i have the virus. need suggestion on 60gallon salt

[arcab4]

that's right. i caught the virus..y'know..the one where you think you have a big enough tank...and then when you get into it..you want a bigger one? haha...

so i'm thinkin' of a 60gallon saltwater/reef tank. any opinions,suggestions or advice?

thanks guys,

johnny

[dattack]

Haha, same here. *I have a reef setup for only about 3 months on a 40 gallon and I am trying to save up for at least a 150 gallon tank somewhere in the near future. *The thing with saltwater tanks is that most of the beautiful fishes require massive tank size. *In a reef tank, with the amount of live rock that take up space, having a deep tank and a high tank is very beneficial. *I would not get a standard 60 gallon tank because it has no depth. *Similarly in a freshwater planted tank, having a lot of depth gives you more room to aquascape.

But if you plan to have a larger saltwater tank, have them predrill at least 1 inch holes ( a few) for bulkhead fittings. *I would go with 1 1/2 for tanks >100 gallon. *Having bulkheads is much easier than having overflows and is cheaper than an overflow box. *

I have spoken to many other reefers and they wish they would have started out with at least a 75 gallon tank for a reef. *And for a fish only tank, they wish they had started out with at least 100 gallon. *So I am going to be patient and get that big one somewhere on sale in my town.

So arcab, don't go with the 60 gallon because it really sucks for reef.  Wait a little while and get a big a tank as you can afford.  

[Ovrclckd]

You will never be satisfied, nor will you ever really like freshwater like you did again. You can go reef or fish only, but a reef thats large enough to satisfy you will cost you a lot of money. I wouldn't even bother with a 60 gallon. That will be too small, you'll want to upgrade trust me.

I have never been contented with a tank smaller than 180 gallons, thats my favorite size. Still manageable, but large enough to something incredible.

Any limitations to what size of tank you can have? You'll eventually regret a 60 gallon, even if it takes a while for you to put a large tank together, you'll be a lot happier in the end.

[arcab4]

thanks for the advice. my mom warned me about people like yoU! telling me to get a bigger tank! HA! j/k.

the reason for the 60 is space limitation and cost. i would love to go bigger but at this time i don't think it's a possibility. i found an used 60gallon glasstank w/ stand for about 75 dollars which is a steal i think. i just have to see what shape it's in.

i'll take everything into consideration. if i could i'd be like mr4000.com

[Lynn]

Yep larger is better 60G is a good size IMO for a reef(although taller is better) it will be nice either way. ;D LOL! I keep 3 salties (25G reef, 30G reef, 5G FO, and working on a 10G micro reef). IMO invest in some metal halides or some killer VHO system if you go reef that is. BakPak skimmers are good(I don't even use one on the 5G and not going to on the 10G).  I would LOVE to have mr4000's tank, except it would be transformed into an Amazon Biotope(RTC, Pacu, Arowana etc)LOL! Alot of people say once you go salt ya never go back. For me that wasn't the case, never know though. GoodLuck on your new salty!

[Ovrclckd]

[quote author=StarDancersBabe link=board=saltwater&num=1002008571&start= 0#4 date=10/02/01 at 14:31:37]
Yep larger is better 60G is a good size IMO for a reef(although taller is better)
[/quote]

Taller is in absolutely no way better. A taller tank is harder to aquascape, requires much more light (more light is need to maintain intensity the deeper you go), they are poor for gas exchange because of the small surface area compared to volume, bad for fish as they don't allow as much real swimming room as the same tank in a long version (how often do you see a fish swimming up and down instead of left to right?), and harder to clean, algea scrubbing a deep tank thats covered in coralline s u c k s hard, especially if you can't get your arm and a razor down there.

[Lynn]

True it is sometimes harder to maintain if the tank is like 3ft deep, but(always a but) reefs *IMO* look better being deeper. I would love to see a 20GXXhigh turned into a reef. LOL! My domino damsels swim up and down most of the time rather than back and forth. ;D Yep more lighting is essential I have a 250 watt metal halide on the 25G reef. Well thats just my penny and a half anyway.