Experience with Tall Reef Tanks??

I just received a free acrylic tank. Dims 40"L X 24"D X 54"H.....roughly 225 gal TALL
I am trying to decide if I want to set it up this way or cut it down. I have a great place for it in my family room but I have concerns about cleaning and lighting????
I plan on keep mostly just fish/inverts and low light corals....no SPS.
I think I could make this tank look very cool, but I am looking for advice on maintenance/lighting issues and/or tips anyone has learned.
Thanks all..........MCF
 

jjlittle

Member
Issue 1 tall tanks hard to reach bottom a place things & cleaning
Issue 2 Lighting you would need to do MH lighting to keep any coral for VHo light etc would not reach teh bottom with the spectrums of light coral would need.
Good issue is the tank would look very nice having that hieght and lots of vertical room
BTW I dont know if I would cut the tank I would sell / trade it for one you would like better.
 
I agree with you.....jj
I think I can get around the positioning/placing issue by using tongs. I plan on cementing all the base rock in place too.
MH lights are a given...I was planning for them anyway. Any recommendations on wattage? Brand?
But cleaning is going to be tough I think.
Any pics of tall tanks out there??
 

latino277

Member
Hmm... that's a very nice gift!!!
OK just my thoughts... 400w 14000K HQI's are a must (if you can get them with that high a K value).
and for clean reasons... it might have to be a BB tank... no sand at all. you can put in a close loop drilled into the bottom of the tank and set the LR on top of it.... kinda like what Steve... what's him name did with the 600g. this way nothing settles on the bottom.
 
That's a very interesting thought on the BB tank. I will do some searches on the 600g tank and see what I come up with. Thanks for the light recommendation.
I think water movement might be a bit of a challange as well?? In a tall tank.
 

latino277

Member
actually, it may not be that bad because the tank is acrylic and you can dril it. take a look a oceans motion products. that may make life a bit easier. the have an 8 way osculator (sp?)
 
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