Am I Limited By A Shallow Reef Tank?

[Venator]

Who builds stands? I want something super clean and simple like a RSea cabinet.

Reef savvy, I think. But you might wanna check local, and ask for that material.

 

[Genomecop]

Reef savvy, I think. But you might wanna check local, and ask for that material.

Thanks.

 

[Genomecop]

link in signature.

Nice tank.

 

[Amoo]

Nice tank.

Thank you. at 5 inches you could fit between 4-5 yellow tangs on top of each other from top to bottom, so there is adequate room for them to swim around considering it has 48" across and 24" deep. Most fish stick to certain heights of the tank as it is. The shallow tank just serves to cut off the upper region and force everything to the same level.

Do keep in mind though that I have a 75G sump so I can handle a massive bioload for this size tank.

 

[Genomecop]

Reef Savvy gave me a quote of 1500...'three sides low iron peninsula, Ghost Overflow, one return hole drilled, and blacked out back'.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Sure, when the tank is empty, you could fit tangs in it. Once it has stuff inside, any tang will be severely cramped for space. I would never put anything but smaller fish in that tank. Dwarf butterflies, small wrasses, bottom dwellers like gobies, and perchers like blennies and hawkfish are much better choices, IMO. Surgeonfish and rabbitfish love real estate, and this tank doesn't provide what they need at all.

 

[Genomecop]

Did you see the picture of the coffee table? It's not small.

 

[User1]

In my quest to finally have a tank I've decided on a shallow one. 48 long, 24 wide, 12 high. Does this in any way limit me to a certain fish size? Can I have a tang in this tank? I know my vertical scape will not be the same as a deeper tank but I think I can make it work.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the tank built so I could go a little higher on the height.
Thanks!

I think you will get varying opinions on this. Mine, since you asked, is that you will limit the fish you can keep. Or better yet being a conscientious aquarist (great book btw) you should limit the fish you plan to keep. Sort of like asking yourself if you would enjoy living in a house with 4' high ceilings (unless maybe you are a Hobbit). Will look nice, great even, but will bring some fish challenges for sure. I for one wouldn't consider a tang but would be looking at smaller damsels, cardinals, dwarf angels, etc. Just me though.

 

[samnaz]

I think it's perfect.

Agreed. The shallower and the longer, the better, IMO.

 

[EspressoPatronum]

For the height, I prefer something comfortable for you to reach the bottom of the tank in without tiptoeing. Worth sacrificing a few inches on the "perfect" viewing height for one that's much easier to maintain.
I have a shallow 90g reef savvy (48"L x 24"W x 18"H) and don't think I'd want anything much shallower for me personally. I like the extra wiggle room with the benefits of a shallower tank

 

[Genomecop]

Well the 1500 price quote from Reef Savvy was for a 12 inch height. I'll see what going to 15 inches gets me. (that's what he/she said?) Sorry, just had to.

 

[EspressoPatronum]

Well the 1500 price quote from Reef Savvy was for a 12 inch height. I'll see what going to 15 inches gets me. (that's what he/she said?) Sorry, just had to.

LOL nice.
I was fortunate enough to find mine "used" (4 months old) with a stand and some equipment for 2k. Worth getting exactly what you want though, so you're happy long term.

 

[Gerald Garcia]

I think your table would make an exceptional tank. Would follow if you decide to do it.

 

[Genomecop]

Just remembered a friends husband is a furniture maker here in NYC. Just reached out to see if he can build an aquarium stand. At least that part of everything would be worked out.

 

[Joe tortorici]

I set up a shallow tank in my basement. It is 4ft x 4 ft x 1 foot tall. I really like it have two LEDs and a t5 on one side. Keep the other darkish. The biggest problem that I have found is the evaporation. It makes my basement very moist. To the point things rust... on the positive side the ph is always on the high side because of all the air to water surface area. I have a pretty big yellow eye tang. A crazy cool rainbow rabbitfish with blue spots same size as yellow eye. And a tiny dime sized regal tang. Mixed reef with every coral you could imagine

 

[Daniel Waters]

In my quest to finally have a tank I've decided on a shallow one. 48 long, 24 wide, 12 high. Does this in any way limit me to a certain fish size? Can I have a tang in this tank? I know my vertical scape will not be the same as a deeper tank but I think I can make it work.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the tank built so I could go a little higher on the height.
Thanks!

You've gotten some good feedback in this thread already. I'm going to share my experience. I have a 72"L x 24"W x 18"H. It's shallow but not as shallow as what you are considering. For me, the 18" depth is very nice for cleaning purposes. The height still allows for various fish zones, meaning it's deep enough that I can have some fish that hang out very high in the water column, some in the middle, and then I have those that stay near the sand bed. At 12" height, I think things would be more cramped and you will be a little more limited in your fish stocking.

In regards to lighting, the 18" depth allows for easier lighting. Honestly, though, it seems light intensity is hardly an issue as lighting fixtures seem to be so powerful nowadays. If anything, I think the shallow depth makes it harder to keep various corals that have different light needs. It's going to be hard to blast an acropora with 300 par and have lower light areas for softies or LPS for instance. If you're not interested in a mixed reef and going to stick with softies / LPS or just SPS, then this is probably not as much of a concern. Or if you're going to be using T5 lighting versus LED's, this may not be as much of an issue (I find some of my corals can tolerate higher par values from T5 than they can from LED's).

If you're going to have a sand bottom, you're going to need smaller pumps. My MP40's I have to place a few inches below the water line so that they do not suck air into them, but if I set them too low, they suck sand up into them. If I had a 12" height, I suspect I'd have to run my MP40's at half the power I am running them at now (or go bare bottom).

When you're getting quotes, your tank manufacturer is most likely going to be using 3/8" glass or 1/2" glass. They should have guidelines they use to determine the maximum height before they need to increase to a thicker glass (assuming this is a rimless tank). The thicker glass is what will increase your overall glass cost. My point, though, is that if they are quoting you using 3/8" glass, they may just as easily be able to go from 12" to 15" or even 18" without much additional cost as may be able to stay with the same glass thickness. , iMy tank is 1/2" thick glass, rimless, and the person who made my tank wasn't comfortable going over 18" or so in height without going up in glass thickness. Extra height will add more stress to a rimless tank than extra width or length.

Assuming you have space and don't mind needing extra lighting, I would recommend getting as WIDE a tank as you can. Length would be my second preference. Height is my lowest on my list. In my case, the 18" height has worked well. I would be fine with as high as 21" but I would not want much shallower than I have now. I really wish I had more room so that I could have gotten a 3 or 4 foot width, though! The 6 foot length has been great, and is day versus night in comparison to my previous 4 foot long tank in regards to the swimming area for fish (especially tangs, which I also keep).

 

[Genomecop]

Thanks. I have limited space in my NYC apartment. The area I want to put the tank is a 24 wide wall. So a 24 wide peninsula style tank tank will fit there perfectly. Reef Savvy quoted me 1/2 inch glass.

 

[GoonReef]

Why not look at getting a deep blue 80 ? Seems like it hit every requirement for you.

I bought one at hidden reef in PA / NJ line for 300$ and I bet they could get you another.

 

[Genomecop]

Thanks for the info. It looks nice but I heard back from crystal reef aquatics I'm pretty sure I'm thinking I might go with them, though I'm waiting to speak to C2C also. CRA were incredibly personable in their emails and I like their product. We are still discussing things.

 

[Rakie]

The more vertical space you have, the more wisely you can stock your tank. There's nothing wrong with a shallow tank, but if you put some thought into it -- EVERY dimension you could imagine has a downside. In this particular question, there's no correct answer, unless you have some extremely specific goals which this tank is counterproductive to.

But there's a lot of nice shallow reefs. Often times they have very minimal rockwork, as 12" depth isn't very much room for coral growth. I often see people have rock structures no more than around 5-6" high, and the majority are more like 2-3" high.

If you want it shallow, keep it shallow. If you want a sandbed, make the tank just a bit taller (like 2" taller) and use larger sand so it's not getting blown around by pumps so easily.