Saltwater aquarium

Moonfruit · Mar 23, 2014

Hi there,
I am new to all this and I am debating whether to purchase an off the shelf all in one self contained marine tank and wonder if anyone can recommend a model and make.

Many thanks in advance

Moonfruit

jayhawk · Mar 23, 2014

That depends on what you mean by "all-in-one". If all-in-one means that the display tank has a sump area, in the rear of the tank, JBJ makes the nano. With nano's, size (gallons) is limited. If all-in-one means a complete set up so that you don't have to piece meal a system, there are some good options. Red Sea, Elos, Clear Diamond and Nuvo offer near complete systems that include external sumps and various sizes. I bought a 65g Clear Diamond (aka Southern California Aquatics). It came with everything I needed. I just needed to choose my mechanical filtration. It came with a sump, return pump, and various plumbing. I did a few mod's and bought a few reactors but I like the set up.

VicD81 · Mar 23, 2014

Hello there and welcome!

As I tell everyone that wants to get into an AIO, They look very sleek but you are very limited to what you can do with them if you keep them stock (unless you go with the higher end AIO like the redsea). Ive got a Coralife 29g Biocube and I do love the way it looks I regret not getting another tank my LFS had which was the same size with a sump. Sumps make life WAY easier.

Dont mean to make you stray from an AIO. Do your research there are a couple AIO. Coralife, JBJ, Innovative Marine and Redsea!

I cant comment in IM and redsea but i do know that the Coralife has ok space in the back for skimmers and reactors but they still have PC Fluorescent lighting. The JBJs have LEDs and wave makers (Not sure how functional they are though). The Redseas are more thought out which explains the price.