# Horizontal or vertical?



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have two tanks, a 20 long and a 26 tall. I have been thinking of setting one up for a pair of my B. Macrostomas, however I am tossing between which one.

So here is the pros and cons of each and will have you guys tell me which one you would rather see a build thread on.

20 long, pros- It has the 30 inch footprint like a 29 gallon. The light would reach plants a bit easier. Would give the male less open space to feel more secure.

cons- It needs to be painted. Has wood grain trim, though I could go frameless if I could fashion a way for the glass hoods to stay put. There is a divider I siliconed into it so I could either remove it(PITA) or leave it(Tacky) Also would have to buy a hood for it. Not hard just talking the hubbs into more fish crap, is not fun

26 tall, pros-The height will allow two plants that couldnt fit in the long, a barclaya longefolia and amazon sword. Thats really about it  Other than it is a neat looking tank for the most part. 

Cons- Its tall, so not many plants would be happy with regular lighting. It needs a reseal. I have all the old off, just a pain to redo. Would most likely need to buy a hood for this one too haha!

The choice is yours!


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

do a high tech plant tank!


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## Wuwuwu54 (Aug 8, 2012)

Horizontal. Long and Low


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## weissinphoenix (Dec 10, 2012)

The 20 Long sounds like it needs a lot of work. If you are going that route, ditch it and rebuy it. The cost of the tank with the hood is probably nearly the same as the hoods alone. I had an amazon sword in a 20 and it didn't pop out of the tank until it was full grown. I find it hard to believe that the extra few inches of height considerably lowers the light output to the plants. Just go with an extra hour of lighting or something...


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## dvanbramer88 (Jul 23, 2011)

20 long for sure. Hoods are more common and probably cheaper.


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

A new 20g long at petco is only $20.00 right now


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

TroyVSC said:


> A new 20g long at petco is only $20.00 right now


Problem with that is, theres no petco near me lol.



weissinphoenix said:


> I find it hard to believe that the extra few inches of height considerably lowers the light output to the plants. Just go with an extra hour of lighting or something...


For the plants that I could do in the 20 long, it does. Hair grass and my microsword neither will grow well and the leaves on the bottom of my stems would melt off, making it leggy. The height difference is eight inches so a bit more than a few. 

Looks like the 20 long will get the attention for now  The 26, another day.

As for the hoods, I would have to really buy one for either as the planned fish are jumpers, so I need a glass canopy. The 20 long will take a 30 inch hood, the 26 will take a 24 inch hood.


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