Tall Aquarium

[led-zeppelin]

Hi guys. I've got a few questions regarding my very tall aquarium.

I've read in many places that it is best not to use a tall aquarium as opposed to a shallow one with more space on the bottom, but I was offered a very tall narrow one for a price I couldn't resist. So now I need some help in deciding how i'm going to overcome the problems posed by such a tall tank.
The dimensions are 48"x12"x30". I plan to have a FOWLR setup. What type of lighting do you suggest to penetrate that depth well? Will I need powerheads to help the tank's circultion? How many?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[sumphead]

Well depending on your preference there are a couple of options. 2 NO flourencence will light it fairly well or 4 if you like, but will do little if anything in the way of coraline on the LR. 4 - 55/65W PCs will support it and help a great deal with coraline. Do you have reef asperations for the future? My tank is a hair shy of 23" tall with a single HQI halide I can groe anything.

As for water movement it will depend on your filtration and it's power. Can you elaborate there a little?

HTH,
R-

 

[led-zeppelin]

I will use an emperor 400 filter. I do aspire to maybe go into some soft corals or anemones later on, but my immediate plan is to use as inexpensive lighting as possible for now, and later when I get some extra cash I could upgrade my lighting for the corals. I would like to see some coralline growth though.

Does this plan seem to be OK?

Would it be advisable to just save up and get the expensive lighting first?

I certainly wouldn't object to any guidance in my planning.

Thanks

 

[led-zeppelin]

I was also wondering if I might need to use an airstone for oxygenation of the water. Will the circulation from the powerhead and the water trickling from the filter do this job well enough?

Thanks

 

[EL Diablo]

If your going FO for now you dont need to drop big money for lighting.
you can alway upgrade to the $ lights when you have the $ and are ready
to add corals.
Personally I didnt last long before I upgraded and now have a bunch of Corals.
I am happy I upgraded. The hobby is extremly addictive.

you dont need air stones in a SW tank. just point a PH at the surface and that creates plenty of O2.

 

[lando]

I think one of your biggest challenges with this tank is going to be current and good gas exchange. There is not a lot of surface area for gas exchange to take place so you will need to aggitate the surface of the water with a powerhead. Skip the airstone. Also, you will need several powerheads inside the tank to keep the curent going. If you have dead spots with no current you may end up with algea problems. While a tal tank is not ideal, they ca be very interesting. With the proper lighting you can put together a very cool reef. High liight corals on the top tappering down to low light corals on the bottom. Very Natural. You will have to limit your fish selection to small ones. There is just not enough vertical swimming space for larger, active fish. The Emperor 400 is a good HOB flter. Just stretch the intake tube to reach as far down the tank as you can. I would also suggest a good skimmer. Good luck, it wil be a challenge, but very cool. Lando

 

[led-zeppelin]

Thanks for all the great advice everybody.

Lando, would you suggest any specific skimmer or powerheads? How would I position the powerheads in the tank? Perhaps amongst the pieces of rock, but wouldn't that make it very difficult to access them later?

I'm just trying to get an idea of how all this comes together.



Thanks a lot.

 

[revhtree]

You have come to the right place!!

WELCOME TO AA!!!!!

 

[led-zeppelin]

Much obliged!

 

[lando]

The skimmer kind of depends on the space you have available to it. Check out the product reviews for info on different ones. As for powerheads, I like the Maxi-jets. I would do four. Two on each corner at the top and two in each corner at the bottom. Putting them on a wave maker timer will help with the current.

 

[Brad]

You'll have to position powerheads in such a way as to ensure water movement throughout the tank. That probably means some positioned near the bottom, others at the top. Point them in opposite directions because you don't want a swirl movement.

Finding the right shape of LR is going to be the challenge. With smaller pieces of LR, you find you need to stack the LR up high. Inevitably, your stack structure will collapse down on itself and be a problem.

My hex is more tall than wide. LR.com sent me a giant lump of rock. One big, tall piece that sort of acts as the centrepiece of the tank and I've avoided stacking altogether.