47g tall cube tank

[Dennis-Pir]

I'm hoping to set up a new tank. It is a 47 gallon tall tank. I'm wondering how many/what size fish I am going to be able to put in it, if I need a skimmer right away, or does that depend on the number of fish I have? What about a sump? Again - does it depend on the number of fish?

Thanks for any/all help...

 

[saltwater4life]

Umm well what type of fish do you want? i'm not sure but you'll probably have to stay with smaller fish i don't know the foot print though, and skimmers help it's not something you have to get but it's something you'll probably want to get and a sump is mostly used to add water volume and helps hide your equip (skimmer,heater and whatever else you have)
anyways GOOD LUCK!
Nick

 

[joeyjoeq]

Umm well what type of fish do you want? i'm not sure but you'll probably have to stay with smaller fish i don't know the foot print though, and skimmers help it's not something you have to get but it's something you'll probably want to get and a sump is mostly used to add water volume and helps hide your equip (skimmer,heater and whatever else you have)
anyways GOOD LUCK!
Nick

Yup skimmers sure help. Are you planning on using the sump for a filter? Live rock will be your best filtration. Other than that I guess like saltwater said it's good to add volume. Get some seahorses! They are so fun to watch.

 

[Lorna]

actually that footprint on a 47tall would be an awesome seahorse tank. Otherwise you are going to be limited in fish as most need linear swim space (tangs etc) if fish is your want, you could easily do some nice fairy wrasses, dwarf angel, clownfish, cardinals, firefish, gobies, blennies.....the choice is yours. You have to determine what it is you want.....a reef tank or a fish only with live rock (fowlr) then determine whether you want a community or aggressive.......get some good books such as Paletta's "The New Marine Aquarium" or Fenner's "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" both are excellent beginner resources and will point you in the right direction. Research is key here and go slowly.....

 

[TRe]

if youve never had a saltwater tank you most DEFINTILY DONT want to start off with seahoarses...... with that said i would start off with fish only tank but keep everything reef safe incase you want to upgrade your lights/ add corals down the road (and you will)... maybe a few cardinals, a few clowns, a goby, a blenny, a few shrimp, crabs , snails, star fish ect... *thumbsups
and although a skimmer / sump would be great from the start you can start your tank while you save/buy them but just make sure you do lots of water changes like 10% every week or 2 ..... but belive me when you see all the crap the skimmer collects youll wonder how you ever did without one

 

[Dennis-Pir]

Ok the dimensions of the tank are "56 Gal Column Tank (30x18x24)" I was planning on doing FOWLR (as I do no have a 'good enough' lighting system to sustain reefs) and would 'construct the live rock in a pyramid type scheme ( as in the rocks would be stacked against the back wall less pyramidy more traingle like ha ha) This is what the tank looks like 56 Column Tank

I would like to add a sump in there because it would be easier to maintain because the hieght of the tank with a stand is quite well non condusive to filling it up. The sump would be a DIY, and as you can see from the picture above the tank is again not very condusive to hiding a sump. A filter yes, but not a sump. I'd want a sump because as noted above it would be able to hide all my equipment.

Now I just picked up a 55g tank as well, (it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up, and I had a older not as 'good looking' one so I am switching it up.
The footprint for this one is 48 x 12½ x 21. So I am wondering which tank in the end would be overall better?

I like the 56 tall tank because of how it looks, but looks won't matter if its a b*tch to maintain.

Anyways I hope that helps...

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[TRe]

one thing you dont wanna do is over stock your house with fish tanks...... i got a little carried away and before i knew i had a 10, 20, 30, 40, 55, and a 125 gallon.... now imagine doing 6 water changes every other .... not fun .... right now i have it down to the 10, 55, and 125 but id like to get it down to just the 125 setup as a reef *thumbsups

 

[Lotus]

I think you'd be better off with the 55g if you want to run a sump. I think trying too do a sump on that 56g would be a problem because of the stand dimensions.

Tanks that are hard to maintain because of the shape tend to get maintenance less often, just because you don't want to go through the hassle. Of course, this isn't a good idea for a SW tank.

 

[TRe]

yea the 55 would definitly give you more room under neath for a sump/fuge

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Unless you went with really little fish, the 55 would also be better for them because fish tend to swim horizontally, not vertically.

 

[Dennis-Pir]

Bah.. ha ha my fiancee got me a fish tank the 56 tall for my bday present and I feel bad if I don't use it and rather bring it bakc lol.... Bah she won't be ahppy lol but I do agree with what everyone is sayin.....