30" wide or 36" - 4 foot long tank?

200mfromocean

New member
Good afternoon. It's time to sell the house and break down my standard 120 gallon 2' wide by 26" tall by 48" in wall reef with 2 X 400 Watt LB minis and flanked by 4 54 watt t5's.

Due to space considerations the in wall is no longer an option and time to plan a standalone tank which will be accessible from 3 side not one.

I am thinking of going with a: 36" wide BY 48" long by 24" high = 150 G
or 30" wide by 48" long by 24" high = 187

I am lazy and am not looking to be TOTM or anything like that. Just a few fish and a spacious rock work, not 25=0#+ of LR crammed full of fish and corals. I want to keep running my dosing system and use my i-tech skimmer.

The new house is larger and will not be able to keep my house at 72 degrees and run fans to dissipate the heat issues. I am not sure if I want to keep the halides and run a chiller. I may just run 2 X current usa 6 lamp t5's in lieu of the halides. I like color in my sps and do not care for led only. Come to think of it I could build have a 30" tank or 32" tank on a 36" wide stand so I have somewhere to set my brew and test kits.

Thoughts and reservations of experienced fat tank users are appreciated.
 
That should make a nice tank. The only minor downside is that some fish that need a long tank wouldn't work.

Check out the Mainland 200 gal. DD tank. I think it is the dimensions you describe at 27" tall. It provides good room and aquascaping possibilities.
 
I think you have your gallons reversed, but my personal taste is that wider = better looking. Especially since you say it is going to be visible from the sides. Aquascaping in a wider tank is usually a lot nicer.
 
there are just so many more possibilities w/ the wider tank. just think of the differance between aquascaping a 55gal and a 75.
 
I would go with the 36" for the reasons stated above however I would go with 20" for height. I never thought I would like shallow tanks as much as I do but there's a reason why they're so popular. In your case you could keep using halides and a chiller would be unnecessary with 2x 250 watts.
 
I've got a 48x30x18 right now and I love the dimensions.

Nothing wrong with 36" deep though, the more the merrier, just want to chime in and say that 48x30 is still an awesome tank.

I agree staying a touch shallower than 24". 18" might not be your thing, but you will probably be a bit happier with 22" or 20".

I find even with the 18", and with only 30" front to back, I have a tougher time reaching to the bottom of the back of the tank.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I may ho with a dsa custom 48 by 36 by 22 or 24 tall. the dsa 24.5 had about 22" of water. i could make the stand extra high to store all the reef poop and make the viewing close to eye level. If i remember correctly a good t5 fixure can do sps fine on the sand
 
#1 rule in reefing...always go as big as your wallet/spouse will allow. I've had tanks for 12 years and literally only once have I heard someone say "my tank is too big".
 
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