Possibly starting a new tank...wondering about direction.

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tolawdjk

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Sep 8, 2010
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So having my son's tiger cub meetings at my house has allowed the other parents to see my multiple tank syndrome and follow that up with "I see you have fish tanks...do you want mine?" One that is being offered is a 40-50 gal hex. Not 100% sure on size or dimensions as I am getting conflicting reports from teh parents, but the size and dimensions intrigue me.

What I'm curious about is does anyone know of hex's of that size being used as reefs? I'm mostly concerned about lighting and sump sizes/plumbing. Well, the first concern is the convincing of the spousal unit that we need another tank in the first place. This would be a slow build project most likely as I just don't have the funds to drop from the start, but a "you will need/want to think about this" would be a good thing to start with.
 

SubRosa

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Jul 3, 2009
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I know of several hex tanks with volumes in that range, all but one of which would make excellent reef tanks. There are the standard 35/42 hex of Aqueon/Oceanic which is about 27" across, and the 60 gal hex from Aqueon which is about 32" across I believe. I have also seen a 55 gal hex which had the same footprint as a 10 gal Aqueon but was about 60" tall. Not a good reef tank! Hex tanks lend themselves nicely to LED fixtures. One of the Taotronics 120W dimmable units would provide all the light you could ever want for under $200. IF the tank is an old Oceanic, I believe the bottom is drillable which could make filtration a lot neater. Otherwise I would probably run a canister and a HOB skimmer, and clean the canister often.
 

tolawdjk

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Sep 8, 2010
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Thanks for the insight. I was definatly leaning towards LEDs. I'll look into those Taotronics. Im guessing it isn't the tall version as he said, and I shuddered when he did, they had koi in it originally. I would love the bottom to be drillable as I don't really want to run a canister. I would hope I could get an overflow box on the out side at least, but I'll just have to get a good look at it later.
 
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