set up question: min depth

[rickwaines]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Will this tank be against a wall ?

Just my personal opinions ...

18" or it may get too crowded for swimming room
With a 12" tank you may have LR up against the back glass and be unhappy trying to clean behind it, or some really skinny LR piles

Regardless, 8' is going to give you piles of room for different aquascapes
Have fun with it

It will be against the wall. Totally get the LR against the glass issue. Thanks!

[gregzz4]

Something else to think about ...

I didn't quite leave myself enough room to comfortably run a mag float on the back glass - I have to hold the tank and squish my arm behind it
But maybe with your length you'd be better off with a scraper handle anyway

[Coralgurl]

Don't go with 12", too narrow and hard to get a decent scape. 18" would be ok if the tank is on a wall. My 55 is 18" tall and 12" wide and I hate it, even with the length you would probably feel restricted.

[kien]

Are you planning a sump? That may affect your overall dimensions. To answer your question I would say 6" is the minimum. Any narrower and you might have issues with powerheads, return plumbing and overflows.

[rickwaines]

Originally Posted by kien

Are you planning a sump? That may affect your overall dimensions. To answer your question I would say 6" is the minimum. Any narrower and you might have issues with powerheads, return plumbing and overflows.

by 6 do you mean 16?

[kien]

Originally Posted by rickwaines

by 6 do you mean 16?

No. I mean six inches.

[rickwaines]

Originally Posted by kien

No. I mean six inches.

I am planning a sump. 6 inches. very interesting. thank you.

[kien]

I think this is roughly 6".



It's totally doable. Whether or not you'll enjoy it is another matter tho :-)

But if you are planning a sump that means you'll probably want a skimmer and possibly reactors and stuff like that. That means your sump will likely be much larger than 6". Probably 12" at a minimum. In that case go as deep as your space will allow.

[windcoast reefs]

I would go 18" at the absolute minimum. If its an 8 foot tank, you should really try and get it up to 20". Getting good flow can be really difficult in thin tanks. Without good flow you can get some nasty nitrate problems later in the tanks life.

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by kien

No. I mean six inches.

So let me get this straight. He wants to keep a reef aquarium with anemones and clownfish and you believe 6" would be enough? Interesting...