How big can I go while keeping the same light?

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by mr_alberta

Do a 24x24x20 cube-ish tank for now and use less rock. That'll give the angel more swimming room for the time being.

A 24" long tank isn't going to do it for the dwarf angel, unless the other horizontal measurement is 36" A 24"x24" footprint is going to make the fish swim in circles, possibly stunting/deforming its normal physiological needs (from a thread on RC), even though he/she has rockwork caves to swim through/explore.

My rusty dwarf angel is in a 48"x24"x24" high 120g. The tank has less rock than most similar tanks I've seen. The tank has lots of open space and a maze of open rockwork for the angel and other two larger fish to utilize. Having watched the angel's movements throughout the tank, I really wouldn't recommend anything less than 36" long.

Just my 2 cents.

[OCDP]

Yikes. Back to the drawing board???

The more I read your post the more angry I get that the LFS told me its okay in a 20g. I wouldn't have expected this from them. What a shame... then again, I am just as much to blame, I should have done more research.

So a cube isnt going to work basically is what yoru saying Bev.. I need something long... bottom line.

Well, if this is the case , then perhaps this fish won't be able to stick with me The longer I go, the worse its going to be.. this is in my bedroom where space is very limited.

[Beverly]

Scott,

I feel your anger and frustration. Two years ago, I had a lfs employee, where I no longer shop, that told me four various dwarf and non-dwarf angels as well as a butterfly would be fine in a 72g bowfront. So I bought them all, figuring they were all in the same tank at the lfs, and they would therefore all be buddies in my tank. Of course, I should have done my homework much, much better and not bought them at all And, as it turned out, they came down with velvet shortly after being in the tank and, one after the other, all freaking died

We are also limited by space in our condo for the number and size of tanks we can have. Presently, we cannot upgrade any of our tanks unless we take out the fireplace. A 230g could easily replace our 120g if that dang fireplace and some pesky furniture weren't in the way

[TheReefGeek]

How well is the flame doing right now in your 20g nano?

I think you said the flame was full grown so you can't stunt its growth.

I do agree 36" would be much much better for this fish.

Bigger is always better.

And if you are going to do 24x24, at least you can help it with some good aquascaping so it doesn't have to swim 24" and turn around and go back the same way. In my 36x18" tank my coral beauty would rarely swim the length of the tank, I had a big arch in the middle, so it mostly did figure 8's.

[TheReefGeek]

If it is in your bedroom and you sleep soundly to trickling water noise, pull your bed out from the wall, and use a stand tall enough that the tank is right behind your head when you are sleeping. So like the bottom of the tank is at the top of your headboard.

You should be able to do a 3 or 4 foot tank that way, if depth is an issue due to room lenght you could do a 48x12inch 55g.

[OCDP]

The flame appears to be doing great... swimming back and forth, grazing on rocks, swimming in and out of the small caves I have..

I do know bigger is better.. obviously if space and some funds weren't an issue, I'd be going all out (trust me) But , I can't... and that's the harsh reality for me. I can't have a big tank.. not yet anyways. This is why I said to hell with it, let me just upgrade to the biggest I can go right now.. while using most of what I have.. (lighting being the #1)

I don't think I want 24" deep... I don't think the light will penetrate that well. I was thinking something like 18-20" max. It's so hard for me to visualize this as well, without actually seeing it.

I think the biggest concers I have right now are :

- Space.. I don't even know if I have enough length to fit in a 36".
- Lighting.. I want to be able to keep sufficient lighting over this tank. 150 HQI doesn't sound like much over 50g??? I can't add any other lighting as it won't work with the PVC mod.

So I want to be able to work around this... and obviously we don't know about the space, I'll measure that tonight though