Hi all! I am considering jumping to a slightly larger tank with a proper sump, euro braced, external overflow, etc. Here is the parts list that I have put together so far:
| Catagory | Name |
| Tank | CDA 30x30x24 euro braced external overflow |
| Stand | CDA Metal frame |
| Overflow | Undecided |
| Return | RFG 3D printed |
| Wavemakers | 2 x ECP-90M (Dual competing jebao gyres) |
| Lights | 4x Noopsyche K7 V3/Pro (already have 2) |
| Sand | CaribSea |
| Rock | Custom Aquascape (No idea who to go with but I want something that looks great with lots of room for corals and caves for fish) |
| Plumbing | Eric |
| SUMP | custom (26x??x??) |
| Mech Filter | RedSea ReefMat 1200 |
| Temp Controller | Inkbird (already have) |
| Skimmer | Reef Octopus Elite 150 |
| Heater | 2 x 200W |
| Pump | Jebao EP-10000M |
| ATO | AutoAqua smart ato lite (already have) |
| Controller | nothing yet |
| Tester | nothing yet |
| Doser | Jebao MDQ4.4 (already have) |
CDA seems to be thousands less than glass cages. I don't want to go custom but I really want 30x(24-30)x24 euro braced external overflow with a metal stand. Any feedback?
The main question I'd approach is do you
really care that much about the specific dimensions and that spend to pay the extra for a CDA / semi-custom tank. Once you price out that tank, it's going to be thousands more than a mass produced one from someone like Red Sea (I know you're likely in the camp that thinks all Red Seas are doomed though) or Innovative Marine or Fiji or ...
Looking at it differently, if someone put on front of you the CDA tank&stand versus a pretty similar mass produced one with a brand new set of fancy lights & apex & Trident sitting in its fully completed sump, and said you can pick one or the other, which would you take?
I went down the CDA/SCA/.... rabbit hole for awhile, and for me personally it was an exercise on excess and Paradox of Choice overthinking. Once I realized how long I was delaying, and how much extra cash I was going to spend for minor differences, I facepalmed and ordered a mass produced one through High Tide. It arrived in like a week, and I couldn't be happier.
Edit: to make sure I wasn't off my rocker I jumped over to the CDA site and priced it out a bit. Remember you need to select shipping+Starfire+the overflow. The cheapest version I got for tank+metal stand was $3,760. You also need to keep in mind that's a bare metal stand, with no wrapping; so you'll have to look at and hear the sump & fuge & ... at all times. To get a wood wrap you're going to spend another ... I think it was $700-1500 when I last looked. Then you also need to buy a sump & plumbing & ATO container & ... By contrast an
entire Reefer 200 G2 (similar size but with everything) is $1600. You could effectively get 2-3 of those for the same price.
Your call, not dissuading you, but sharing my recent experience researching this and finding for smaller sizes the numbers don't seem to work out.
