Need Help Planning a New Build

[Patrick Cox]

Well, I am hitting a milestone age in a couple of months and I plan to treat myself to a new tank. My current tank is 36x24x20, 75G, primarily SPS reef. I have had this tank for 3 years. For my new tank, I am considering one of the following... (All either rimless or euro with external overflow box)

1. 48x24x20

2. 54x24x20

3. 60x24x20 (should I consider maybe 60x20x20.)

The rock work will be minimalist with lots of swim room for fish. I am hoping to give my fish more prominence in this tank than my current tank. My current largest fish is a clownfish or cardinal whereas in my next tank I am considering a yellow or Kole Tang and maybe a Butterfly fish or other larger fish along with a small school of Anthias or maybe a school of blue green chromis.

The benefit of the 48" tank is I can keep my current 36" ATI LED / T5 combo fixture as I am not that worried about light on the edge of the tank due to the minimalist rock work. However I suppose 48" is not much larger than my current tank and I know some would say that 48" is not large enough for even one tang. So I am open to a larger tank but I also don't want to over build. I know I can adequately care for a 48" tank and probably a bit larger but I don't want to build something that will be more work than I want to take on.

So, your input on this first decision is appreciated and then I will tackle other questions I have on this process.

Thanks!

Picture of my current tank...

 

[thegrun]

For a mixed reef I would go with a 48" x 30" x 24". The extra 6" front to back allows room for the corals to grow out and for you to aquascape giving a feeling of a lot more depth than with just 24". I like the extra 4" of height (24") but there is nothing wrong with a 20" tall tank.

 

[WaReefer458]

I agree with above poster... I started with a 55 and hated the 12" depth, went to a 75, that wasn't bad. Got sick of breaking it down and moving it every year as I moved around a lot for work. Now I have a 40B that is the perfect size for the moment but my next will more than likely be 30" front to back. Not sure how long I wanna go but definetly going with depth on the next one. A 60 x 30 x 24 would be a great size for a tank but thats just one guys opinion