Choosing a Tank Size

[bigfish77]

I am going to be purchasing a tank for a fish only tank in the near future and am curious what is best. My goal is fish only community basically non-aggressive no large predators. I know most people will say 180 since its largest not sure if any other pro's and con's.

120 4x2x2
125 6x1.5x2
180 6x2x2

 

[jay0705]

Bigger is best myself a 7ft 220 lol however we can all dream. Min i would do is 75, 125 is ideal unless u want big fish

 

[lmforbis]

Depends on the fish and the space you have. If the fish are the type that need the space to swim I'd say the 125 at minimum. If you are looking at smaller reef fish like clowns cardinal fish etc the 120 may be easier.
I have a 120 that is 5 feet long and 1.5 front to back. It is a good in between size longer than the standard 120 and fits on my wall that is just under 6 feet.

 

[bigfish77]

I have the wall space for a 6 foot tank either 18 or 24 wide. This will be my first salt tank after a long stretch of time without. Been doing fresh for a decade. Looking for a large to mid sized hearty fish not so much reef type fish. Is there really that much a difference between a 180 (24 tall) and 210/220 (30 tall) with same footprint. My last tank was 30 tall and it was a bear for to work in.

 

[jay0705]

Length is generally whats important. Certain fish (tangs) need room to swim, so length is important. A clown could careless, give them a 4ft tank and thats plenty. So lets say you go 6ft long. You can do certain tangs, dwarf angel, clowns,dotty back, cardinals, rabbit fish, blennys, butterflies, ect.
4 ft take out most tangs, alot of butterflies, most rabbit fish

 

[lmforbis]

If you have the space I'd say the 6' length. I agree the deep tanks are harder to clean. Mine is 26" deep and a lot harder to reach the bottom. Were it me and I had the space and my floor was strong enough I'd go for the 180.

 

[geridoc]

For the past 30 years I have had relatively deep tanks (a 110 gallon display tank, and more recently a 220 gallon). In all that time I think the only time the depth was a problem was when I was setting up my aquascape. After that the only times I needed to reach near the bottom was to vacuum the rock during water changes. Of course, the tanks were FOWLR. Addition of corals may change the importance of depth.