Thoughts on wide cylinder tanks?

Seancj · Apr 13, 2023

Looking for experiences with large diameter cylinder tanks. 60" or greater diameter.
Pros? Cons?
At this larger diameter, how bad is the distortion?
Would you buy it again?

afrokobe · Apr 13, 2023

I dont have personal experience outside of the public aquariums. I have always loved how they look, but I don't think I could get over the curved distortion if I had one inside the home. It would definitely not be as big as an aquarium one, so I would imagine the distortion to be even worse.

Crustaceon · Apr 13, 2023

#1 I want one.
#2 The bigger it is, the less distortion you'll have. BUT, the tank would have to remain shallow to avoid having to use thicker acrylic, which would cause distortion.

afrokobe · Apr 13, 2023

maybe not a full cylinder, but a corner cylinder tank would be really good use of a space.

Seancj · Apr 13, 2023

Crustaceon said:
#1 I want one.
#2 The bigger it is, the less distortion you'll have. BUT, the tank would have to remain shallow to avoid having to use thicker acrylic, which would cause distortion.

The one I'm looking at is 60" diameter and 20" tall. Rimless, which is a priority for me.

Crustaceon · Apr 13, 2023

Seancj said:
The one I'm looking at is 60" diameter and 20" tall. Rimless, which is a priority for me.

Scripps aquarium has a bunch of cylinder tanks around that size. There's some distortion for sure. I think you'd need a tank swimming pool-sized to avoid that. It's all about the curvature. The sharper the panels have to curve to complete a circle, the more they become a lens. I see it as a tradeoff. I still want one.

MarineandReef Jaron · Apr 13, 2023

Seancj said:
The one I'm looking at is 60" diameter and 20" tall. Rimless, which is a priority for me.

If it is this size and rimless the acrylic is likely very thick. The thicker the acrylic the worse the distortion. I would ask the builder what the acrylic thickness is.

afrokobe · Apr 13, 2023

Crustaceon said:
Scripps aquarium has a bunch of cylinder tanks around that size. There's some distortion for sure. I think you'd need a tank swimming pool-sized to avoid that. It's all about the curvature. The sharper the panels have to curve to complete a circle, the more they become a lens. I see it as a tradeoff. I still want one.

yea I as much as I like them aesthetically the distortion is just too much for me. Even on a huge tank like the one at moody gardens, the distortion is still very noticeable

Troylee · Apr 13, 2023

Biggest pain you’ll ever have trying to clean and not scratch.. not to mention distortion like others mentioned.

afrokobe · Apr 13, 2023

Troylee said:
Biggest pain you’ll ever have trying to clean and not scratch.. not to mention distortion like others mentioned.

is magic eraser the only thing you could use to clean a cylinder tank? i can imagine that getting old fast lol

Seancj · Apr 13, 2023

MarineandReef Jaron said:
If it is this size and rimless the acrylic is likely very thick. The thicker the acrylic the worse the distortion. I would ask the builder what the acrylic thickness is.

It's 3/4" thick.

Troylee · Apr 13, 2023

afrokobe said:
is magic eraser the only thing you could use to clean a cylinder tank? i can imagine that getting old fast lol

They work great if you do it daily.. if you let corraline start collecting then it’s plastic blades etc.. it does get old.

Seancj · Apr 13, 2023

Troylee said:
Biggest pain you’ll ever have trying to clean and not scratch.. not to mention distortion like others mentioned.

At only 20" tall, it would be fairly easy to clean. A 4" razor/scraper like those used to scrape windows, turned vertically, should move smoothly around the inside and clean the entire tank rather quickly...at least I think it would? I don't mind putting my hands in the tank to clean.

Troylee · Apr 13, 2023

Seancj said:
At only 20" tall, it would be fairly easy to clean. A 4" razor/scraper turned vertically should move smoothly around the inside and clean the entire tank rather quickly...at least I think it would?

A plastic razor scraper.. you can try a metal one but you’ll end up gouging it and some point without a doubt. Once corraline builds up it sucks to scrape on a radius.. credit card would be your best as it’s flexible..

Seancj · Apr 13, 2023

Troylee said:
A plastic razor scraper.. you can try a metal one but you’ll end up gouging it and some point without a doubt. Once corraline builds up it sucks to scrape on a radius.. credit card would be your best as it’s flexible..

Yes! I used old credit cards on my 240 acrylic cube years ago. Forgot about that! I'm kinda anal about cleaning my tank glass and do it almost every day.