InTank Media Basket Review

[HarryPotter]

In the last few years, All-In-One aquariums have begun to flood both the beginners and advanced reefing sector of the market. Characterized as having filtration integrated into the aquarium, All-In-One (AIO) aquariums are epitomized by the popular Innovative Marine Nuvo, JBJ NanoCube, and the Biocube.

 

However, these aquariums, particularly my JBJ RL-45, include a severe filtration issue. The supplied "Media Basket" is grossly inefficient, allowing over half of the water (And unwanted waste) to avoid filtration.

InTank LLC offers a solution to this problem, offering high quality media baskets that use 100% of the aquariums potential. In this review, I will be comparing the stock JBJ RL-45 media baskets with the aftermarket ones sold by InTank LLC.

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I ordered two Rimless Nano Cube 45 Media Baskets and one Innovative Marine 30 & 38 Fuge Basket. I was told that this "Fuge Basket" (The Refugium basket, in which macro algae is placed) would fit the RL-45 despite its title. At the same time I also order poly filter, as Intank LLC offers it for the cheapest price around.

 

Shipping:

After a bit of a wait (Due to Memorial Day), I was excited to see that my package finally arrived.

 

 

The acrylic baskets were protected quite cleverly, using multiple layers of redundancy. The Poly-Filter was placed on the edges of the box, followed by a significant amount of bubble wrap and foam cloth.

 

 

The contents were also arranged quite snugly, cleverly boxed to prevent movement within.

 

 

The Acrylic Baskets were also in their own boxes, once again wrapped in foam to prevent damage.

 

 

 

 

I pity the landfill! Kidding, I recycle!

 

 

Initial Impressions of Quality:

 

Wow. Truthfully, this was my initial impression of the InTank media basket. The acrylic is spotless, and the joints are unbelievably clean and precise- like I've never seen before.

 

The twins:

 

For example, check out the unbelievable cutout of the water distributers. Remarkable! The center piece can be slid in or out at will, allowing the owner to custom design how he would like to set up the filtration media.

 

 

The acrylic slides out to allow access to the media, and to adjust the layout

 

 

Comparing to the JBJ Media Basket (Included with aquarium):

 

​The difference is day and night, both in the workmanship and the performance of the media baskets.

 

The InTank Media Basket is over double the size of the included basket, and forces 100% of the water to go through the filtration. Instead of explaining it to you, I will include some comparison pictures of the stock vs. Intank baskets. The difference is obvious!

 

InTank basket (Left) next to JBJ basket (Right)

 

 

 

This view allows one to see how much larger the InTank version is.

 

Just an impressive piece of equipment!

 

Performance- InTank vs. JBJ

 

I knew from the start that the JBJ Media Basket was mediocre at best. Half the water goes over the basket and back into the aquarium, cutting your filtration (And potential stocking) by more than half. The Intank basket utilizes the entire potential, down to the 1/4 cm. The Intank media basket also will not move, unlike the JBJ.

 

Here you can see how small the JBJ basket is

 

And if it is slightly moved (Even by water!), one ends up with zero filtration.

 

 

Now see the tight fit of the InTank media basket- unbelievable! I would like to see some water even TRY to avoid the poly-filter goodness!

 

 

Now thats some filtration!

 

Now thats some filtration! (Pardon the tubing, I was acclimating some livestock at the time)

 

The refugium basket, as advertised, fit snugly into the compartment directly next to the main filtration basket. Once again, the quality is remarkable and the fit perfect. I look forward to the Macro!

 

 

 

Overall, buying the InTank Media Basket was a choice I will not regret. Now I can include more media, have double the filtration, and not fret about the stock media basket (Which breaks, moves, etc). I will update this review with long-term results and benefits as I go.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions or make any comments here!

 

Note: I do not work for or receive any benefit from InTank LLC by making this review. The full retail price was paid for the tested equipment.

[righttirefire]

Hate you! My ups hasn't arrived yet

[Cencalfishguy56]

Shipping section is complete. Now working on initial impressions and quality.

No sexy shrimp?

[HarryPotter]

No sexy shrimp?

 

No lol

 

I will be modifying and adding to the initial post as I go, not posting additional in order to keep it organized and easy to locate..

[StevieT]

Nice. Looks like Shipping Jeff did a fine job. Glad that Fuge basket works and is dirt cheap. We have them left over from being burned by IM changing their design on the Nuvo 30 & 38

 

Enjoy

[Boggers]

No pic of the Swedish fish!

[HarryPotter]

No pic of the Swedish fish!

[Livewreck]

Nice review! I have the InTank media basket for the IM Fusion Nano 10 g and couldn't be more pleased.

[HarryPotter]

Nice review! I have the InTank media basket for the IM Fusion Nano 10 g and couldn't be more pleased.

Thanks! Yeah the baskets are great- 20x better than my attempt at an egg rate DIY!

 

Tried to make the review sound official and left out all my emoticons

[StevieT]

The back is vinyl. Scrapes off realitvely easily.

 

 

Most give it up for free here. Just pay $2-5 shipping

[HarryPotter]

The back is vinyl. Scrapes off realitvely easily.

 

 

Most give it up for free here. Just pay $2-5 shipping

Sweet- thanks. I'll look around

 

Question- the Refugium basket is below water, right? Both of the green dividers are below,

With just a bit of the plastic shell above water?

 

Pretty sure it's good. Oh and is it too much flow for copepods?

[Bodasifa]

excellent review, definitely on my list of purchases for my fusion 30L. The stock ones just plain suck. could have bought something better at toys r us

[KurtS]

Having just received my Intank AC 70 media basket I figured I'd throw in my thoughts as well.
Now I have nothing to compare it to as I also had to buy an AC70 to go with it, my old HOB looked very nice, black and rounded but was a pain to organise so water went through media without destroying flow and I lacked the skill to make my own proper fitting basket.
Basically I went and swapped out my entire main filtration system.

 

Shipping:
I ordered last friday and it arrived at my door yesterday. That's ordered on the 10th, delivered the 15th so it included a weekend and it was across the big pond. I was starting to get impressed.

 

Packaging:

Well packaged, nothing more to say. Another nod of approval.

 

Build quality, look and finish:

Definately impressed now, product oozes craftmanship and I couldn't find a fault or blemish anywhere.
If I could have made one that was a mere tenth as good as this one, I'd have done so and called it a day.
I'll let the readers decide if this means if I have 2 left hands or that Steve's product is just that good.

 

Performance:
It makes water go through filter media instead of around it, which was my reason to buy so I'm happy.
It's easy to organise with the compartments and I especially like having direct access to the floss instead of floss sitting at the bottom as it was with my old system.

 

Further throughs:

Swedish fist is tasty.

I had hoped to be able to get my heater, a 50W Neotherm, out of the display but while it fits the leftmost chamber it would block too much flow I fear. I might just havae to consider a small mod to the removable shelf so I can stick in on the right hand side.

 

Overal:
Happy with my purchase and if I ever upgrade to a larger tank I'll take availablity of Intank accessories into account when choosing.

[jamescstein]

I'll add I bought one of these for my Coralife BioCube 29. I didn't get it from Stevie though I bought it 2nd hand from another nano-reefer. Thing was used but still looked flawless and works amazing. Stevie makes them so well there is an aftermarket for them.

 

Great product. Wouldn't hesitate to buy one new if I needed another one.

[reefernanoman]

In the last few years, All-In-One aquariums have begun to flood both the beginners and advanced reefing sector of the market. Characterized as having filtration integrated into the aquarium, All-In-One (AIO) aquariums are epitomized by the popular Innovative Marine Nuvo, JBJ NanoCube, and the Biocube.

 

However, these aquariums, particularly my JBJ RL-45, include a severe filtration issue. The supplied "Media Basket" is grossly inefficient, allowing over half of the water (And unwanted waste) to avoid filtration.

 

InTank LLC offers a solution to this problem, offering high quality media baskets that use 100% of the aquariums potential. In this review, I will be comparing the stock JBJ RL-45 media baskets with the aftermarket ones sold by InTank LLC.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I ordered two Rimless Nano Cube 45 Media Baskets and one Innovative Marine 30 & 38 Fuge Basket. I was told that this "Fuge Basket" (The Refugium basket, in which macro algae is placed) would fit the RL-45 despite its title. At the same time I also order poly filter, as Intank LLC offers it for the cheapest price around.

 

Shipping:

After a bit of a wait (Due to Memorial Day), I was excited to see that my package finally arrived.

 

 

The acrylic baskets were protected quite cleverly, using multiple layers of redundancy. The Poly-Filter was placed on the edges of the box, followed by a significant amount of bubble wrap and foam cloth.

 

 

The contents were also arranged quite snugly, cleverly boxed to prevent movement within.

 

 

The Acrylic Baskets were also in their own boxes, once again wrapped in foam to prevent damage.

 

 

 

 

I pity the landfill! Kidding, I recycle!

 

 

Initial Impressions of Quality:

 

Wow. Truthfully, this was my initial impression of the InTank media basket. The acrylic is spotless, and the joints are unbelievably clean and precise- like I've never seen before.

 

The twins:

 

For example, check out the unbelievable cutout of the water distributers. Remarkable! The center piece can be slid in or out at will, allowing the owner to custom design how he would like to set up the filtration media.

 

 

The acrylic slides out to allow access to the media, and to adjust the layout

 

 

Comparing to the JBJ Media Basket (Included with aquarium):

 

​The difference is day and night, both in the workmanship and the performance of the media baskets.

 

The InTank Media Basket is over double the size of the included basket, and forces 100% of the water to go through the filtration. Instead of explaining it to you, I will include some comparison pictures of the stock vs. Intank baskets. The difference is obvious!

 

InTank basket (Left) next to JBJ basket (Right)

 

 

 

This view allows one to see how much larger the InTank version is.

 

Just an impressive piece of equipment!

 

Performance- InTank vs. JBJ

 

I knew from the start that the JBJ Media Basket was mediocre at best. Half the water goes over the basket and back into the aquarium, cutting your filtration (And potential stocking) by more than half. The Intank basket utilizes the entire potential, down to the 1/4 cm. The Intank media basket also will not move, unlike the JBJ.

 

Here you can see how small the JBJ basket is

 

And if it is slightly moved (Even by water!), one ends up with zero filtration.

 

 

Now see the tight fit of the InTank media basket- unbelievable! I would like to see some water even TRY to avoid the poly-filter goodness!

 

 

Now thats some filtration!

 

Now thats some filtration! (Pardon the tubing, I was acclimating some livestock at the time)

 

The refugium basket, as advertised, fit snugly into the compartment directly next to the main filtration basket. Once again, the quality is remarkable and the fit perfect. I look forward to the Macro!

 

 

 

Overall, buying the InTank Media Basket was a choice I will not regret. Now I can include more media, have double the filtration, and not fret about the stock media basket (Which breaks, moves, etc). I will update this review with long-term results and benefits as I go.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions or make any comments here!

 

Note: I do not work for or receive any benefit from InTank LLC by making this review. The full retail price was paid for the tested equipment.

Intank media baskets have been some of the best money ever spent on both of my nano reef tanks. Stevie is a great guy too.

[HarryPotter]

Intank media baskets have been some of the best money ever spent on both of my nano reef tanks. Stevie is a great guy too.

+1, they're awesome. I recently equipped my Nanocube with one and it's great.

 

Glad someone saw this again! It took a lot of effort to to this lol

[reefernanoman]

+1, they're awesome. I recently equipped my Nanocube with one and it's great.

 

Glad someone saw this! It took a lot of effort to to this lol

Editing my youtube videos is no fun either(new to iMovies), but thanks for the effort( I don't know why I even threw that fact in there haha)

[HarryPotter]

Just wanted to follow up on this review.....

 

Baskets are still awesome. Yesterday for the first time since they were put in I took them completely out for cleaning.

 

There were assorted sponges and algae on the basket, but after a few minutes with a toothbrush they look brand new.

Happy to see that there are no scratches and they could pass as new... showing that there is not a ton of depreciation and that there would be a significant resale value if I upgraded in the future and no longer needed these.

[NanoJake24]

Setting up my 29 biocube and after reading this I have made one of my first purchases for my new tank. Great review and I'm so excited for my delivery!

[chrisfronczek]

Love mine

[Simulated Fish]

Setting up my 29 biocube and after reading this I have made one of my first purchases for my new tank. Great review and I'm so excited for my delivery!

I got mine for biocube 8 and never looked back!

[uwharrie]

I run one in my Biocube 29 ( came with the tank) and love it. perfect fit and works great. You can bet when I add another AOI tank ( and I will for sure) I am going to order a basket for it.