Need Advice on Tank Size

Menashay

New member
Hi,
I am new here. I used to have sweet water fish tank but that was many moons ago.
I never had salt water fish tank.
We are building and I want a wall mounted salt water aquarium.
The space in the wall that we have for this aquarium is: 1590mm (width) x 345mm (deep) x ??mm height
I do not have a height. From the bottom of the aquarium to the ceiling we have 1200mm height.
The aquarium is for salt water marine life (fish & corals).
What would you recommend for the height?

Many Thanks,
Menahay
 
Welcome Menahay. I'm not good at metric numbers, but I'm sure someone will show with some help. Look around!!!
 
Anything deeper than "arm length" becomes a problem for maintenance. The "optimum" depth, both for maintenance and light penetration, is often around 24" (about 600 mm).

Kevin
 
I have to agree with Kevin. For me, anything more than arms length is a pain. I prefer a little shorter around 18 inches (about 457mm) but that’s personal preference
 
The depth here is the problem for me.
345mm =about 13 1/2''.
Not much room for aquascape to work with.

My latest tank is only 14" tall. lagoon tanks are great.

Why cant I get YouTube videos to work here?

Search YouTube for:

Reef Savvy: Shallow Soft Coral Tank

Volcano Tank - Shallowreef Tank - Swiss and Salty

 
My latest tank is only 14" tall. lagoon tanks are great.

Why cant I get YouTube videos to work here?

Search YouTube for:

Reef Savvy: Shallow Soft Coral Tank

Volcano Tank - Shallowreef Tank - Swiss and Salty

"Depth" in this case is front to back. Less than 14" is too skinny!

Kevin
 
This one is 36" x 9.5" x 8".

 
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If the tank is built into the wall, you need to take into account if you have access to the back or sides. Not only do you want to be able to reach the bottom of the tank, but you want to be able to reach the back-bottom corner too.

My last reef tank was a 3' (914mm) cube. I could just reach the bottom of the tank on the front, but couldn't quite reach the back bottom corner if something fell back there. Luckily, I could remove the hood and get to it from both sides if needed.
 
I spoke with my architect following the comments I got here, I can go as wide as 500mm (around 19").
The full dimensions of the tank are therefore 1590mm (L) x 500mm (W) x 600mm (H) [approximately 62" x 19" x 23"].
I think this is a decent size for a salt water tank
 
That’s definitely a good size. About 117 gallons or about 444 liters.

Should make for a very nice saltwater tank
 
Personally I would want to go wider (deeper) so something like 400mm to 600mm, largely because it's just easier to aquascape and give the sense of depth. But long and thin could be a rather dramitic look complementing the rest of the room, and 345mm really isn't much of an issue if you create some "valleys" or channels that open all the way to the back of your tank. Sticking with 1590mm by 345mm I'd use a height of 435mm or 550mm (golden ratio).
 
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