Reef tank with the whole filtration system built in?

[conversion]

Anybody out there have a tank that comes with all the fixins'? I have been looking for a reef ready tank and have come across some websites offering tanks with the whole filtration system built in...

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_...dex.asp?CartId=

Has anybody gone this route? Is it worth looking into?

[Geoff]

all in ones sound nice, but in reality they are not up to the task. there is a lot of room needed for the equipment. that skimmer looks way to small for that system. wet/dry is nice for an overstocked FOWLR or FW tank, but for reefing not needed. the lighting is woefully inadequate for a reeftank. i just do not trust a $35 protein skimmer. i have made some cheap ones, but i do not think i could do it for $35! the pump should cost that much.

G~

[Brent Cone]

Originally Posted by Geoff

all in ones sound nice, but in reality they are not up to the task. there is a lot of room needed for the equipment. that skimmer looks way to small for that system. wet/dry is nice for an overstocked FOWLR or FW tank, but for reefing not needed. the lighting is woefully inadequate for a reeftank. i just do not trust a $35 protein skimmer. i have made some cheap ones, but i do not think i could do it for $35! the pump should cost that much.

G~

Tank's nice but the rest?????????
Keep lookin!

[Adam]

Also does not allow for any future modifications.....well I wouldn't say "any" but it is severly limitting to say the least

[skeety]

Originally Posted by Adam

Also does not allow for any future modifications.....well I wouldn't say "any" but it is severly limitting to say the least

I think this is the key. As time goes on, you WILL want to upgrade this, tweak that...remove this thingie-ma-doodle...try this approach..etc.

this is one of the MAIN reasons I feel a wide open sump is ALWAYS the best route to go. That skimmer may work for a while...but you may find over time that it's hard to get to and therefor not maintained correctly. Or maybe you want to make the collection cup drain out to a bucket, so you don't have to empty it every other day. or something else...or another thing...etc

Maybe you decide after a while you want corals, and learn that bio-balls will keep your nitrates too high for corals...so you want to remove them...

maybe you want to up your flow to keep your detrius suspended longer, so the skimmer can get more of it...

point being...over time, you WILL make alterations to your system. All-in-one's are not very "Change Friendly".

just my thoughts.

[Doug1]

The same can be said for the DAS style tanks and the Eclipse systems, they are cute and faily plug and play but not optimally setup for use as or changing over to a reef tank