What is the ideal aquarium height

Been playing with the idea to do another custom tank, but do it all myself. If we assume that glass thickness it not a concern. What would be the ideal tank height be and why?

Typical factors would be lighting to be used, substrate depth, fish / plants you want to keep. I keep thinking it must be between 400 - 600 mm assuming a width of no more than 600mm.

 

I would go for 600mm width, with a 600mm height. That way you can still get your hand in without having to climb onto anything. Anything wider than that and you might not be able to reach the back, and anything higher than that and you would have to start increasing your light intensity just to get the light to reach the plants.

 

soz for hijacking your thread f-fish but what would the ideal dimensions be for a 500Litre tank?

 

Wot he sed!! It really depends on what fish you want to keep?? Altum Angels really should be in a tank no shallower than 60cm, since they can grow upto 50cm tall!!

Anything over 60cm does become an issue for both lighting and maintenace!! MH lights are the only real effective lighting solution for a tank deeper than 60cm, and an incredibly long arm for reaching the bottom!! I have an 80cm x 80cm x 60cm corner tank, and reaching the back corner really was difficult!! And I am 6'2" with very long arms!!

Enjoy!!
G!

 

Thx .. and safety factor 3.8?

 

What do you mean by safety factor?

G!

 

Looking at a few calculators on the web .. seems like a magic number used to calculate the glass thickness for a given height, seems to vary from 2.5 - 4

 

Hmm... Not heard of that one!!

I would say though that I would not use anything other than 10mm or preferably 12mm for any tank higher 60cm, since the higher the tank, the more pressure excerted on the tank sides!

So, from a safety point of view, DO NOT USE GLASS THAT IS TOO THIN! Thats the golden rule!! Rule number two... Always install bracing at least around the top of the tank along the longest sides!! It may seem like overkill, but it will prevent the tank sides from bending, and ultimately cracking open and spilling the contents!!

Regards
G!

 

DIY - Calculate Glass Thickness That Fits Your Aquarium | TheAquaTools

 

LOL - thanks Dasher ... I love that site, been sitting and putting tanks sizes in for a while now. But what gets me is they start of with a safety factor of 2.5 but when you read the text they state that most use 3.8 - hence the question.

Yeah Zoom 600 x 600 does seem optimal .. I am toying with the idea of having access to the tank from 3 sides - now it gets interesting so maybe more width than height should be the variable?

You are spot on Big G - for a 120x60x60 and 10 mm glass the safety factor is 2.5
If you make it 3.8 your glass needs to be 12 mm.

 

10mm glass is sufficient on a 60X60 tank, its the bracing where it counts. 20mm base ie 2 10mm with euro bracing along the tank 2X10mm as well on my 1.8.

Perfect dimensions? I'd say wider rather than taller, say 700-900W and 500H. Width gives you a lot more options for scaping in terms of plants, rock and driftwood. Even at 500 deep, working on it can be painful, and i'm 1.9m tall

 

Thanks for the input .... unless I can grow my arms I think this is the final plan for height.:bigsmile:

Tank will be 1?00x900x500 (LxWxH)... now the rest of the planning continues.

 

yeah - the current plan is 3 way access the the tank - one short side (internal filter or side wide overflow to a sump) against a wall the other 3 accessible by just walking around the tank. So it should work.

 

its like trying to reach from one end of a 3ft to the other end. Have you tried that out?

 

LOL - did not work - well did not expect it to - but the idea is to make it as wide as a 3ft tank (might want to use one as a possible sump) .... attached the top view. I should be OK unless I am missing something - would be bad to have a dope!! ush: moment on the first water change.

 

interesting dimensions for a tank!

 

Check the dimensions of your doorway so that you can get the tank in

 

butcherman - ja .. .this one I want to plan all the way before I even start - admittedly I have bought some plumbing to play with ... so this will be a project that will take months .. I want to incorporate my current 4ft and some 3ft tanks under this one so planning is the key here ... next filtration.

Fishcrazy - point taken esp for the stand - thx .. tank will be assembled on the stand in the room.

I might just build 1 or 2 smaller tanks first to see what it really takes to do this type of thing.