37g vs 29g

FishyReef

FishyReef

Broke Reefer!
I picked up a 37g tank w/ a stand and canopy for $65 yesterday - pretty good deal IMO. Stand and canopy are in very good condition, but the tank is a piece of crap - center bar melted through at some point and the guy glued plastic fasteners to the underside of the bar to hold it together, and the silicone looks like its peeled away in some places with a bunch of nice green algae remnants left over on the edges of the silicone. There is also this weird spot on the bottom of one of the sides - looks kind of like a window looks when water seeps between the panes and it fogs up. Anyhow, I'd like to replace the tank, and would prefer to go with a 37 since it would allow me to have more fish than a 29, but 37g tanks don't seem to be easy to find - Petco doesn't carry them, otherwise I'd pick one up in their $1/g sale. I really don't want to pay too much for a replacement tank, so maybe I should go with a 29 instead which I can get almost anywhere? What do you guys think?
 
They have the same foot print right? SO the 37 gallon is just taller?

If so, I would go with a 29 gallon. They will be easier to light for corals since they are shallower.
 
I need a tank that has a 30" x 12" footprint - the 40 breeder doesn't fit those dimensions.... Is there another tank larger than a 29 that does fit those dimensions?
 
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I was just in my Petco this evening and they had a 38. Not sure of the footprint size and it was not included in the sale, but I'm always in there browsing so I can look tomorrow.
 
So I leak tested the 37g over the weekend and was surprised to discover that it didn't leak. I also asked my LFS how much it would be to order a new 37 - answer was around $80. The question now is whether I should try it with the existing 37 and replace it when it starts to fail, or order a new tank to start with and sell the old one on CL.... Pricing out rock/sand, lights, powerheads, heater, and HOB skimmer, I think I can set it up for around $600 even if I get a new tank, which isn't all that bad all things considered. It will be a very slow build. Gonna do the Marineland Reef Capable fixture, 4 nano 425gph powerheads, pukani rock, and (eventually) a reef octopus hob skimmer. Stock list will include a pair of pink skunk clowns (there is a very nice pair of dark pink ones at my LFS right now that I'd love to have and am going to hope are still there in a few months or so when the tank is up and running), a stary blenny (though may still go with the midas), maybe an ORA mandarin, and (if I go with the stary blenny) a multicolor angel - obviously only that many once the tank is well established. Corals will probably be mostly softies. I may shift the list a bit and go with the skunk pair and a blenny pair, possibly with the intention of trying to get them to spawn (Matt Pedersen's talk at my reef club meeting a week or so ago has really inspired me to seriously think about trying to breed - and yes I do know how much work this undertaking would be). Anyhow, still trying to figure it all out. Definitely going slow with this one (for financial reasons) even though I'd love to have that pretty pink pair now :)
 
It sounds like a good plan, but I would go with two stronger powerheads vs. four weaker ones. Just because they take up space in the tank, and in a smaller tank, that real estate is even more precious.
 
I wondered about the powerheads, and was thinking the nanos would take less space since the regular ones are so big. The tank is only 12" wide, and I think the regular powerheads are like 6" long by themselves. Of course if I really had the money to spend I'd get a MP10, but I was hoping to keep my powerhead expense to $100 or less. If I go with 2 larger powerheads, what would be the best placement for them? One on each side with one pointing at the top and one closer to the bottom to create circular flow?
 
Circular flow isn't really ideal. It just swirls everything around and easily contributes to dead spots.

Opposing flow is good. I have one down behind the rocks flowing up through the rocks but set low in the tank and one on the opposite side angled up to create some surface agitation. It works well.
 
I know what you mean fishy. The 30g fowlr is the bfs tank, and we made a deal that im not allowed to mess with the tank lol.

But his powerhead is in the front corner and it freaking bugs the hell out of me lol. Its how he likes it set up though so i leave it be. He must be doing something right because that tank never had an algae problem, nor a nitrate problem and is almost always crystal clear lol.
 
37 is awkwardly tall and tough to get the flow right but I love it I use mainland maxijets 750 gph each I have two one angled up to ripple water and one across the face of my rock works pretty well and 30$ each is well within your budget
 
Okay, getting closer to pulling the trigger on buying a new 37 for this set up.... I've been trying to figure out how exactly I want to do this - drilled or undrilled. If I get it drilled, can I plug the holes w/ closed bulkheads and run it w/o a sump to start with? I'm going to put it in my bedroom and think the noise will drive me crazy if I have a sump going. BUT, I want the option to eventually add a sump later and would rather go with a drilled tank than an HOB overflow. And, for a 37g, will it be okay without a sump if I get an HOB skimmer? I'm also trying to avoid any potential floods at home, and think a non-sump system is the way to go until I'm no longer renting a place from a terrible landlord!
 
I believe you can plug the holes with bulkheads, i think it was dennis who had to get his tank drilled twice because the company drilled the wrong side first.
 
Thanks Kelz! Any idea how hard it is to take a bulkhead or make it usable down the road (i.e., do I have to drain the tank and remove the tank residents in order to do it, or is it a very simple process that won't risk cracking the tank)?
 
You can plug it with a bulkhead. When it comes time to turn it into a setup with a sump, you would just have to drain the tank a little so that there is no water going in the overflow, drain the overflow area, then put together your plumbing. You won't have to remove any of the tank residents or change anything in the tank itself.

Definitely get it drilled first. If you don't have it drilled then want a sump down the road, you will have to empty out the tank to do so.
 
Yeah, that was my thinking Sarah - to get it drilled from the start even if I don't use a sump in the beginning. I just wanted to make sure it was going to be easy to add a sump later if I did have it drilled. I also thought it would be easier to order it drilled rather than trying to do so myself :) So this is good news!
 
From what I've seen, places that offer to drill the tank for you don't charge very much for it and at least then you don't have to worry about it.

I'm not really DIY-oriented at all, so that will be the direction I will go when I upgrade. I plan to upgrade huge, though, to either a 50gal cube or a 60gal cube and will likely buy an all-in-one tank system brand new for that. That's way in the future, though. :-)
 

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