4 foot high tank

Hi there

I'm looking to get back into a marine tank. It's been a while since I
have had one. the last was a bio ball setup which i believe has gone
out of fashion to be replaced by live rocks etc. anyway my question
is.. I'm looking at this tank
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Unique-Custom...QQcmdZViewItem

and just wondering if higher rather than wider tanks are still harder
to maintain with the new techniques of fish and invertebrates keeping.

Cheers thanks for taking the tinme to repspond

wrote:
Hi there

I'm looking to get back into a marine tank. It's been a while since I
have had one. the last was a bio ball setup which i believe has gone
out of fashion to be replaced by live rocks etc. anyway my question
is.. I'm looking at this tank
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Unique-Custom...QQcmdZViewItem

and just wondering if higher rather than wider tanks are still harder
to maintain with the new techniques of fish and invertebrates keeping.


The surface area is still the main limiting factor. That's not your main problem
here, however. This tank has aluminum edging. Metal is a no-no in marine tanks.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

"George Patterson" wrote in message news:vT8Wg.730$2l5.405@trnddc07...
wrote:
I'm looking to get back into a marine tank. It's been a while since I
have had one. the last was a bio ball setup which i believe has gone
out of fashion to be replaced by live rocks etc. anyway my question
is.. I'm looking at this tank
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Unique-Custom...QQcmdZViewItem

and just wondering if higher rather than wider tanks are still harder
to maintain with the new techniques of fish and invertebrates keeping.


The surface area is still the main limiting factor. That's not your main problem here, however. This tank has aluminum edging.
Metal is a no-no in marine tanks.

You are correct, but I would say more important problem will be the hight.
Unless you are a chimpanzee with 4-feet long arms - how are you going
to mantain this tank ? Have you imagined the ways you will do aquascaping?
How do you set up the rock work ? Not everything can be done with tongs!

2nd issue - fish collection. This tank can be ok for seahorses, but almost
any other fish needs an ample room for swiming left to righ, not up/down.

3rd issue - reef /lighting. All corals which need light will have to be on the
top, 2x2' surface, so it will be limited room for reef design. Also, you
will have to have very strong bulb and good light focusing reflector to
reach tank that deep if you place any ligth liking animal near the bottom.
Other than that - the tank will be dark.

Think of the reasons the person is selling this tank and you will know why
you do not want to have it as well :-)))

Pszemol wrote:

You are correct, but I would say more important problem will be the hight.
Unless you are a chimpanzee with 4-feet long arms - how are you going
to mantain this tank ? Have you imagined the ways you will do aquascaping?
How do you set up the rock work ? Not everything can be done with tongs!

Yep, that's a problem.

2nd issue - fish collection. This tank can be ok for seahorses, but almost
any other fish needs an ample room for swiming left to righ, not up/down.

Maybe. I had a friend who had a similar tank with a large moray eel in it. He
built an artificial coral head in the center, and it was very impressive. I can
imagine the same sort of thing set up with several small fish; in fact, I saw
something like what I envision at the Boston aquarium. The fish tend to just
swim around the center decoration.

3rd issue - reef /lighting. All corals which need light will have to be
on the
top, 2x2' surface, so it will be limited room for reef design. Also, you
will have to have very strong bulb and good light focusing reflector to
reach tank that deep if you place any ligth liking animal near the bottom.
Other than that - the tank will be dark.

I'm not so sure about that. My vet has a huge reef tank in the lobby. This thing
is at least 12' high and 10' across. Since it sits on a stand about 4' high,
we're talking about a water column about 8' high; maybe several feet more. It's
circular, with a huge column of live rock in the center. I'm sure there's some
sort of framework to support this, but it's cleverly hidden; probably some sort
of rack of plastic shelves.

Way up at the top is a set of 6 lights, arranged in a radial fashion. They
resemble the Outer Orbit brand, but may not be. This tank supports some
impressive soft corals at eye level. That makes them about 7' below the lights.

Of course, you have the standard fluorescent lighting common in waiting rooms to
help out, but I think the tank lights are doing the majority of the work.

As an interesting side note, this tank apparently has some sort of refugium at
the top of the live rock column. If you back off into the main lobby, you can
see the tops of some mangroves sticking up above the rock.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

George Patterson wrote:
Pszemol wrote:

You are correct, but I would say more important problem will be the hight.
Unless you are a chimpanzee with 4-feet long arms - how are you going
to mantain this tank ? Have you imagined the ways you will do aquascaping?
How do you set up the rock work ? Not everything can be done with tongs!

Yep, that's a problem.

2nd issue - fish collection. This tank can be ok for seahorses, but almost
any other fish needs an ample room for swiming left to righ, not up/down.

Maybe. I had a friend who had a similar tank with a large moray eel in it. He
built an artificial coral head in the center, and it was very impressive. I can
imagine the same sort of thing set up with several small fish; in fact, I saw
something like what I envision at the Boston aquarium. The fish tend to just
swim around the center decoration.

3rd issue - reef /lighting. All corals which need light will have to be
on the
top, 2x2' surface, so it will be limited room for reef design. Also, you
will have to have very strong bulb and good light focusing reflector to
reach tank that deep if you place any ligth liking animal near the bottom.
Other than that - the tank will be dark.

I'm not so sure about that. My vet has a huge reef tank in the lobby. This thing
is at least 12' high and 10' across. Since it sits on a stand about 4' high,
we're talking about a water column about 8' high; maybe several feet more. It's
circular, with a huge column of live rock in the center. I'm sure there's some
sort of framework to support this, but it's cleverly hidden; probably some sort
of rack of plastic shelves.

Way up at the top is a set of 6 lights, arranged in a radial fashion. They
resemble the Outer Orbit brand, but may not be. This tank supports some
impressive soft corals at eye level. That makes them about 7' below the lights.

Of course, you have the standard fluorescent lighting common in waiting rooms to
help out, but I think the tank lights are doing the majority of the work.

As an interesting side note, this tank apparently has some sort of refugium at
the top of the live rock column. If you back off into the main lobby, you can
see the tops of some mangroves sticking up above the rock.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

Thanks for all your replys,

I believe the aluminuim in on the outside to hide the corners only, so
i dont think that will be a problem. I'm still seeing this as a
challege as it would look very cool. I didn't think about getting into
the tank tho. so thanks for brinnging that to my attention. I am 6.4 so
i have a good reach tho(with tongs... lol good idea). still weighing up
the pros and cons. ok cons only. I think the biggest problem will be
water movement. any ideas?

wrote:

I believe the aluminuim in on the outside to hide the corners only, so
i dont think that will be a problem. I'm still seeing this as a
challege as it would look very cool. I didn't think about getting into
the tank tho. so thanks for brinnging that to my attention. I am 6.4 so
i have a good reach tho(with tongs... lol good idea). still weighing up
the pros and cons. ok cons only. I think the biggest problem will be
water movement. any ideas?

The large tank I mentioned has plastic grates visible within the central stack
of live rock. I would guess that some are intakes and others outlets for
circulation pumps.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

* wrote, On 10/8/2006 5:25 AM:
Hi there

I'm looking to get back into a marine tank. It's been a while since I
have had one. the last was a bio ball setup which i believe has gone
out of fashion to be replaced by live rocks etc. anyway my question
is.. I'm looking at this tank
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Unique-Custom...QQcmdZViewItem

and just wondering if higher rather than wider tanks are still harder
to maintain with the new techniques of fish and invertebrates keeping.

Cheers thanks for taking the tinme to repspond


Dude...that's a very cool tank, but how are you going to work in it? You'll
need a stepladder and very long arms.

That would be a killer tank to look and marvel at, but an even bigger killer
to set up and maintain.

I set one up for a client end of last year, which was 6'L X 2.5'W X 4'H
using 19mm tempered glass for safety reasons. The aquascaping required me to
be in the tank ... ok so I'm only 5'6" but it was a lot quicker with me
inside and my mate handing me the LR from the outside. Lighting is 3 pieces
of 400W XM 15K and
16 pieces of 96W PC actinics and yet its not as bright as I'd like it to be
way at the bottom.

So the livestock had to be carefully placed on the rock structure, with
mostly shrooms at the bottom. Strictly no SPS corals, the rest were mostly
softies and LPS, lots of shrimps, and other inverts like cukes and snails.

Maintenance is a big PITA on this tank, especially with algae on the tank
walls - you can use magnets to scrape off some of it, but the persistent
ones need a blade. And finding a blade with a 3-4' long handle strong enuff
not to bend was tough.

Sure it looks good, but personally, I'd never get this kinda tank for myself

wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi there

I'm looking to get back into a marine tank. It's been a while since I
have had one. the last was a bio ball setup which i believe has gone
out of fashion to be replaced by live rocks etc. anyway my question
is.. I'm looking at this tank

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Unique-Custom...arium-full-set
up_W0QQitemZ150044026743QQihZ005QQcategoryZ20755QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and just wondering if higher rather than wider tanks are still harder
to maintain with the new techniques of fish and invertebrates keeping.

Cheers thanks for taking the tinme to repspond