270 gallon tank opinions

Lukielight

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A local reefer is selling his 270 gallon 7x2x2.5 tank. The dimensions aren't exactly what I was hoping for but it's less than a third of the cost of buying a new tank. I havent looked at it yet to check the silicone which will obviously be a factor, but what are your opinions on a 30" deep tank and dealing with lighting for a mixed reef? It would put me in to my armpit at the front glass and worse trying to reach farther back in the tank. Is it worth the hassel or worth using a deep sand bed to counter those problems?
 

JumboShrimp

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That’s an interesting thought about a deep sand bed. (Wondering just ‘how’ deep it would actually have to be to help get to the back.) If you have access to the tank before buying it, you could always do a mock-up with something the thickness of your proposed sand bed— maybe like a book or stack of books— and see whether it really does address the ‘reach’ factor. Anyway, That’s the first idea that came to my head.
 

lefkonj

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You would want to make sure that you add CUC that really goes through the sand because getting into it back there is going to be a challenge. Sounds like a nice sized tank but for me any tank over 26" deep is just a challenge. I would take the length or depth over the height.
 
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Lukielight

Lukielight

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That’s an interesting thought about a deep sand bed. (Wondering just ‘how’ deep it would actually have to be to help get to the back.) If you have access to the tank before buying it, you could always do a mock-up with something the thickness of your proposed sand bed— maybe like a book or stack of books— and see whether it really does address the ‘reach’ factor. Anyway, That’s the first idea that came to my head.
That's a good point. I will definitely take something along to test. I just really don't want to have to take off my shirt every time a hemit knocks a frag over or something. In reality though, how often do we reach all the way to the bottom of the back of the tank? If I aquascape with that in mind I can probably limit the need to reach back real far.
 
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Lukielight

Lukielight

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You would want to make sure that you add CUC that really goes through the sand because getting into it back there is going to be a challenge. Sounds like a nice sized tank but for me any tank over 26" deep is just a challenge. I would take the length or depth over the height.
I agree which is part of my hesitation. I would love to flip the height and width. A deep sand bed comes with its own shortcomings.
 

ca1ore

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My last tank was a ML265 (which may well be the same kind of tank); my current tank is also 30” tall but 36” deep as well. I have found it wholly unnecessary to reach the back bottom, so it’s really not a factor for me. If you do have to retrieve something a SS hemostat/tongs will do the trick. To me, the extra height is well worth the occasional reach inconvenience. I’d never have a large display shorter than 30” again.
 
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Lukielight

Lukielight

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My last tank was a ML265 (which may well be the same kind of tank); my current tank is also 30” tall but 36” deep as well. I have found it wholly unnecessary to reach the back bottom, so it’s really not a factor for me. If you do have to retrieve something a SS hemostat/tongs will do the trick. To me, the extra height is well worth the occasional reach inconvenience. I’d never have a large display shorter than 30” again.
Thats it talk me into it haha.
 

BradB

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Saw the decision was made, but I have a 30 inch 270 for 12 years and will always keep a 30 inch tank - never more or less. Scraping is more of a problem than reaching, but this is the length of my arm,and I can do anything without tongs. Another inch would be really hard. But I love the height. Of course, we are all built differently and if I were an NBA Center, I might say that about a 40 inch deep tank.
 

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