Shopping tanks

[Toxiq Reef]

Ok so we're house shopping and I'm planning in-wall tanks, 6' vs 8' overall, opinions?

[Woods]

I have a 6' and I like it but think an 8' would be better... But more than the 8', I would want a 30" or 36" depth front to back... If I had to choose between get the longer or the more depth, more depth would be more important to me so I could have additional sand bed surface as well as sufficient space to do more LR formations, arches and aquascaping.

[+mcallahan]

if you are going in wall, get a 30" high tank. 24" high tanks nearly always look like like narrow slits in a wall.

[Timfish]

I always try to use the golden ratio or a multiple of it if possible. If as tank is 24" high then I want the length to be 1.62 x 24 = 38.8 (39") or 1.62 x 24 + 24 = 62.8 (62") 2 x 1.62 x 24 = 77.76 (78"). A 36" high tank I would want to be 58", 94" or 116" long. I agree with Calahan, tanks that have a length 4 or 5 times the height don't seem to have the right proportions to me but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I know people who prefer that long slender look. I try getting the width to be 1.62 times the height also but usually I'm lucky to match the hieght.

[Toxiq Reef]

96x30x30

[Richard L]

_{+1 on min. 30" height with a 6' or 8'. I was hung up on 24" because of my arm reach but Callahan talked me into 30". Yes it's a little inconvenient working on the sandbed but aesthetically the tank looks so good plus I have a nice tall rock wall with multiple levels of corals. Don't forget that the trim you use to finish the wall around the tank typically overlaps the tank and can consume as much as an inch on all sides reducing a 24" to 22". You'll need to pay careful attention to the height of the weirs of your overflow boxes. The lower they are, the lower the water level is and the more of you have to lower your trim to hide the airspace. Factor all that in you may even want to go 36" tall.}