100 gallon frag tank to reef tank

[fishmon]

Hey guys,
I currently have a innovative marine 30l and love the shallow look. I was looking at upgrading to a bigger tank and found a 100 gallon frag tank with the dimensions of 60” long by 40” wide by 10”high. I love the idea of having a shallow tank with a wide foot print, however am wondering if 10” will be to shallow? Are there any builds out there that have done 10” high on a 100 gallon+ tank?Also do you guys see any downsides or drawbacks to going this shallow? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[KrisReef]

I have splashed around with shallow tanks and I was always putting water on the floor. Not much room to grow up in either, otherwise I agree with you on the beauty of the shallow tank.

 

[i cant think]

Hey guys,
I currently have an innovative marine 30l and love the shallow look. I was looking at upgrading to a bigger tank and found a 100 gallon frag tank with the dimensions of 60” long by 40” wide by 10”high. I love the idea of having a shallow tank with a wide foot print, however am wondering if 10” will be to shallow? Are there any builds out there that have done 10” high on a 100 gallon+ tank?Also do you guys see any downsides or drawbacks to going this shallow? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks

I haven’t had a large Shallow tank however I do have a 1’ deep nano custom made tank (3’x16”x1’).
I love it compared to my 18” deep 4’ tank as I can get my hand to the bottom without having to get my whole arm drenched. The biggest downside is as said above, the growth for corals.
My favourite part of the top down view is, that is the best way to view your corals and it allows for more inverts like clams which are best viewed top down.

 

[fishmon]

Would you guys say there are limitations on fish being kept in a shallow tank?

 

[i cant think]

Would you guys say there are limitations on fish being kept in a shallow tank?

The only big limitation is that you can have overly tall fish like French angels (Which you likely wouldn’t have in a 4’x5’ tank anyway). A CBB may be the tallest I would go at around a 6” tall fish when fully grown (which takes years). A CBB is what I call a ‘box’ fish which is basically a fish that gets as tall as it does in length.

In my nano, it doesn’t really have any limitations as it’s just a short nano tank. However with a large tank you may have some more limitations with fish like butterflies and tangs.

 

[fishmon]

Which dimensions would you guys do, there both going to be 12” high. Either 60” x36” or 72”x30”?

 

[i cant think]

Which dimensions would you guys do, they’re both going to be 12” high. Either 60” x36” or 72”x30”?

If you don’t mind the tank looking ‘Small’ I’d go for 72” as the added foot will make a difference for the fish inside like potential tangs (Although I wouldn’t do anything too big like an Achilles or Powder Blue and would stick to one Ctenochaetus and one other shallow bodied fish).

If you want to keep the tank looking larger instead of being incredibly shallow, I would go for 60” as the less length you have the more the height will look more ‘comfortable’ for the tank.