Help me choose a tank!

[smlacy]

I'm getting back into reefkeeping after about 2 years of a break. My previous tank was very successful, (and still is in the hands of a friend) and I'm trying to reproduce the "magic" that I once had, but without some of the hassles.

So, I've started looking at tanks. I want something small, like a 20g Acrylic, but I've also considered glass (on the advice of a friend with scratched tanks) and narrowed it down to:

20g "regular" TruVu acrylic
27g "high" TruVu acrylic
26g AGA bowfront
36g AGA bowfront

But, despite their grandeur and scratch resitance, the bowfronts seem to have some significant disadvantages:

1. Hoods -- very few (none?) full wooden hoods for bowfronts. If you know of any suppliers, let me know.

2. Lighting issues. Most 30" (for 36g) fixtures are only 2x55w. That's not enough lighting. As I'm leaning towards this tank, I'd like to have 3x55w or 4x55w CF, or a 150w Halide + 2x26w CF. These configurations seem very difficult to find. Because of point #1, doing a retrofit is difficult unless I build my own hood. (difficult b/c of the curve) Pendants are out of the question. If anyone has experience lighting a tank of this size, I'd love to hear what you did, especially for bowfronts.

3. Glass has silicone, which I find annoying. I really like the seamless acrylic look. I also live in eathquake country (Bay Area, CA) and have heard that glass tanks will crack and spill in the event of an earthquake. I think I'd sleep better with acrylic.

4. Bowfront distortions? Is this noticable? How bad is it? I have a 7g bowfront freshwater at work, and I find the "distortions" pleasing, but am wondering what it would be like on a bigger scale, and with salt water, which may distort significantly more than fresh.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions are welcome. (As well as pictures of similar setups!)

Just to round things out, here's the rest of what I'm thinking of:
- AquaC Remora Pro hang-on for filtering (not considering a sump: too loud)
- Some sort of Top-Off kalkwasser dosing system (Vario, LiterMeter, or a medical pump from eBay)

 

[Anonymous]

actually i don't like bowfronts, the distortion makes it impossible to get a good photo, plus acrylic is shatty for photo'ing thru anyhow.

i'd say the 20, even tho it's the smallest volume of water you listed. just my opinion tho.

 

[Anonymous]

plus acrylic is shatty for photo'ing thru anyhow.

I want to know what you do mean by "shatty"?

BTW, I hate bowfront, unless it is eight feet wide (very few are like that big).

 

[Anonymous]

Personal experience - I have had a hellova time photographing subjects inside acrylic aquariums, i thought because the acrylic refracts light weird or something ...

very small bowfronts (more curvature) also produce a greater visual distortion ...

 

[smlacy]

Hwarang,

Are you suggesting a 20g glass, or acrylic?

 

[Anonymous]

i was sticking with your offered suggestions, and suggesting the 20g truVue (?) acrylic.

i said that one becuase i don't prefer bowfronts ... and high tanks can be problematic in regards to lighting.

but you should get whatever you want

 

[Anonymous]

I have had a hellova time photographing subjects inside acrylic aquariums, i thought because the acrylic refracts light weird or something ...

Acrylic is more clear, and the color is more "true" than glass. I feel that the problem you have is either aiming at an angle that confused the camera, or straight at it with a flash.... just shooting in the dark here....

I will get a glass tank if the tank is less than 50 gal. Easy to clean, and the most of the advantage of acrylic do not really make that of a good choice at this size.

I prefer a higher tank. The problem with depth and lighting can be solved by putting more rock on the bottom, effectively shorten your tank.... but fishing out that broken frag can still be a challenge if the tank is 30 inch tall, even if most of the coral is only 15 inch below the water level... (see my avatar)

 

[EmilyB]

(see my avatar)

How can we AVOID that..... :roll:

 

[smlacy]

I agree with the comments about going a little deeper being good -- it'll just make it easier to have a good DSB and not feel like I'm losing space, or risk "sun burning" my corals.

Trust me, I know the pains of a deep tank. My last tank was 36" deep. Imagine not being able to reach the bottom of your tank, *ever*, without tongs. But, despite what I've heard a lot of, I don't think depth influences lighting as much as we think. Our tanks are giant "light pipes" that contain the light inside the tank. Its not like in the open water, where light scatters outwards quite a bit more.

Here's my list of past mistakes:

- Horridly noisy/unreliable overflow (going hang-on this time)
- Tank too big: 24"x24"x36" = 75 gallons
- Too many pumps, too loud, too much power consumption. (sump)
- adding livestock that eats 'pods (cleaner shrimp etc.)

And what I did right:

- Halide lighting
- Dosing kalk
- Very DSB, upwards of 6" with lots and lots of rock.
- Big skimmer for the tank size
- Robust macroalgae growth (sargassum)
- lots of water flow from auxillary pumps

You can see some old pics here, (from before I had a digital camera, so sorry about the quality)

http://slacy.com/gallery/album36

Steve
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[fishfanatic2]

75 gallons=too big? :? The dimensions are a little screwy (2 feet long and 3 feet high?), but I would go with the biggest tank possible. From your list, I'd go with the 20 only because I dislike bowfronts and, IMO, high tanks stink.

Just my $0.02

 

[smlacy]

Yah, that was a wacky tank, basically a big "corner" tank, so it was cool to be equally viewable from two different sides. The depth was neat as well, because when sitting in the couch next to it the waterline was well above eye level -- which was at nearly 6' from the floor. You really felt "underwater" sitting next to that thing.

Anyway, I've been slacking pretty much all day thinking about this, and am now tending towards an Oceanic 37 gallon "show" tank, just like this one:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34946

Plus, it'll have the added benefit of a matching stand and hood that I know will work, even with Halides if I like.

I like unique tanks, so thats why I'm trying to find something other than the "standard" tanks that are so common.

Steve

 

[Kara]

I have a 46g bowfront and I take great photos of stuff in the tank! Just take a look at my website. Still, it is JMHO and I would have to agree that in the larger bowfronts the degree of distortion seems to be greater.

With the 'traditional' rectangular tanks, I would suggest one that is wider than taller. It isn't impossible to make a good looking reef tank in a skinnier tank, but you just don't have the width to make solid, sloping rockwork to place corals on. I believe a tank with a wider and longer footprint will give you more water surface which will help provide higher oxygen levels (gas exchange) toward the bottom of the tank, than a taller, thinner tank would. Also, with a shallower tank, you can skip the MH lighting and go with VHOs (depending on the length of the tank). It also depends on what kind of corals you plan on keeping in the tank.

The only thing I would ever consider using an acrylic tank for is a frag or quarantine tank.. never a display tank.


HTH!

 

[Anonymous]

But, despite what I've heard a lot of, I don't think depth influences lighting as much as we think. Our tanks are giant "light pipes" that contain the light inside the tank. Its not like in the open water, where light scatters outwards quite a bit more.

I disagree with your light pipe comment. It is a physical fact that light from point source will decrease in intensity as a square of distance from the source. For colinear light source, it is a different issue. But with reflector, most light source behaves more closely with the inverse square. In addition, scattering comment on the ocean is misleading because you did not consider the light that scatters toward a volume. There are large amount of literature on light scattering in ocean, and several periodicals.

 

[Anonymous]

(see my avatar)

How can we AVOID that..... :roll:

So do you like it, Deb?

 

[Anonymous]

I hate Acrylic....scratches to easily........Bowfronts suck because of the hoods. I would get the largest aquarium I could afford. The larger the tank the easier to maintain. My 100 gallon is much easier to maintain than my 29 gallon was.

 

[smlacy]

So, exactly what about the 29g maintenence was more difficult than the 100g?

I previously had a 75g, and it was almost maintenence free, and was hoping for the same thing on my new tank, which is a glass 29g.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

So, exactly what about the 29g maintenence was more difficult than the 100g?

I previously had a 75g, and it was almost maintenence free, and was hoping for the same thing on my new tank, which is a glass 29g.

Steve

The smaller tank required frequent topoffs and the water quality was not as stable as the 100 gallon.