Deep & wide: Do you prefer a tall or shallow tank?

[Peace River]

Deep & wide: Do you prefer a tall or shallow tank?

In addition to the more common aquarium shapes, some tanks are more shallow and others are tall (or even extra-tall). Shallow tanks can look more like a lagoon, provide a better top-down view, and are often easier to get into for maintenance, whereas tall tanks can look more like a picture, provide a better side view, and can often be more challenging to get into for maintenance. Do you have a preference between shallow tanks and tall tanks? If you had to pick between these two form factors, which would you select and why?

Photo by @stylaster

 

[KrisReef]

I’m a fan of large tanks and the other dimension (besides water depth and tank length), the front to back depth is also very important for aquascaping and having room to set rocks to provide habitable areas for coral attachment while still allowing room to access the glass to clean off algae growth and allow room for fish to swim around is the other spatial dimension that makes or breaks a tank for reef keeping one.

If you are willing to spend a fortune on lighting the deeper (fish) tanks and nicer to view from the side and allow for taller growth of the coral on the substrate.

A wide tank has a limit of arms length to reach across the tank to clean the back glass unless you have a peninsula where you can access from front and back.

They all work fine if you can scuba dive into the tank to access the glass for cleaning but practically speaking I prefer a wide shallow tank for reef flat purposes, just not too wide so I can reach from front to the back bottom pane for cleaning without being submerged.
My reef is top down viewing but there are many ways to enjoy an artificial reef but the dimensions can make or break the maintenance abilities and should be carefully considered to allow the Reefer room for access to clip frags, have good lighting at depth and good water circulation to keep fish and coral happy.

Im rambling.

 

[cwerner]

I think larger fish much prefer a little more depth, an start acting squirrely when things are shallower than they prefer. My next tank I'd prefer it to be deeper. At least 24-26 inches. Issue is cleaning and maintenance get exponentially more difficult for every inch that is added to depth.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Tall tanks are great for fowlr or freshwater, but I find that they are much harder to properly light and establish good flow for a reef tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I keep tall, long and deep tanks

 

[Quietman]

Not sure where it falls but I'm really partial to the 20-21" height. It can be almost any width. Nice balance of looks, maintenance ease, light penetration and room for stuff.

 

[leepink23]

I like the 24 inch height. 24x24, 24x48, 24x72. Once the tank gets to 8 foot length I like 30 inch for aesthetics. But once having a 48x30x24 150 gallon I swore off 30 inch height forever.

 

[Jrain904]

Tall tanks for the win!! I’m rocking a 24” tall tank.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

4ft 90 gallon I wish now it was a 4ft 120, frag tank on the other hand, shallow

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

I just downsized to a 60 gallon 16” tank after my 75 20” sprung a leak. I am loving not having to wear sleeveless shirts while working in the tank.

 

[All_talk]

I just downsized to a 60 gallon 16” tank after my 75 20” sprung a leak. I am loving not having to wear sleeveless shirts while working in the tank.

Tall tanks and naked maintenance for the win.

 

[vlangel]

All my tanks have been on the high, Xtra high side. My 1st tank was an 40 XH, (30" x 12" x 24") because that is what fit the space I had in a closet to be viewed from the living room wall. Yes, it was very challenging to aquascape, especially since I could only work in it from the closet side and it was only 12" from front to back.

When I was keeping seahorses they are more comfortable mating in a tall tank to accommodate their dance. So the tank I have now is a 56 column, (30" x 18" x 24"). That 6" additional depth makes a huge difference in aquascape.
I don't keep seahorses anymore so I put my higher light coral toward the top and the lower light coral are near the bottom, which is often how it is in nature.
1st pic- spawning seahorses in 30 gallon XH, 24" x 12" x 24"
2nd pic- current reef

 

[Reefering1]

My tank is 6' long, 30" deep and I love it!! Im 6 feet tall, 220lb.. It has a canopy that opens 90 degrees, so I have to get a couple steps up a ladder, ducking under canopy, armpit deep to reach "most" of the bottom. Shouldn't be digging around in there much anyway.

 

[Reefering1]

Is 21"-24" considered deep?

 

[CD_Scapes]

I love a nice cube tank, make like a coral island or bommie is my favorite, maybe scatter some rubble around it and call it a day

 

[db2022]

This depends on a lot of variables. I am about 6’ and prefer a tall and wide display tank. But when it comes down to frag tank, I like them to be shallow around 8” tall.

 

[db2022]

Is 21"-24" considered deep?

Yes. The industry standard for tall is 21”+ and the shallow tanks are below 16” normally.

 

[Oshanickreef]

how do we get these random messages to stop flooding my inbox

 

[zoomonster]

I voted other... depends on definition of deep. I wouldn't want anything deeper than the 200g I have which is 27" and 59.5" tall with stand. Even that takes a step ladder and shirt off to reach the bottom of the tank. At the same time also looking at a large frag or lagoon style tank. Would definitely prefer that style shallow for grow out of stuff.

 

[db2022]

how do we get these random messages to stop flooding my inbox

I am guessing you participated in the poll and now are seeing the messages with it. The random messages are everyone responding back to the original author of the post.

I suggest you hit the below button at the top of the page and move on.