30 gal System II Acrylic Aquarium, 36 by 12 by 16", Cobalt Blue

I am having so much fun with this tank!!! I will never use a different type again.

I didn't buy it on Amazon. I got it cheaper on clearance 12 months ago for $585. But I do almost all my shopping on amazon, and wanted others to know how this performs. Let me start by saying this was bought to be my first saltwater reef tank. I didn't know much about tanks when I started. It seemed a really good deal since it appeared to be a one and done purchase. I have learned a lot in the last year. This review will go over the pro's and cons of the tank. As well as my experience with it.Pro's.1. Easy to setup.2. Stand made for this size aquarium is easy to find and buy from petco, petsmart, or sometimes amazon. (also cheap, I paid $90)3. Low evaporation. 1-1.5 Gallon per week so long as back covers used, if not it sky rockets to 3-4.5 gallons.4. Light weight before filled.5. Very good clarity, at least initially.6. Will keep fish and corals alive (with work)Con's.There are quite a few, many won't be apparent to a new owner for weeks or months. But trust me they really start to add up, and become costly. Keep in mind this is far using this tank for SALTWATER. I highly doubt it would be nearly as bad for fresh.1. Skimmer: You need to buy a skimmer. $60 for the one designed for this tank, +$40 for a high power air pump to power it, +$10 good size wood airstone every 2 months (no ceramic won't work). Finding it is hard, but I found it for sale at petco, online only. Alternatively you can get a HOB filter. It took me 3 attempts to find one that fit, but the down side is to use it you need to remove the covers on back and that makes evaporation more than double. After much messing around I decided the best skimmer was just the one made for it, despite it's low capacity.2. Pump:A. The pump is literally the cheapest possible piece of equipment they could find. A Rio pump that is 420g per hour supposedly, but in reality it pushes just under 360 in real world use. I tested it on a 30gallon bucket to see what it really did. If you want saltwater, you need a 600g-750g rated pump for this tank. like the one I just bought "Sicce Syncra 3.0 Aquarium Pump, 714gph". It worked for a time, but it definitely is not strong enough compared to a better pump.B. You will need to use a course substrate with this tank and pump even the weak one it comes with. The manifold return is awesome, BUT it blows fine sand around like crazy since it goes to lower area of tank. Use a heavier calcium carbonate substrate.3. Acrylic. The tank itself scratches easier then other acrylic tanks. From my experience acrylic tanks come in 3 levels of hardness, Soft medium and hard. This tank is medium or soft. There are better acrylic tanks out there, that do not scratch as easy. I know because I went to a custom shop to window shop a few months ago, and they had a demonstration booth showing different hardness quality levels. My tank is far from the hardness of what they sold. It will scratch, and they will add up. No matter how carful you are, even acrylic safe pads over time will cause a slight fog. A small grain of sand stuck to the pad will cause an actual visible scratch. ( DO NOT ATTEMPT to use magnetic cleaners on this tank, I tried Three different ones, ranging from $20 - $120. They ALL caused scratches to tank. It is too soft for them.)4. Pre-filter -- Quickly clogs, and becomes a detritus trap. Not easy to clean and replacements are too expensive to just throw away every time. Also after 1-2 washes they become far less effective, and stuff sneaks past. (I tested with a second filter bad placed where the drip plate is. It is noticeable and shocking how much gets past in 24 hours.) ---- You can mitigate this by placing a cut to size filter bought at Petco for $8 under the drip plate. You can also buy a cut to size sponge(they make them for aquariums), and placing it veritcally straight down in the first chamber. Works better, and cheaper.5. Bio-balls /Drip plate -- Bioballs are no longer a thing in the aquarium world, almost everyone uses Ceramic media now. After making the switch I saw a HUGE difference in my tank. The drip plate however is pretty good and you can place seachem bags of carbon phosguard, or purigen on it. (after you upgrade pump of course, they work better as more flow)6. Light --- Useless. I replaced it immediately. Far too weak for even a fresh water tank. Let alone a reef tank. Marine and Reef 2.0 is best light to get for this tank $150-180 on amazon and most places. get the 36in-48in.7. You will still need a wavemaker for this tank for saltwater, or saltwater reef. $60 for a cheap on. But 2 would be best.8. Must have a heater, and possibly chiller depending on climate. Not room for both at once.----------------------------------------------------Overall.While this tank Seems like a AIO solution. There is A TON to buy, and you are extremely limited on "upgrades" due to the very irregular shape of the rear area. if you want to do saltwater, I can say 100% this will work, but there are FAR better options for cheaper than this will cost to make work properly. With all the money I put into this tank I could have gotten a fearrari of a tank like Red Sea, or CAD, Or even gotten a custom tank installed with a sump.This tank to run properly still needs about $600 worth of stuff. It won't work worth a dam for saltwater out of the box. Even fresh water will need a new light for sure.For the price. You are better off with a red sea reefer, or CAD brand tanks. Both of those considered top of the line. If I knew what I knew now I could have gotten a much better quality tank. Oh and unless you like 10x more work cleaning your tank, do not get acrylic. Not unless it is a custom acrylic made much harder like they do on the show TANKED. Not being able to use aquarium magnets SUCKS.But if you are in the market for a budget acrylic tank... The Coral Life 29g is a better deal, and there are TONS of aftermarket parts made for that specific tank to choose from. Either way picking a more major brand is the way to go, or a more traditional setup. This tank is too nitch and has no specific aftermarket parts or equipment made for it. Bring a measuring tape every time you want to buy something.----------Last but not least pictures.2 of the tank, 1 a few months ago, 1 showing algae outbreak caused by bioballs and poor pre-filtration before they where replaced / modified. And one showing back of tank before cleaned and modified filtration system, showing the crud that ends up back there. (it is far worse then picture shows.)

Tanks is very nice but it came with a broken return pump and is missing the filter back cover. Very disappointed after spending alot of money on a tank.

I purchased the 50-gallon. For those interested in the 50 the size is actually 15"L x 36"W x 20"H. In this listing, they give you the dimensions of the 40-gallon. Just FYI. I knew that going it but they should update the size for those that don't know. What I didn't realize is how loud the pump is. It is ridiculously loud and vibrates the entire tank. Looks like the manufacturer tried to cut down on the noise by putting a foam pad under the pump but the problem is it touches both sides of the wet/dry filtration system. Before you put the tank in place make sure you do your best to add some padding around the pump to cut down on the noise. I built mine into a wall and now that it is full and in place, it is very difficult to reach. This is a tank I've been looking at for a while and now that I have it I really do like it, just a few things to keep in mind.

For this kind of money you would think this would be a very good tank. The filter area takes up almost half the tank, my hood did not work it came with glue all over it, the air pump does not work and there were no instructions. We had to figure it out as we went and at the expense of a very loved fish we had. It shows you can see everything so beautifully in the photo but guess what you can’t. The bend of the front on all 4 bends it is distorted and magnified and keeps you from seeing anything in that area. The only reason at this point I am keeping it is because I tossed the box and it is a pain to get back to ups and it is full of water now. They did give me a very small discount from Amazon directly but if you want a good tank just go with a normal tank. The only way this one would be good is if it was free and then you still may want to think about it.

Great! No problems

Mixed feelings...Firstly, full disclosure I did not buy mine on Amazon but have strong feelings about the customer service and want to let future buyers know what they are getting.PROS:- BEAUTIFUL tank, love how everything is concealed. I'm using for freshwater with gravel so don't have a lot of the concerns the saltwater/sand substrate buyers expressed.- Lightweight, not many truly strong stands on the market so this gives me piece of mind.- I've had it up for a few weeks and don't find it scratches easily.CONS:- Should come with LED. You'll likely want to buy one up front. A couple small holes drilled and neatly placed zip ties most 24" LEDs will install nicely in the hood.- Pump was trash. Some people say they got a Rio, I got an even more generic one that had some custom inlet made and was extremely loud. I replaced it with a Rio 1400 and it's quiet and has great water flow. A 300 GPH powerhead is not enough for this tank.- This is NOT a "Seaclear" product. It's sold by North American Pet Corp. The instructions are useless and they provide a sticker warranty card and ask you to email it in. THE COMPANY WILL NOT COVER ANYTHING BUT ACRYLIC DEFECTS. If you have a problem with anything else they WILL tell you to return the entire tank to the store you purchased from. Make sure you are happy with EVERYTHING before you fill it.

The tank is beautiful but the problem was it is supposed to be ready to use and that's when the dilemma happened. The instruction manual was not very clear, and the instruction on how to set up was vague. The picture in the manual was blurred and when I tried to check it online thru casco-group e mail,the site cannot be found. The Rio pump was not working to make the matter worst, at first it did not start and when it finally started it only lasted for a few hours and then it turned off again. Very pricey tank for having a very crappy instruction manual and broken RIO power head pump!!!!!! Very disappointed!!!!