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.

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:OjCWg.1651$Gp4.545@trnddc08...
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.

I fit branching plumbing on my powerheads to achieve less dead spots.
I try leave some chilled spots for fish to rest/sleep tho.
A tank non stop blasted is a tank fed 10 times a day to fend off death.
Something I am getting into more is drilling 2 holes thru the base and
rigging a cannister filter under the tank.
Simple, hidden and yea I likes....... is more suitable to small oddball
tanks tho
For a large deep one thats gonna be mostly fish only..... shock horror I'd
reccomend maybe 4 of those round black air powered sponge filters.
the bubble updraft will circulate the deep tank quite well. 4 means you can
stagger cleaning.
Lids are needed tho to fend off splash and pop from da bubbles!
chuck in a nice powerhead for more surface agitation and current and it
would be a suitable el' cheapo solution.
then ya just gotta cycle the bugger
:P

"swarvegorilla" wrote in message ...
I fit branching plumbing on my powerheads to achieve less dead spots.
I try leave some chilled spots for fish to rest/sleep tho.
A tank non stop blasted is a tank fed 10 times a day to fend off death.

Are you talking about reef tank or fish-only tank ?

For a large deep one thats gonna be mostly fish only..... shock horror I'd
reccomend maybe 4 of those round black air powered sponge filters.
the bubble updraft will circulate the deep tank quite well. 4 means you can
stagger cleaning.

Air powered sponges in a reef/marine setup ? 8-)

"Pszemol" wrote in message
...
"swarvegorilla" wrote in message
...
I fit branching plumbing on my powerheads to achieve less dead spots.
I try leave some chilled spots for fish to rest/sleep tho.
A tank non stop blasted is a tank fed 10 times a day to fend off death.

Are you talking about reef tank or fish-only tank ?

both, well i was.
the topic starter was kinda vague


For a large deep one thats gonna be mostly fish only..... shock horror
I'd reccomend maybe 4 of those round black air powered sponge filters.
the bubble updraft will circulate the deep tank quite well. 4 means you
can stagger cleaning.

Air powered sponges in a reef/marine setup ? 8-)

a column of liverock and..... don't sound like much of a reef to me.
And yes I currently run 5 tanks on nothing but them and powerheads. Sure
maybe only 5 out of 20 that I play with weekly but they work for deep tanks.
I am well aware of the need for circulation and it's importance for reef
critters.

but ya they work well in a marine tank.
infact I can't really think of a freshwater based filter that wouldn't work
in sal****er?
minus rusting bits and stuff.

anyway tis cheap and easy
and as a plus the bubbles look good.
heck if ya can chill the air it chills the tank
rokin

doesn't have to be a final filtration solution but they do cycle well
and are easy the phase out.
plus they are handy to rig to battery powered aerators in blackouts


cheap easy and foolproof is popular with me hey

"swarvegorilla" wrote in message ...
And yes I currently run 5 tanks on nothing but them and powerheads.

Do you have some pictures of your 5 tanks with nothing than sponge filters?
I would love to see them...