Intro and tank size preference

[c me fish]

Hello fellow aquarists,

First of all I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the information you make available, your experiences have provided a fantasitic source reference for me over the last few months.

I currently have a 37 gallon corner bowfront with ~50lbs of liverock, ~20 lbs of livesand, fluval 404, deltec mce-600, and a Coralife 24" AquaLight Pro Metal Halide Fixture - 1 x 150W, and a Koralia 2. I keep 2 clownfish, a toadstool, a frogspawn, and some gsp. My cleanup crew consists of 6 snails (mixed) and ~10 hermits (blue and red legged). This has been running well for around a year now.

I've been thinking about upgrading for a little while, so I've aquired 2 tanks... a 48x24x24 bowfront, and a 72x20x19 standard. As they hold around the same volume, my question to you (almost a poll question) is which do you prefer and why? Unfortunately I don't have the time or space to set up both tanks and I don't have any other equipment yet, so I'll probably be glued to the equipment forums for a while trying to scoop some deals .

Hopefully I'll be starting a Journal very soon and I look forward to meeting a few more of you.

Thanks!

[steve fedyk]

The longer tank adds more veiwing for you but the shorter is better for aquasapping. And needs less lighting.
I have a 48x24x24 tank, so I would have to go with the shorter tank.

[JDigital]

i'd go with the 6 footer! Why you ask? Personally I would rather have 2 feet longer rather than 4inches wider. I also prefer shorter tanks usually so the 19" height would be nice!

[banditpowdercoat]

Welcome, and would love to see pics.

Tank wise, I would go with the 48". As it's wider and taller. Much easier to aquascape, and lighting should be cheaper, although need more wattage to penatrate the depth. I think the skinny tanks lend themselves more to FW applications, as the fish can easilly swim through the plants and such. But, in SW, the rock takes up a large part of the tank.

[fishytime]

Welcome to the non-lurking part of canreef.My tank is exactly the same size as your six footer. I would say, think about what fish you would eventually like to keep. If you think a small tang or two might be in your future than go with the six. The four footer will give you a broader choice of lighting options and the initial cost will likely be less.

[naesco]

Hands down a six footer. You get to keep tangs.

[StirCrazy]

the 4 footer is the better tank and no mater which tank you chose you can only keep one or two tangs depending on the type. the wider tank will actually be better for tangs as they can turn better while maintaining speed. a narrower tank they have to slow down and turn sharper. also a wider tank is alsoway better for setting up mass water flow, with out ending up with a jet type water blast.

Steve

[Rbacchiega]

I'd go with with 6 footer. Big tanks are pretty. Very pretty