Tank size

[jdjeff58]

I was reading Mike Paletta's 'New Marine Aquarium'. I thought I decided on a 75gal. But now when I think about it (too much), it seems kinda small. Paletta says that the old rule of thumb was 1 inch of fish for 5 gal. He claims that with the advanced filtration in use today (sump/fuge, skimmer and rock) that you can go 1 inch of fish for every 2 gal. Any thoughts on this??

So this brings me to the indecision of moving up to the next size tank....from what I already thought I wanted (75g). The problem I'm having deciding which direction to go is that they are all saying bigger is better. I know the rock, sand, salt and probably the skimmer is also going to jump in price. But the standard sizes keep getting taller until you hit the 125gal tank. I thought taller was no good. I can't seem to find a tank above 75gal that is longer instead of higher. When I get to 125gal, the tank price ain't so bad, but everything else goes off the scale as to what I can afford. I know that sooner or later I'm going to have to get some coral friendly lights. And I guess the price of those things are going to increase logrithmically with size too, huh.

I personally like the low and lean look. I was at "That Fish Place" and some of there display tanks are only like thirteen inches high holding 100 gal. I asked the guy where you get a tank like that and he said that's an old tank and they don't make 'em anymore. I know I can get a custom tank, but now we're talking about initial cost again. All the custom tank websites I've seen are just too much and too far away for it to be worthwhile....at least for me and my stinking budget.

I really thought things were coming into focus as far as the setup I was shooting for. Now everything is blurry again. Will someone let me look through their glasses?

[jer77]

I know www.glasscages.com have glass and acrylic tanks in off sizes like wide tanks that are wider than most without getting taller. They have an 100 wide thats 72X24X13 and tons of other sizes like this. For the glass tanks they don't ship them, but they do deliver them to certain cities like Allentown, PA which is close to you I think. Plus their prices are very cheap, and many people have bought off them before.

[drummereef]

Taller isn't necessarily a bad thing. You can easily light a 24" tall tank with 250 watt halides. I'd go with the biggest tank you can afford. Why waste money on upgrades.

[jer77]

Ya, it all depends on what you want to keep in the tank. What do you plan on keeping in it?

[jdjeff58]

Originally posted by jer77
I know www.glasscages.com have glass and acrylic tanks in off sizes like wide tanks that are wider than most without getting taller.

I saw one of your other posts with that link. I checked them out and although I didn't email for shipping price, it seemed to start getting pricey when you start to make it reef ready....not to mention stands and hoods and all that stuff. I'm a newcomer and don't want to start drilling and blasting with all that DIY stuff.

I'll go look again, though. I really didn't spend alot of time over there. The other problem with drop shipping for me is lack of approriate vehicle and personel. So there will definitely be a truck rental to deal with.

[jdjeff58]

Originally posted by jer77
Ya, it all depends on what you want to keep in the tank. What do you plan on keeping in it?

I'm going to start out with the 'beginner' reef friendly fish and add 'beginner' coral after things start making sense. I'm not going to try to do anything stupid for my first tank. I'm going to keep well within the lines.

[jer77]

I'm not supporting that place, I just thought it might be something to look at. Their acrylic tanks can be shipped though. Probably costs a lot though. Look in their specials too to see if you see anything. www.aquariumsforyou.com is close to you. They're another custom place. They can deliver glass, but its pretty expensive.

My best best for a beginner is to just go with the biggest RR tank you can afford. I tend to like a deeper tank not as in height but width. You can put more rock in it and it looks more natural. I like tanks that are atleast 24'' in width, but that gets up into the 180's and higher. So a 125 with a 18'' width might be as much as you can do with your budget.

[poppin_fresh]

You could always get something like a 120 and only fill it 3/4

Seriously though, taller is not all that bad if you plan for it. I would think a very short tank would have its drawbacks. A 13" tall tank would have to be quite elevated in order to see into it. You still then have a tank thats hard to reach into and work on and you dont have much height to aquascape with.

[jer77]

A 13'' tank is mainly good for stricly a coral tank or a prop tank. I have one and it works great for a prop tank. You can look into the top of it and see all of the 'real colors' of your corals and clams.

[jdjeff58]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jer77
I really like the look of the 125 as well as the price. My LFS, who will deliver, has an AGA dual corner flow with the cheap looking AGA stand, standard fl. light fixture, and glass top for about $850. The same AGA stuff in the 75g RR would be $425. If I wanted a canopy for the 75, it's $102 more. I didn't price the canopy for the 125.

My biggest problem is imagining the price of the rock for the 125. My 30 gal sump idea goes out the window. Everything just seems to spin out of control with that amount of water. I'm just lucky space is not an issue at my place.

[jdjeff58]

moved

[jer77]

You don't want the fluorescent fixture or the glass covers. At my LFS the price for a 125 w/ stand is around $700, $400 for the 75 after taxes.

The canopy is just a way for you to his your lighting fixture. It is good if you have a standard fixture, but not if you have hanging pendants.