Largest aio that's still practical?

[Ssteve]

I love my 14g biocube, but would like to make it a frogfish sanctuary eventually. I don't really have a lot of space to work with, and want to keep equipment to a minimum if at all possible.

What would be the largest setup that's still fairly minimalist in nature, without a ton of plumbing and such?

 

[Reverend Reefer]

i think the red sea max line have sort of large all in ones. my buddy got one used and he's very happy with the minimalist setup. it was an upgrade from a biocube so the learning curve wasn't high and his wife was happy he didn't have any plumbing to deal with in their new home.

 

[wrott]

You really don't need a sump and skimmer to be successful. So any size tank will work w/ 2 power heads, fan, light, ato and heater(controller is really all you need for a reef)using LR as the biofilter ~0.5lb/g.
I've run a 65g, 20g and others this way w/ corals and anemones in them, granted I did not try Acros but Montis grow fine and any LPS or softy would love these conditions.
I'm not even that much of a fan for WCs, but would change 20%/mo w/out skimming.
Of course dosing Alk, Ca and Mg are required for any sw tank.

 

[Ssteve]

You really don't need a sump and skimmer to be successful. So any size tank will work w/ 2 power heads, fan, light, ato and heater(controller is really all you need for a reef)using LR as the biofilter ~0.5lb/g.
I've run a 65g, 20g and others this way w/ corals and anemones in them, granted I did not try Acros but Montis grow fine and any LPS or softy would love these conditions.
I'm not even that much of a fan for WCs, but would change 20%/mo w/out skimming.
Of course dosing Alk, Ca and Mg are required for any sw tank.

So you run no skimmer and no chemical filtration of any sorts? Just live rock and occasional water changes?

 

[Drae]

clear for life makes the "uniquarium" that ranges from 50 to over 300 gallons.

 

[Timfish]

So you run no skimmer and no chemical filtration of any sorts? Just live rock and occasional water changes?

Delbeek and Sprung discuss skimmerless and pumpless systems in the filtration chapter of their book "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III (it's available now on iBook).

Here's a skimmerless, filterless system I've been running for over 5 1/2 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eCQSVdqBQA