Wow everyone has something to say about this one
I`m going with the 20 gallon high display for a couple reasons... Mainly because its what I have on hand, and I don`t want to go too big for my first tank. It is also a good size, not too big in terms of physical size, slightly deep to accommodate the 3 inch bed for seagrass without looking too shallow, but with enough floor space to work with for what I want. I originally was looking for a 30 gallon, but I couldn`t find one with the dimensions I wanted (36 l x 12 w x 15 h). And this tank is made of quarter inch glass, thicker than usual for some reason
.
For what it`s worth, the actual capacity of my system will be somewhere around 40 gallons though, due to piping, the sump, and 2 accessory tanks that will be plumbed into the same system. Part of one of those tanks will actually be a display `fuge also, though it`s size is currently undecided.