30 Gallon Start Up

[NanoNewb]

So I just started my 16 Gallon Nuvo and it got my stepdad wanting a tank! He wants around a 30 gallon for his office for his wall unit. He has hidden shelving below (for sump). He is letting me spend his money and get it going and maintenance it. He just wants to watch! HAHA! Should I do sump/ref set up or just do an AIO?

Was looking at Mr Aqua 32 Gallon drilling for overflow and return with 20G DIY sump

OR

38G IM AIO.

Lighting NanoBox Duo regardless of what I go

Thoughts and opinons...30G min 40G Max...What do you think?

 

[Animal-Chin]

Well for maintenace ease I might go AIO. Is he going to dump the skimmer cup and stuff like that? Do you work with him so you can access every day or are you stopping in once a week kinda thing? If its once a week I'd go with those Red Sea all in ones, they make some pretty cool stuff now.

 

[NanoNewb]

Ya I work with him. I was thinking AIO too though just for the ease of everything.

Ya I am not really a huge fan of the cubes because the lighting is average at best. The CAD 28 AIO is really sharp too and then add a nanobox duo to that. Lets see how far he lets me push his credit limit! HAHA! Going to be a fun little start-up for sure!

 

[Macscale]

If you can do a 40b with sump. I think that's a great tank.

 

[LeftCoaster]

I love my 29 gal Bio cube! It's just big enough to have plenty of room, although not big enough for tangs, but small enough that maintaining it is a breeze.
I was real zealous about taking readings every day, then it got to be every other day, then once a week, now, I'm real lazy.
I do change out 5 gal of water every week, so I don't worry about testing anymore. I put live rock in the middle sump in the back, use a good fiber mesh filter at the top of it, and that's it. The tank has been running 1 1/2 yrs and I only seem to lose the same thing everyone else does, emerald crabs, and cleaner shrimp.
With this size, if I want to be gone for several days, I can have the neighbor kid come over and feed and if I'm gone longer than a week, my LFS comes in and does a maintenance. Eazy-peazy!
Every time I think about getting a bigger tank, I think of the time commitment for maintenance, could I be gone for days at a time, etc, and think I'll just keep the 29!