New tank Dimensions recommendations

rds85

rds85

New member
As a few of you all have seen I was looking into getting a new 240 96" x 24" x 24". An opportunity arose that has me twisted! Here are the options:

240 gallon: 96" x 24" x 24"
or
260 gallon: 84" x 30" X 24"

Which would you all pick and WHY?

I seem to be changing my mind a lot and now leaning towards the 260 because of the depth. One consideration have is that I want to keep a powder blue tang or Achilles tang or both. Does 7ft to 8 ft make any of those fish a X factor. My opinion is no but I have never kept either of these fish due to current size constraints.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations.
 
The wider option, because wider is always better.

That's something which is undervalued a lot when choosing a new tank. Unless you've been in the hobby a long time, most overlook it.

For the Achilles, flow is a lot more essential than the minimal difference at 7 or 8 feet in tank length.
 
I have been in the hobby for 11 years now but never had the option for a custom tank do due financial reasons. All tanks where used from fellow reefers so the option was never apparent. So I just so accustomed to dealing a 2 ft depth or less of the years the value of a wider tank has yet to set in. I am leaning more towards the wider tank right now.

I am an SPS kinda guy so I always have vast amount of flow. I am thinking 4 MP40's on this tank which I am sure can provide enough flow.
 
The marginal difference in depth is much greater than in length, so I'd go with the 260. My thought would be that any fish you put in there will appreciate the extra room to turn around, whereas they are unlikely to be affected by a few extra inches to swim horizontally.

Plus, extra depth provides more aquascaping potential than I think a lot of people realize. More depth means your rock work can be more 3 dimensional than it can on a more narrow platform.
 
Sounds like a consensus all around to me. Thank you for the input! Hardest thing about deep tanks is getting into the room you want with the doorways HA.
 
Agree - wider is better. You can generate a much nicer and more natural rock scape with a wider tank.


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That's a tough call and either one would accomodate an Achilles. If it were me I would go with the wider option due to aquascaping potential.
 
I am going to go head a purchase the 84" by 30" by 24". It is considered a 260 Wide. The aquarium will be manufactured by crystal dynamics, the company that took over the leemar tank manufacturing. It is going to be shipped directly to my house which I really appreciate since I live in flagstaff. I will be starting a build thread on this SPS dominated build. It also means I will be breaking down my 120 rimless leemar tank. Hoping to sell most of the equipment and tank. I will start a new thread for both the build and the sale of the 120.

The build thread will also include photos of the manufacturing of the tank so I can show to others the quality of crystal dynamics and the shipping for those who are look to buy semi local custom tanks. So I'm short a customer review on crystal dynamics since there is very few out there with photos.

Thank you all for the input
 
Happy to say I have put a deposit down for 260 gallon Eurobraced 84" x 30" X 24". Trenton at Crystal Dynamics will be building my tank, stand, and sump.

Custom features:

Tank (5 holes in overflow 3 drains two returns in the center of the tank)
Stand ( 42" tall with a 5-6" bar style trim around the top of the stand for drinks/arm rest)
Sump (60" x 20" x 18" nothing to fancy just sock holders, probe holders, drain holders ect)
 
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