Thinking of Upgrading Tank to >120gal

euphoria

euphoria

Active Member
Hi guys,
I have a 60 gallon reef right now, and I'm thinking of upgrading to at least a 120 gallon sometime soon.
My confusion is whether to stick to glass or acrylic, and what dimension tank to get? I like to have a lot of depth in the tank so that my aquascaping looks more natural, but of course w/ that I have to sacrifice length of tank.
Also, since I"m pushing to 120 gallons, is it worth spending a little more and going to 135 or 150gallons? Do I need much bigger filtration for 135 or 150 compared to a 120?
Never had a tank that size, so I want to start on the right track and not have regrets.
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member

Originally posted by EUPHORIA
I've heard that glass leaks after a while.
I wouldn't not get glass because of leak worries. Glass has been around a LOT longer than acrylic and leak problems are minimal. IMO they are due to some "circumstance", poor stand construction, chipped glass, etc.
Acrylic has it's weight advantages. Bow fronts are cool. You can easily drill them yourself and so on.
I just prefer glass.
Like anything, check out what you buy closely.
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member

Originally posted by EUPHORIA
I've heard that glass leaks after a while.
I've had glass tanks for 10+ years without no leaks.. IME, I would NEVER have a smaller reef tank (say less then 300 gals) that was acylic, been there, scratched that.
I fell the standard 120 (48x24x24) is the best 4 foot standard tank made. If you want something a little diff and want to spend the cash you might call Jeffs and get a price on a custom Lee Mar Eruo style tank with Starphire glass. Lee mar makes the best looking tanks I have ever seen but they also cost more then any other tank I have ever seen.
I had a 150 (not Lee mar) that was 48" long X 24" tall by 30" wide that was real nice. The 30" widedeep was real nice.
FWIW, A Euro style Lee Mar that's 48" X 24" x 30" with 3 sides Starphire will probably run you about 1800.00. There's a nother place down south (San Diego) that makes custom tank using low iron glass (forget the name) I've read good things about them.
 
euphoria

euphoria

Active Member
my current tank is 48" long, so I don't want to upgrade and end up with a 48 again. I want to have a 6" long by 2" deep if possibe, and I don't care much for the height. So for a setup like that, let's say 72x24x18, do they make such tanks and how many gallons will that be?
Never heard of those materials you mentioned (starphire, etc...)
What are their advantages?
By the way, what's the big deal w/ bowfronts? I'd think they would make the fish/corals appear strange behind the curved glass.
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member

Originally posted by EUPHORIA
my current tank is 48" long, so I don't want to upgrade and end up with a 48 again. I want to have a 6" long by 2" deep if possibe, and I don't care much for the height. So for a setup like that, let's say 72x24x18, do they make such tanks and how many gallons will that be?
Never heard of those materials you mentioned (starphire, etc...)
What are their advantages?
By the way, what's the big deal w/ bowfronts? I'd think they would make the fish/corals appear strange behind the curved glass.
134.65 gallons
Starphire is a low lead ultra clear optical quality glass
Things appear strange when looking through all kinds of glass, but not because it's curved. You got a flat windshield in your avatar car? hehehe
Bow fronts give a panoramic view, some people like em. Engineers are always re-inventing something.
 
euphoria

euphoria

Active Member
hhahhahah, I should have made it more clear to say "looking through curved acrylic", because when I look around the corner parts of my acrylic tank, where the "acrylic" curves around, the images appear all elongated and messed up.
So something around 135 gallons would be my ideal size. It's most likely going to go inside a living room.
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member
135 tank would be very nice of course depending on the space you have. Bigger tank, more inhabitants and more lighting is required. You have to weigh all the prameters.
I have the 100g and a 36g corner. Prolly gonna make the 36g a hard coral tank after the new year.
What do you intend on keeping in your new tank?
 
euphoria

euphoria

Active Member
Well here's my biggest problem. I love reeftanks and they add lots of beauty to any room, BUT there are certain types of fish that I would love to have in my tank that are not reef safe, such as triggers, puffers, and those boxy looking fish (forgot the name). So I don't know what to do. I like corals, but I also like fancy fish.
I thought about getting a long tank and dividing it in half so that the aggressive fish can't swim across and harm the corals, but the LFS told me that the aggressive fish are very dirty eaters and because of them the overall water quality will go down (since the water is shared).
I thought about dividing the tank completely in half so that each side has its own water, but then again it just doesn't look natural.
:help:
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
Just a comment on the glass leaks....
My dad started saltwater with a 30g (commonly known as 30g Long) back in highschool. He's 48 now, and put his saltwater hobby away about 10 years ago. Now I've decided to start saltwater, and he has never heard of much of the stuff going on such as refugiums and the such. I'm using the same 30g he did, just did a fill test for a week after it has sat for 10 years in the basement - its holding :D - so cross out glass leaks.
I personally would stick with aggressives in the large tank. Aggressives need a large tank to begin with, and a large coral tank, although being reallllllly pretty, costs more with size due to the expensive lighting. From my point of view, a couple holes and a refugium and maybe some extra HOB filtration is a lot cheaper than metal halides that need their 100 some $ lights replaced often.
That is another thing to throw into the mix. Whichever you choose - make sure to post pictures :D
 
euphoria

euphoria

Active Member
Well it's true that the aggressive tanks are much easier to keep than corals. The only problem I see w/ the fish only setups is lack of color. I mean besides some coraline on the rocks, all the color you see is the fish themselves.
This will go into a living room that's going to have lots of color in it (it'll have some abstract paintings on the walls and such), so I want the tank to flow w/ the setup of the room.
But those cowfish and box looking fish are sure tempting, too.
 
msd2

msd2

Active Member
I will toss in my 2 cents :D my first tank was glass, 55 gallon. Was a good tank no complaints with it at all, never leaked etc and was used for about 7 years. I went with acrylic for my new tank its been up and running for about 3 or 4 months. Personally glad i did. It is easier to scratch but you can get a kit that makes them easy to remove. Its lighter, easy to mod and stronger than glass. Id say go with whichever u like best but I would the acrylic would let more light out
 
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