Tank Depth

I Know I will get different opinions, but curious what the vast majority here would consider the optimal reef tank depth, I am about to purchase my tank, and I am having a tough time deciding on what depth i should go with in a 40 to 60 gallon tank. This will be a softie tank and possibly a few LPS.

 

If so...in my opinion the deeper the better, it makes for a nicer more gradual grade slope to place corals on. Also, usually that means the tank is shorter...so lighting will be less of a problem for a larger tank.

 

Depends on the lighting IMO.

 

Yup, if the tank is an awkward shape because of the dimensions, it might be hard to find non-metal halide lighting...which is not always a bad thing

 

Do you mean dimensional depth or water depth. Bruce's answer seems to refer to dimensional depth, in which case I would agree. As far as water depth (or dimensional height), how long are your arms? Tanks over 24" high are difficult to reach into (down to the bottom). Also consider water surface area...the more the better for oxygenation. Do you have any constraints in teh location it will be placed or do you have lots of room?

 

I like shallow tanks for the reason jp mentioned - also easy to light. That is why I liked the 75 show tank which is 5 feet long but only 18" high I think.

 

I have plenty of room, and yes I was reffering to water depth. My main concern is lighting and overall decorative ability, short tanks seem to be good for lighting, but sometimes seem restrictive when it comes to aquascape, although I have seem some very well put together shallow tanks, Im really overall functionability. (BTW, I have Monkey Arms).

 

Well, from my experience, i would have rather my 55 tall be a 55 short. You lose alot of sand space when aquascaping a tall tank unless you really try...

 

My tank is 29" deep and it will call for some powerful lighting. Also if you don't have gaint gorilla arms like me you'll have a hard time reaching anything towards the bottom.

On the plus side it is cool to see the fish have that much room to work with.

 

Very deep tanks suffer in lighting deficiency. You will need a halide minimum for deep tank, higher in watt too.