NANO TANKS? RED SEA v.s. SOLANA v.s. OCEANIC

[markpospisil]

I am looking at thise three set ups now, I like the looks of all three, I am just curious if anyone has any feedback with their set-ups for begginers.

This is what I like about the three:
-Red Sea - everythings very cleanly put together and I like the added size over the Oceanic
-SOLANA -Best looking of the three(Most contemporary) but I hate the look of the bulb I also like size
-Oceanic 29 - clean look, the stand is ugly and the size is a bit smaller than the others.

Please weigh in with your experiences - Positive and negative.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[varpanus]

all 3 are decent choices for a plug&play tank. dont count out jbj either. the solana is a nice tank, and if you dont like the pendant, you can just change it.

i havent owned any of these myself, but I have seen most of them running and maintained

 

[rainydave]

I have a BC29 that I set up about a week ago. Nice tank.

I've been running a BC8 for about a year. Very nice tank also. I haven't had any issues with it except for loud fans. I swapped the 60mm fans on the BC29 out for a pair of Silenx. The Silenx are dang near silent.

 

[Scooterman]

I've compared all three in person, then purchased a RSM 34g.
+1. The Read Sea has the thickest glass.
+2. The RSM has a solid Tinted Glass divider, rather than a thin plastic divider for the back chamber area. The others have crappy flimsy dividers, could lead to problems one day.
-3. Comes with a skimmer, not the best but it has one.
+4. Four Tube T5's nice color, little heat.
-5. No MH
+6. Hood removes easily for cleaning, in more ways than one, Oceanic is the most difficult to remove or open up for cleaning & stuff.
+7. Built in lighting Timer, also controls built in moon LEDs.
+8. Hood is easily removed & replaced with an over the top MH like Current USA.
-9. Circulation from the filtration chamber to the main tank is driven by Red Sea PH's
+10. You can replace one of the RS PH's with a MaxiJet 1200 easy!
-11. No other real flow for tank, way undersized.
+12. Flow easily increased as I did in my showcase thread.
+13. All power cords are in one nice tidy unit, built in, two circulation pumps, heater, lights & skimmer all on built in switches.
-14. Space under the two power heads can only be accessed when you remove the two PH's for cleaning.
I can probably think of many more but this is a start.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=391277#post391277

I'll be updating my thread tomorrow with pictures.

 

[dailydriven911]

I love my solana...check out my thread in my signature.

 

[burning2nd]

these are thos tanks that have like the chamber in back.... like a complete setup all in one...

?

 

[markpospisil]

yes, all 3 have a chamber in the rear.

 

[markpospisil]

-5. No MH
QUOTE]

What is this? I am really knew to this.

 

[Curtswearing]

-5. No MH
QUOTE]

What is this? I am really knew to this.

MH = Metal Halide lighting

Certain corals that live at the top of a reef require very intense lighting. MH lighting is very intense. Depending on what type of corals you would like to keep, this may or may not be an issue for you.

 

[Curtswearing]

I'm glad Scooter has experience with Red Sea because that's the only tank I haven't run. That way you can speak with someone who has personal experience. I've run every single size by JBJ, Oceanic, and Current. Don't buy the Oceanic. They may have a good name for their larger tanks but their Biocubes are not quality, are not UL Listed http://www.ul.com/ , have a sump system that allows detritus to get caught under a non-removable plastic grate (so you can't siphon it out)....I could go on and on.

 

[rainydave]

I'm glad Scooter has experience with Red Sea because that's the only tank I haven't run. That way you can speak with someone who has personal experience. I've run every single size by JBJ, Oceanic, and Current. Don't buy the Oceanic. They may have a good name for their larger tanks but their Biocubes are not quality, are not UL Listed http://www.ul.com/ , have a sump system that allows detritus to get caught under a non-removable plastic grate (so you can't siphon it out)....I could go on and on.

Which non-removable plastic grate? I've popped all of the grates in chambers 1 & 2 out quite easily.

 

[rainydave]

To the OP. You might check out the All-In-One forum over at nano-reef.com. There is a lot of information on most if not all of the nano tanks.