Tank questions dimensions and type

Aardvark1134 · May 28, 2018

1) Which of the following do you think are the best dimensions for a fish heavy reef tank?
96Lx24Wx24T - cheapest by far
96Lx36Wx24T - allow for better rock work might be hard to reach the back bottom
96Lx30Wx30T - hard to reach bottom and needs more lighting but will look pretty due to 30 high

2) Can any of you think of any more reasons when choosing glass vs acrylic?

I see glass pros as:
harder to scratch
razor algae scraper can be used
cheaper (even for low iron)
basic stand instead of full support stand
Will allow full UV spectrum/purple and blue to go through into water (acrylic UV protectant will stop UV A and B so you might lose just a tad of lighting you want depending on the selectness of the protectant.

I see acrylic full cast pros as:
over 10x more shatter proof (the one I am looking at is literally bullet proof)
won't crack
chemical bonded seams that will never leak
never needs new silicone
1/3 the weight when moving it in place
clearer (even low iron and star sapphire have a slight tint to them)
less risk when drilling
will never come home to 300 gallons of water on the floor

mtraylor · May 28, 2018

If it were my aquarium I would go with:

96Lx30Wx30T - hard to reach bottom and needs more lighting but will look pretty due to 30 high

Nice depth for aquascaping and lots of room for the fish to swim. I prefer glass for some of the reasons you state above. With fish only aquarium, not sure you would have to worry about coralline algae growth and if you keep low lighting..... algae on glass will not be that bad. So you wouldn't have to clean glass or acrylic as much. Don't kid yourself about acrylic tanks never leaking. It happens all the time. Any aquarium glass or acrylic can develop a leak.

Aardvark1134 · May 29, 2018

I am leaning toward the 96x30x30 being the nicest to look at.
Just wondering how big of a pain the maint will be
Also how much more lighting do you need to reach down through 6 more inches of water? 25% more...50% more?

Neil Fox · May 29, 2018

96x 30 x 24 would look cool.

mtraylor · May 29, 2018

Aardvark1134 said:
I am leaning toward the 96x30x30 being the nicest to look at.
Just wondering how big of a pain the maint will be
Also how much more lighting do you need to reach down through 6 more inches of water? 25% more...50% more?

WEll if you are doing a full blown reef, it would depend on what types of corals you want and what type of lighting you decide on. Have you made that decision yet.

ca1ore · May 29, 2018

I recently upgraded to a 450 .... 96" x 36" x 30". If I had to compromise I would have gone 36" wide and 24" tall .... but I didn't have to. I like a tall tank .... just spend $20 for a pair of medical forceps off Amazon ... and keep your hands out of the tank. I also decided to go with acrylic, mainly due to the weight (closer to 1/2 than 1/3 though). My first acrylic tank, seven months in and no scratches yet. I think its overblown. Corners look much nicer, and it is clearer; though up close acrylic distorts a bit to my eye.

Aardvark1134 · May 29, 2018

To answer what corals mainly LPS and some zooanthid islands. A couple SPS are possible but not alot SPS.
Lights was thinking 3 or 4 Kessil AP700s depending on which tank.

And yes I have a near 10 year old acrylic 120 right now and it only has 1 visible scratch in 10 years and I put that in day one with a huge butt rock lol. It's in the side so I never bothered to buff it out. I agree if you are careful and pay attention you won't have a tank full of scratches.