The Red Sea MAX E Series is Red Sea’s big release for InterZoo 2014 joining its staple of popular all-in-one marine aquariums. The Red Sea MAX E series aquariums will come in three sizes expected to ship in early 2013. These include a 130, 200 and 300 liter size, about 34, 52 and 80 US gallons respectively. The Red Sea MAX E Series is differentiated by an open top and rimless glass front panel, always in high clarity glass, and an upgrade path built into the aquarium. A hobbyist can start off using just the included rear filtration of the aquarium, or they have the option to relocate the protein skimmer into a sump system located in the aquarium stand.
What you will notice most about the Red Sea MAX E AIO aquariums is the use of LEDs and a controller for practical programming of lighting functions. The approach that Red Sea took with their new LED lighting system is to try and mimic the light spectrum, intensity and especially the light field of their previous, tried-and-tested T5 lights, even performing coral growth tests between legacy T5 and the new LED lights to prove it.
The LED lights powering the E Series MAX tanks will have three channels of color control, but it will also have individual control of each bank of LED strips or modules to finely adjust the lighting intensity from the front to the back of the aquarium. The MAX E series LED lighting system includes 430nm and 460nm for the blues, 10,000K for the whites and a phosphor-powered pink LED diode, each on their own channels.
The colors of these LEDs is well blended by a diffuser cover that creates a uniformity of the light field in intensity and coloration. Naturally, the controller that comes standard with the MAX E Series tanks will allow for intensity, dimming and moonlight functions for each channel and each bank of LED lighting with pre-programmed modes for the most common applications.
When they become available early next year, Red Sea expects the new MAX E series tanks to retail for approximately 15% more than their predecessors in the C Series MAX tanks. This is a small premium which will be more than made up for in six to eight months when the first bank of T5 fluorescent tubes would normally be replaced and in the energy savings of the LEDs, and in some cases, even the reduced cooling requirements. The Red Sea MAX E Series all in one aquariums is right in line with the attention to detail that we expect from Red Sea’s meticulous attention to detail. With a focus not on out-speccing competing tanks but on making sure that marine aquarists from beginners to advanced are successful, Red Sea’s MAX E are a great evolutionary step in the right direction.
