Info for newbie, SUMP OR AIO, redsea vs waterbox HELP

[Georgie]

Hi guys, so yeah I am very confused and neeeeeed your help hehe. First of all I am from Panama, my english is not good so , sorry hehe.
I have owned Cadlights AIO & IM AIO. Nano reef. 12 gallon tanks and a 20 gallon Im tank.

I just moved and have a little bit of space on my living room. So I was thinking on the following tanks.

1. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-70-3-plus/
2. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-aio-50-3-plus/
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/deluxe-reefer-170-complete-system-34-gal-red-sea.html

Couple of things. I would like a bit of rectangular tank instead of a cube. 36 inch max, 20 inch deep max, could go to 22 inch and dont care about height, but something around 20 tops.
Read a lot and sump is supposed to be better to mantain water quality and maintenance.
But my wallet is not so deep.
I made a quick list on parts I would need If I dont go the AIO on top, and its like 1k more.
1. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-universal-3155-auto-top-off.html (since ato on those tanks are not to good.
2. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...-5-internal-space-saving-protein-skimmer.html
4. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp10w-qd-propeller-pump-ecotech-marine.html
5. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html
6. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eheim-jager-trutemp-aquarium-heater.html

The real question is what you guys recommend? I could just buy the 50.3 waterbox AIO and good to go and then afterwards add protein skimmer etc. which is CHEAPER.
Or spend 2.5k on the redsea reefer 170 and all of the parts or the same goes for the waterbox 70.3 .

I am not crazy picky in picking custom parts, but I would like to have on the long run better water quality etc.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Hi guys, so yeah I am very confused and neeeeeed your help hehe. First of all I am from Panama, my english is not good so , sorry hehe.
I have owned Cadlights AIO & IM AIO. Nano reef. 12 gallon tanks and a 20 gallon Im tank.

I just moved and have a little bit of space on my living room. So I was thinking on the following tanks.

1. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-70-3-plus/
2. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-aio-50-3-plus/
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/deluxe-reefer-170-complete-system-34-gal-red-sea.html

Couple of things. I would like a bit of rectangular tank instead of a cube. 36 inch max, 20 inch deep max, could go to 22 inch and dont care about height, but something around 20 tops.
Read a lot and sump is supposed to be better to mantain water quality and maintenance.
But my wallet is not so deep.
I made a quick list on parts I would need If I dont go the AIO on top, and its like 1k more.
1. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-universal-3155-auto-top-off.html (since ato on those tanks are not to good.
2. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...-5-internal-space-saving-protein-skimmer.html
4. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp10w-qd-propeller-pump-ecotech-marine.html
5. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html
6. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eheim-jager-trutemp-aquarium-heater.html

The real question is what you guys recommend? I could just buy the 50.3 waterbox AIO and good to go and then afterwards add protein skimmer etc. which is CHEAPER.
Or spend 2.5k on the redsea reefer 170 and all of the parts or the same goes for the waterbox 70.3 .

I am not crazy picky in picking custom parts, but I would like to have on the long run better water quality etc.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.

If you have the space, personally I would have the sump.

 

[Billldg]

Welcome to R2R!!! It doesn't matter were your from, your like the rest of us with an addiction to saltwater, lol!!! You had said you don't care about height, I would, 24 in height is just about right, 30 is doable, having to clean the bottom of my 24 in high tank can be a pain, keeping a 30 in high tank is possible with an extension. Agree with @Flippers4pups , if possible a sump is better if the space is available. Good Luck on the build, start a thread and post a ton of picks. Also, the bigger the tank the more stable the parameters, and not really any harder to maintain.

 

[Oscaror]

Hi guys, so yeah I am very confused and neeeeeed your help hehe. First of all I am from Panama, my english is not good so , sorry hehe.
I have owned Cadlights AIO & IM AIO. Nano reef. 12 gallon tanks and a 20 gallon Im tank.

I just moved and have a little bit of space on my living room. So I was thinking on the following tanks.

1. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-70-3-plus/
2. https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/product/waterbox-silver-marine-aio-50-3-plus/
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/deluxe-reefer-170-complete-system-34-gal-red-sea.html

Couple of things. I would like a bit of rectangular tank instead of a cube. 36 inch max, 20 inch deep max, could go to 22 inch and dont care about height, but something around 20 tops.
Read a lot and sump is supposed to be better to mantain water quality and maintenance.
But my wallet is not so deep.
I made a quick list on parts I would need If I dont go the AIO on top, and its like 1k more.
1. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-universal-3155-auto-top-off.html (since ato on those tanks are not to good.
2. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/varios-2-controllable-dc-pump-792-gph-reef-octopus.html
3. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef...-5-internal-space-saving-protein-skimmer.html
4. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp10w-qd-propeller-pump-ecotech-marine.html
5. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html
6. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eheim-jager-trutemp-aquarium-heater.html

The real question is what you guys recommend? I could just buy the 50.3 waterbox AIO and good to go and then afterwards add protein skimmer etc. which is CHEAPER.
Or spend 2.5k on the redsea reefer 170 and all of the parts or the same goes for the waterbox 70.3 .

I am not crazy picky in picking custom parts, but I would like to have on the long run better water quality etc.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.

Welcome to R2R! I'll always say sump over AIO if it's possible.

 

[Georgie]

Hahaha yeahhhh, thanks for the welcomeee guysss and for the help!!! But is it worth like 1k more in money, instead of the AIO plug and play etc? and also if that isthe case, the reefer 170 and the marine 70.3 are both with sump, which one you guys recommend me going?

 

[elisa h]

You definitely don’t need a sump to be successful. It would depend on what kind of corals you wanna keep and how much your comfortable with spending. As long as you do regular water changes you don’t need fancy filtration to have a thriving tank.I wouldn’t spend a ton more money on a system just cause it has a sump unless your completely comfortable with it and that’s what you want to do. But if you’re planning on keeping just fish and introductory corals, id go with the waterbox 50.3 since it’s bigger and cheaper. You could just do 10 gal water changes every week or two and be perfectly fine.

 

[Katrina71]

AIO. Beginner friendly.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Hi and Welcome to R2R! You do not need a sump for a great tank.... it helps, but it is not necessary. A sump gives you more water, which means more stable parameters in the tank. But if you look at the tanks on here, there are many beautiful tanks that are AIO.