5' vs 6' Aquarium

[JustinForMayor]

Are there any huge downsides to a 5' Aquarium from a 6'? I know that I will be going 36" deep and 24" high but don't know if i want to spend the extra $4-500 to go from 5' to 6' with a custom tank. Are there any fish/coral I would not be able to house?

 

[andrewey]

I had a 5' 125 gallon for a few years and my experience is that if it only cost you $400, go for the 6'. Beyond the usual arguements about the cost of a tank being small compared with the other purchases in the hobby, the 125 actually cost me more in the long run (your mileage may vary if you are going with multiple LED units). When it came to lighting, it actually ended up being cheaper to buy either 6' fixture or 2x 36" fixtures and ordering bulbs in bulk than having a seperate 3' and 2' fixture (plus it always looked funny). The 6' also opens you up to a few more fish that really enjoy the extra room and can "get up to speed".

 

[JBKReef]

Is 5.5' an option for the custom tank? Aesthetically I like a couple extra inhes at the end of the tank beyond the T5's (if you're using them) so 5.5' would be 66 inches allowing for a small gap at the end of each side.

Just something to consider.

 

[DylanE]

I'm currently in the same situation. From what I've seen most people say that anything other than smaller tangs like bristletooths do better in a 6 foot tank. Even more so if you want to keep more than one. I want an achilles and PBT, so I'm going 6 foot on mine.

 

[Ippyroy]

6ft tanks allow you to keep a Blonde Naso Tang. Tangs need length, not gallons. I would definitely go with the 6 foot tank.

 

[andrewkw]

I love my 5 foot standard size tank (112 gallon), but if I was doing a custom tank AND it fit well in the space - this is something you should consider, since it's custom it should nicely fit where you intend to put it. I think I would shell out the $400-500 and get that extra foot. You could start with 1 less light and that would pay for your extra foot, then get another light when the tank fills in. You cannot add another foot later.

I was actually all ready to say I don't see a big difference between fish in a 5 foot tank and a 6 foot tank. I have 2 tangs and angel and they are fine with the 5 foot length (all have been with me several years), BUT for a couple of years I had a 180. The tank physically broke when I moved so I reluctantly downgraded back to this 112 gallon. My achilles tang who I had for a while and was fully treated for diseases never seemed anywhere near as happy in this moderately smaller tank. He wasted away and passed away rather quickly. Now to be fair he was also stressed from a long distance move that also involved 6 weeks in a holding tank while I got everything setup but he looked "off" swimming in the 5 foot space compared to the 6.

 

[Ef4life]

If you have the room for 6’ do it, I would love to have a 6’ tank, but when i upgrade I’m going with a 5’ since I don’t have the extra room to fit it.