SeaClear System II Tanks

Question
I already have a 30g tank and am considering purchasing a SeaClear 30g system II tank.  Currently I only have 1 fish and alot of live rock and sand.  Moving should be easy.  My question is are these tanks good to use?  I'm tired of seeing my skimmer, heater, etc in the tank and I figured this would be a good solution.  Also, is there room for a heater and a skimmer with these tanks?  If not, could I just fill up the bio-ball chamber with water and use it for the heater?  I am figuring that I won't need bio-balls since I have the live rock.
Thanks for the info.
Darren


Answer
Darren,
I have not dealt with SeaClear aquariums for over 10 years, but from my memory they were decent aquariums.  There are a lot of acrylic manufacturers that have come and gone, clearly only the strong survive the test of time.

As for your specific questions about the filtration system and the protein skimmer.  I'd discuss your options with the dealer you are buying the tank from, or I'd contact the manufacturer directly.  With a simple search engine search I did your homework and came up with the following link for System II technical support:  http://www.casco-group.com/index.html?Frame21601=seaclearhome.html

Regardless of your live rock, I'd probably keep those bio-balls in there for additional filtration and consider keeping your heater near the prefilter/resin chambers I saw in that thing.  Assuming the filter is running properly and there is enough water in the tank, the water level will be high enough in those chambers to prevent any potential heater problems.

My biggest concern would be what you would need to do to get a chiller plumbed onto the tank.  Reef tanks need a lot of light, and light equals heat.  If you go with the System II you may find yourself in a situation where you'd need to install a Magnum or another small pump somewhere in the filter to feed water to and from a chiller outside of the aqaurium.  Depending on how tightly sealed that thing is, this could require some drilling.

Best of luck with your new tank.

Regards,
Scott Johnson
Aquarium Crazy Fish
www.aquariumcrazyfish.com