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View Full Version : display tank, maximum size you're comfortable with


reeferious
01-10-2009, 05:04 AM
everyone, including me wish we could keep and maintain magnificent display tanks large enough to swim in. practicality then kicks in and we limit our tank size to what we are comfortable with in regards to setup costs, ongoing maintenance costs, space limitation, protestation from others who share your living area etc. well mine is 90 gal display, 75 gal sump with additional 50 gal tote for additional water volumn. what's your? feel free to give details and explain why you wouldn't go any bigger or smaller.

Mrfish55
01-10-2009, 05:32 AM
Mine is a 300 gal display with 50 gal sump, I was seriously short on time when I moved or I would have gone bigger (I have most of the parts to build a 875 gal, just didn't have the time to put it all together) I think my dream tank would be a 12'x60"deepx36"high (right after I win the lottery!)

Keri
01-10-2009, 05:32 AM
I settled on a 120 (w/ 30g sump) because I like the depth and the length was realistic for the space I wanted it in. I would love to go bigger but I'm already having humidity issues!

awa1979
01-10-2009, 11:21 AM
40 gallon with 10 gallon sump since I am on the 2nd floor of my apartment building, but I have 2 29 gallon tanks as well.

If I owned and was on a ground floor or in a house I would go up to 90-120 gallons.

chevyjaxon
01-10-2009, 12:48 PM
mine is a 4' 90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump and 50 gallon fuge maybe i will add another big tank to the system who knows:mrgreen:

Lance
01-10-2009, 01:25 PM
I have a 225 gal with 70 gal sump as well as a 90 gal corner with 50 gal sump.

Skimmerking
01-10-2009, 02:21 PM
i have a 150 with a 30 gal sump. since I have my whole rec room converted in to a huge living area too. I didn't want to have a huge stand and canopy to take up space and plus i love inwalls and where mine is its the perfect place it takes no space at all.

Black Phantom
01-10-2009, 02:45 PM
I was lucky as well. I had an extra room in the basement that I closed off and made my inwall 250. I have a 60 gallon sump as well as two 13 gallon frag/mangrove tanks. An upstairs 50 tops it off. Humidity was a problem for a while but I installed a vent system above the 250 that now keeps everything in check. I don't think I would go bigger as I spend too much time in the fish room as it is:lol:

digital-audiophile
01-10-2009, 02:52 PM
I have a 90 Gal with a 30 gal sump.

I would love to go bigger but the space where the tank fits in the basement works perfectly.

phillybean
01-10-2009, 03:28 PM
Currently a 75 Gallon Display with a 45 gallon Sump/Fuge.

I'd be ok with a 96x24x30 (300 gallon), however I would have to do some some serious re-wiring to make it happen (tank couldn't be further away from the Box)

fdiddy
01-10-2009, 03:37 PM
Currently building a 63x24x24 tank and that was as large as i could go in the space that was donated. I could have gone deeper, but cost of glass would have gone up considerably.

mark
01-10-2009, 03:38 PM
Have a 145g room divider, with a 20g fuge and 75g sump in the basement. I'd love to get a tank where I could get that 3-4-5' front to back depth (think Oregonreef) (http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_gallery.htm) but just won't be happening because committed in the area I'm at and space available.

When wife and I were looking for a new house, did it a the idea of having a display on the main floor rather than in the basement. Was though what was practical as we were buying a house not a fish tank. Joke that I'm going to live out my days here, but had to think about resell and any changes we got the builder to do.

Other than a frag tank in the fish room, about the only thing I might do is place a small corner tank (90g max) in a room setup as a computer/library type area and plumb back to the main sump. Would be a species specific tank (clown/anemone or seahorse type idea).

Guess still could have the 2000g in the basement but is this a hobby or obsession?

e46er
01-10-2009, 05:11 PM
my tank is in my bedroom so size was a factor for sure i have a 120 G (4x2x2) with 40 G sump and its my fist salt tank so i didnt want too much bigger to learn on

tang daddy
01-10-2009, 05:20 PM
same thing for me as e46er a 120g with 50g sump in my bedroom, in the future I am planning a 5-6ft long 3ft wide by 20inches tall tank custom with a 75g sump and a 30g breeder for frags also a 33g for wc.

karazy
01-10-2009, 05:23 PM
personaly the max i would go with right now would be 60 gallons.

mostly just because im 13, my house doesnt have much space at all (the tank would be in the ugly dark basement) and maintaining anything larger would take alot of allowances :lol:

JDigital
01-10-2009, 06:33 PM
Currently, I'm MAXED out with what I am running/building... My 75G in the living room. And the 40G Cube I'm still working on.

I do however have 1 tank designed that I would like to get built when I buy my first home. 66x30x20 172G...

And then a "Dream Tank" Angled L shape 590G Tank sometime in the future. 36"x48x36" for the front viewing panels, then 30 deep and 24 tall... If I remember right. LOOOOOOOOONG way away. :lol:

JDigital
01-10-2009, 06:35 PM
my tank is in my bedroom so size was a factor for sure i have a 120 G (4x2x2) with 40 G sump and its my fist salt tank so i didnt want too much bigger to learn on

Wow... 120G in ur bedroom.. LOL I thought a 40Cube was big for my bedroom.. :mrgreen:

dsaundry
01-10-2009, 07:56 PM
Ok, I would like a 1000g tank but I think I would have to get into selling drugs or hit the lottery....as the house would have to match the tank. However I will stick to the 90g+72g+50g+15g tanks that I have at home and the 27g at work. Dream big I say......:lol:

GreenSpottedPuffer
01-10-2009, 08:22 PM
Regardless of what I could afford, I wouldn't go bigger than a 400G. Actually I would love a tank exactly like Brad's (Untamed) 400. I love his tank and its big enough that the fish act more naturally than say my tank but doesn't take up a whole room or have a ridiculous amount of maintenance.

The only reason I would ever want to go bigger would be a shark tank but then in that case, it would be an above ground pond with viewable side panels. I saw one like this in Singapore that was about 4' tall and must have been 12' in diameter. I don't know what it was made of but you could view it from above on a balcony (its outdoors) and also from a few viewing panels on the side that were acrylic.

GreenSpottedPuffer
01-10-2009, 08:24 PM
Ok, I would like a 1000g tank but I think I would have to get into selling drugs or hit the lottery....as the house would have to match the tank. However I will stick to the 90g+72g+50g+15g tanks that I have at home and the 27g at work. Dream big I say......:lol:

Yeah see I agree that there nothing worse than a big tank in a room that doesn't have the space. Its all relative. A 12' tank in a room thats say 12'x12' is stupid IMO. Just not enough room to enjoy the tank. Now a 12' tank in a room that is like 60'x60' would be nice :)

Again thats why I like Brads tank, it works in the room so perfectly. Actually same with Jason Mckenzie. Jason did I spell your last name right?? His big tank is a great size for the space he has it in.

Pier Pressure
01-10-2009, 08:32 PM
Great topic. After having two 150 gallon aquariums blow out their silicone eleven months apart, I have to say I am happy enough with the 28 gallon. If the entire thing explodes it will not dump more water on the floor than what we lost out of the 150s. See we got ones that we believe were too tall and the silicone just did not stand a chance. Took it back to the store the first time and they would not refund my cash, they only replaced the aquarium. When it exploded again, they did manage to give me 100% cash back.

We were home both times (thank God) and managed to save the fish and start siphoning from the top, and using buckets to empty the tanks before the water could hit the floor. About eight hours of maintenance each time, and that did not get the big tanks out of the basement and back into the truck to go back to the store. If we had not been home or realized what was happening so fast, our house which we own might have had to be declared a disaster area. I cannot imagine how awful that would have been if we were on holidays or at work.

So though I love the looks of the big tanks and love to provide fish with a ton of room to swim and live, we decided it is just not worth it. Still love the hobby - just going to keep going with a smaller tank!

KrazyKuch
01-10-2009, 10:08 PM
We have a 180Gal now and are planning a 700Gal for out basement which we should be starting in the near future.......We would have gone bigger had we had room for anything bigger!!!

GreenSpottedPuffer
01-10-2009, 10:45 PM
Great topic. After having two 150 gallon aquariums blow out their silicone eleven months apart, I have to say I am happy enough with the 28 gallon. If the entire thing explodes it will not dump more water on the floor than what we lost out of the 150s. See we got ones that we believe were too tall and the silicone just did not stand a chance. Took it back to the store the first time and they would not refund my cash, they only replaced the aquarium. When it exploded again, they did manage to give me 100% cash back.

We were home both times (thank God) and managed to save the fish and start siphoning from the top, and using buckets to empty the tanks before the water could hit the floor. About eight hours of maintenance each time, and that did not get the big tanks out of the basement and back into the truck to go back to the store. If we had not been home or realized what was happening so fast, our house which we own might have had to be declared a disaster area. I cannot imagine how awful that would have been if we were on holidays or at work.

So though I love the looks of the big tanks and love to provide fish with a ton of room to swim and live, we decided it is just not worth it. Still love the hobby - just going to keep going with a smaller tank!

This is why I love shallow tanks! Well one of the reasons...aesthetically I prefer long and shallow plus thats much easier to light.

My brother had a tall tank also fail. It cracked right down the middle back pane of glass. Eurobraced and everything but still was not enough. I think it was 6'x24"wide and 30" tall if I remember correctly. That was a while ago when he still loved here in Vancouver...maybe 6 years back.

fiorano
01-11-2009, 12:47 AM
im running a 125 gallon with a 40 gallon sump. i used to have a 135 gallon but the silicone let go and all the water leaked onto the floor except maybe the bottom 4 inches. no fish were lost though :)

Parker
02-02-2009, 09:07 PM
I do and I don't wish I went bigger. When the tank was sitting in the basement on it's own it looked huge now that the cabinetry is in it looks a lot smaller. I'm right on the edge of what I feel I could maintain day in and day out.

untamed
02-02-2009, 09:37 PM
Two years into running my 400 gallon, and I think I would have been completely comfortable running 6' x 6' instead of 6' x 4' (600 gallons instead of 400 gallons). It would not make any significant difference to the maintenance. That's my biggest regret actually.

Frenchie
02-02-2009, 10:09 PM
This is why I love shallow tanks! Well one of the reasons...aesthetically I prefer long and shallow plus thats much easier to light.

My brother had a tall tank also fail. It cracked right down the middle back pane of glass. Eurobraced and everything but still was not enough. I think it was 6'x24"wide and 30" tall if I remember correctly. That was a while ago when he still loved here in Vancouver...maybe 6 years back.

Oh great you just exactly described my tank... now I'm going to lay awake every night dreading this. LOL, I hope mine is made better.

mseepman
02-02-2009, 10:24 PM
Living with a 70 and a 16g right now but working on plans for a new house and a 280g

c me fish
02-03-2009, 12:15 AM
Have a 37g corner in the home office right now, but going to set up a 120 sometime this year... can't wait for the tax refund! That's about as big as it's going to get for a long time.

ILIKECOUGARS
02-03-2009, 12:45 AM
Started with a 38 gal. then upgraded to a 150 gal. with a 50 gal. sump. Now I wish I had gone bigger.

Jason McK
02-03-2009, 02:19 AM
I currently have a 370G + 90G Sump and 30G Frag tank.

If I had to do it all over again I'd do a 180G short tank

J

bigmac
02-03-2009, 02:36 AM
Currently running a 100 gallon with 40 gallon sump.

Would love to go bigger (6' to 8' long x 30" high) but my dream is an inwall and I will need a new house; so not anytime soon.

christyf5
02-03-2009, 02:48 AM
Currently I have a 90g with ~25g sump with plans to upgrade to a 180g (likely no more than 250g water volume). I did have rather grandiose plans for a monster 8 foot tank but decided I would be much more comfortable with an "entry level" large tank. Perhaps I'll upgrade down the road, who knows.

marie
02-03-2009, 03:08 AM
At the moment I have a 175g bowfront but I'm thinking of going to an 8ft tank so my achilles has more room.
The thought of transfering all my stock into a new tank is giving me pause though, my present tank is exactly what I want it to be

Pan
02-03-2009, 03:27 AM
At the moment I have a 175g bowfront but I'm thinking of going to an 8ft tank so my achilles has more room.
The thought of transfering all my stock into a new tank is giving me pause though, my present tank is exactly what I want it to be

I went the other way, downgraded (well upgraded in my thinking) from my 310 gallon system to a 60 gallon system. I missed the unique interactions of life on a smaller scale, which you miss with a big system, not entirely but enough. If I could have I would have run both systems but alas I can only afford one. I can see my shrimps now though...feather dusters, all the little life I missed or was drawn away from with the big tank. I miss my tangs though :(

marie
02-03-2009, 03:32 AM
I went the other way, downgraded (well upgraded in my thinking) from my 310 gallon system to a 60 gallon system. I missed the unique interactions of life on a smaller scale, which you miss with a big system, not entirely but enough. If I could have I would have run both systems but alas I can only afford one. I can see my shrimps now though...feather dusters, all the little life I missed or was drawn away from with the big tank. I miss my tangs though :(

Thats another good reason not to go bigger but giving up my achilles is not an option. He appears content enough in the tank now but I know he'd be better off in an 8 footer (interestingly enough its my foxface that is complaining about the tank being on the small side. How come there are no foxface police? :razz: )

Pan
02-03-2009, 03:34 AM
Thats another good reason not to go bigger but giving up my achilles is not an option. He appears content enough in the tank now but I know he'd be better off in an 8 footer (interestingly enough its my foxface that is complaining about the tank being on the small side. How come there are no foxface police? :razz: )

Generally most people stay away from pricks :)

GreenSpottedPuffer
02-03-2009, 03:53 AM
Thats another good reason not to go bigger but giving up my achilles is not an option. He appears content enough in the tank now but I know he'd be better off in an 8 footer (interestingly enough its my foxface that is complaining about the tank being on the small side. How come there are no foxface police? :razz: )

I have always wondered why there is no Foxface Police, Trigger Police, ect. Since these fish need just as much space as tangs as they are just as big and active.

Pan
02-03-2009, 04:00 AM
I have always wondered why there is no Foxface Police, Trigger Police, ect. Since these fish need just as much space as tangs as they are just as big and active.

Because 99.5 percent of the people have no idea why tangs need a lot of room they just regurgitate info they see others doing. Tangs on the whole are open swimmers, they tend to be seen in more "open water" then foxface or triggers (that we collect as aquarium dwellers) so the though is they need lots of room to swim wheras a trigger and a foxface "graze". my two cents anyways.

marie
02-03-2009, 04:38 AM
Well all I can say is that all the pacing my foxface does annoys the heck out of my regal angel :lol:

Pan
02-03-2009, 04:50 AM
Well all I can say is that all the pacing my foxface does annoys the heck out of my regal angel :lol:

:)

Lance
02-03-2009, 05:00 AM
Thats another good reason not to go bigger but giving up my achilles is not an option. He appears content enough in the tank now but I know he'd be better off in an 8 footer (interestingly enough its my foxface that is complaining about the tank being on the small side. How come there are no foxface police? :razz: )

Since I moved my Foxface over to the big tank, I must admit his behaviour has changed somewhat. I didn't really notice it until after I moved him. Once he settled in to the new tank he hasn't paced the length of the tank that I've seen. He spends his day picking at the rock and following his new buddy the Bannerfish around. Happy as can be. Good thing there are no Foxface Police or I could have been collared.

BlueAbyss
02-03-2009, 05:06 AM
Wow everyone has something to say about this one :lol:

I`m going with the 20 gallon high display for a couple reasons... Mainly because its what I have on hand, and I don`t want to go too big for my first tank. It is also a good size, not too big in terms of physical size, slightly deep to accommodate the 3 inch bed for seagrass without looking too shallow, but with enough floor space to work with for what I want. I originally was looking for a 30 gallon, but I couldn`t find one with the dimensions I wanted (36 l x 12 w x 15 h). And this tank is made of quarter inch glass, thicker than usual for some reason :surprise:.

For what it`s worth, the actual capacity of my system will be somewhere around 40 gallons though, due to piping, the sump, and 2 accessory tanks that will be plumbed into the same system. Part of one of those tanks will actually be a display `fuge also, though it`s size is currently undecided.

GreenSpottedPuffer
02-03-2009, 05:50 AM
Because 99.5 percent of the people have no idea why tangs need a lot of room they just regurgitate info they see others doing. Tangs on the whole are open swimmers, they tend to be seen in more "open water" then foxface or triggers (that we collect as aquarium dwellers) so the though is they need lots of room to swim wheras a trigger and a foxface "graze". my two cents anyways.

True in the ocean but IMO thats all thrown out in aquariums. I have owned enough large trigger to know they need just as much room as a tang. I have also been on dives and seen how active triggers are.

When it comes to big fish that are active, if there is going to be rules for some, they should apply to others. If we are talking about some of the huge hawkfish or groupers then maybe not so much...they tend to be less active.

Just my two cents :D

Megs
03-22-2009, 06:12 PM
were running an inverted 135g display (6'X2'X1.5') with a 75g sump, space and weight on second floor of house were the reasons we went with this size, we went inverted because 2' deep gave plenty of room to aquascape and 1.5' tall is relatively easy to light (though with 18 HOT5's 2' would be no problem, so if it werent for the 2nd floor thing a 180 would have been great).

i probably wouldnt want anything bigger than around 300 gallons, for maintinence cost/work.

new but handy
03-22-2009, 06:21 PM
I've got a 180 with a 55g sump on the second floor of my house. It is right above my basement suites bathroom. I have t-bar ceiling down there so I popped the ceiling down and doubled up my joists. The joists run parallel with the tank or I might have been comfortable leaving it the way it was.

lorenz0
03-22-2009, 06:38 PM
shallow 60 gal with a 25gal sump. I am happy with the size, its perfect for what i want and have not regretted it once.

I get to keep my sps in that tank but lately i have been getting that softy itch again and am thinking about starting the 20gal tall back up. besides doing this, i would not upgrade.

bignose
03-22-2009, 07:13 PM
I'm in a apartment so I'm maxed out with a 95G display and 30G sump. I'd like to go much bigger when I get a house. Perhaps a main floor 300G display with a sump/refug/frag tank room in the basement. I'm sick of the pump noise in my living room.

pastout
03-22-2009, 07:26 PM
Great topic. After having two 150 gallon aquariums blow out their silicone eleven months apart, I have to say I am happy enough with the 28 gallon. If the entire thing explodes it will not dump more water on the floor than what we lost out of the 150s. See we got ones that we believe were too tall and the silicone just did not stand a chance. Took it back to the store the first time and they would not refund my cash, they only replaced the aquarium. When it exploded again, they did manage to give me 100% cash back.

We were home both times (thank God) and managed to save the fish and start siphoning from the top, and using buckets to empty the tanks before the water could hit the floor. About eight hours of maintenance each time, and that did not get the big tanks out of the basement and back into the truck to go back to the store. If we had not been home or realized what was happening so fast, our house which we own might have had to be declared a disaster area. I cannot imagine how awful that would have been if we were on holidays or at work.

So though I love the looks of the big tanks and love to provide fish with a ton of room to swim and live, we decided it is just not worth it. Still love the hobby - just going to keep going with a smaller tank!
__________________

i had that happen to a friend of mine he was lucky we ere both at his parents house when it happend just by fluke we decided to go look at the tank to discover it olny had less than a 1/4 of its water left and had flooded his parents basement. luckily his parents were in italy for 2 weeks at the time haha we had the carpet up and drying out and the tank removed and i reinstaled the carpet once it was dry for him and had a new tank in before his parents got home haha

Boomboy
03-22-2009, 11:14 PM
i have an 80G cube, with 20G sump and 25 Refugium underneath the whole tank, im on a second story low rise apartment, and when it comes time to move into our first home probably wont go more than a 150G due to probably moving again, i moved my other tanks around about 5 times, you get pretty tired of doing it. For my max tank, probably around 300G or so, with it being a deeper tank than longer, and nothing taller than 24" probably less at 22" after having a 24", i like the height but im always on top of my stool, reaching up to my armpits. but of course i would just get a tank that fits a space i had in my house perfectly, always wanted a roomdivider tank.

JDigital
03-23-2009, 12:18 AM
shallow 60 gal with a 25gal sump. I am happy with the size, its perfect for what i want and have not regretted it once.

I get to keep my sps in that tank but lately i have been getting that softy itch again and am thinking about starting the 20gal tall back up. besides doing this, i would not upgrade.

Can I upgrade then? :lol: The basement is begging for a larger tank. :mrgreen:

fishoholic
03-23-2009, 02:07 AM
I have 2 230g tanks and a 90g sump. My next step (possibly) is to change out the 90g sump to a 300g sump and we might change the reef 230g to a 300g ish tank 6 feet long by 3 feet wide and 2-2 1/2 feet high. Instead of that though I'd rather get a contractor in and set up floor bracing for the front living room (which is large) and set up a 10 feet long by 3 1/2 - 4 feet wide and 2 1/2 feet high.

The not so realistic would be to move into a different house with a large open basement and set up a 10 feet long by 10 feet wide and 3 feet high.

Doubt I'll be doing anything anytime soon though. Unless my friend changes out his 300g sump and wants to sell it to us :mrgreen:

lorenz0
03-23-2009, 02:23 AM
Can I upgrade then? :lol: The basement is begging for a larger tank. :mrgreen:

i don't care lol