display tank, maximum size you're comfortable with
 

everyone, including me wish we could keep and maintain magnificent display tanks large enough to swim in. practicality then kicks in and we limit our tank size to what we are comfortable with in regards to setup costs, ongoing maintenance costs, space limitation, protestation from others who share your living area etc. well mine is 90 gal display, 75 gal sump with additional 50 gal tote for additional water volumn. what's your? feel free to give details and explain why you wouldn't go any bigger or smaller.

Mine is a 300 gal display with 50 gal sump, I was seriously short on time when I moved or I would have gone bigger (I have most of the parts to build a 875 gal, just didn't have the time to put it all together) I think my dream tank would be a 12'x60"deepx36"high (right after I win the lottery!)

I settled on a 120 (w/ 30g sump) because I like the depth and the length was realistic for the space I wanted it in. I would love to go bigger but I'm already having humidity issues!

40 gallon with 10 gallon sump since I am on the 2nd floor of my apartment building, but I have 2 29 gallon tanks as well.

If I owned and was on a ground floor or in a house I would go up to 90-120 gallons.

mine is a 4' 90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump and 50 gallon fuge maybe i will add another big tank to the system who knows:mrgreen:

I have a 225 gal with 70 gal sump as well as a 90 gal corner with 50 gal sump.

i have a 150 with a 30 gal sump. since I have my whole rec room converted in to a huge living area too. I didn't want to have a huge stand and canopy to take up space and plus i love inwalls and where mine is its the perfect place it takes no space at all.

I was lucky as well. I had an extra room in the basement that I closed off and made my inwall 250. I have a 60 gallon sump as well as two 13 gallon frag/mangrove tanks. An upstairs 50 tops it off. Humidity was a problem for a while but I installed a vent system above the 250 that now keeps everything in check. I don't think I would go bigger as I spend too much time in the fish room as it is:lol:

I have a 90 Gal with a 30 gal sump.

I would love to go bigger but the space where the tank fits in the basement works perfectly.

Currently a 75 Gallon Display with a 45 gallon Sump/Fuge.

I'd be ok with a 96x24x30 (300 gallon), however I would have to do some some serious re-wiring to make it happen (tank couldn't be further away from the Box)

Currently building a 63x24x24 tank and that was as large as i could go in the space that was donated. I could have gone deeper, but cost of glass would have gone up considerably.

Have a 145g room divider, with a 20g fuge and 75g sump in the basement. I'd love to get a tank where I could get that 3-4-5' front to back depth (think Oregonreef) but just won't be happening because committed in the area I'm at and space available.

When wife and I were looking for a new house, did it a the idea of having a display on the main floor rather than in the basement. Was though what was practical as we were buying a house not a fish tank. Joke that I'm going to live out my days here, but had to think about resell and any changes we got the builder to do.

Other than a frag tank in the fish room, about the only thing I might do is place a small corner tank (90g max) in a room setup as a computer/library type area and plumb back to the main sump. Would be a species specific tank (clown/anemone or seahorse type idea).

Guess still could have the 2000g in the basement but is this a hobby or obsession?

my tank is in my bedroom so size was a factor for sure i have a 120 G (4x2x2) with 40 G sump and its my fist salt tank so i didnt want too much bigger to learn on

same thing for me as e46er a 120g with 50g sump in my bedroom, in the future I am planning a 5-6ft long 3ft wide by 20inches tall tank custom with a 75g sump and a 30g breeder for frags also a 33g for wc.

personaly the max i would go with right now would be 60 gallons.

mostly just because im 13, my house doesnt have much space at all (the tank would be in the ugly dark basement) and maintaining anything larger would take alot of allowances :lol:

Currently, I'm MAXED out with what I am running/building... My 75G in the living room. And the 40G Cube I'm still working on.

I do however have 1 tank designed that I would like to get built when I buy my first home. 66x30x20 172G...

And then a "Dream Tank" Angled L shape 590G Tank sometime in the future. 36"x48x36" for the front viewing panels, then 30 deep and 24 tall... If I remember right. LOOOOOOOOONG way away. :lol:

Wow... 120G in ur bedroom.. LOL I thought a 40Cube was big for my bedroom.. :mrgreen:

Ok, I would like a 1000g tank but I think I would have to get into selling drugs or hit the lottery....as the house would have to match the tank. However I will stick to the 90g+72g+50g+15g tanks that I have at home and the 27g at work. Dream big I say......:lol:

Regardless of what I could afford, I wouldn't go bigger than a 400G. Actually I would love a tank exactly like Brad's (Untamed) 400. I love his tank and its big enough that the fish act more naturally than say my tank but doesn't take up a whole room or have a ridiculous amount of maintenance.

The only reason I would ever want to go bigger would be a shark tank but then in that case, it would be an above ground pond with viewable side panels. I saw one like this in Singapore that was about 4' tall and must have been 12' in diameter. I don't know what it was made of but you could view it from above on a balcony (its outdoors) and also from a few viewing panels on the side that were acrylic.

Yeah see I agree that there nothing worse than a big tank in a room that doesn't have the space. Its all relative. A 12' tank in a room thats say 12'x12' is stupid IMO. Just not enough room to enjoy the tank. Now a 12' tank in a room that is like 60'x60' would be nice :)

Again thats why I like Brads tank, it works in the room so perfectly. Actually same with Jason Mckenzie. Jason did I spell your last name right?? His big tank is a great size for the space he has it in.

Great topic. After having two 150 gallon aquariums blow out their silicone eleven months apart, I have to say I am happy enough with the 28 gallon. If the entire thing explodes it will not dump more water on the floor than what we lost out of the 150s. See we got ones that we believe were too tall and the silicone just did not stand a chance. Took it back to the store the first time and they would not refund my cash, they only replaced the aquarium. When it exploded again, they did manage to give me 100% cash back.

We were home both times (thank God) and managed to save the fish and start siphoning from the top, and using buckets to empty the tanks before the water could hit the floor. About eight hours of maintenance each time, and that did not get the big tanks out of the basement and back into the truck to go back to the store. If we had not been home or realized what was happening so fast, our house which we own might have had to be declared a disaster area. I cannot imagine how awful that would have been if we were on holidays or at work.

So though I love the looks of the big tanks and love to provide fish with a ton of room to swim and live, we decided it is just not worth it. Still love the hobby - just going to keep going with a smaller tank!

We have a 180Gal now and are planning a 700Gal for out basement which we should be starting in the near future.......We would have gone bigger had we had room for anything bigger!!!

This is why I love shallow tanks! Well one of the reasons...aesthetically I prefer long and shallow plus thats much easier to light.

My brother had a tall tank also fail. It cracked right down the middle back pane of glass. Eurobraced and everything but still was not enough. I think it was 6'x24"wide and 30" tall if I remember correctly. That was a while ago when he still loved here in Vancouver...maybe 6 years back.

im running a 125 gallon with a 40 gallon sump. i used to have a 135 gallon but the silicone let go and all the water leaked onto the floor except maybe the bottom 4 inches. no fish were lost though :)

I do and I don't wish I went bigger. When the tank was sitting in the basement on it's own it looked huge now that the cabinetry is in it looks a lot smaller. I'm right on the edge of what I feel I could maintain day in and day out.

Two years into running my 400 gallon, and I think I would have been completely comfortable running 6' x 6' instead of 6' x 4' (600 gallons instead of 400 gallons). It would not make any significant difference to the maintenance. That's my biggest regret actually.

Oh great you just exactly described my tank... now I'm going to lay awake every night dreading this. LOL, I hope mine is made better.

Living with a 70 and a 16g right now but working on plans for a new house and a 280g

Have a 37g corner in the home office right now, but going to set up a 120 sometime this year... can't wait for the tax refund! That's about as big as it's going to get for a long time.

Started with a 38 gal. then upgraded to a 150 gal. with a 50 gal. sump. Now I wish I had gone bigger.

I currently have a 370G + 90G Sump and 30G Frag tank.

If I had to do it all over again I'd do a 180G short tank

J

Currently running a 100 gallon with 40 gallon sump.

Would love to go bigger (6' to 8' long x 30" high) but my dream is an inwall and I will need a new house; so not anytime soon.

Currently I have a 90g with ~25g sump with plans to upgrade to a 180g (likely no more than 250g water volume). I did have rather grandiose plans for a monster 8 foot tank but decided I would be much more comfortable with an "entry level" large tank. Perhaps I'll upgrade down the road, who knows.

At the moment I have a 175g bowfront but I'm thinking of going to an 8ft tank so my achilles has more room.
The thought of transfering all my stock into a new tank is giving me pause though, my present tank is exactly what I want it to be

I went the other way, downgraded (well upgraded in my thinking) from my 310 gallon system to a 60 gallon system. I missed the unique interactions of life on a smaller scale, which you miss with a big system, not entirely but enough. If I could have I would have run both systems but alas I can only afford one. I can see my shrimps now though...feather dusters, all the little life I missed or was drawn away from with the big tank. I miss my tangs though :(

Thats another good reason not to go bigger but giving up my achilles is not an option. He appears content enough in the tank now but I know he'd be better off in an 8 footer (interestingly enough its my foxface that is complaining about the tank being on the small side. How come there are no foxface police? :razz: )

Generally most people stay away from pricks :)

I have always wondered why there is no Foxface Police, Trigger Police, ect. Since these fish need just as much space as tangs as they are just as big and active.

Because 99.5 percent of the people have no idea why tangs need a lot of room they just regurgitate info they see others doing. Tangs on the whole are open swimmers, they tend to be seen in more "open water" then foxface or triggers (that we collect as aquarium dwellers) so the though is they need lots of room to swim wheras a trigger and a foxface "graze". my two cents anyways.

Well all I can say is that all the pacing my foxface does annoys the heck out of my regal angel :lol: