Shallow or deep tank better? Your opinions please

[Mandelstam]

Estheticly nothing beats a deep tank imo. The light dynamic is so much greater, going from brightly lit to a dark shaded area. Shallow tanks can look a little flat light wise if you ask me.
But yes, I totally get the maintenance part.

 

[Denisk]

I have had tall tanks and shallow tanks. I currently have a 20 inch tall tank and am having a custom 5x2x1 tank coming that I will be making into a shallow lagoon build.

It can be really hard sometimes working on a tall tank. Especially for the exact reasons you mentioned. When some sps falls or breaks and you gotta get all the way to the sand bed can be a really tough. But at the same time, I feel like some of the most gorgeous tanks are the ones that are deep and tall. Once they’re grown out with corals it’s truly breathtaking.

That being said, do what makes your reef enjoyable. There will always be pros and cons to every tank. What matters most is that you figure out what will keep you in the hobby because it makes it enjoyable when you look at it and when you do the maintenance.

 

[ca1ore]

I've had more tanks than I can probably recall at this point. If you have to 'compromise' then extra width is better at the expense of height. If you don't have to compromise then I would always go for the taller tank. My last two have both been 30" tall, and while an occasional husbandry challenge, I'd never go shorter. My current tank is 36" wide, so I have the best of both worlds. BTW, as an observation on an earlier point, fish swim BOTH from side to side and up and down LOL.

 

[DogueDeBordeaux]

Are you focusing on fish, or corals more?
If it's corals I would stay under 24" (18" to 20") for me.
If you plan on a lot of fish the taller tank may be best.

I am going from a 300g (72"x36"x27") to two deepblue 80g tanks (48"x24"16").
They are cheaper than custom tanks. I would rather had 20" tall tanks.
I like corals more than fish. If not for corals I would not have a tank anymore.

 

[Radman73]

I just set up a 220, so 30" deep. Wow, is it hard to place corals near the bottom lol! I need to break out my SCUBA mask and a snorkel. Or maybe I'll get one of those snorkel masks and tell my wife it's an aquarium expense.

I love the depth though. There will be plenty of vertical space for corals to grow.

 

[VR28man]

I'm considering which way to go for a new tank. I've always loved looking down at corals from above so want to make that a major aspect but can't decide whether to go shallow with more front to back or to go deep in a smaller foot print but cleverly scape so I have a massive overhang (like the picture below).
My only concern with depth is that I'm bored of sticking my arms in up my armpits to pick things up I have dropped but never had a shallow tank and very few people do. If you have either setup or an opinion please chime in. Pictures more than welcome for inspiration.

Or more like this

Shallow all the way for me. More real estate to put stuff in. You do lose on the depth, though, and it looks like one big sandbed vice a snapshot of the reef crest. Many books have long recommended longer, wider tanks because there's more area for the livestock. But, standard glass tank dimensions are usually 20-24" deep; probably because it makes a better wall accessory, it's traditional, and it may also be more economical to make/store ship.

I really like the Deep Blue 48x24x16 tank. I also like the really long tank in this thread; you can use that to create several little nano-tank scale "islands" or "areas" each with their own little focus. E.g. a clownfish+BTA area, a sandy area with brain coral, a seagrass meadow, etc.

It depends on the critters you have in the tank. If you have mostly shallow water species, the shallow one works. If you want tall species (or heaven help you burrowing species), tall would be better.

Also, you can make an overhang in a shallow tank. It's just that it's not going to be as tall or impressive as a higher one.

My dream tank would be a 6-8 foot long drop off tank, say with a 60x20x16 section and a 36x20x24 (or deeper) section; this could simulate the full reef from the lagoon, back reef, reef crest, fore reef, and deep reef. It could have several micro habitats: a big acropora area with a chromis school at the crest. Royal grammas in the rock, non-photsynthetic SPS and gorgonians in an overhang/at the bottom, deep-ish corals in the middle of the drop off. And several shallow samples. Though I think putting all that together might be impossible - even though you can keep different kinds of light, the flow probably wouldn't be different enough throughout the tank. To say nothing of the different nutrient/cleanliness requirements......

 

[NY_Caveman]

Just remember, some of those shallow frag tanks are best for frags. What I mean is if you want a reef, remember to give your corals some room to grow up and out.

 

[mort]

Are you focusing on fish, or corals more?
.

I basically have to move an old existing tank when we move and since I don't like the way that tank is built and the restrictions it gives I want to move onto something easier. The fish stock will stay the same even if the volume increases as I'm happy with what I have now (nice group of allens damsels, pair of Darwin clowns and my marine betta), apart from maybe adding a halichoeres now my 8 year mandarin has passed on.
so it would be nice to give the fish some more space even if they don't need it but focus more on actually being able to grow large specimen corals rather than hand sized ones that you have to prune constantly.

I build refugiums on my tanks that at least match the volume of the display so could make that deeper to give the best of both worlds.