Newbie question, considering a waterbox 65 gallon AIO as first tank, would the nano skimmers that fit the back chamber be enough.

maxpare79

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Hey guys, like the title says, considering the Waterbox AIO 65 gallon as a first tank. Why? Because I like the size (48x20) and it had less water volume then the Marine X 90 gallon. I know more water is always better for stability but more water means bigger water change volume, bigger dosing, bigger everything. I don't have the space to produce hundreds of gallons of RODI and saltwater. So I would like to keep my weekly water change under 10 gallon if possible.

So that brings me to my question, when I look at the spec of the skimmer chamber, 6.3 x 4.7 x 17, something like a tunze 9012 or smaller could fit in there. But would skimmers like these be enough for such a volume (65 gallon)

Like I said, I am a freshwater veteran but a salt water newbie. So help/opinion appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 

msilva11833

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Hey guys, like the title says, considering the Waterbox AIO 65 gallon as a first tank. Why? Because I like the size (48x20) and it had less water volume then the Marine X 90 gallon. I know more water is always better for stability but more water means bigger water change volume, bigger dosing, bigger everything. I don't have the space to produce hundreds of gallons of RODI and saltwater. So I would like to keep my weekly water change under 10 gallon if possible.

So that brings me to my question, when I look at the spec of the skimmer chamber, 6.3 x 4.7 x 17, something like a tunze 9012 or smaller could fit in there. But would skimmers like these be enough for such a volume (65 gallon)

Like I said, I am a freshwater veteran but a salt water newbie. So help/opinion appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Once you get passed (in my opinion) 35 gallons a sump is a best way to go. If you want to minimize water changes add a refuguem. As far as a protein skimmer goes I don’t have one (I have a 20 gallon nano cube that’s been running for 6 months strong now) so take what I say with a grain of salt but if you’re trying to use a skimmer rated for 30 gallons for a 60 gallon tank it’s going to be at max half as effective as one rated for 60. What you could possibly do is get more than one skimmer (ex: 3 skimmers rated for 20 gallons) and put them all in. Also don’t think that the bigger the tank the more stable it is. While it is true to an extent, don’t let it fool you into thinking that you can just leave it alone. With bigger tanks you need to dose and maintain more equipment than a smaller tank. Don’t let that discourage you from getting a big tank though. They have many upsides like the ability to add more diversity, more fish, bigger fish, more coral, and bigger coral in your tank. As for water changes you HAVE to do water changes eventually for one reason or another so, there is no avoiding that. But like I said earlier adding even a mini refuguem in the back of a small aio can drastically improve the stability and lower the amount of water changes you do. To avoid having a container for the ato connect the rodi unit directly to the ato (there are videos of that you can look up). And please, the day before the water change mix the salt water. The salt no matter what anyone says will take time to dissolve completely so to avoid the wait mix it the day before (this obviously doesn’t apply to emergencies in which you need to do a water change). Also do not do water changes every week it will deplete the good bacteria in the tank and cause problems. If you are dosing I recommend doing 10%-15% water changes (depending on parameters) twice a month for 4-6 months. After that you can do 10%-20% water changes every 3-4 weeks (and if you feel like doing one you can). After doing water changes dose something like microbactor7 to replenish the good bacteria in the tank. There are ways to make it so you never have to do a water change (except in emergencies) and after the 6 month mark you can do so if you want to. Also get an auto doser you can control from an app it makes your life way easier and you can schedule micro doses throughout the day. In terms of fish and inverts always under stock (ex: if you can have 10 fish in a tank put in 7-9). And pay attention to the types of snail you add it can make a big difference (bulk reef supply has a good video on this). It’s easy to add things in and hard to take them out so quarantine everything that goes into your tank (get a 10 gallon tank and keep extra media in your main tank for quick setups). Finally in this hobby if something goes wrong you have little time to fix it so always be prepared, keep emergency medication on standby, and when looking for a solution choose a path and stick to it. Good luck and happy reefing.
 
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maxpare79

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Once you get passed (in my opinion) 35 gallons a sump is a best way to go. If you want to minimize water changes add a refuguem. As far as a protein skimmer goes I don’t have one (I have a 20 gallon nano cube that’s been running for 6 months strong now) so take what I say with a grain of salt but if you’re trying to use a skimmer rated for 30 gallons for a 60 gallon tank it’s going to be at max half as effective as one rated for 60. What you could possibly do is get more than one skimmer (ex: 3 skimmers rated for 20 gallons) and put them all in. Also don’t think that the bigger the tank the more stable it is. While it is true to an extent, don’t let it fool you into thinking that you can just leave it alone. With bigger tanks you need to dose and maintain more equipment than a smaller tank. Don’t let that discourage you from getting a big tank though. They have many upsides like the ability to add more diversity, more fish, bigger fish, more coral, and bigger coral in your tank. As for water changes you HAVE to do water changes eventually for one reason or another so, there is no avoiding that. But like I said earlier adding even a mini refuguem in the back of a small aio can drastically improve the stability and lower the amount of water changes you do. To avoid having a container for the ato connect the rodi unit directly to the ato (there are videos of that you can look up). And please, the day before the water change mix the salt water. The salt no matter what anyone says will take time to dissolve completely so to avoid the wait mix it the day before (this obviously doesn’t apply to emergencies in which you need to do a water change). Also do not do water changes every week it will deplete the good bacteria in the tank and cause problems. If you are dosing I recommend doing 10%-15% water changes (depending on parameters) twice a month for 4-6 months. After that you can do 10%-20% water changes every 3-4 weeks (and if you feel like doing one you can). After doing water changes dose something like microbactor7 to replenish the good bacteria in the tank. There are ways to make it so you never have to do a water change (except in emergencies) and after the 6 month mark you can do so if you want to. Also get an auto doser you can control from an app it makes your life way easier and you can schedule micro doses throughout the day. In terms of fish and inverts always under stock (ex: if you can have 10 fish in a tank put in 7-9). And pay attention to the types of snail you add it can make a big difference (bulk reef supply has a good video on this). It’s easy to add things in and hard to take them out so quarantine everything that goes into your tank (get a 10 gallon tank and keep extra media in your main tank for quick setups). Finally in this hobby if something goes wrong you have little time to fix it so always be prepared, keep emergency medication on standby, and when looking for a solution choose a path and stick to it. Good luck and happy reefing.

Alright, in my 3 freshwater tanks I do religious water change (10-15%) every weekends, but it's rather easy, it amounts to maybe 10 gallons total for the 3, and it's not RODI so just add water, conditionner, bacteria and I am set. All these tanks are heavily planted and are pretty much selfsustaining, I don't even need to clean the glass, substract etc. they have been going for a few years without any incident.

My gripe like I said with a huge tank is storing huge amount of RODI and, I have no idea what kind of evaporation I will have to deal with on let's say a 65 gallon. I am in Canada, heat won't be an issue and the tank will be in my basement.

So far the only piece of equipement that I have bought for this project is my RODI system (supposed to be 100gpd)...so everything else is up in the air, but I don't want to go crazy overbudget.

My first pick was the Marine X 60, but not a fan of cube shape tank (only 24x20), then I really like the AIO 65 and AIO 50, but fitting equipments might be a challenge, which brings me to the Marine X 90...which has a much higher price because I have to buy the cabinet with it instead of making my own. I love making furniture, I have built all my stands, and it never costs more then 150 to build and looks much better then anything they can provide.

So the final choice is a 90 gallon and 36inch long tank (Marine X) vs a 65 gallon but 48inch long tank (AIO), I really like having more real estate but can't afford the Marine X 110 ...life is tough lol
 

msilva11833

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Alright, in my 3 freshwater tanks I do religious water change (10-15%) every weekends, but it's rather easy, it amounts to maybe 10 gallons total for the 3, and it's not RODI so just add water, conditionner, bacteria and I am set. All these tanks are heavily planted and are pretty much selfsustaining, I don't even need to clean the glass, substract etc. they have been going for a few years without any incident.

My gripe like I said with a huge tank is storing huge amount of RODI and, I have no idea what kind of evaporation I will have to deal with on let's say a 65 gallon. I am in Canada, heat won't be an issue and the tank will be in my basement.

So far the only piece of equipement that I have bought for this project is my RODI system (supposed to be 100gpd)...so everything else is up in the air, but I don't want to go crazy overbudget.

My first pick was the Marine X 60, but not a fan of cube shape tank (only 24x20), then I really like the AIO 65 and AIO 50, but fitting equipments might be a challenge, which brings me to the Marine X 90...which has a much higher price because I have to buy the cabinet with it instead of making my own. I love making furniture, I have built all my stands, and it never costs more then 150 to build and looks much better then anything they can provide.

So the final choice is a 90 gallon and 36inch long tank (Marine X) vs a 65 gallon but 48inch long tank (AIO), I really like having more real estate but can't afford the Marine X 110 ...life is tough lol
Lol yeah. Just do what you think will look good. You can build a sump cabinet cheap too. And the only reason you would store rodi would be for emergency water changes. But you could also just run to the store and buy 10 gallons of distilled water for like $10. Like I said look in to hooking up the ato to the rodi unit and that kind of eliminates the need to store water. For my 20 gallon cube use 5 gallons every 4-6 weeks just topping off so yours could be 10-15 gallons in the same timeframe. Also a refuguem is like putting plants in a freshwater tank just it’s in a sump and not in the main tank .
 

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Hey guys, like the title says, considering the Waterbox AIO 65 gallon as a first tank. Why? Because I like the size (48x20) and it had less water volume then the Marine X 90 gallon. I know more water is always better for stability but more water means bigger water change volume, bigger dosing, bigger everything. I don't have the space to produce hundreds of gallons of RODI and saltwater. So I would like to keep my weekly water change under 10 gallon if possible.

So that brings me to my question, when I look at the spec of the skimmer chamber, 6.3 x 4.7 x 17, something like a tunze 9012 or smaller could fit in there. But would skimmers like these be enough for such a volume (65 gallon)

Like I said, I am a freshwater veteran but a salt water newbie. So help/opinion appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
We hd a 65.4 on order from beginning of December. By February we only got “the next communication you receive will be when your tank is ready to be shipped”.
Long story short, WB is having supply chain issues and seems to be only building highest selling tanks. We cancelled and went with IM SR-80. Still a 4’ tank but 15 more gallons.
 
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