whats better a wider or longer tank

[eric6carlsoc]

I am looking at getting a new reef tank what should I do was thinking about longer tank vs wider just cause it would kinda give the fish more room to swim

thinking about this Marineland 300-Gallon 72"Lx36"Wx27"H OR Marineland 265 84 x 24 x 30

 

[laverda]

It depends on what you like, your space and the fish your planning on getting. Personally I love long tanks and the have always fit the spaces I had better tank a more square tank. But I also understand that people like look of deeper tanks. My current tank is 96x24x30. I would love to have a tank 108x36x30, but it would just not work depth wise in my space. If you want fish like tangs I think longer is better, but 84 is not long enough for some open water swimmers. Even at 96” one flick of his tail and my sailfin was at the other end of my tank in a fraction of a second.

 

[ca1ore]

thinking about this Marineland 300-Gallon 72"Lx36"Wx27"H OR Marineland 265 84 x 24 x 30

I was debating between the same two tanks back in 2013. I ended up going with the 265 since I tend to be more into fish than corals. Tank length is useful for swimmers; tank depth is useful for aquascaping. When I upgraded in 2017, i went with both - 96" length AND 36" depth ….

 

[Sump Crab]

When talking these types of sizes it comes down to the space its going to IMO. Traditional knowledge is wider is better for aquascape but even a 24" tank is much more wide than your average set up these days. Good luck with your choice.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Personally Both but if it had to be one- Length. Running room for fish, room for socking and ease of maintenance as deeper tanks can be a challenge with cleaning. Boy, do i know !!

 

[piranhaman00]

I cant wait to have a 36" wide tank, someday!

 

[MichaelReefer]

If it's going to be against a wall, I prefer a longer.

 

[wrasse hole]

I think wider tanks are stunning. You get wider viewing angles from the sides which gives it a more three dimensional look. The downside is you're probably looking at spending twice as much in lighting on the 36" wide tank.

 

[eric6carlsoc]

yeah I decided on the Red Sea reefer xxl 900 79 by 25.6 by 25.6 instead of the Marineland tanks

 

[Devaji]

yeah I decided on the Red Sea reefer xxl 900 79 by 25.6 by 25.6 instead of the Marineland tanks

nice tank that is quite the jump from the marine land tanks. I just pick up the 650P just nice tanks. come with stand and sump.

 

[Lightspeed]

I would go depth from front to back, gives a much better dimension for scaping while still allowing flow between the display sides, helps to produce a better 3d depth appeal too due to the extra space, but horses for courses.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I cant wait to have a 36" wide tank, someday!

Try mine at 48" wide !!

 

[DSEKULA]

Both!! Get the largest tank you can lol.. but really if go wide over tall as well if I had the space for either.

 

[Big E]

Are they still making those Marineland tanks with those dimensions??

More directly the 72x36x27 or 48x36x27

Many of those cracked and killed reefs. Mostly I believe it was the 72" tanks. I saw first hand a friends crack at the bottom........he lost a tank full of large angels.

I would not buy either of those two tanks. If you're going with freaky dimensions like that, get it custom made by a builder with a solid rep.

 

[eric6carlsoc]

what site does custom aquariums I was thinking maybe glass cage

 

[PatW]

I have that tank. It has low iron glass so it has a really nice clarity. The 27” height looks good from an aspect ratio. But it is unwieldy for access. I am 6’ tall and getting at things on the bottom of the tank is often problematic. It would be handy to have arms like an orangutan.
The 72” width (often called length) is nice. Six feet is kind of the minimum dimension for many tank species and for tangs the longer the better which means 8’, 10’ or even 12’. But 6’ was kind of my max.
The 36” depth (often called width) is really nice. It gives all sorts of dimension for aquascaping. Think about it. You need to have a gap between rock work and the glass. That means a 4” to 6” gap. On both sides that is 8” to 12” total. For an. 18’ depth, that gives you at most 10” to play with. So it means you have a rock wall. With a 24”depth, you now have 16 to 12 inches to play with. With a 36” depth you have 24 to 28 inches to play with. You just have far more terrain to sculp.
A minus for the tank is the corner overflows. They work just fine. But they subtract real estate and they limit powerhead placement. I would greatly prefer a ghost overflow system.

But it is the nearly the largest low iron production tank. To get something comparable, you need to go custom. With a custom tank you could do something like 8’ for width, 24” height and 36” depth and do a peninsula configuration. A peninsular lets you attack a tank from all sides which helps with maintenance.

 

[eric6carlsoc]

Is there any company’s that do customs tanks that are rimless like the Red Sea tanks ?

 

[Pistondog]

I am looking at getting a new reef tank what should I do was thinking about longer tank vs wider just cause it would kinda give the fish more room to swim

thinking about this Marineland 300-Gallon 72"Lx36"Wx27"H OR Marineland 265 84 x 24 x 30

Longer.

 

[JoshH]

Is there any company’s that do customs tanks that are rimless like the Red Sea tanks ?

All custom builders will do rimless tanks up to a certain size. Honestly I'm not sure that in the size of tank you are looking at that they would reccomend going rimless on such a large tank and some "might" refuse to do it all together. You will have to contact them to find out. A rimless tank in that size will need to be at a minimum 3/4" glass and maybe thicker which definitely adds to the cost.

A good list of custom builders you can find here...

Your thoughts on custom tank manufacturers?

So lately I seem to see a lot of threads popping up on advice on custom tank manufacturers and which ones people would recommend. Last fall I went through the same process myself and landed on a manufacturer here in Canada. But it's recently dawned on me that in my search and even combing...

www.reef2reef.com

Any particular reason you want to go rimless? Most rimless tanks need a cover of some kind to keep fish from jumping anyway

 

[a4edwin]

I cant wait to have a 36" wide tank, someday!

I never understood why people say 36” long.