I purchased one of these cascade shallow rimless tanks back in February. On my build threads from various forums, I have had many questions about the quality of the tank, the pros and cons, and mainly the question “Would you buy one again if you started another tank?”
The Search
When I was looking for tank, I wanted one thing. It had to be rimless. I contacted many custom builders and was always quoted a price above 400$ for a 24” x 24” x 12” reef-ready rimless aquarium. Even DSA themselves quoted me much higher than expected. I received a coupon for 20% off anything in-store at a popular LFS, and purchased the Neo-Nano for 200$ before taxes. That makes it only about $250 even without the coupon. The price is definitely on point for the aquarium.
DSA’s advertised measurements are 24” x 24” x 14” whereas I measured 24” x 24” x 13” and even then, the aquarium itself is still only 24” x 24” x 12”. The extra inch comes from a border around the bottom of the tank that it sits on. The matching cabinet stand from DSA did not appeal to me, it was rather low. Therefore, I built my own stand raising the height to 37”. DSA intended for these tanks to also be a lookdown tank which is the reason for such a low stand. The stand did not match the modern design of the aquarium in my eyes. The back wall of the tank is 24” tall made of 1/2” glass while the viewable walls are 1/4” glass. There are two overflow boxes measuring 4” x 3 ½” x 4”. The overflow boxes include removable foam inserts. The waterfall starts 6” from the top of the back wall and protrudes about 6” from the back wall at the bottom. There are small holes in the cascading waterfall that act as jets to create flow within the tank. The waterfall is made of textured plastic.
Quality
DSA is one of the leaders in custom aquariums and their quality is well known. These tanks are no exception even if they are mass produced. The rimless tanks come beveled with extra clean black silicone job. Some of the earlier production models were not beveled. They do not come with any bulkheads. Unfortunately, the tank is not constructed with starphire glass.
The Aquarium
Since starting the aquarium in March, I have had no regrets with the aquarium. When we have guests, they always ask about the waterfall and never the corals or fishes. There is a difference of 1 ½” from the surface of the water to the rim. Therefore, the actual volume is close to 27 gallons, 7 gallons short of DSA’s advertised volume. The holes at the bottom of the cascade push any surrounding sand away and usually create bare spots. I countered this by aquascaping to divert the jets away from the sand.
My main critique of the tank is the textured plastic of the waterfall. I like to keep the walls of the aquarium free of coralline and the textured plastic does not allow for easy scraping. I have yet to figure out a way to keep it clean.
Another problem I encountered was having large bubbles fall into the display because of the strength of my return pump. I am using a Mag7 and it is honestly way too much even with the higher stand. DSA recommended a Mag9. The strong gph created an uneven water surface at the top of the waterfall which made bubbles fall into the tank. I added a 90 degree pvc elbow to the outlet of the return to direct the flow towards the bottom and no longer face the problem. There are small bubbles from time to time, but nothing that gets out of hand. Overall, I am satisfied with my purchase as it provided me the depth I was looking for.
Pros
Rimless
Black silicone
Competitively priced
Unique cascade waterfall
Cons
Textured plastic material for waterfall
Not starphire
Less volume than advertised
Captive Aquatics Blog Verdict: Excellent
~$250 (depending upon retailer), www.deepseaaquatics.net
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