How bad are 30inch tall tanks ?

jman77 · #1 06/14/2007, 06:34 PM

Hello guys,

I can't decide on whether to go with a 120g that is 24 inches tall...or a 150g tank that is 30 inches tall... both tanks have a 48L x 24 W footprint. If you had to pick, which one would you go with?

virginiadiver69 · #2 06/14/2007, 06:42 PM

If you are going to use a DSB I definitely would go with the 150g otherwise the 24" depth would be easier to work in I think.

NickP123 · #3 06/14/2007, 06:46 PM

It also depends on what you want to keep in the tank. those extra 6 inches will require I pretty good light...

ghostrida3 · #4 06/14/2007, 06:47 PM

i woudl go w/ the 150 the more water the more stable ur paramaters. plus if u would need it do to the added depth 400 watt halides are just a little more than 250s,

jman77 · #5 06/14/2007, 07:11 PM

either tank i'm going to go with 250 DE's .... even if i have to go 6500k's and have them fire only during the day while i'm at work..

I'm planning SSB or a BB so i might be better off with the 120? ?? .... but that 150 is sooooo tempting......

marie · #6 06/14/2007, 07:12 PM

My bowfront is 29" tall and I love the look of the depth...but I hate scraping the coraline algae off the bottom 6", luckily I have long arms

I have 250w metal halides with sps near the bottom and they are doing fine

jman77 · #7 06/14/2007, 07:13 PM

hi marie ... so if you had to do over again you would go with a tank that tall ?

marie · #8 06/14/2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jman77
hi marie ... so if you had to do over again you would go with a tank that tall ?

Yep

jman77 · #9 06/14/2007, 07:16 PM

wow that's nice !

pco1988 · #10 06/14/2007, 07:21 PM

If you are tall it's no big deal, but for me my 210 is a pain to work on and 24" is much better. IMO it looks awesome but at a height of 5'6" working on it stinks.

2crazyreefers · #11 06/14/2007, 07:27 PM

My 180 is a pain at times BUT worth it. I will soon be setting up a 220 which is 30 inches tall. Yes it will be a pain at times and I will get wet but 30 inches is awsome IMO.

GuOD · #12 06/14/2007, 07:33 PM

Old tank = 120 and new tank is 150. I think the 150 looks 10x bigger and nicer... but it's a REAL pain to reach down to the bottom and I'm just shy of 6'.

prepare for sore armpits!

am3gross · #13 06/14/2007, 08:14 PM

i have a 210 and i am short!.... but i would not change a thing. mine is a inwall setup and is 44 inches off the floor!. i have to get a ladder to get in it and my entire arm goes in to do any kind of work on it. i think that the wow factor that i get when someone walks in the door is definately worth it though!

chaseracing · #14 06/14/2007, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by am3gross
i think that the wow factor that i get when someone walks in the door is definately worth it though!

I agree. The deeper tank definitely has a WOW factor to it. It is tougher to maintain a deeper tank because you can not reach anything on the sand bed without tongs. Your scraper will need to have the 24" extention on it.

If you have not bought the lights yet.....buy 400W. You will not regret it. They cost more, but I am not sure the 250 will be intense enough to fully light up the sand bed. With 250's you may have to keep low light corals on the bottom.

.....but so worth it.

Pmolan · #15 06/14/2007, 08:22 PM

My 210 is 29" tall I think. I am 6'6" and can reach all but the bottom 6" without a stool. With a 12" stool, I can reach all around.

Absolute Reef · #16 06/14/2007, 08:26 PM

I'm planning to have a 84"*36"*32" with at least 4-5 400wMH and T5s supplements.
I guess I'll just put my head and arms in it...arrrhhhgg what the heck !@#!

jacmyoung · #17 06/14/2007, 09:05 PM

My tank is 30" and I never get wet. I thought we had evolved beyond the point where we learned something called "tools"?

wakesetter · #18 06/14/2007, 11:45 PM

I have installed and service several 30" tanks and a couple of 36"s. I will be installing three 36" tall tanks this month. All reefs. The 36" is not too bad as long as the top is easily accessible. One of these tanks has a 12 inch border around the top with an open top. THis is a pain. Other than that some long scrapers and its fine. These are all glass though. I would not think of anything over 24" in acrylic for a reef.

SDguy · #19 06/14/2007, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jacmyoung
My tank is 30" and I never get wet. I thought we had evolved beyond the point where we learned something called "tools"?

HA! Either you have no canopy, or you take it off every time you need to attach/move a frag. Or you have some weird multi directional 90 degree angle tongs that I've never seen. Or you have like 20lbs of live rock in your tank

Anywho...my tank is 31" tall to the rim. It can be a pain, but I would do it again. It's really nice to look at.

And sure, if you want to grow yellow porites on the floor of the tank, get 400w halides. Otherwise, 250's are fine.

wakesetter · #20 06/15/2007, 12:05 AM

Oh yeah. All of the 30" tanks have 250 SE or DE bulbs and the 36" tanks have 250 DE bulbs. I can grow nice clams on the sand and acro's from a few inches off the sand on up. I prefer mixed coral tanks and this is a great way to seperate them out. Lower light in the lower third and acros from half way on up. Montis wherever.

aquarius77 · #21 06/15/2007, 12:19 AM

DFS has cheap plastic tongs that are 28 inches i think, not for heavy duty but the best $3.50 i have ever spent aside from the magic cleaning wand (coraline scraper) They are only like $14 for the long one.

If you want the deep tank id say go for it.

steve the plumb · #22 06/15/2007, 12:19 AM

I had a 30 high tank.I am getting another tank but this time 24 high.The 30 is a pain.I always got my armpit wet when having to get stuff near the bottom.Corals fell over moved stuff scraping glass.I have the proscraper witch helped but with hard coraline you had to get in there.The height is nice but like I said for me it was a pain.I had 1x250 watt bulb and 2x150 watt HQI along with a pc fixture for the front.My tank was 4Ftx24x30.I liked the light I found it was enough but I know 3x250 watts would have been better.Plus I could have gone with(all 3 bulbs) 14 k and it wouldn't look dim

mkarston · #23 06/15/2007, 07:20 AM

I also have a 210 gal All-glass which is 29" tall. Being just under 6' tall I can barely reach down to the bottom of the tank with out my whole shoulder going in. I would say it be near impossible for me to reach the center back of my tank without a snorkel :-)

With that aside, I defiantly love having the extra 6" of viewing area, but when/if I custom build a tank, I think I will make it between 26-28" tall.

Leopard Man · #24 06/15/2007, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jman77
either tank i'm going to go with 250 DE's .... even if i have to go 6500k's and have them fire only during the day while i'm at work..

I'm planning SSB or a BB so i might be better off with the 120? ?? .... but that 150 is sooooo tempting......

I had a BBT 93G 30Lx24Wx30H. It was a royal pain to siphon off the detritus and to arrange the flow so that crap gets to the overflow quickly. I had 60x flow, and it still wasn't enough to efficiently get the crap out.

I sold the tank and am now getting a 18" tall tank... much easier...

Tall tanks look nicer but are better for DSBs IMO.

stevedola · #25 06/15/2007, 08:48 AM

18"-24" tanks much easier but 30"+ tanks look much nicer...something about that tall aquascaping(very cool).