Tank Advice

[Marco S]

So, I had my heart set on a 200 Gallon + aquarium to start off with and have been going back and forth between custom and off the shelf options. I have finally decided that I do not know enough about plumbing and overflows and how many holes I need and how far from the top and sides to put them etc...so I am going to have to choose from an existing PNP system for now.

Because Tucson does not have a LFS that carries anything over a 125 gallon aquarium, I drove up to Phoenix over the weekend to actually look at very large aquariums side by side and compare them. They did have a Red Sea XXL 750 Reefer, (rated at 160 gallons I believe) right beside a WaterBox 230.6, (rated at 169 gallons) a Visio 180 gallon and an Aqueon 180 gallon and 210 gallon and the actual dimensions on the tanks where not much different. The length and width where exactly the same, (6' X 2') with the height being the difference on the 210 gallon but the same on the 180 gallon, the 160 gallon and the 169 gallon so I am assuming that these different brands either over estimate or Red Sea and WaterBox under estimates the actual gallons. Either way, I am focusing on the actual dimensions now instead the rated gallons.

After actually seeing these tanks up close and personal, I have decided that the quality of the Red Sea and WaterBox tanks are far superior to the mass produced Aqueon and Marineland and after adding up the sump plumbing and stand the price is not that much more so I am going for overall quality and appearance over price.

That being said, these are my final selections I am debating on:

WaterBox 230.6: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/230-6-platinum-pro-system-with-black-cabinet-169-gallon-waterbox.html

Red Sea XXL 750: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...KPmgf8u_WdYai3_5RiqjYDe5guhAk4xhoCuI4QAvD_BwE

SC Aquariums 240 Gallon PNP: http://www.scaquariums.com/product-p/sca-240gpnp.htm

ATM Platinum R255: https://www.fishtanksdirect.com/atm-platinum-aquarium-r255.aspx

If anyone here has any first hand experience with these brands or exact models, please let me know which you would recommend and why. Also, if you have experience with a PNP system I have overlooked and would highly recommend it, please add it here. I have read way too many reviews based on opinions and not first hand knowledge and these opinions are really useless, (in my opinion). ;-P So, I am looking for, "I have this aquarium and would highly recommend it because..." not, "I would never buy this aquarium because I read a review that it exploded" or "I have heard that their customer service is horrible" etc.

Thank you in advance,
Marco

 

[Duffer]

Have a waterbox 130.4 and love it. Cabinet is second to done,plumbing was a snap. The tank in my opinion is outstanding

 

[scott11106]

Have a waterbox 130.4 and love it. Cabinet is second to done,plumbing was a snap. The tank in my opinion is outstanding

waterbox and redsea both are very good and good equipment also. those would be my pick, but also dont be afraid of doing a custom as it feels and seems scary but it is awesome and a great part of the salt water experience to build it out... just my 2 cents

 

[PDR]

I love my red sea reefer. I personally would go with red sea over water box due to the price being very similar and red sea having a proven track record vs a relatively new company.

 

[PatW]

I have a marineland 300. It is 6’ wide, 27” High and 36 “ deep with 2 corner over flows.

What I like: the low iron glass is great. The 36” depth gives great scope for aquascaping. The 27” height makes reaching the bottom a bit hard and I am 6’ tall. 24” might be better. The corner over flows restrict powerhead placement. It would be nice to place a powerhead way back so it got flow going behind the rock work. Having a large ghost overflow might be better. The width is ok but 6’ is nice and 8’ would be better. Also do not over look the cabinet. You want a cabinet that is high enough to allow you to remove your skimmer for maintenance.

But to get a tank with low iron glass, 6’ width, 30+” depth and ghost over flows means a custom tank. I am in central FL and a number of LFS have ties to local custom builders so getting a high quality custom tank is not that hard. You might be able to get that sort of thing in Phoenix.

I agree with your conclusions on Red Sea and Waterbox.

 

[Marco S]

Have a waterbox 130.4 and love it. Cabinet is second to done,plumbing was a snap. The tank in my opinion is outstanding

Thanks, that's what I'm looking for since I do not have any experience with plumbing a Reef Tank I want my first experience to be as flawless as it can be. I did get a chance to check out the cabinet of the WaterBox 230.6 and the Red Sea XXL 750 and both cabinets were far superior to any of the other brands that were there, (with the exception of a $3,000 custom built cabinet).

 

[Marco S]

waterbox and redsea both are very good and good equipment also. those would be my pick, but also dont be afraid of doing a custom as it feels and seems scary but it is awesome and a great part of the salt water experience to build it out... just my 2 cents

I will eventually end up doing a custom tank, but for my first attempt at a Reef Tank, I want to keep it as simple as possible. With experience and patience I will eventually gain enough knowledge and confidence to tackle a custom build, but for now I think a PNP system will be the best to start off with.

By the way, I LOVE your build! That would be my dream setup with a 300 + in wall tank and a whole room for all the equipment and quarantine tanks. Nice job! Hopefully someday I will get there.

 

[Devaji]

what did you go with?

 

[scott11106]

I will eventually end up doing a custom tank, but for my first attempt at a Reef Tank, I want to keep it as simple as possible. With experience and patience I will eventually gain enough knowledge and confidence to tackle a custom build, but for now I think a PNP system will be the best to start off with.

By the way, I LOVE your build! That would be my dream setup with a 300 + in wall tank and a whole room for all the equipment and quarantine tanks. Nice job! Hopefully someday I will get there.

thanks, it was a lot of work to build it out but it was fun and i never did it before as i only had a small 75gal 15 years ago but it was a basic setup and this one and really just learned as i went

 

[Marco S]

what did you go with?

I haven't ordered it yet. I am renovating the entire room it is going in and I had some complications with laying the tile and had to wait for a contractor to get the floor level and I'm painting next week so if all goes well I will be ordering it in a couple weeks. I will most likely go with the Red Sea XXL 750 as WaterBox 230.6 never seems to be in stock whenever I check. I will update this when I actually order it though.