# Tall vs. Long tanks



## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

Long story short, my girlfriend and I received a free tank from a co-worker of hers and it cracked at some point in my girlfriend's car so we are searching for another tank.

We are in the market for between a 20 and 30 gallon tank but are wondering what some advantages and disadvantages are between tall vs. long tanks. Is it purely by taste and footprint preference or are there any other benefits.

We plan on doing a live planted freshwater tank with fish around 76-80 degree tolerance. Don't know if that would make a difference.


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

the less depth the better the light can penetrate to the plants.


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## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

Thanks I never really thought of that. I was thinking the tall could give the plants some more room to grow taller.

Does a foot or so difference really block the light that much more?

I like the look the a long tank anyways I just want to make sure it suits my needs best.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

A deep tank means you need stronger lights. my 45H only has twin T-10 6700K's on it and the light penetrates well to the bottom as I can see light thru the 3" of flourite I have in there from the bottom panel of glass.

My 210 is 2' deep with only T5ho's on it and i get light well over an inch down into the substrate.


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## Cole (Aug 18, 2010)

For non-planted tanks, lighting doesn't really matter. But, it does get more complex as you decide what types of plants you want to add, and if/how much you want to worry about fertilization and CO2. Low light setups are easy too maintain, and a stock hood may be enough. But, if you want higher light plants you'll need to invest in a better light fixture. I would suggest going low to mid light. High lighting gets complicated.

Here's a graph showing how distance and the type of bulb affects the amount of light.









Chart created by Hoppy on plantedtank.net.


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## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

Great stuff!

Now I just found a used tall 35 gallon hex tank for sale on Craigslist. Would this be very difficult to grow things in or would I just need more lighting?

And if it's lighting how much would good lighting cost me?

Edit:
Here it is: 35 gallon hexagon Fishtank Aquarium Saltwater or Freshwater

I would probably have her just keep the salt water supplies and see if she'll knock a few bucks off.


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## Cole (Aug 18, 2010)

That tank would be fine. It could look very nice with some taller plants and/or a nice, tall piece of driftwood. But don't let me influence you too much. 

As far as lighting, I would shoot for the 50 micromol mark on the graph. Without knowing the height or width of the tank I can't really give any recommendations. But as a wild guess, I'd say between $50-$75, depending on how good of a deal you can find and the width of the tank. The light that it comes with may be good enough as well, if you're lucky.


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## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

Cole said:


> That tank would be fine. It could look very nice with some taller plants and/or a nice, tall piece of driftwood. But don't let me influence you too much.
> 
> As far as lighting, I would shoot for the 50 micromol mark on the graph. Without knowing the height or width of the tank I can't really give any recommendations. But as a wild guess, I'd say between $50-$75, depending on how good of a deal you can find and the width of the tank. The light that it comes with may be good enough as well, if you're lucky.


If you're right that works for me.

I'm still waiting to hear back about the tank.


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## Niki7 (Aug 16, 2010)

I have a 45 corner tank and my only complaint besides the lighting is how difficult it is to get in there to vac it. I do have a big vac but when I put my arm in there to grab something off the bottom or whatever, I am wet up to the armpit. Catching a fish can be a trick too, where if you have a long you can throw a divider in there or use a big net to help catch them. 

Pros- I love my tank because it fits perfectly in a corner away from windows and people can see it easily from the family room. Smaller footprint is nice too.

Got mine on CL too. Gotta love craigslist! *h/b


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*Long tanks are preferred if you grow live plants. Light penetration is much much easier. It also allows you to grow the more difficulty type plants. *


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## jeffnc (Oct 30, 2010)

A minor thing that you might not care about, but anyway.... The deeper your tank, the harder it is to push air under the pressure. For example, if you have an air pump going through an air stone to oxygenate the water, or just because you like the look of the bubbles, then you'll get fewer bubbles if the stone is 30" deep than if it is 15" deep. You can check this by moving an air stone up and down in your tank, unless you have a pump that's so powerful that it doesn't matter.


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