I’m in the process of planning a monster “all predator” FOWLR tank and I’m curious what the group thinks of long swimming space (length) vs. turning space (width) from the *fishes* perspective.
This is a quality of life question for the fish. What’s best for them to ensure a happy home and plenty of space to get exercise and for social interaction needs.
Put yourself in the fishes place, would you like the long straightaway across the front for high speed swimming, or a wider tank with less length, but more room to turn around?
The initial size of the fish will not exceed 6” or 8” so they will have plenty of room. My plan is to keep them healthy and happy for as many years as possible. I’m still working on what the initial fish will be, but they will definitely include Triggers. ;-)
My space will allow a maximum 16’ long tank and a maximum 3’ width and either 30” or 36” tall tank. Dead stop maximum in all dimensions…
If I go with a 3’ width, the front will need to be 14’ long max. There are entrances to adjacent rooms at either end of the tank that I need to preserve enough room for walking and moving furniture etc.
If I go with a 30” width, it can be a full 16’ long. Although this is a large (at least from my perspective) tank, my plan is to not overload it with fish, but to keep the number on the low side of what’s recommended.
The tank will be fully automated with top quality equipment. I’m retired, so I can attend to the tank as necessary (feeding, manual double check tests, etc) without any problems on a daily basis.
I would love to have some real wave action (imagine a wave rolling across 14’ of tank length) in the tank (even if it’s only on demand occasionally) and some area that has a high flow that the fish can get exercise swimming against a strong current.
Ideally, I would like the environment to mimic their natural environment in the ocean/reef as much as possible. This will not doubt require some flow modelling on a computer for the water flow, but it should be a stack of fun…
Thanks in advance and Cheers!
This is a quality of life question for the fish. What’s best for them to ensure a happy home and plenty of space to get exercise and for social interaction needs.
Put yourself in the fishes place, would you like the long straightaway across the front for high speed swimming, or a wider tank with less length, but more room to turn around?
The initial size of the fish will not exceed 6” or 8” so they will have plenty of room. My plan is to keep them healthy and happy for as many years as possible. I’m still working on what the initial fish will be, but they will definitely include Triggers. ;-)
My space will allow a maximum 16’ long tank and a maximum 3’ width and either 30” or 36” tall tank. Dead stop maximum in all dimensions…
If I go with a 3’ width, the front will need to be 14’ long max. There are entrances to adjacent rooms at either end of the tank that I need to preserve enough room for walking and moving furniture etc.
If I go with a 30” width, it can be a full 16’ long. Although this is a large (at least from my perspective) tank, my plan is to not overload it with fish, but to keep the number on the low side of what’s recommended.
The tank will be fully automated with top quality equipment. I’m retired, so I can attend to the tank as necessary (feeding, manual double check tests, etc) without any problems on a daily basis.
I would love to have some real wave action (imagine a wave rolling across 14’ of tank length) in the tank (even if it’s only on demand occasionally) and some area that has a high flow that the fish can get exercise swimming against a strong current.
Ideally, I would like the environment to mimic their natural environment in the ocean/reef as much as possible. This will not doubt require some flow modelling on a computer for the water flow, but it should be a stack of fun…
Thanks in advance and Cheers!