60x36x25 vs 72x30x25

[Canuck007]

So I aborted my peninsula tank idea as we just couldn't find a spot for it to fit properly.

So I'm now going to go for either 60x36x25 or 72x30x25 and would love your opinions.

I do enjoy having alot of fish, particularily tangs, and mostly softies so 6ft seems better but I do love the depth I would have with the 36" tank. Both are exactly the same 234 gallons each.

 

[mta_morrow]

Length!

 

[Cment]

Ha why not just get the best of both worlds and go with a 72 x 36 x 25 lol?!?!? I guess if I had to choose it would be the length...I enjoy watching the fish go from end to end.

 

[Canuck007]

Yeah I could do a 72x36x25...that would be awesome!! but it got a bit pricey....the other two cost the same...

 

[JumboShrimp]

If you plan to have fish, then “length.” They will love room to have ‘turn around’ room on each end to go from in front of rock work to behind it, and lap back again

 

[Denisk]

I really don’t think one is better than the other. It’ll be cheaper to light the 60in rather than the 72 inch. I also love the thought of the extra depth with the 60inch. But both are flat out awesome sizes. I would just go with whatever you think will look aesthetically better for the space.

 

[jschultzbass]

So I aborted my peninsula tank idea as we just couldn't find a spot for it to fit properly.

So I'm now going to go for either 60x36x25 or 72x30x25 and would love your opinions.

I do enjoy having alot of fish, particularily tangs, and mostly softies so 6ft seems better but I do love the depth I would have with the 36" tank. Both are exactly the same 234 gallons each.

If you like a lot of fish, especially tangs. get the 6 ft. 36" depth is cool but if you don't have a peninsula or access to the back it sucks stretching to the back. I have a 77x30x30 and love it.

 

[Canuck007]

All the advice is great! I currently have a 72x24x20h...so a part of me wants the 36 depth just have something different...i feel like with the 72" tank I'm just 6 more depth and 5 more height but the look will be somewhat the same....decisions...decisions....

 

[Daniel Waters]

So I aborted my peninsula tank idea as we just couldn't find a spot for it to fit properly.

So I'm now going to go for either 60x36x25 or 72x30x25 and would love your opinions.

I do enjoy having alot of fish, particularily tangs, and mostly softies so 6ft seems better but I do love the depth I would have with the 36" tank. Both are exactly the same 234 gallons each.

I think both are great dimensions. The aquascaping options with 36" width would be really nice. For tangs, I'd prefer the 6 feet (or longer for many tangs), but I'd be personally willing to give up the extra foot of length to have the extra width.

I think a large decision factor is how you plan on lighting the tank (T5s, LEDs, hybrid, what type of LEDs, etc..) and plans for corals (softies, LPS, SPS, clams, etc...). If you plan on having two rows of LED units, the 36" width won't be an issue. If you want to be able to have one "row" of lights, the 36" width may be more of an issue (although a lot of units like an AP700 or radion XR30W could be turned vertically and give you full width coverage, but you then would need more units going across). An 8 bulb T5 could probably light a 30" width fine, but I'm not as certain on a 36" width unless some LED bars were added on each side. If you're not going to have high light needing corals, your lighting choices won't matter as much, as you can get whatever units you like and mount them nice and high and you will get plenty of adequate spread to light the entire tank.

 

[andrewkw]

Where is it going in your house? Which would look better? While 6 foot is maybe better for the fish if 5 foot looks better in the spot a 5x3 footprint should be fine for most fish that require the 72" length. If you were talking a narrow mass produced tank it might matter more. Of course I have run a 5 foot tank for 12 years so I'm somewhat partial to them, but if I hadn't broke it in a move I'd be using a 6 foot as my main display.

The cost of lighting and other equipment such as pumps are good arguments too, but you're getting a custom tank made it should be custom to where it's going in your home.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Just to add whatever it’s worth to the discussion, this is a 72” x 24” x only 12” high frag tank, being used as a DT.

 

[B-ridge]

I also have the 60x36x25 and I love it. I also had a 265 gallon that was 6 foot long and I actually liked my 240(60x36x25) so much better. Only thing I don’t like is my overflows are in the middle on both sides of tank. But this was done on purpose since it’s a divider tank and can be seen from both sides

 

[Devaji]

All the advice is great! I currently have a 72x24x20h...so a part of me wants the 36 depth just have something different...i feel like with the 72" tank I'm just 6 more depth and 5 more height but the look will be somewhat the same....decisions...decisions....

if you already have a nice tank why get pretty much the same thing? bummer about the peninsula.
here is a crazy idea maybe get a smaller peninsula?

i know the feeling tho, I was about to set up a IM20 pen. but we could not find a spot for in in the house. so I will be going for a 25 lagoon.
but I say if you really want a peninsula and have such a nice tank I say make a peninsula work for you.
just my 2 cents

 

[turfster26]

DEPTH is critical IMHO. Draws your eye deep into the tank, much better than length. Please I think it allows for better roaming for fish

 

[Canuck007]

hard for me to go down to a smaller size even if it's peninsula...

glad someone with this exact tank 60x36x25 has one and loves it!

i'm really leaning towards the 60x36x25 tank...NOW...my wife is a bit worried about it sticking out to far into the living room space...blah...blah..blah...i told her too bad!! lol...only if it was that easy....

 

[Canuck007]

So I ended up doing a 66x36x25. Fit our spacing the best in the living room. I've started a new build thread in the large tank section. Keep you posted!