type of tank?

[saltyh20]

I'm interested in starting a new tank. I would appreciate some advice. Right now I have a 55 gal. 4 ft long. set as a room divider. this is a FOWLR tank. I would like to start a reef tank with only a few fish. (my first reef tank) Is it ok to us a octagon type tank because I am limted in space so I would need something with heiht. Or is height a bad thing for a reef tank??? Will take any suggestions even on what are the heartiest of the corals and inverts and what is the best type of live rock for this sort of thing? Fiji, etc??? I would like to set this one up correct from the start. My first salt water had some glitches nothing to big although it would be nice to iron as much of that stuff out as possible. thanks all suggestions are appreciated.

 

[newreefers]

height is bad unless your are seven feet tall. I have a tall tank and basically have to go diving when I need to reach the bottom. my suggestion is to go low and long.

 

[mr . salty]

This type of tank is a pretty poor choice for a reef for a couple basic reasons.
#1,circulation..
Tall tanks are hard to get the type of circulation needed to maintain pristene water quality that a reef tank needs to thrive..Dead spots are a paticular problem...
#2,Lighting,,,
There is not lot of room over a hex or oct. tank.So this means that there is not alot of room for lighting.Also the depth of the tank(top to bottom) is a problem.Lighting will only penatrate so far.And these tanks are a bit deep for the type of lighting you can cram over them...
#3,O2 exchange,,,
Although this can be overcome,it is still a problem.Most of the O2 exchange occures at the surface of the water.Tall narrow tanks do not have much surface area...
The best choice for any marine tank is a long,shallow tank...

 

[slick]

That just about covers it for now.

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Longer and shallow is always better easier for circulation and lighting also I have heard lots of people on here who have tried the hex tanks complain about getting lighting to fit. Lighting is very important with a reef tank I have learned that over and over again as i read and with my own tank. What kind of corals are you wanting to keep? That is a good place to start because depending on the corals depends on lighting and circulation requirements. LR well I have been told to get a good varity of LR because it will give you a varity of things that grow in your tank. As you can see in my sig I have started and still want more varity. Good luck and as i said letting everyone know what kind of corals you want to keep and the overall goal of your tank will help answer your question.