Ideal Size Reef Aquarium

Budget not being a consideration? I can't even imagine affording the live rock for a 300 gal tank in the States. Then again, if you are setting up that kind of tank, you are not planning on moving for a while. I guess you could grow your own, so to speak.

As for keeping an ecosystem, ask any biologist, the bigger the system the less of an impact any event has on the system.

Easy example: The Florida coast vs the salt water aquariums in Florida. I figure the Florida reefs faired better than the tanks in peoples' houses.

OK, a bit dramatic and maybe a bit apples&oranges, but you see my point.

I just saw a tank that was 2Mx1Mx1M deep. I could make an island of live rock in the center and populate that with almost a hundred corals. And have the fish swimming all "around" the tank, literally.

Put that puppy on a coconut wood stand and you have a piece of furniture that speaks to you.

Forget the big screen TV!!!!!

Cheers,
Ray

 

Yes bigger is better...

I think we all wish we had a huge tank and the $$$ to fill it up with stuff. But in the real world must of us dont.

One of the important things IMO is the width of the tank.... i have a 55 gallon 48" long but only 12 or 14" in width. witch sucks cause i cant aquascape like i would want to plus its hard not to lean the rock on the glass its just to narrow and i was restricted in rock size, i wanted some big chunks but couldnt get any cause they would of been to close to the glass or just didnt fit in the tank. So no matter what the size of tank gallon wise you want think about getting a wide tank... at least 18" wide that way you can fit any rock in there.

Thats why im trying to slowly (i.e painfully) convince my wife to get my 120 gallons (48x24x24) out of storage and set it up.

Just my 2 cents.

Marc.

 

hmm... u know i never thought of the fact that i am going away to collage soon lol...i dont wanna think of my parents taking care of my fish and such...god...that scares me...

 

Bruce: Take your tanks with you. There were no reef tanks when I went to school. But the trigger and lion were women slayers. The gals really got into watching them feed. Especially the trigger. It chews its food, you could hear the minnows crunch. Awsome.

m-lacom99: Width is extremely important if you are doing LR. My tank is 60 inches long and 18 inches wide. I had it built in Pakistan as a room divider. It was great for FW Discus and Angles. I had Discus laying eggs in it. Almost a big a feat as getting salts to bread.

Anyway, 18 inches wide is OK for fresh water, but having just set it up for salt, lets say it is minimal for any substantial amount of rock in a tank.

I have already seen my next big tank. It is 2Mx1Mx1M. With a coconut wood stand, about $1000. I'll plumb that puppy right down into the cabinet, and then again, right out of the cabinet through the bottom of the tank.

Of course when I saw it, the wife reminded me that we had the room divider, THAT would end up being a bed divider.

I'm still working on it.

Cheers,
Ray

 

Bigger IS better!!! We all know this deep down inside....

 

wow 1m wide??? holy crapola...does anyone know how open a open brain gets? i got 1 and its neon green but i dont know when to put the bioplankton in...since i want to feed it...lol...SRY TO CAMERA...if u want gimme urs