To upgrade or not to upgrade?

[MinnReef]

I've been facing this dilemma of wanting a larger aquarium, I mainly focus on fish before anything else, and specifically I focus on Florida/Gulf Coast "biotopes". I am limited to a max of 25 gallons due to college dorm rules. Right now I have a UNS 45a which is around 10 gallons, I love the tank but the AIO really takes away from the display volume. I was looking at the Mr.Aqua 25 cube, the reason being the cube takes up less space than a water box 25 peninsula. Cost-wise the Mr.Aqua is nearly $100 cheaper and is not AIO so it's a true 25 gallons of workable space. I plan on getting an XP Aqua Flexi surface skimmer to hide my ATO, I have an IM wave link powerhead that will go under the Flexi skimmer for flow. Still have not figured out how I will hide the heater, I CANNOT have a sump as the tank needs to be moved back and forth and a sump would give me too much water. I ideally would love it if my Secret Santa got me the 25 mr.aqua or maybe a gift card to reduce costs too...I can dream that hopefully in the next year I will have a bigger tank

 

[sfin52]

I've been facing this dilemma of wanting a larger aquarium, I mainly focus on fish before anything else, and specifically I focus on Florida/Gulf Coast "biotopes". I am limited to a max of 25 gallons due to college dorm rules. Right now I have a UNS 45a which is around 10 gallons, I love the tank but the AIO really takes away from the display volume. I was looking at the Mr.Aqua 25 cube, the reason being the cube takes up less space than a water box 25 peninsula. Cost-wise the Mr.Aqua is nearly $100 cheaper and is not AIO so it's a true 25 gallons of workable space. I plan on getting an XP Aqua Flexi surface skimmer to hide my ATO, I have an IM wave link powerhead that will go under the Flexi skimmer for flow. Still have not figured out how I will hide the heater, I CANNOT have a sump as the tank needs to be moved back and forth and a sump would give me too much water. I ideally would love it if my Secret Santa got me the 25 mr.aqua or maybe a gift card to reduce costs too...I can dream that hopefully in the next year I will have a bigger tank

Your asking the wrong group of people. Of course you should upgrade. Its a no brainner

 

[Doctorgori]

i’m gonna stick my neck out a lil here and ask what is your avg dorm room temp? The reason I ask is while going heater less might not be status quo, its also far from mandatory if avg temps are above 70F./
Also arguable is if the risk is greater the room freezing the inhabitants or the heater cooking them

 

[MinnReef]

i’m gonna stick my neck out a lil here and ask what is your avg dorm room temp? The reason I ask is while going heater less might not be status quo, its also far from mandatory if avg temps are above 70F./
Also arguable is if the risk is greater the room freezing the inhabitants or the heater cooking them

ya read it wrong, I'm trying to figure out if I can hide my heater in the skimmer box or If ill have to put it in the display. I'm having a heater hooked up to the Inkbird for sure. But with the inhabitants being Florida keys natives temps fluctuate a bit more than normal tropical reefs

 

[MinnReef]

I guess the only 4 tanks I'm looking at are:

IM 10 cube
IM 14 pen
Waterbox 10 cube
Waterbox 15 pen

The reason being that I have a 14" x 20" space on my desk for a tank and those are really the only ones that I have found to fit and be an upgrade from my UNS tank I have. Right now I have a 12" x 12" x 15" Zilla terrarium that won't be staying so I will move the aquarium there. Pros/Cons to any of the tank modles?