Will I regret choosing a 55 gallon tank?

[redfishbluefish]

When I first saw the title, I was going to suggest a 75....same length as a 55, but has more width for nicer rock scaping. Now when I saw the photo of the 55 crammed into the tight space, I immediately starting scratching my head....can't put power heads on the side walls. They are all going to have to go on the back wall. Also can't run a Mag cleaner on the side walks.

My two cents, that space is too tight. I'd go for a 40 Breeder....will give you the width for rock scaping, and room on the sides to mount powerheads.

 

[J_Gard88]

Order acrylic sheets and make a custom tank to fit it anywhere you need. Pretty easy to work with.

 

[Tamberav]

I’ve recently decided to build a reef tank on as careful a budget as possible.

I have a shelf in my office that should hold the weight and just barely will fit a 48.25 inch long tank. It’s very tight.

I got a 55g from PetCo on sale, and if I use this I’ll have about 10 inches of space behind the tank. I thought of getting a Fiji Cube AIO drop in box and perhaps a HOB skimmer.

The. I come to find that Fiji stopped making the 55g drop in, so I’d need to get the box for a 75 and put it in sideways (as opposed to at the end making a peninsula style tank). Argh!

That issue combined with my seeing that 55s are a bit frowned upon I’m tempted to do a 75, but am concerned that having only 4 inches behind the tank won’t be very useful and also the added weight is making me a bit nervous.

Is a 55 really that bad of an idea in this scenario?

What would you do if you were me?

I would personally not be a fan of reaching behind there to do maintenance once the lights are hung and in the way. I would do the peninsula or I would skip all hob equipment together and just go for a natural tank utilizing just flow and live rock for filtration.

I also agree a 40 breeder so you can access sides is much better.

You do not want a reef tank to be a salt creep and maintenance nightmare.

 

[SharkRacer]

Such a wealth of advice here, thank you all for your thoughtful suggestions!

I hear you all loud and clear that this shelf will likely get ruined. Hmmm…

What if I were to somehow waterproof the whole area? like with some flexible plastic sheets with with siliconed seams?

 

[SharkRacer]

Some folks may disagree, but I ran a 55 gallon saltwater for almost 2 years until a natural disaster buggered it. Friend of mine has been running a 55 for over 5 years and his corals look awesome.

Neither of us ran an AIO kit. Just an HOB Aquaclear 110 filter and HOB skimmer with some good lights. Heater in the tank.

Sure I had problems, but very few of them were related to equipment.

Am I saying “Do it!”, no. But can you, absolutely.

This is definitely an option I’m considering. Did you have fish only or corals as well?

 

[GSM_OFS]

If you feel confident with your skills, or feel like trying something different... I would go with a UNS 90U rimless which comes out to 68gal(36"x22"x22"). You'll have room around the sides and back, a nice clean look, and beautiful view. Get a custom overflow built on the back and pimp that puppy with a solid scape. Do a coral heavy system with small fish only. I'm talking like only bennies and gobies that can have their own little territories.

 

[Hugh Mann]

This is definitely an option I’m considering. Did you have fish only or corals as well?

I had fish and basic corals like aussie star polyp and green star polyp. Lights weren’t good enough for the fancier stuff, nor was my budget sufficient.

My friend there has rock flower anemones, and I believe it was a variety of sps. He’s got something like 15 years of reefing experience though.

 

[CrimsonTide]

This is definitely an option I’m considering. Did you have fish only or corals as well?

If you go HOB filter i like the Tidal Seachem filters. Theyre more expensive than the cheapo versions you can get a pet stores but will last a long time and have warranties. I use a Tidal 35 on my 10g and a Tidal 55 on my 29g. You could do the 75 or 110 I would do 110 probably just for maximum filtering. They have large areas for media carbon and what not.

 

[Spieg]

What if I were to somehow waterproof the whole area? like with some flexible plastic sheets with with siliconed seams?

You could use marine grade epoxy paint to protect the surfaces, but it will still be a problem to maintain in a confined space like that. As others have already said, a 40 or 60 might be a better choice.

 

[SudzFD]

I'd go with a 75G or even a 60 breeder before I used a 55G. Too narrow for aquascaping. If you have the width, I'd use it.

This is a fair point to consider. It looks like the tank could slide forward 1” and depending on what HOB setup you go with you may have room in the back to accommodate a 60 gallon. That said, the extra 5 gallons won’t make a huge difference.

 

[zuri]

I’ve recently decided to build a reef tank on as careful a budget as possible.

I have a shelf in my office that should hold the weight and just barely will fit a 48.25 inch long tank. It’s very tight.

I got a 55g from PetCo on sale, and if I use this I’ll have about 10 inches of space behind the tank. I thought of getting a Fiji Cube AIO drop in box and perhaps a HOB skimmer.

The. I come to find that Fiji stopped making the 55g drop in, so I’d need to get the box for a 75 and put it in sideways (as opposed to at the end making a peninsula style tank). Argh!

That issue combined with my seeing that 55s are a bit frowned upon I’m tempted to do a 75, but am concerned that having only 4 inches behind the tank won’t be very useful and also the added weight is making me a bit nervous.

Is a 55 really that bad of an idea in this scenario?

What would you do if you were me?

someone else said a 40 breeder and that would fit give you more room to work and be able to mount powerheads.

believe it or not the vast majority of reefers don't make it past year 2 and the VAST majority who did started just like this with a passion low funds but the will to make it happen. upgrading down the road is the fun part when you actually know what you need and not mimicking the cookie cutter build.
learning to crawl first in this hobby is key

 

[SharkRacer]

I am blown away by all this advice, truly thank you all.

I plan on looking for a different tank, one that allows access to the sides. I'm frustrated now, but will likely be very happy when I can actually reach around this tank to learn up any mess that will inevitably occur.

My question now is....

If I downsize to a 40G breeder, will there be a significant advantage in having an AOI drop in Fiji box, as opposed to a HOB filter? or should I just go with the HOB to conserve space (and save some money)?

 

[andrejk]

@tidalgardens did a video that made the exact argument for a 120 48"w over a 55. some good arguments here

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Hob.filter and a hob skimmer.
My .02
-d

 

[HomebroodExotics]

If you could go bigger, then a 55 kind of sucks. But if that’s the spot it needs to go in then the 55 looks like it fits really well. I’d probably roll with it unless space wasn’t an issue.

 

[adittam]

I am blown away by all this advice, truly thank you all.

I plan on looking for a different tank, one that allows access to the sides. I'm frustrated now, but will likely be very happy when I can actually reach around this tank to learn up any mess that will inevitably occur.

My question now is....

If I downsize to a 40G breeder, will there be a significant advantage in having an AOI drop in Fiji box, as opposed to a HOB filter? or should I just go with the HOB to conserve space (and save some money)?

I would personally go with the HOB to give myself more room in the tank. It will also make maintenance super easy. If that's the direction I was going, I'd definitely go with the Seachem Tidal 110. It draws in water from both the bottom of the intake pipe and skims the surface.

Also, I'll second the recommendations for a 40 breeder. Great dimensions and footprint, and honestly will give you about the same fish and coral options as the 55 would have given you.

 

[SharkRacer]

@tidalgardens did a video that made the exact argument for a 120 48"w over a 55. some good arguments here

Great video, thank you!

 

[Cell]

I would skip the drop in and just use a HOB AquaClear or something similar. 12" width is limiting, but workable.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Loved.ehiem libertys
D

 

[Karen00]

I don't think there is anything wrong with that tank other than the space looks really tight. If you had to do work in the back bottom of the tank (like scrape algae) can you fit in there OK to do the work comfortably? Also, have you tried fitting all of your equipment in that back space.

I agree with others that the unit will probably be ruined by the salt over time. If you plan to keep it there you might want to line the bottom, sides and underside of the shelf above it with acrylic sheets (or something like that).