Dipping my toes back in the pool?

[DerekW]

Thinking about getting back into the hobby. Starting in the late 90's till about 2010 I had tanks ranging from 70-220 gallons.

A lot has changed since then as far as hardware. I mean, I had 4 x 400 ware halides and fluorescent actinic's a big protein skimmer, auto water change and ro/di topoff's.. I could have bought a new car with what I had invested, lol

Thinking of starting a small tank, basically a nano tank, maybe in the 30-ish (+-) gallon range. Probably sump-less

Wondering if there's any "reasonably" priced all in one options, or if I'm better to get a tank and do all the filtration & lighting after the fact?

 

[gentlefish]

Welcome back. Hobby is more expensive as the years come by, and you can spend as much money as you want.
Personally, I’d build a tank around my must have item. A certain fish? A certain coral ? This will determine size and AIO vs sump , controller, dosing, lights and powerhead.
Much more disease out there. Just chancing it without QT will get you eventually burned.
Personally, I found a liking in captive bred fish, but that’s best in a mature dedicated tank.
From tank perspective, I like Innovative marine. Not a lot of tank failures reported.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Lol, Welcome back fella.