Bicyclebill Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 So I've been seriously thinking of upgrading to a 90g, but Woody at Seahorse brought up a good point today. He pointed out that a 24" tank height makes everything more difficult than my current 18". Never really thought about it, though when he said it I remembered looking at Mytshall's 120g and wondering how the heck I would maintain that. So the question is: for those of you with 24" and taller tanks, are they much harder to maintain than say a 20" tall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Bill, if you want a suggestion on a tank, and FYI this is the size tank I want for our next one, get one that's 4'x2'x18"T, that's roughly 90g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I wouldn't go taller than 24" but I have only had two tanks 24" tall and have seen/read many threads on tank heights, 30"-36" is not for me but see no reason to go 22-20 smaller except for viewing is going to get pretty narrow. unless you put it an a 4' stand Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerv503 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Definitely the taller the tank the harder it is to access the inside. I think a 20" tall tank would be much easier to access corals, live rocks, and doing maintenance. But you got the height Bill so it would not be that difficult for you on a 24" tall tank. I'm a short guy thus much harder for me. Vin "Keep On Reefing" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 My 180 is 24" and I dont have an issue with it. Im not a small guy so I can reach the bottom without issue. Comes down to preference and what your plans are for the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cklskypilot Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I built my stand for my 180. The tank is 24 tall and with the hight over all its a pain in the a--. I cant reach the bottom. if I have to rearange things the hood can only be tilted up about 10 inches. A shorter tank could have made things alot easyer to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I use a stool to get in mine.I am 6ft2inch.I like it that way so my kids cant drop stuff in the top of my tank.I dont think the height affects the coral growth but if your a height impaired person might go shorter tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I had a 30'' tall tank and could just reach the bottom barely. So I feel a 24'' would be perfect, and the tank I am having built now will be 24''. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I have fairly long arms and my tank is 24" tall. What you need to think about is if something falls on the back half of the tank! Reaching the bottom in the front is no problem...... reaching the bottom as you go towards the back of the tank adds alot of inches in depth in a hurry. Suggest you get a pair of 'grabbers', I need too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast5oranger Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I have a thirty inch deep tank, yeah it is a little annoying when you drop something in it, but it is very nice to to look at it without bending over at all. I love the deep dimension of my new tank and as long as you have a good magfloat youre fine. If I would have listened to woody when I was setting up my tank, then I would be running a pump that pumped about 550 gal/hr and a sump with no baffles at all on a 110 gallon tank. He swore to me that using a 1500 gal/hr. would never work. Not to mention his recommendations of a 90% water change once a month... Take everything you hear with a grain of salt and do what will make you happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Between 18" and 24" I don't see that it would be a huge issue. I had a 22" deep tank and had not problems reaching the bottom. I have a 30" tall tank now plus the upper cabinet adds about 6" on top of that to reach in which makes it a real pain to reach the bottom. I have to use a stool and generally use tongs to reach anything. If I'm wearing a t-shirt and roll up the sleeve I can reach the bottom without the tongs. I do run about a 5" deep sandbed which helps. Now the real question is whether it is worth it? My answer is that for me it most certainly is. I love the way the taller tank looks. It feels more like a display tank than any of my previous tanks did. It does take a bit more creativity to get the rocks higher for some of the corals though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 +1 I love the way my 30'' tall tank looked. It really gave the fish some room to move around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennmac415 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I am not trying to be a smart a*%... but have all you guys with taller tanks thought about just getting one of those little step ladders??? that's what I did with my 180 and I could access every part of my tank with extreme ease.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergebmw3 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 +1 on the little step ladders so easy so portable so practical!!!!! put it on the side of the tank or if you have a fish room build a platform thats like 1.5 feet of the ground and WALA problem solved. +1 on the 30" hight looks way better but takes effort to reach in i have a 180 24" high i think its perfect as far as room for the(fish) to swim in ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I went with 21" tall on my tank...I wish I would have went with 18"! My stand is 37" tall so the top of my tank is sitting at 58", I'm 6'4" with long arms and its still a pain to get to the bottom. It also creates that much more space to fill up with coral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Yeah the ladder is the way to go I have a two step in the family room and another in the tank room, the one in the family has just kind of blended in with the furniture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Just don't try to use a bucket as a substitute..... When I had my old 125g I had one slip out from under me and cracked a rib on the edge of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I had a tank that was 36" deep sitting on a 32" stand. I used a step ladder and snorkel mask to clean it. I will never get a tank taller than 24" deep ever again. It took out the fun of having a reef tank. Thats just my opinion though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 my stand is 3', with a tank 24" tall. hood opens up from the front. i use either tongs or a ladder when i need to reach the bottom. i look at like, i will be looking at the tank all the time, will not try to reach the bottom very often. so the little hassle to reach the bottom does not bother me, since i do not do it very often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markvo Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I think a tall tank looks better but doesn't work well. My tank is 36" deep and i have to have my face against the water surface to touch the bottom. I use a ladder of course and I can get to both the front and the back of the tank. I also have a good pair of long tongs. The greater depth requires stronger lights to reach the bottom though you can put corals there which don't require much light. If I could redesign my tank, it would be deeper and only 30" tall. It's hard to believe you can't easily reach the bottom of a 24" tall tank with good access unless you have very short arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Thanks for all the feedback folks! I'm 6'3", so a 24 shouldn't be any trouble for me. I certainly don't want to wear a mask and snorkel to reach the bottom, so I'll stick with 24! Though the fantasy of being able to swim with your fish sounds cool, it certainly wouldn't be very practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Thanks for all the feedback folks! I'm 6'3"' date=' so a 24 shouldn't be any trouble for me. I certainly don't want to wear a mask and snorkel to reach the bottom, so I'll stick with 24! Though the fantasy of being able to swim with your fish sounds cool, it certainly wouldn't be very practical.[/quote'] So am I, 6'3" that is. But you will never reach the bottom on the back of the tank unless it is only 12" wide. Again a pair of tongs will come in really helpful at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I have a 75g tank (AGA standard dimentions) and I hate getting the arm of my shirt wet. Whenever I reach in my tank, I get the armpit area wet and don't realize it until I am all done with what I am doing. Also, I don't know if it is good for my tank to have deodorant and stuff dip into the tank from my shirt. I don't think I will ever have a tank that is deeper than my arms can reach. I don't want to go SCUBA diving in my tank just to rearrange anything. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 It's hard to believe you can't easily reach the bottom of a 24" tall tank with good access unless you have very short arms. it boils down to the height of the stand. i had mine built to 3', so i would not have to stoop down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 It's hard to believe you can't easily reach the bottom of a 24" tall tank with good access unless you have very short arms. it boils down to the height of the tank. i had mine built to 3', so i would not have to stoop down Um well thanks man. I cannot reach the bottom of the tank with my short arms but still like the 24" height.(laugh) I do well with tongs and a stool sometimes or simply asking over my long armed friends! I had a 31 inch tall tank and hated it. Could not reach the bottom. You also lose a lot of PAR which didn't matter because it was mostly softies in the tank. The other thing with taller tanks is wider longer aquariums provide more swimming area and more surface area for the exchange of gas such as carbon dioxice. Width is also important as I like the 24inch width as it works better for aquascaping. I hated the width of the 55 gallon aquarium. I felt like I couldn't do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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