20 gallonsSoftiebudget tier
Nano AIO Softie Starter
A 20-gallon cube AIO is the kindest first tank: small enough to be cheap to fill, big enough that water chemistry is forgiving. Soft corals are the right starting livestock — they tolerate the parameter swings beginners cause.
✓ No blockers. 1 advisory note for things to be aware of.
Total price
$549
Components
6
Avg. price per component
$91
The build, piece by piece
Tank + Stand
- Waterbox Cube 20 Nano AIO AquariumWaterbox Aquariums · nano_aio$270
Lighting
- Nicrew HyperReef 100W LED Reef LightNicrew · LED panel$100Vendor links being added.
Flow / Powerheads
- Hydor Koralia Nano 240 GPH PowerheadHydor · nano AC powerhead$25
Heating / Temperature
- Eheim Jager TruTemp 75W Aquarium HeaterEheim · glass heater$30
ATO + Dosing
- AutoAqua Smart ATO MicrooptionalAutoAqua · nano ATO$99
Filtration / Media
- BRS Premium ROX 0.8 Aquarium Carbon 1 lbBulk Reef Supply · activated carbon$25
Compatibility check
We ran this template through 23 live rules. Each finding below shows the rule that fired and the values it pulled from the build — see how the engine decides.
- AIO + extra powerhead usually unnecessaryAIO designs already deliver flow via the return pump and overflow geometry. Adding a powerhead inside the display can over-flow the chamber, kick up sand, and stress livestock. Verify your tank actually needs more flow before adding one — most AIOs do not.
Templates run hardware-only checks. Livestock-specific compatibility runs in the planner once you customize this build.
Learn the checks
Understand the weak spots before you customize.
Make this build yours
Swap components, change tiers, see compatibility update live.
Customize this build →