heat up the tank really bad.
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Danny McElroy
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I'm in North Texas, so yes it's hot... and I purchased the JBJ Arctica Titanium Chiller DBM-250 1/3HP so hopefully that will do it until I upgrade to LEDs someday
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Danny McElroy
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Your tank is pretty jammed packed, what filtration do you use and what supplements do you dose? Looks awesome
They are great tanks with excellent support. Too bad about the crack, but RS will get that squared away.
There are a ton of mods you can make, but very few you need to make. The only thing that truly drove me crazy was the skimmer. It's loud and temperamental . If you are looking at keeping SPS I would consider adding an mp40 or 2.
Wildcat is right and very few people can run these babies without a chiller. If the room you keep it in is kept cool and gets lots of air flow it might be possible. One thought is covert to LED now and spare the expense of a chiller. There are 3 LED options that I'm aware of. If you want to keep the stock hood, Steves led makes a retro kit that goes in the channel where the 2 t5s go. It does take some DIY skills. Along the same lines you can also remove that center channel and drop in Kessil 360s. This is what I did. The nice thing about both of these options is it allows you to also run some t5s if you choose, which I do. Finally, you can simply take the hood off and put whatever LEDs you wish over the tank which is what wilcar did.
Good luck !
There are a ton of mods you can make, but very few you need to make. The only thing that truly drove me crazy was the skimmer. It's loud and temperamental . If you are looking at keeping SPS I would consider adding an mp40 or 2.
Wildcat is right and very few people can run these babies without a chiller. If the room you keep it in is kept cool and gets lots of air flow it might be possible. One thought is covert to LED now and spare the expense of a chiller. There are 3 LED options that I'm aware of. If you want to keep the stock hood, Steves led makes a retro kit that goes in the channel where the 2 t5s go. It does take some DIY skills. Along the same lines you can also remove that center channel and drop in Kessil 360s. This is what I did. The nice thing about both of these options is it allows you to also run some t5s if you choose, which I do. Finally, you can simply take the hood off and put whatever LEDs you wish over the tank which is what wilcar did.
Good luck !
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Danny McElroy
Active Member
Thank you!!! I really appreciate the feedback!!!
Wilcar350z
New Member
Thanks notting special just good water quality regal reef actopus 300 sss , phosphate reactor and 40 gallons water change every month.4 mp 40 pumps instead of the ones from Red Sea .
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Danny McElroy
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I just checked out the Kessil 360s and the Steves LEDs, do you mind sharing your reason for choosing the Kessil vs Steve's LEDs?
NicksMixedReef
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If you're going to just start modding the thing, why don't you just buy the new reefer series
Wilcar350z
New Member
I have the aqua illumination hydra 52 I have 3 units on it and is well light up. Reefer only makes a 90 gallons, the biggest one.
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Danny McElroy
Active Member
Yes I thought about that, yet as Wilcar350z said they aren't near as big of a tank, and my wife is letting me put the tank in our main family rec room so she got to be a part of choosing the style, and likes the look of the all in one self contained system that RS Max series provides. At this time I only plan to modify the lights to the LED in the center of the light assembly, looks like I am going to go with the Steves LEDs package.
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Danny McElroy
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No, I've been running the T5s that came with it, yet plan to once these begin to fade in about 5 months. I am almost through the cycle, and close to being able to add corals. Why do you ask?
I, too, have a Red Sea S650. I do love the tank. I have also made many modifications to my tank including skimmer and lights. You can see my tank build link for more on those updates. For me, the modifications I made were for the following reasons.
1. Lights to LED for heat control (I have a JBJ 1/4 HP)
2. Skimmer - The one that came with it was very temperamental, hard to tune in and clean.
I did add Gyre pumps to my setup and stopped running the pumps on the back. Although, I do feel that with the return and those 4 pumps on the back, there was plenty of flow even for SPS.
I do agree, that for the money I could have built my own. However, having little experience with large tanks, the plumbing was a little intimidating to me to take a task like that. With plumbing on the RSMS650 already built in, it was a clear choice for me. I have learned a lot about how to set up a reef tank from this tank and for a first dive into a large tank I think it's worth it. The looks of the tank are classic and clean.
Enjoy the tank!
1. Lights to LED for heat control (I have a JBJ 1/4 HP)
2. Skimmer - The one that came with it was very temperamental, hard to tune in and clean.
I did add Gyre pumps to my setup and stopped running the pumps on the back. Although, I do feel that with the return and those 4 pumps on the back, there was plenty of flow even for SPS.
I do agree, that for the money I could have built my own. However, having little experience with large tanks, the plumbing was a little intimidating to me to take a task like that. With plumbing on the RSMS650 already built in, it was a clear choice for me. I have learned a lot about how to set up a reef tank from this tank and for a first dive into a large tank I think it's worth it. The looks of the tank are classic and clean.
Enjoy the tank!
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Danny McElroy
Active Member
Thanks, mine has been running since 7/25 and we are loving it!!!
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