E
eww
Guest
I am thinking of starting a set up. I have a 70g tall glass tank. It is 36"w x 15"d and 30"t. Will this work well for a reef tank? It seems most people have shorter units.
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
Welcome to Reef Frontiers!
Shorter tanks do work out better for a couple of reasons.
Usually shorter tanks have more surface area so you get better water/oxygen exchange.
Shorter tanks are easier to light. It takes more intense and higher wattage lighting to penetrate deeper water.
You tank will work just fine though, as long as you keep these things in mind, when deciding your inhabitants and other equipment needs.
Shorter tanks do work out better for a couple of reasons.
Usually shorter tanks have more surface area so you get better water/oxygen exchange.
Shorter tanks are easier to light. It takes more intense and higher wattage lighting to penetrate deeper water.
You tank will work just fine though, as long as you keep these things in mind, when deciding your inhabitants and other equipment needs.
E
eww
Guest
How powerful of a lighting system should I look at? I have nothing but a single tube standard flourescent that I know won't even come close to working.
Your type of lighting will be dependent on what types of corals, anemone, clams, if any, you want to keep.
Your standard fluorescent will work fine for a Fish Only system.
If you want to keep corals, you'll need to determine the lighting needs of the types of corals you want to keep.
Typically, soft corals are the least light demanding, and you could get by with Compact Fluorescent lighting, though I wouldn't recommend it.
LPS would be the next light demanding and SPS the most light demanding. 2 good choices of lighting would be 2 Metal Halide bulbs or 36" T5HO Fluorescent. With either of these systems, you'll be able to grow whatever you want. You will want the higher light demanding corals higher in the tank, than lower light demanding corals.
If you decide to go with MH, I'd recommend 2X250 MH. If you were to go with T5HO, I'd recommend a 4 bulb, 36" fixture. With T5HO, it's very important to have individual reflectors or Individually Contoured Reflectors (ICR), which wrap around each bulb. Parabolic reflectors, a single, flat reflector, above all the bulbs, are worthless with T5HO lighting.
Your standard fluorescent will work fine for a Fish Only system.
If you want to keep corals, you'll need to determine the lighting needs of the types of corals you want to keep.
Typically, soft corals are the least light demanding, and you could get by with Compact Fluorescent lighting, though I wouldn't recommend it.
LPS would be the next light demanding and SPS the most light demanding. 2 good choices of lighting would be 2 Metal Halide bulbs or 36" T5HO Fluorescent. With either of these systems, you'll be able to grow whatever you want. You will want the higher light demanding corals higher in the tank, than lower light demanding corals.
If you decide to go with MH, I'd recommend 2X250 MH. If you were to go with T5HO, I'd recommend a 4 bulb, 36" fixture. With T5HO, it's very important to have individual reflectors or Individually Contoured Reflectors (ICR), which wrap around each bulb. Parabolic reflectors, a single, flat reflector, above all the bulbs, are worthless with T5HO lighting.
minhmattmai
Well-known member
With only 15 inches front to back, regulating power head flow might be problematic. Since your tank is rather deep, you'd likely have to stack a wall of live rocks so that you could have corals near to top. But in doing so, you might find that the flow is really hard to control. Because the water column is forced into a very narrow corridor, either it wreaks havoc with the soft coral or pointing it down messes w/ the sand bed.
E
eww
Guest
I was wondering about that very thing about the water flow because it seems like most people don't have these tall narrow tanks. I got it because I liked the showing capacity in such a small footprint. We don't have space in our home for anything bigger. Maybe I will just try a fish only set up for now and see how that goes. Can I add just a few corals to a it without going with a full blown coral tank set up? Either way I hope to find some inexpensive lighting solutions soon. I think I like the T5HO option better than the MH from what I have seen for appearances on here.
thatguy559
Well-known member
can you drill the glass? tempered glass usually has a green tint to it. if so i would do a closed loop setup for your flow.
E
eww
Guest
OK this is where I show I am a TRUE rookie. I have no idea what a closed loop system is.
thatguy559
Well-known member
closed loop is where you have an input for a pump with the outlet going right back into the tank water does not leave the tank to go to a sump or filter it just get recycled in the display tank. here is a pictures to help
blk822822
It's only money, RIGHT?
Also I beleive that fish like a wider area to swin. Som fish think in 2D, forwards and sideways and stay pretty much at the same level in the water colum. So a bigger foot print gives the fish a larger area ( in there mind).And Like said befor the lighting is easier to sread out instead of deeper.JMO but what do I know ,I'm still pretty new.
blk822822
It's only money, RIGHT?
closed loop is where you have an input for a pump with the outlet going right back into the tank water does not leave the tank to go to a sump or filter it just get recycled in the display tank. here is a pictures to help
Whats the front of that tank look like??
thatguy559
Well-known member
i dont know i just found this picture on the web.....lol...
Not at all accurate. Tempered glass does not have any more of a green tint than non-tempered glass. Please don't rely on any color tint, to decide to drill a tank. You could end up with a shattered tank. There is a way to tell if glass is tempered or not, but it requires polarized sunglasses, a flashlight, and the ability to recognize a pattern in the glass, when viewed with the polarized glasses. Tempered and non tempered glass with both have a visible pattern to it, but the patterns will be different.
The 15" of depth does not keep you from having a proper reef tank. Many people have 55 gallon reef tanks, that are only 12" deep. (front to back.) It's all a matter of proper power head placement. It's still very "doable." You could easily put a Korallia 3 or 4 (depending on what types of corals you have, and their flow requirements) on each end, pointed towards the center of the front glass, or pointed directly at each other.
Granted, something like a 75, with an 18" front to back, would be much better, but there's no reason your tank won't work. The largest problem you'll encounter, as with a 55, is that they're a PITA to aquascape, because of the narrow size.
Last edited:
thatguy559
Well-known member
well from my experience i drilled a ton of tanks anything that is 100g or less the green tint is tempered for older tanks. that tanks that had the green tint shattered the ones that were clear did not. new tank usually have tempered bottoms but opinions are opinions
Older glass is usually more green, because of age and a higher lead content, not because of tempering. Almost all tanks have tempered bottoms. Some tanks have all glass tempered. The best option is to contact the manufacturer to find out. Even that isn't always accurate, as I have a friend who recently contacted a manufacturer, on a 55. He was told only the bottom was tempered. When he started to drill the back, it shattered.
Tempering (Baking) does not change the color of the glass at all. It changes the molecular structure, which is why the pattern is different, when viewed with polarized glasses and light shining through it.
Tempering (Baking) does not change the color of the glass at all. It changes the molecular structure, which is why the pattern is different, when viewed with polarized glasses and light shining through it.
E
eww
Guest
Funny I sell windows and work for a glass shop for a living and I don't even know how to tell if its tempered glass or not unless it has a bug telling me so. I sure as heck am not going to try drilling it without knowing just to have it shatter. Is there ways to do this without drilling holes?
E
eww
Guest
Thanks for this. I was hoping this might be the case. I am probably going to set this up as a fresh water tank for the time being until I gather enough knowledge and equipment to change over. I am hoping that it might be sooner than later having found this site.
Yes, you can set up a very adequate reef tank, without drilling. There are HOB (hand on back) overflow boxes that work great, if you wanted to run a sump/refugium. Other than that, you don't need to drill OR use a HOB overflow. You can go skimmerless, though this will require more frequent water changes, or you can use a HOB skimmer. A proper amount of live rock, good flow and a HOB skimmer is all the filtration you need.
You can also incorporate an "over the back" closed loop system, though this requires some visible plumbing, inside the display tank.
Here's a good example of a non drilled closed loop system.
http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html
You can also incorporate an "over the back" closed loop system, though this requires some visible plumbing, inside the display tank.
Here's a good example of a non drilled closed loop system.
http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html
E
eww
Guest
Couldn't you build this from black piping instead of white? I would think black would be far less noticeable in the tank and on the back behind the tank.
Man all of this seems really kind of overwhelming but I just joined so maybe it will sink in after some time. It would be cool to find someone willing to help out with setting something up who live in my area.
Man all of this seems really kind of overwhelming but I just joined so maybe it will sink in after some time. It would be cool to find someone willing to help out with setting something up who live in my area.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
dear god man, ...dont do a closed loop in a 75g that is 3',
first off, closed loops sux...
the plumbing, the extra cost, the maintenance, and biggest issue of all, the completely innapropriate narrow, tiny nozzel outlets produce nothing like natural ocean current.
have one maybe two wide outlet, low watt, high flow powerheads hiding behind the rockwork, providing flow for the whole system by being set up in a gyre configuration. like tunze, or vortec brand powerheads preferably.
and, the fact that you have such a tall tank will mean that you probably wont have as many issues with disturbing your sand.
