agreed, for an easy peezey lemon squeezy don't wanna do any more work than I absolutely have to and I could care less about the price/value it is a perfect system.

No denying how gorgeous they look.

Ignorance is bliss, and expensive:wink:

I have the RSM 130 and I like it for my first tank it was just right and gave me a good start into the hobby.

Now when I move up to another tank I will go custom because I know stuff now at least I think I know stuff.

All in Ones (AIO) have an appeal for those who do not like to see plumbing, wires, skimmers and all the other bits hanging off a tank. I'm not saying that you can't have a ground up tank look clean with no visible parts hanging off, just look at some of the better build threads to see examples

AIO are built for display and beauty, they may not be able to host the exotics but they sure look fine and they set up quickly.

We love our 34g red sea max. It was our first tank, too, and it looks great in the living room. Yes, we also have a beautiful custom 180g, but we still love our RSM because of how simple it really is and the beautiful clean lines of the all-in-one. I'd say it was the perfect starter tank for us, and I'm sure with this new bigger one they will have all the bugs worked out.

the 34g was 1000 at most with a stand though, much more reasonable for what you got.

Nobody get me wrong here, If someone gave my an rsm250, I'd be pleased as punch.
I was just shocked at how much it was when I saw it in person the other day.
Maybe I just have too much respect for my wallet.

I'm probably the one you are referring to about the hood issue, all fixed now. I did hear about the stand crack, but not the pump. :lol:

I'm not sure you are being completely fair with pricing. The RSM 250 is something like $1750 to $1800 before taxes. Now if you go buy a 60 or 65 gallon reef ready tank with stand I think you will pay around $600. You could probably save $200 by drilling it yourself (some risk of cracking) and putting in your own overflow but to compare apples to apples let's go reef ready. Then add a sump too at extra cost, let's say $200 if you want to buy a ready to go one. A Nova Extreme Pro with 6 x 39 watts lighting would be another $450 so you are up over $1200 already. Now add some a return pump, heater, a powerhead or two, timers for lights and a skimmer and I think you will be pretty close to the RSM price.

I think if you want to buy a ready to go system the premium for the RSM is maybe $100 to $150 at most and for that you get a nice clean integrated system. You could probably save a few hundred more going DIY for some of that, and yes, your system may be more versatile, but many people would like an out of the box, ready to go system and this one really isn't all that expensive for what you get (IMHO).

i have a 130 rsm and like it just fine. i looked into the 250 about a year ago and the skimmer and lighting have both been upgraded. the media is easier to get at ETC. all and all i think its going to be a great little AIO.

We own a Red Sea 130....its what we started with. We knew nothing. This thing is a mega kit. Salt/heater/test kits the whole meal deal.....just add water/LR. The skimmer has never missed a beat....

Now we have learned much more and we are ready to upgrade.....but I would not give up the RS130 we have. Its a good little unit. The larger unit would be better to start with though...more room for corals and fish!!! :mrgreen: