Which Size?

[Sir Alex]

I just got a tank out of my grandfather's basement which I was hopping to turn into a reef tank. I measured it and found that it's only 30 gallons, too small... :( I'm thinking of just starting from scratch. Should I go with 46 gallon bowfront, a 75 gallon rectangular tank, or a 72 gallon bowfront. I have a pretty tight budget...

 

[Bifferwine]

What is the length of the 46 gallon bowfront?

 

[Sir Alex]

The 42 gallon bowfront is 4' feet long, I think. I haven't done a whole lot of research, I wanted to find out what I should be researching first.

 

[little_fish]

No, its only 3 ft. I have a 46 bow, which is a good for a beginner reef because you can really fill it up without buying a lot of corals, but you have very limited fish options.

 

[Sir Alex]

No, its only 3 ft. I have a 46 bow, which is a good for a beginner reef because you can really fill it up without buying a lot of corals, but you have very limited fish options.

Oops, I meant the 72 gallon. Would I be able to keep a tang in a tank that small?

 

[little_fish]

You might be able to keep a yellow tang in there

 

[Bifferwine]

I would go with the standard 75 gallon rectangular tank. Equipment will be easy to find for it, since it's a very common tank size. You also won't be as limited in your fish choices than if you went with the smaller tanks.

 

[Sir Alex]

Great! I'll have it all set up within a year or two! :grumble:

 

[Sir Alex]

One more thing, do I need an overflow and a sump or just HOB stuff?

 

[little_fish]

You can do just HOB stuff, but you will find a sump is highly desirable. It puts all the unsightly equipment out of the way and increases your water volume with is very nice

 

[Sir Alex]

It is another $150 with the overflow, but in the long it would probably be worth it...

 

[little_fish]

i would say so. Also, check out cragslist for cheap tanks. People are always getting out of the hobby and selling their stuff off for cheap

 

[Sir Alex]

How's this?

FISH TANK - 75 gallon

It doesn't have many details...

Or this:

75 Gallon Bow Front Fish Tank

 

[Sir Alex]

What about a HOB overflow?

 

[ANDREA]

72 bow

 

[little_fish]

HOB overflows work great, many people use them, including myself :)

 

[Sir Alex]

Yah, I think I'll go for a 72 or 75 gallon bowfront. Preferably with an overflow but if I can't get one then I'll get a HOB overflow. One question about them, little_fish. Do I need a return pump or does it send the water down then bring it back up? Do they use a pump or they just use gravity?

 

[little_fish]

you get the water down to the sump via gravity, but you need a pump to get it back to the main tank

 

[marcah]

this is a good one.. been using these for quite awhile...probably the 800 gph
Reef Aquarium Filtration: Eshopps Overflow Boxes
Not to bad on the wallet either....:D
with a pump like one of these
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4587+4590&pcatid=4590

 

[AmberSunrise]

My tank is only 29g and I dont think its TOO small, I love it. I think rather than a one big huge tank I will probably end up with a couple small/medium ones.

My next one is going to be seahorses and pipefish