Limited space; ideal tank dimensions?

[dopey]

Hi,

Back in Feb I decided to come back to the hobby after 15 years or so break, that tank has gone well tank thread here.

I've managed to convince my partner to do a slightly larger tank. I don't think there is any commercial tank+stand sleek looking. The agreement is if I build a good looking stand, we can then get a custom tank and go that route

The dimensions I have to work with. L80 W40 H?? -- in cm The current tank is 30cm high.

Is there a good rule for H vs W vs L when looking at a tank?

If we were to do this, we plan to do it proper. Have the tank plumbed with a sump in the stand. One of her main complaints is the back section of AIO tank we have now.

Personally I prefer a long tank to a cube. The cube seemed nice initially, but now find it quite limiting in space.

I currently have an AI Prime HD over the tank, it be great to still use that light for the new tank but if dimensions require me to change lights that's OK.

So if you were given 80cm by 40cm stand to work with, what would be the ideal dimensions of a tank on it?

 

[Coralreefer1]

The more surface area you have the better. More surface area, more bacteria and beneficial flora and fauna can populate the benthic area of your tank. Also, if you are doing a reef tank a shorter and longer tank is better.
Hope this helps! Good luck...

 

[steelwrap]

I'd do 40cm x 80cm. That would put length twice the width which would be close to a 40 gal breeder dimensions, I really love how many 40 br looks. This way You could keep your prime and just add another

 

[Mandelstam]

I second earlier replies regarding surface area. And I'd like to add that I would go tall. Like double of your earlier tank. Personally I really like deep tanks, I think it adds a lot of dynamic in the lighting, you would have both very bright areas high up as well as a little dimmer further down. As well as just adding more space overall in the tank.

It's a cost thing though as deeper tanks need thicker glass/acrylic.

 

[Breadman03]

I really like the proportions of a 40 breeder and 120 gallon where the length is twice the depth and it is about as tall as it is deep.

 

[dopey]

Been going back and forth with the sambo. I think i've settled on 70L, 35H, 35W peninsula style. Keeping the stand at 100CM, tho that's still debatable.

Tried to draw them in sketchup to give a sense for the sizes(You know people rarely say which program they used when showing off their designs.. took allot of searching). I did love the 40x80x40 look, but I must agree with her that once in the room it would feel quite massive. The space is there, but it would be a massive presence.



A few renders. The current 30x30 cube(well 30x40 with 10 being the 'AIO section'.)

I do think with 35cm width I will be able to fit a standard 10gallon tank as a DIY sump in the stand. This will give me around 33 gallon total system volume -- roughly 3x what I have today.

Now I need to decide on an 8020 frame or traditional 2x4 as well, how to make the thing 'furniture' quality -- more specifically like we bought it at Ikea. This is Sweden afterall