Large all in one tank questions

[mjw011689]

I’m sure it’s been done before, but I’m wanting to do a larger reef tank in the 180 gallon range but I’m torn between doing a normal drilled tank with sump or building it as an all in one. Has anyone done this on this large of a scale? Aside from the obvious lack of place for a skimmer, what other issues would an all in one have? I’ve run plenty of reefs without skimmers, so that part doesn’t worry me too much. My main concern with a sump is noise, and then the fact that equipment (and tank itself) will be more expensive. Does building an AIO from a standard 180 offset the extra cost of a drilled tank with overflows and buying sump/return pumps, etc?

 

[BoneDoc]

I’d say somewhere between 5o - 100 gallon gallon, the sump set up start to make more sense. The problem with large all-in-one, is that the equipment used are typically meant for sump set ups.

also, if you take a typical 180, and partition the back, you would be left only with 18 inches of aquascaping. The back is typically black acrylic but acrylics don’t bond as well to the glass.

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

IMO, trying to service a chamber that is 4-6" x 24"+ deep would be a maintenance nightmare. I would personally go with a large, or several large, hang on back sump/refugiums.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Yeah, to me it becomes a problem accessing the back area for maintenance.

 

[Onewolf]

I see lots of CONS but basically no PROS to a 180AIO.

 

[Taipan88]

What's the driving factor for wanting an All in One? Or to design one?

From my experience there is only one reason for a person to design a AIO. They are uncomfortable with drilling glass. OR Drilled Glass makes them uncomfortable.
Or that a drilled tank is harder to sell than something no drilled?

Either or, I tend to find that it lands right with the hole in the glass for a sump setup.

I have ran Several tanks over the past 25 years. Of all the tanks, the ones that were designed as AIO had the most problems or caused the most problems.
Rear compartments getting clogged and cleaning it.. having to constantly reach over the tank.. Its a dang nightmare and all it does is promote bad husbandry. Lack of space to fit a sizable skimmer. ( you could run a Hob skimmer, but you do run an increased risk of the skimmer dumping water outside of your tank. )
Dosing suddenly becomes ugly as now your tank is a mess of tubes, cables and bottles.
Your "Sump" is now invisible, you really have no idea how dirty it can get when everything is hidden.

Now compare this to a standard sump.
Pros
-You have a large comfortable space to work on your filtration.
-Your skimmer options suddenly explode.
-You now have the option to fully customize your filtration / make changes and now have to do all of this while reaching over the display. This also includes maintenance. Its just become so much easier, you may even enjoy it.
-Everything is hidden in the sump under the Main DT... A cleaner more sleak setup.
- You can see and monitor your sump and its health.
- Bonus, You now have space for a large refugium.

Cons
You have to drill the glass
Power outages can cause a small flood if your DT and sump are not sized correctly and the excess water from the DT flows down and floods out of the sump.. ( this generally only happens once and you correct the water levels )