Just sold off my large tank...and already itching for another one
 

Am majorly downsizing, so am in the market for an approx 30-40 gallon tank. I really enjoyed my reef tank (even though it nearly broke me...lol) and looking to get back into it so am seeking advice on the sort of tank that would work well in terms of that size. Thinking of using it as a room divider, so like both sides to be visible and am open to a unique design or ideas of the like. After coming from a 150 + 30 gallon sump, is there a downside to going to a 30ish gallon setup in terms of maintenance, etc.

Appreciate any thoughts.

You have faced your demons and admitted you have a problem, I assume gone through the mandatory 30 day dry out and since have removed yourself from the lure of the tank. My question is why, why , why slide back into the depths. It will only bring despair and agony.

My thoughts, find a friend with a tank and go visit now and again. But always remember where the road to return leads........wooo haha :twised:

If I went small again, I'd do a cube 24x24x18. Gives the width to allow for cool aquascaping, not too deep and doesn't take up a lot of room. Don't go less than 18" wide, makes rock placement challenging. My 55 was 12" wide and it sucked......

Tank
 

I started with a 38 gallon. They are easy. You add a few corals and away it goes. The other nice thing you can place it any where in the house. If you want I still have my 38 cube if you want it. It's self contained so no need for a sump. I would Part with if for a hundred. If you want the LED that goes with it that we could talk about.

A standard 50gal would probably be as small as you would want for a room divider type of setup. Standard dimensions are around 36x18x20 I think. To keep it simple and minimize volume you could add a larger external overflow onto the side and make it a AIO type tank, no skimmer, just a decent size return pump with a tray for floss and/or carbon. ATO could be added and if you keep bio-load down by sticking with mostly inverts the maintenance will be minimal.

What ever tank size you decide with,...making sure you don't face some of the issues some of us faced,as I will tell you what I went through..

Years ago my smallest tank was 120glns sold the house decided no more tanks,...couple years down the road decided with a perfect spot in the house for a 40glns tank there it started...a year down itching and scratching my head,...hobby took over I could never go from a lrg tank to a smaller one,...and now reef business in process...:biggrin: I am a full out junkie,...

Bunch of enablers!! lol The man is crying for help, he's sinking back into the abyss. Don't throw him an anchor!!....... On a side note sphelps idea does sound interesting.....

40" x 18" x 14" (custom dimension)

Gives you a long and wide tank and will hold possibly 40gallon of water. Since you are looking for a room divider, I would go for a longer tank. I wanted something like that dimension but since I liked squared side (makes tank look bigger), I went with a different dimension. But since you want it for room divider, I would go for a longer and shallower tank. Just my 5 cents though :)

The downside is that the 30g tank will be smaller. Much smaller. This means less room for cool stuff like fish and corals. If you're not interested in fish and corals then this might work out for you. As for maintenance, it'll be the same, just smaller.

As the others have stated 18inches is as narrow as you should go just because after that rock placement and cleaning is a right royal pain after that you can go for long shallow reef or shorter deeper tank.