[redseasteve]

Posted by "NightFox" on another forum earlier today:

Just over 2 years ago I was one of the first customers to get my hands on the new Red Sea Max. I published my thoughts and progress here on ReefsUK, and since then, along with several other early buyers, I’ve enjoyed seeing how the Max has matured. Red Sea has listened to our feedback along the way, and there’s been a few changes made over the last couple of years. However, the Max concept has now moved on to the next stage, with the recent release of the Max 130D - an updated version of the original - and the impending release of the new, larger Max 250. A couple of months ago, Red Sea offered me the chance to purchase the first retail Max 250 prior to its official release, and I’ve now been running the tank for just over a month.

So if you want to know how the Red Sea Max 250 measures up, read on. I’ll be making quite a few comparisons with the original Max, as I know that a lot of people who own the original are interested in upgrading to the 250. However, I’ll also try and offer my opinion on the 250 on its own merits.

A Good Move by Red Sea?

Red Sea discovered a niche market when they released the original Max, and there’s no doubt of the tank’s success. However, the Max 250 is released into a crowded market tuned to a range of budgets from the Juwels to the Aquamedics and the small volume and custom manufacturers, so its got to stand up to established competition.

Retailing at £1300, the price may initially put people off, especially newcomers who see a Juwel Rio for £350 and may not appreciate the extra equipment (and cost) required to turn a glass tank into a full reef aquarium. However, once you factor in the cost of equipment of comparable specification to that which comes with the Max 250, the price difference is still there, but is much more competitive. Even before it’s gone on sale the 250 seems to be generating a lot of interest. We shall see!

Anyway, let’s have a look at the thing…

Cabinet

The Max comes with its own cabinet stand, which is supplied in flat-pack form. Assembly is pretty straightforward following the illustration-only instructions, although it’s worth taking your time to get things right first time (it took my about 90 minutes to put together). The tolerances are pretty much what you’d expect for flat-pack, so things don’t line up quite perfectly all the time but the assembled cabinet is sturdy and certainly looks up to the job of supporting 1/3 ton of glass and water.

The finish of the cabinet is really nice too. Unlike the original Max cabinet that I thought cheapened the whole package, the Max 250 cabinet is coated in a smooth finish that feels and looks the same as the trim around the tank itself. There’s a choice of two colours for the Max and the cabinet – I chose black, but it’s also available in silver with a possibility of white also being available in the future. I would have also liked to see some wooden-finished choices for the cabinet like most other manufacturers offer, even if it is just laminate, as it would help the whole setup blend into most people’s living rooms a bit more sympathetically (and I think that can be a major issue for newcomers to the hobby). As it is, the black is quite domineering, though oddly not as much as my smaller Max 130.

The inside of the cabinet is split into two areas, with a divider running front-to-back in the middle to help support the weight of the tank. Each side has a large cutout in the back panel, so feeding plumbing and wiring into the cabinet isn’t a problem. Unfortunately, there’s no hole in the central divide, so to go from one side to the other means going out of the back and back in again. Each compartment isn’t actually that wide, so if you wanted to run a chiller and another item on the same plumbing, you’d probably need to do this (or drill your own hole in the centre). This design also means that sticking a conventional external sump in the cabinet isn’t really an option, but to be fair the Max is designed not to need an additional sump. There are two doors on the front, hinged on the far sides. The doors have an invisible cut-out in the bottom which along with the large openings in the rear of the cabinet help with airflow if a chiller is going to be running in the cabinet.

Aquarium

The tank itself is beautiful (in the eye of this beholder). To be honest, I was expecting something more or less the same as my Max 130, but about twice as big. That’s not really it though – the extra size has brought a “presence” to the Max 250, and it really is one of the most attractive tanks I have seen. You get a thick black border at the top and bottom with the wraparound curved edge glass that made the Max so distinctive (and has since led to many copies!) spanning the sides and front. The rear 10cm or so of the edges and the back of the tank that houses the built-in sump is black. On the back of the right-hand side is the power strip; a concealed unit into which all the Max’s electric gubbins connect, with independent switches for each accessible through a hinged flap at the bottom. The single power cable that feeds the Max now exits from the rear of the tank on this side rather than the side as it did on the original Max. On the other side at the rear there’s a tall narrow window through which you can see the water level in the sump, a nice feature that’s also on the new 130D. However, I’ve got a bit of a criticism here as I think many of us want to position our aquariums in corners (with a bit of a gap for cleaning and maintenance). With the original Max, you could do this but you were restricted to having the left edge against the wall as you needed access to the power strip on the right. Because everything had been crammed into the Max, that was a reasonable design compromise. However, the size of the Max 250 left the designers with a lot more room to play with, and I was rather hoping for an option to fit the power strip on either side. It would have made cable management within the tank itself a bit more of a challenge, but it would have allowed for more flexibility in where the tank could be placed. So as it is, you can’t position the Max 250 flush in a right hand corner. The trouble is, locate it in a left hand corner and you obscure the window in the sump. In all honesty, not being able to see the window isn’t a killer, just a bit of a shame, although you can use a mirror if need be – you’d need to leave a 6” or so gap on the left for the hood fans to operate efficiently anyway. So, if you want to stick your Max 250 in the middle of a wall, no problem. In a left hand corner, and you need to leave room if you want to use the window. In a right hand corner, and you’ll need at least 12” to access the power strip. The back of the Max can be virtually right against the wall whilst still allowing the hood to open, though if you’re planning on using a chiller or anything else external you’ll want to leave a gap for plumbing and ventilation (and everything you drop down the back).

Hood

The Max 250 hood complements the rest of the tank and fits flush to the top rim. It’s hinged at the back with support arms at either side that allow the hood to be secured in either a 45 degree position, or vertically (cue much cheering from original Max owners). The hood’s quite heavy, so care needs to be taken when raising or lowering it, and some finger grips moulded into the side could have made things easier. The back of the hood includes an openable flap for access to the protein skimmer, and another which provides access to the lighting timer and controls, and the switch for the auxiliary cooling fans.

The front quarter of the hood can be flipped open independently from the rest of the hood proving easy access for feeding, water testing and maintenance, which is a great design that many existing Max owners already appreciate. Flipping this section of the lid back exposes holders in the underside for water testing – an opening for Red Sea’s hydrometer, four holes for test tubes and a slot for colour comparison testing cards. Now I’m going to echo something that I wrote when I reviewed the original Max – I really don’t think it’s a great idea to be doing water tests with chemicals that could potentially wipe out livestock just inches above the water surface. Admittedly Red Sea have put a much more defined rim on this time so anything you knock over on the flap isn’t going to roll into the tank, but to be honest I’d still not trust myself not to close the flap with a test tube full of nasties still on it. Maybe it’s unfair to criticise Red Sea for my own paranoia though?