Custom vs All In One (AIO) nano reefs
With the number of all in one nano reefs tanks available to the hobbyist these days it seems as if there is no need to go the custom route, or is there?
The aim of this post is to try outline the pros and cons of the off the shelf options. Hopefully these points will help you with your next tank purchase.
Pros:
- These tanks are neat packages with place for all the required equipment
- Defined sizing makes it easy to select a tank size you like. Popular all in one sizes include 6g, 12g, 14g, 24g and 34g
- No need to buy any additional equipment as these tanks usually come with everything requiring you to get started.
- Replacement parts etc can usually be sourced from the supplier based on your tank model
- Most of these all in one systems are aesthetically pleasing, and come with matching stands.
- Being a complete setup, you don’t need to worry about plumbing and electrics, it is simply plug and play.
- Most of these types already have an established user base meaning you can simply jump onto various online reef forums an chat to others with the exact same tank as yours.
Cons:
- Most the supplied equipment is just not good enough with stock protien skimmers being one of the main issues . The lighting is also usually very poor, limiting the type of corals etc one could keep in the tank. Also the supplied pumps for flow aren’t nearly poweful enough
- The shape and size of these tanks might prove very frustrating especially when it comes to upgrading the lighting and when trying to create a realistic aquascape. Also cleaning the rounded corners can prove to be a real pain in the ass.
- Most of these all in one tanks look like something out of Startrek and most likely won’t fit in with your home decor unless your lounge is the flight deck of some space ship.
- As these tanks are billed as plug and play, they don’t offer much room for expansion, adding a refigium or an auto top off unit etc will prove to be a nightmare and you will need to modifiy this out of the box reef tank.
- The lack of surface skimming in these AIO systems can lead to the build up of organic waste on the water surface.
Common AIO nano reef aquariums
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- Current USA’s Solana 34g AIO reef aquarium is possibly one of the best ‘off the shelf’ reef aquariums one could buy.
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- The Max130D from Red Sea is also another very popular choice.
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- The JBL nano cube range comes in a variety of sizes ranging from 6g to 28g
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- Oceanic BioCube comes in a variety of sizes and is quite popular
That concludes a basic look at a few of the pros and cons of the AIO nano reefs. Care to add to this list of pros and cons? What about your mmodifications? Go ahead and let’s hear it in the comments.
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3 Responses
The spaceship comment couldn’t be more true lol! They’re great setups for less demanding corals and can be fairly easily maintained with simple water changes. They do look “ok” when not modified, but once the lids start coming off it’s trouble. I have seen halide in modified hoods, but without a chiller, rather pointless.
I’ve had 2 “Star Trek” all in ones, and both turned into hacked bits and Frankenstein type rigs with wires, plumbing and flood / safety hazards galore. Granted, this was not an area of the house that needed to look nice. Now that I have the nano in a higher traffic area of our home, I did decide to go with another all in one… but the Elos mini fits in much better with the decor.
Nice lookin site! Look forward to more.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I see you mentioned the Elos Mini – amazing little system, but opted not to include it in this post as it’s not really an all-in-one system in terms of the others because it has an external sump.
Thanks again for stopping by and adding your thoughts to this post.
I am a fan of the all-in-one plug & play systems. We have one up and running in the office (JBJ 28-gallon quad) and it’s never given us any headaches. We used to the a Red Sea Max in our old building and it was beautiful. I like the look of the Max better but never really got hands-on with it. There are certainly advantages of going with an all-in-one but disadvantages as well. I think a lot of it boils down to your level of experience. For someone just entering the hobby an all-in-one is an ideal choice so you know all the components will play nice together. Of course, once you know what you’re doing and want to go big there isn’t a whole lot of big all-in-one options aside from the Red Sea Max 250 and some ELOS offerings. Another advantage of DIY is you are only limited by your imagination.