Aquarium height

[Drzy]

I had a thread awhile back about creating an in-wall tank in a custom home. I ended up not going the custom route, but instead went with a plan from Newmark Homes (the Reagan).

I'm planning on putting a tank in the left-most archway, the one with the butler's pantry and cabinets in the picture below. I'll fit the tank to the walls, which are about 55.75" wide by 33.75" deep. What I'm not sure about, though, is the height. I rarely see tanks that are much taller than two feet -- why is that? Is it because the corals at the bottom would have a hard time growing if they were too far from the lights? Or is it just a cost issue, and you can really make the tank whatever height you want. The El Chaparral tank is a good example of an exception.

Also, this tank will need to be custom made, so if you could point me in the direction of a good person in the San Antonio area for custom acrylic work, that'd be much appreciated. :)


http://images.tousa.com/sub/02592baad212-7cfe23e0-f270-11da-c830.jpg

[erikharrison]

wow, nice crib

[caferacermike]

There are a few reasons for shallow tanks. Ease of maintenance, your arm is only so long. Light penetration, most quit giving usable light after 24". Surface area to tank volume for gas exchange. You need a certain amount of surface area to effectively allow for the gases in the tank to dissipitate and for oxygen enrichment. Deep tanks have a problem with this dur to having so much volume but a very limited amount of open space at the top.

[josephatmbimortgage]

I definitly agree on that Mike, It would be very difficult if the tank is high rather than long to maintain.

-Joseph

[Darth-Tater]

www.glasscages.com makes some really nice tanks. Ask Ace (Hobogato ) he has one of their tanks. Also, where is the house?

[hobogato]

i think one of the main reasons (other than the ones already mentioned) is cost. the taller the tank, the thicker the acrylic or glass has to be. this tends to make the cost increase exponentially. as with most things, the rest of the equipment you have to have will be more expensive as well to buy and to run. lighting for example:

24" tall tank - can get by with 250 watt MH lights
30" tall tank - needs 400 watt MH lights
taller than that, you may be talking 1000 watt lights

all of this assuming you will be keeping corals.

[Drzy]

Great stuff, thanks! To answer some questions, the home will be on the west side of I-10, across from the Dominion. Erik, thanks for the compliment on it being a nice crib, but the picture's a bit deceiving. That's from the professionally decorated model home, whereas my home will be filled with decay and filth.

The gas exchange probably won't be an issue, because the tank will be faily deep front to back. I'll certainly keep an eye on that though. Maintenance most certainly would be a problem, as would the lights (there will indeed be corals). I'm still a beginner and would like to avoid any challenging light setups. My current FOWLR tank doesn't even have a sump, a lot of the hookups and electric will be new to me.

Based on what I see here, I think I'll go with 2.5 feet deep. That'd be 55" x 30" x 30" = 49,500 cubic inches = 214 gallons, which should be plenty big enough to handle most any type of fish. Maybe even the "little baby eel" my fiancee is so excited about. :)

Thanks again folks, this is a great community.

[erick]

Ace, I have a question... In my 110g, it is 30" tall, I am running 2x250w mh lighting on that tank, there is about a 2" deep sand bed, is this not enough lighting? I thought that 500w of mh would be appropriate on a 110, but now you've got me wondering if this is enough. No corals are placed on the sand bed, and I only have a couple of acro frags placed high in the tank (say 12-15" from the top). If I need to go to 400w mh, is one enough or would I need a 2x400mh setup? Does the 250w mh not have enough par to reach the bottom of the tank? So even with 500w of mh, seeing as the bulbs are only 250w, am I not getting enough light to the bottom?

[hobogato]

im sure you are fine as long as you keep all sps in the top 1/3 of the tank erick. lps and other corals will do fine all the way on the bottom.

[erick]

whew, I didnt know how I was going to explain the extra funds I was thinking I would have to spend to the wife!! thanx Ace!!.... Erick...

[Drzy]

This is no longer about aquarium height, but I'll keep the same thread going. We've been thinking of doing something like this:

http://i18.tinypic.com/2i7sadc.jpg


But we've also thought of a bigger one, like this:

http://tinypic.com/4gss1tk.jpg

I'm meeting with the main construction guy this Friday. Do you know if the second option would work structurally? I'm hoping they could frame the column so I could put the tank right through it. I'd put the tank, stand, and canopy through the open space (there'd have to be some extra open space which I would close up and drywall later). I'd like the tank to go from wall to wall, leaving no open space or cracks... I guess they'd have to cut into the columns a little bit, where the dashed lines are?

I guess my question is, is this possible? When I bring this to the builder, what should I be ready to tell him?

[hobogato]

i would definitely do #2 if possible. maybe even slide the tank to the righ a little so you could see into one end of it also - so it would be viewable from 3 sides.

[caferacermike]

Holy hell Batman, Ace is the man. That redo is wonderful.... Overflows in the wall on the other end. That'd be my tank.

[Drzy]

I ran Ace's diagram by my fiancee (who hasn't been especially big on the two-arch tank idea due to space issues, but she's open to it), and she loved it, as did I. I'll ask the construction guy on Friday if this is something they can do. Well, more than "ask," I'm really going to push for this. If they give me the go-ahead, I'll let you all know. This has potential to be a really sweet tank. :)

If anyone knows if this is possible or if they foresee any issues with the structure, let me know. I'd like to be armed with as much info as possible before I go into the meeting.

[brewercm]

The great part about it is you are his (construction guys) boss. If he isn't very receptive to the idea just let him know you're sure there's someone out there that's willing to do the work for you. ;)

[5.0Stang]

Right if thats what you want it can be done. I think it looks nice id be happ with either one to be honest but bigger is better