Ideal tank size.

[Nick C]

So I am selling my house and will be looking to buy a new house. If you were in this situation and a new tank was part of the move, what size would you go with? Currently my tank is 48x30x18

 

[Instigate]

Sounds like a question one can only answer for themselves. Personally, on one hand I just transferred from a 135 gallon to a 37 gallon and I'm not missing the larger tank or its added expense and work etc (I moved to a different rental house and didn't want to deal with moving the larger tank and worrying about the raised wood foundation supporting it). But on the other hand if I was less busy, had more money, I would go as big as I could afford and could fit into the new place. As long as I own the house and am not likely to ever move.

 

[PatW]

What is ideal depends on your goals, budget, available space and time.

Bigger tends to be better. About the largest production tanks are 6’ in long dimension like the 180 gallon. But even 6’, is cramped for many of the tangs or triggers. For those fish 8’, 10’ or even 12’ is more like it. But those sizes just are not really feasible for most of us.

An aquarium is a trade off of options. A large height looks great but it is hard to reach the bottom of even at 24”.

A nice depth really looks great and makes for good aquascapes. 24 inches is about as big as you see in this dimension in production tanks. But 30”, 36”, or even 48” are really nice. But if you put it against a wall, access can be tough.

The tank you are thinking of sounds good. You might think of 60” or 72” for your long dimension, if you want tangs.

 

[dylana407]

For me, it would be 180. Big enough to have the fish I want, and roomy enough for the corals I buy on impulse.

 

[Devaji]

like said that a hard one for us to help with way to many factors ...

I just got a red sea reefer 750XXL its a beauty might want to look in to that or the water box 230 same tank really..

there 6' long go you can have tangs but if you are a big fish man I would go BIGGER some day a want a butterfly tang and angel tank on the 500+ gallon range

I think I lot will depend on the house you end up buying. but having a tank size in mind might help with looking.

my 2 cents.

 

[fish farmer]

If your shopping for a house then look at available wall space, closet proximity, spare rooms and of course flooring/structural support.

 

[Nick C]

What is ideal depends on your goals, budget, available space and time.

Bigger tends to be better. About the largest production tanks are 6’ in long dimension like the 180 gallon. But even 6’, is cramped for many of the tangs or triggers. For those fish 8’, 10’ or even 12’ is more like it. But those sizes just are not really feasible for most of us.

An aquarium is a trade off of options. A large height looks great but it is hard to reach the bottom of even at 24”.

A nice depth really looks great and makes for good aquascapes. 24 inches is about as big as you see in this dimension in production tanks. But 30”, 36”, or even 48” are really nice. But if you put it against a wall, access can be tough.

The tank you are thinking of sounds good. You might think of 60” or 72” for your long dimension, if you want tangs.

The tank I was thinking of is 72x24x24 being roughly 210 gallons.

 

[Saveafish]

I'm thinking on a 96X48X30" tall. That way I can use a whole sheet of acrylic for the bottom.

 

[Hybrid Ken]

So I am selling my house and will be looking to buy a new house. If you were in this situation and a new tank was part of the move, what size would you go with? Currently my tank is 48x30x18

The questions for me would be "what is the biggest I can afford" and "how big am I willing to maintain" With larger size comes the potential for larger operating costs …... salt mix, more frequent need to replace RO/DI supplies and so forth along with the requirement of time to maintain. My first tank took more then six month to put together due to start up costs but I had determined I could afford the cost ( I did start a stash envelope for cash to replace equipment as it failed and added to it religiously) to keep a 125 gallon tank running after set up. I had the time to properly maintain the tank.

 

[Nick C]

The questions for me would be "what is the biggest I can afford" and "how big am I willing to maintain" With larger size comes the potential for larger operating costs …... salt mix, more frequent need to replace RO/DI supplies and so forth along with the requirement of time to maintain. My first tank took more then six month to put together due to start up costs but I had determined I could afford the cost ( I did start a stash envelope for cash to replace equipment as it failed and added to it religiously) to keep a 125 gallon tank running after set up. I had the time to properly maintain the tank.

Is 125 a 6 foot tank?

 

[andrewkw]

All depends on the spaces in the new house. Do you want a monster in the basement or a beauty in the living room? Or perhaps the kitchen or a less conventional spot is better. If you're getting a custom tank it should be custom to the space. For that you will need to know the space. Unless of course it's just going in the basement, in which case I'd get as large as you are comfortable with.

 

[Saveafish]

Is 125 a 6 foot tank?

72"x 18" x 24" I think.

 

[Hybrid Ken]

Is 125 a 6 foot tank?

Most 125 gallon tanks are 72" long so you can say yes they are about 6' long

 

[ReeferReefer]

I am in a similar situation. I will be upgrading my 90g to a 120. 42x24x24

4 foot tank is easy to light with most off the shelf options. Plenty of room for interesting fish and nice and deep for scaping. Still small enough to make working on it easy enough.

 

[BestMomEver]

Taking space, budget, and placement into consideration, I would pick a tank that would appropriately house the fish I wanted. We had a 500 (8’) and a 300 (8’ but different width and height). We had 6 or 7 tangs and a few other species. I would never put that many tangs in a 180. Probably not a 210 either. 300 gallons was pushing the limit. If it were me, I’d find something around 260. Dream tank.... not too small and definitely not as much work, money and time as the 500!

 

[Captain Quint]

@Nick C great thread.

I personally like the 110 tall you recently did with the rock you used and all the 'cookies' you added to it. Simply beautiful my friend. I can also see why you would want a 210g. Nice, big, lots of room for just about anything you want to keep. I had three adult children with 180's I got them and I love those tanks a great deal as well.

I say do what you want and enjoy. Ten years ago I was in good shape for a 51-year-old dude. I ran a 300g, 125g, 93cube, 45 custom cube al RR and a 29g BioCube at the same time with all tanks having identical parameters and it was a breeze. Today I cannot do all that. I said this just to say enjoy and do all you like for as long as you can.

I'll be following whatever you decide good sir and thank you for your interesting threads.

 

[Stigigemla]

The first point is that the tank must fit in the room You spend the most time.
If You are 6" max height is 2" and wide max 3" 2 inches if You want to reach everywhere in the tank.
Let the room decide the lenght.

 

[Brien]

That really is a personal question on you can answer. I know for me, I wouldn't want anything smaller than a 4' tank. Remember larger will give you more fish choices too.

 

[AlexStinson]

I have always loved the marineland deep 300's, which is why i went similar when i moved and was able to devote a place. I ended up going slightly bigger at 72x36x30. If my house was different I would have preferred to stretch that out to 8 feet, but as is it works perfect for me.