AIO advice

[Jonathan1236]

I am looking at the following tanks and would value any feedback folks have on these or others AIO tanks of similar size: tideline 47.5 vs im 40 vs waterbox 50.3

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!

 

[mrpontiac80]

Well my waterbox is the 65.4…. So a bit bigger than you’re asking about, but the quality is fantastic. It’s about 3 yrs old now. Any particular questions?

 

[Jonathan1236]

Thank you for your response. What are the features you like best and is there anything you wish was different?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Thank you for your response. What are the features you like best and is there anything you wish was different?

As a new hobbyist when I bought it, the AIO just felt simple in comparison to a sump. Truth is, it is simple. The drawback is the rear chambers are small and therefore all the extra equipment you add in the future is required to be small. I made it work with the return pump, 2 heaters, carbon/gfo reactor, anto, and a skimmer.
I like the idea that there is almost no way to have a leak short of damage. Unless you have equipment pumping water to or from the tank, it’s pretty failsafe.
The negative for me was the depth (front to back) of the tank. The footprint of the tank is roughly 48” x 20”. But once you allow for the rear chambers, I had about 15” of display depth. Also cleaning the rear chambers is a tight squeeze.
I recently upgraded to a big 180 gallon tank with sump but I still have the waterbox AIO running as a bubble tip nem tank.

 

[TripFamAZ]

As a new hobbyist when I bought it, the AIO just felt simple in comparison to a sump. Truth is, it is simple. The drawback is the rear chambers are small and therefore all the extra equipment you add in the future is required to be small. I made it work with the return pump, 2 heaters, carbon/gfo reactor, anto, and a skimmer.
I like the idea that there is almost no way to have a leak short of damage. Unless you have equipment pumping water to or from the tank, it’s pretty failsafe.
The negative for me was the depth (front to back) of the tank. The footprint of the tank is roughly 48” x 20”. But once you allow for the rear chambers, I had about 15” of display depth. Also cleaning the rear chambers is a tight squeeze.
I recently upgraded to a big 180 gallon tank with sump but I still have the waterbox AIO running as a bubble tip nem tank.

@mrpontiac80 do you just run a single reactor with carbon in it? Thanks for the time!

 

[mrpontiac80]

@mrpontiac80 do you just run a single reactor with carbon in it? Thanks for the time!

Yes. I used a reactor from BRS and made a crude hanger to hang it in the backside of the tank. Depending on what I wanted, I would use only carbon and or mix the carbon and gfo to prevent clumping.

 

[BanZI29]

I am partial to IM. But get the 50 gal. it is worth the extra money.