old tank 25" high new one 28" is it going to be a pain to clean?

[larryfl1]

hey all youbig tank guys...

i currently have a 25" high tank..nice and easy....

the new one is going to be 90x31x28

am i going to be sorry i went to 28 for ease of cleaning and reaching in?

i am afraid if i go less then 28 its going to look long and stretched...but i dont want a maintenance headache...

 

[alton]

I have a 300DD and I wish it was 24" tall instead of the 27". Put a 4" sand bed in it and your problem is solved? It will be a great looking tank, just need to get tools and tongs that work well in moving items and cleaning.

 

[cewoodall3]

I've been looking at this also - I think the height of your stand and the length of your arms make a big difference. In the LFS I'm always sticking my arm into different tanks to see if I can reach the bottom. The other thing I've noticed is how the lights are mounted starts to really mater when the tanks get deeper.

 

[larryfl1]

hmmm what to do... tank is 96" long and i was afraid if i go below 28 it would look low and stretched....

 

[outy]

I just popped for a 29" and im debating the deep sand bed or faux shallow sand bed

im more worried about the extra light needed over the cleaning, you can always add extenders to your scraping tools lol

 

[skanderson]

i have a 30 inch deep tank and love it. i find the added depth adds enough to the look of the tank so that it is well worth the added maintenence difficulty. my next tank will be 36 inches deep with and area that is 42 deep. you just need to learn how to use tools to manipulate things at a distance. also it is a good idea to make it easy to place and move corals by predrilling your rock to accept frag plugs. dont let others ruin you new tank, prepare ahead and plan the design and layout and then love the look.

 

[nuccadoc]

I have a 400 that is 36" tall in addition to the magnetic scrubber I have found that a 36" ice scraper to be far superior to any long scraper that you can buy at your LFS. The scrapers you get at the LFS are junk, they are flimsy and break.

 

[BigOldReef]

I had a 30" deep fish only tank. Even with a 3" sand bed I had to lie across the top of the tank to reach the bottom.

When I originally upfraded my reef tank it was 96x33x24 -- As soon as I went to pick up the tank, I was dissappointed caused it looked fat and squat (a little like me).

I got the opportunity to upgrade the tank and ended up with 96x33x28. Even sitting on the ground it was a much nicer looking aquarium.

Even though its only 2" shorter than my Fish Only, It has a totally open top with a stainless steel frame. Now I can reach to the bottom front edge of the tank for picking up corals and cleaning. I am still in up to the arm pit, but its much easier than the 30" tall tank was.

And having a good pair of tongs to reach things at the back of the tank is key.

 

[khaosinc]

I have a 30" tall tank, and getting to the bottom is a bit of a pain, but really how often do you need to do that. I keep a ladder in the fish room and pretty much just face plant the tank if I have to.

One thing that can make your life a little easier that I did. Build your hood so you don't have to remove it and can get under it for maintence. Much nicer IME