# Good all-in-one aquarium for planted tanks?



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I really like my Mr. Aqua 11.4G.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

It's only 7 gallons, but I am amazed at how well my Fluval Ebi is doing. Totally stock, out of the box, plants growing like mad.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The NUVO seems to have enough PAR for fresh water but not marine. You might not like the color of the supplied leds though.
http://youtu.be/zrsyWIbN738

Very clean looking system. If you needed one you could drop a small heater into the sump and nothing would be inside the tank and all wires be neatly bundled out of the way.


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## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Most people that get AIO end up replacing the stock lights. I replaced mine on my evolve 4. The led clip on light now is attached to my breeding box. Like Kathyy said the light temperature might be a little high but if you don't mind them it should work for low to medium light plants. Check out the par data they published: http://innovative-marine.com/skkye-light/par-graph/clamp-par-page.pdf

CO2 can be added to the system at any time. I have seen them added to the inside of the tank on the back wall or added into the AIO filter chamber in the back. I am tempted to add some CO2 to my AIO but the plants have been growing fine. 

I like the Innovative Marine one you posted. It looks really nice, but I bet it comes with the price tag to match. If I were to do an AIO again I would either build my own or get a glass one. What I have noticed on the Innovative Marine one is that the filter media area seems a bit small (Could be their dedicated heater area) and the return pump area is huge. I would like to see a bigger filter media area.


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

possibly a fluval edge? its an all in one, basically rimless, seems like a sleek office desk kind of tank, i have one still in the box im trying to sell with upgraded LED's


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Innovative Marine ones are definitely cool. I am a big fan of the Mr Aqua 12 gallon long tanks and I feel it's just a great wide dimension that can house a lot more shrimp than regular 10-12 gallon tanks. It's not an all in one solution though, but at the same time with some work you can make them pretty seamless. For CRS you probably don't need a heater, so just a hidden canister filter or 1-2 hang on back filters and you're good. Yea it won't be as clean looking with the filter/light wires, but some nice hard/aquascape can hide that.


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## blink (Feb 22, 2012)

The innovative marine tank is stunning in person, a bit pricy but if you end up not liking the lights some reefer will snap them up for their nano, which will take a big bite out of the sticker shock.


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## PeteyX (Aug 2, 2011)

Thanks to everyone who's responded so far! The drawbacks of an AIO system aren't lost on me, but I'm still pretty set on it because of the office setting — even if it does mean buying my own lights (and I like Blink's idea of selling off the stock lights.)

Extra thanks to dubels for the filtration warning. I think I can get by, since I'm pretty big on water changes and I'm not planning a lot of animal biomass (most of the fish I'd want would obliterate my shrimp.) Any tips for getting the most out of the limited space, though?

The Nuvo costs $350, by the way. Definitely not cheap, but it's within my price range, and looks do count. That said, if I could find something comparable for a lower price then I'd have that much more to spend on plants and stuff!

The Fluval Edge is cool, but since I'm breeding shrimp I'd frequently have to get in there with a net to do my culling. Seems like that'd be extremely painful with the Edge's limited access. 

As for the Fluval Ebi and other smaller tanks, I just really like having a bit more space for aquascaping. My grass will need a lot of pruning in the 16-gallon, but in a 7-gallon I think it'd end up just looking like a jungle. 

I've also looked at Coralife's AIO tanks, by the way, but the bowed front and heavy plasticky rims just aren't what I'm going for.


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## blink (Feb 22, 2012)

The Coralife and JBJ AIOs look pretty clean when they're de-rimmed and they are pretty easy to pick up from the salt crowd when they realize that they want a super mondo 200+ gallon reef as a step up from the dinky 14 gallon AIO lol

I've seen the Nuvo lights go for $100 each locally and IIRC the 16 gallon has two of em, prices may differ in your area of course, but that makes the tank downright reasonable.

Other than the Nuvo, Nano-cube and Biocube I can't really think of any all in ones that fit your size criteria, there are plenty of nice looking rimless ADA style tanks out there that might work but then you have to deal with equipment sprawl again.


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## PeteyX (Aug 2, 2011)

blink said:


> The Coralife and JBJ AIOs look pretty clean when they're de-rimmed and they are pretty easy to pick up from the salt crowd when they realize that they want a super mondo 200+ gallon reef as a step up from the dinky 14 gallon AIO lol
> 
> I've seen the Nuvo lights go for $100 each locally and IIRC the 16 gallon has two of em, prices may differ in your area of course, but that makes the tank downright reasonable.
> 
> Other than the Nuvo, Nano-cube and Biocube I can't really think of any all in ones that fit your size criteria, there are plenty of nice looking rimless ADA style tanks out there that might work but then you have to deal with equipment sprawl again.


I'd actually never heard of de-rimming before... very interesting! Still, all the rimmed AIOs I've seen also have the bowed fronts, and most of them are too big or too small, so I think I'm about ready to pull the trigger on this Innovative Marine thing. 

If my LFS guy asks nicely, do you think IM would be willing to package the black-backed tank with the 10,000K lights that normally come optional with the white-backed model? Or should I stick with the 14,000K ones anyway, since they'll be easier to resell? 

After reading into the challenges of spreading Eleocharis, I'm now leaning toward Glossostigma... but it's starting to look like I'll need that CO2 system before I'll be successful with any kind of carpet. I'll head over to the Plants forum and seek further advice.


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## PeteyX (Aug 2, 2011)

If anyone wants to help me figure out my foreground plants, I just posted a thread about it:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1966767


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