Tank's distance from wall?

[justanotherfishhead]

Sorry if this is kind of a lame question...if I have no plumbing on the back of my tank, what's a good distance from the wall? Anyone regret putting theirs too close to the wall? Just 2-3 inches for cords is what I'm thinking.

 

[Bluesaltwater87]

i had mine 3 in away but in the summber it drove me nuts so i go 4 in now.

 

[justanotherfishhead]

i had mine 3 in away but in the summber it drove me nuts so i go 4 in now.

Why in the summer?

 

[Bluesaltwater87]

because the wall it is next to gets sun in the afternoon and evening time. i moved the tank to an interior wall so there is no problem now.

 

[little_fish]

make it 6 inches so you can rescue any fish that fly back there when you are working on your tank

 

[ZyberGoby]

make it 6 inches so you can rescue any fish that fly back there when you are working on your tank

great thinking Hannah

mine is ATM 3.5IN from the wall just enough for my over flow box when i set up the sump ITNF

 

[justanotherfishhead]

make it 6 inches so you can rescue any fish that fly back there when you are working on your tank

Yikes! Have you had that happen to you? Your arm in the tank scared them and they jumped out?! So with 6 inches you mean you could at least get your net back there? I don't want to leave enough space to get my whole body back there, that would look weird. I have it next to a couch in the living room, and it's on a side wall (you walk in the room an it's on the side, not facing you).

 

[justanotherfishhead]

Since my stand is open in back I can always reach over the sump and get my arm back there to rescue any fish that jump. (knock on wood)

 

[little_fish]

one of the most common times for a fish to jump is when you are in there working and you suddenly spook them

 

[Bifferwine]

I would also say 6 inches is a good distance. Not only for fish jumping, but just dropping stuff back there (which I have a tendency to do).

 

[ZyberGoby]

I would also say 6 inches is a good distance. Not only for fish jumping, but just dropping stuff back there (which I have a tendency to do).

Color me guilty of the same thing Sarah LOL

 

[justanotherfishhead]

Thanks for your input :) Think I'm going to go with about 4-5 inches. Another water test tonight after making adjustments to hose clamps, then tomorrow will start filling with water! I need to start a tank thread for it :)

 

[fastrd400]

I would go a minimum of 4 inches. The plugs you have now may be standard AC plugs, however as you upgrade in the future as we all do, some plugs are the big box type, and can be a PITA. The more room you can give yourself to work back there (because you will at some point) the better off you are.

 

[FishyReef]

I have mine 3-4 inches from the wall and regret having it so close. I wish I had 6 inches of room. The primary reason I regret it is that it has been hard for me to move things in and out of my stand because I just don't have the clearence behind the stand that I often need to do something like turn a sump sideways to move it in/out of the stand (oh sump woes!).