Your thoughts on 12" tanks

[Rytek]

So I am setting up a dream tank (for me anyways) and have about $5K to spend on equipment alone. I was thinking that there is such a clean look to a long tank that is more shallow.

So what do you think of a tank that is 72" long 24" wide and only 12" tall? Keep in mind I will only be using LED lights so I know that's a complementary depth for those due to par drop off over 12". BUT I have never seen a 12" deep tank before, are there any serious draw back to such a tank?

 

[evsalty]

Do you plan on having a sandbed? What about water level? If you hvae your water level say 1" below the rim and a 1" sandbed you now only have 10" of height to aquascape in. Also that limits tall growing corals to be kept shorter. I would think a 14" height might be a bit better compromise between the taller tank designs and frag troph setups.

 

[mike_cmu04]

no drawback if you like it go for it. I have seen 12" deep tanks that look better than most tall tanks.

 

[RR37]

I like my 14" tank, its 18" front to back. My only complaint is the lack of viewing angle at times. The one thing I will say, its a joy to service.

 

[aleonn]

I think it's just a personal preference. Do you plan on having any particular fish? There's just less swimming area for them imo.

 

[Rytek]

Very good point about the sand bed and the water level! I may just have to have the company cut it to 14" this is why I am glad I posted. The good news is for SPS that might like to grow tall, they can just be placed on the substrate since the sand is so close to the top.

I just have the feeling that the shallow depth will create not just more color in the coral and allow you to move your lights further from the surface of the water allowing for WAY more refraction but the length gives you more 'areas' to look at as every foot along the 6 foot long tank can host so much more life horizontally (more surface area parallel to the light source) than you could with a standard deep tank.

And yea flow will be a snap, MP40 on each side of the tank

 

[Rytek]

Oh and as far as swimming room goes I believe it to be more a matter of volume and area then vertical space for room to swim. This is best seen in that guys volcano tank that hosts all kinds of life in a 6" deep tank.

 

[Rytek]

Any other thoughts or questions? This helps me to flush out my approach. Thanx guys.

 

[evsalty]

And yea flow will be a snap, MP40 on each side of the tank

Yeah if you were to go with the 10" height I think you would find that the mp40's would not be able to be ran over 50% as they would be both too close to the sandbed and the surface. They would draw in air and possibly the sand.

There is a thread on the Ecotech forum where the mp40 was 5" from the surface and if the OP let it run over 50% it would create a vortex.

When I first installed mine the undertow was pulling my bubble coral off the sandbed. It is 10" off the sandbed and it still pulled that sucker right off the sand. I had to mount it's base to a large heavy cement frag disc to resolve this.

Even at 14" you might have to keep them dialed down a bit. You might end up needing 4 40's.

 

[Logzor]

I don't see how an MP40 on each end of this thing will work, you'd either be sucking up sand or pulling down air from the surface. Tunze might work, though.

It could be very cool but I don't understand the logic of the shallow tank giving corals better color, etc. If anything, corals in the hobby get too much light, even some sps. In my opinion, you want a deeper tank so you can keep all kinds of coral, you're only gona have a couple light zones with only 12" of depth.

I think you really need to explore this further and check out some other tanks and see them in person if possible. The last thing you want is getting this tank and 6 months down the road be horribly frustrated with the dimensions.

There is a DIY thread in the DIY forum of a guy with a VERY similar tank, which turned out really neat.

 

[lordofthereef]

I think for corals it would be cool, but you would be limited on your fish with that tank. I think if you were going all LED, the depth would be perfect. LEDs can also be dialed back, so I wouldn't worry about too much light.

 

[Rytek]

Very good guys. I am the one learning here as I have only one reef tank and it's an AIO red sea 34g so I take what you guys have to say to heart and with much consideration. You are totally right about pulling up sand in a 12" using an MP40. Go to high and you will vortex the surface. I know I am going no longer with a 12" but would just have a custom built 14" if I do go this route. I love to throw the dice and whether I do this or something else, once I start it will be something at least some what different.

 

[evsalty]

Let's get you to 16" for the sake of the mp40's lol. :lol:

 

[btkrausen]

I have a 12" tank, and run 2 x mp20s in it. They are probably about 1-2 inches from the top. I love the 12" inch tall tank and I have a few bigger fish that are very happy and healthy, including a blue throat trigger and kole tang.