New in wall tank, need HEIGHT suggestions!!!

[kmu]

First of all, haven't decided yet the height of the tank and need some help.

72x36x24H acrylic 3/4" and 270g $2,500

or

72x36x36H acrylic 1" and 400g $4,500

The tank will have a black back and center external overflow box, bracing on top with 3 18"x24" openings.

The 24" tall tank will be almost half the price of the 36" tall tank, the 24" will be a lot easier to clean and maintain, Im 5,6" tall and have a hard time reaching the bottom of my current 24" reef tank. The 24" tall tank will be easier to light. The 24" tall tank will have 3/4" acrylic which is compatible with most wavemakers like mp40, wp40 and Tunze.

The 36" tall tank will give the in wall tank a huge wow factor but Im afraid the maintenance will make me suffer to clean it or do work inside.

Any suggestions?

THX in advance



Here you can see where the tank will be and the small fish-room behind it.



Got a central AC vent, a 4" exhaust fan to get rid of humidity, Mini split AC for tank and fish-room cooling, drain, water, etc.

 

[Mark...]

Any thoughts on splitting the difference and go 30 inches in height? Not sure what thickness you would need...

 

[dave.m]

Always go tall if it's to be viewed regularly by others. If you set your tank up correctly in advance your need to stick your hands in should be minimal. Short tanks are great for people who can't keep their hands out of the tank, but such tanks are seldom set up to look good to others. I always go for tall.

Dave.M

 

[RJT]

Always go tall if it's to be viewed regularly by others. If you set your tank up correctly in advance your need to stick your hands in should be minimal. Short tanks are great for people who can't keep their hands out of the tank, but such tanks are seldom set up to look good to others. I always go for tall.

Dave.M

Excellent points

 

[kmu]

Any thoughts on splitting the difference and go 30 inches in height? Not sure what thickness you would need...

Any height above 24" will require an extra sheet of acrylic to build the tank (around $600, I forgot how much is each sheet of acrylic), now if I go above 24" I would need to upgrade to 1" acrylic from 3/4" so thats an extra 15%.

Always go tall if it's to be viewed regularly by others. If you set your tank up correctly in advance your need to stick your hands in should be minimal. Short tanks are great for people who can't keep their hands out of the tank, but such tanks are seldom set up to look good to others. I always go for tall.

Dave.M

a 36" tall water column makes for an impressive view

 

[Sonicboom]

also consider the bigger tank will need bigger or more of everything else. Bigger skimmer, more water movement, stronger lights, bigger return pump...

 

[kmu]

also consider the bigger tank will need bigger or more of everything else. Bigger skimmer, more water movement, stronger lights, bigger return pump...

Yes, the 36" taller tank will need a bigger skimmer, bigger return pump, bigger sump, stronger lights (LEDs), bigger wavemaker (larger magnets), larger chiller, larger exhaust fan, larger cleaning magnet.

Im trying to make this build the best energy efficient possible, will add solar panels (enough to power the tank 100%) on the roof in the next year or so to help with the electricity bill,

This is what I have in mind

Lighting 300 watts (3 kessil pendants or 3 AI Hydras)
Flow Display 60 watts (2 jebaos wp40)
Return Pump 85 watts (Diablo DC 10500)
Skimmer 40 watts (Already have an Alphacone 250)

For cooling
Minisplit AC 8,000 BTUs (cools tank, cools room, removes humidity)
TECO 20 chiller (cools tank but add heats to the room)

 

[Sonicboom]

Solar power will be fantastic both for power and as a backup, I love my ai hydras and I really like my waveline dc 10000 which I think is almost the same as the Diablo.

 

[Socaltoaz]

36 would be the minimum I would go in height.

 

[danfeig]

I love deep tanks! My main display is 48" deep and have had no problems whatsoever with lighting, maintenance, flow, etc.

 

[kmu]

I love deep tanks! My main display is 48" deep and have had no problems whatsoever with lighting, maintenance, flow, etc.

Your tank is one of the reasons I want to go 36" deep!!! stopped by tonight to see your 96"x48" tall acrylic tank that will look amazing on my new sushi restaurant!!!

 

[drej424]

I'm 5'2" and 2 of my tanks are 30" deep. I can't reach the bottom of the tanks and I find it beyond annoying. Tongs don't always work. I'm not putting my hands in the tanks all the time but once in a while, you have to.
I agree that the tall tanks look amazing. A lot of nano tanks look amazing, too. For me, I want to enjoy my tanks as much as possible on a daily basis. Shallower tanks work better for me.

 

[jjk_reef00]

36" for sure, just make sure you can access the tank from both sides.

 

[kmu]

How would a 72"Lx24"Dx36"T look instead of 72"Tx36"Dx24"T?

Im going minimalistic on the live rock, would probably do 2 to 3 rock pillars with marco rocks Key Largo dry rocks and put some shelf rock to do several levels on the pillars.

How would the aquascaping turn out on a 24" front to back and 36" tall inwall tank?

Some update pics on how the house/fishroom is turning out











THX again

 

[benjc]

If the tank is going to be completely in-wall, I say 36; with the length it would look more like a sliver if you went with 24" and enclosed the top. If the top wasn't closed in, I'd say to go with a 24" tank on a tall stand.

 

[kmu]

If the tank is going to be completely in-wall, I say 36; with the length it would look more like a sliver if you went with 24" and enclosed the top. If the top wasn't closed in, I'd say to go with a 24" tank on a tall stand.

The tank will be completely inwall, will have access from the front and from the back (fish room).

 

[jjk_reef00]

How would a 72"Lx24"Dx36"T look instead of 72"Tx36"Dx24"T?

If you go 36" tall go at least 30" wide. If that is not an option then go 72"Tx36"Dx24"T because depth is better than height.

 

[mrx66699]

Go with the larger you won't regret it....here is my 540 in wall and I wouldn't change it for anything 96x36x36......

<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/user/mrx66699/media/New%20files/1_zpsb01e107e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/mrx66699/New%20files/1_zpsb01e107e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1_zpsb01e107e.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/user/mrx66699/media/New%20files/2_zpscabb1809.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/mrx66699/New%20files/2_zpscabb1809.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2_zpscabb1809.jpg"/></a>



Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

[Pete]

36" no less....Mine is 72x30x36...next tank will be 36-42" in height, looks fantastic...yes, I need a ladder and 32" tongs...and other than the initial setup, my hands haven't been "in" the tank since.

 

[sandyland]

I an currently working on an in wall build myself.
I went with the 36" tall tank, i think it will be a bit more of a hassle with the maintenance but worth every bit of the extra effort.
To me it its the difference between having a fish tank in the wall and having a wall that's a fish tank.

Are you going to add a door to enter the back side of the room.