# Ideal Planted tank Sizes !



## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

I was thinking there must be tank sizes better suited to planted tanks over fish keeping only tanks gallon for gallon, is it better to have a longer shallow tank or a narrower deeper tank ? The reason I ask is I have a 36" 65 G tank I am planning to take down and put in a 33 long in its place. I was thinking that with a 33 long It would look stunning heavily planted on co2 with a bunch of celestial pearl danions and cardinals . Other planted tank sizes i like are a 5.5G and 15G I was thinking a 20G long a decent tank as well but maybe my thinking is wrong ?


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## _TiDy_ (Apr 29, 2010)

i personally love a deep, shallow, and long tank. You wouldn't want the tank too tall because reaching your hand into something too tall to do maintenance would be such a pain. Plus a deep and long tank give you lots of room to do your aquascaping allowing you to provide lots of depth and dimension to your tank.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The tank that makes the most sense economically is the 75 gallon because 4 foot bulbs are the cheapest per watt and the tank is easily lit front to back. Anything longer than 4 feet and you have to think about multiple points of CO2 injection and you run into other circulation issues. Having said that though, I think a 4 foot 120 gallon gives you a since of depth that no 18" wide tank can. You would have to go to either multiple lights or a wider light though to get the coverage.


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## alym (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree with the above but will say that if your tank is too deep, light has trouble reaching the substrate... Especially if your stem plants get long 


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes, totally agree. With a deeper tank, it's tougher to manage any sort of carpeting plant if the stems are not managed properly.


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## Algae Beater (Apr 21, 2010)

any tank with a 2:1:1 length to width to height ratio pleases me. 

120 gallon tanks, breeder 50s ... and so on. 

anything with a length equal to a standard bulb length is a plus too


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> The tank that makes the most sense economically is the 75 gallon because 4 foot bulbs are the cheapest per watt and the tank is easily lit front to back. Anything longer than 4 feet and you have to think about multiple points of CO2 injection and you run into other circulation issues. Having said that though, I think a 4 foot 120 gallon gives you a since of depth that no 18" wide tank can. You would have to go to either multiple lights or a wider light though to get the coverage.


coincidentally i saw some 75G tanks at IPU in richmond i think they were only 170 each

i think im going to try my hand at a 20 gallon long over the xmas holidays and give my 10G to my wife so she can get a little puffer (she adores them)


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

40 gallon breeder works quite well for planted tank. 36" Long 18" wide 15-16" tall 

A more square footprint tank is better than a long and narrow tank for scaping.


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

so no to a 33 long then ?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Anything is possible, but what EDGE is saying is that you'll find that you quickly run out of room to create that illusion of depth front to back with a skinny tank. Really limits what you can plant too.


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## christhefish (Nov 8, 2010)

i like ten gallon tanks for planting its not too expensive to redo or start up and can be put almost anywhere to display


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## lednail (Apr 22, 2010)

I like a 40 gallon breeder, they have worked well for me. but all i have now is a 65 gallon and it works you just need more light.


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## couch (Apr 22, 2010)

I have a 72" x 18" x 14" that I am really looking forward to planting. At 14" deep light should not be a problem.


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