# 90g or 75g? Or maybe bigger!



## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

It's a ways down the road, but I'd like to keep my eye open for a good deal if I can find one...

I've got this long term plan of plumbing in a "bigger" aquarium into my house. (bigger to me...I've seen some of the mosters you guys have! )

Strange, but the previous owner of my house put a shower in the bedroom (no comments! haha) and it sat unused for years (was used as a giant laundry hamper) Then I took the glass off and now the basin is a lovely dog bed. 

But it recently occurred to me, I have a waterline and a drain in my bedroom! I could plumb a tank in with a water reservoir of some sort so I could create an auto water change system. The total footprint I'd have to play with is about 68 inches by about 24 inches. I thought I could stack a cabinet on the one side to house something for aging the water. That would probably take up 24 inches of the length. 

Or I could use a 60" tank, and run all the plumbing underneath. But my concern with that is weight. Granted, I currently have the ceiling in the basement torn out so I could reinforce the supports (the beams run lengthwise, not across)

If I went the 48" route, what are people's opinions on 90 vs 75 gallons? It will be a planted tank so I was leaning towards the 75 for ease of lighting (not as deep) but does it really make a difference? (plus I prefer the looks of a longer, shallower tank vs a tall one) I won't at first, but I've always wanted to keep discus, so I don't want to do anything that wouldn't work for discus. Is a 75 too small for them? I don't want hordes of them, maybe 5? I once saw a tank that was 48" long and 24" deep but not super tall. Any idea what that might have been? I seem to remember the guy said it was 80G but I'm not sure that makes sense.

Sorry for all the questions. It seems it's all I've done since I joined! But I keep getting great answers so I just keep asking! :bigsmile:


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I would go with the 75 for a planted Discus tank myself. Basically for the the ease of lighting you mentioned and I don't believe the Discus will appreciate the higher lighting a 90 may require. A 90 is only a few inches taller but would probably require more lighting for plants then a 75 would. I also think 5 Discus in a 75 would be fine. Just my 2 cents


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

If you have 24" width forget either of those, get a 120 gallon. 48x24x24. The extra width is a lot nicer. If you had 72" I would have said a 180. 

The 60"x18" would also give you a 120 and the weight would be spread out more. If you plan to put the tank against an outside wall, I wouldn't worry about it at all since there would be a load bearing wall there.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

Unfortunately it won't be against an outside wall (well one end will be and that would be the end I'd have to put the plumbing) but I can put a vertical support under the other end (It would be in a bathroom closet in the basement so hidden) or laminate another beam along the length.
I'm also worried that a 24 inch tall tank would be harder to take care of. (ie reach the bottom)

poking on the web I found the 80G tank that guy had. It was a 80G frag tank, so it was 48x24 but only 16 inches tall. http://www.cvreefers.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18363&d=1294860120
I suppose that is too shallow for discus? Though it sure would make a pretty planted tank!


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

I would want to fill the space as much as possible. In that case I would go with the 120 gallon 60" x 18" x 26" it is a bit tall and 5' lights are basically nonexistent but it would look a lot nicer. Cleaning isn't that bad, just use a small step ladder or a stool. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

If you go custom you can go any size you want. 16" is indeed too shallow to effective house fish which may be 8"+ with full finnage, once you add in 2" or more of substrate.

If your arms are short, a 24" tall and 24" wide tank would be difficult to work on. I have long arms and with my 24" tall and 30" wide tank I have trouble reaching the back corner. If you're worried about that, then the 75 gallon is the way to go.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

Hmm. I starting to like the idea of the 48x24x24 120G. It's the exact proportions as my 15G (which I like) just EIGHT TIMES BIGGER! :bigsmile:
I've actually got fairly long arms and am tall enough. 
I suppose you never really regret going TOO big, do you...?  
Though that does add to the costs - 75G do show up from time to time at a reasonable price. Maybe I could build the system to work with a 120 but start with a 75 (unless I find a good deal...) 

Acrylic or glass? I've always been afraid of acrylic scratching.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

If you're not afraid of the height get the 24" tall tank. It'll look good with the 120. On the skinny 90 gallon I don't like it as much.
And no, it'll never be TOO big. I got my 125 and thought what will I ever stock it with and now I wish I had gone 180 or 210.

You can do that option. Build the stand and setup for a 4 foot long tank that's 24" and put the 75 gallon on it. The downside is that I bet you that when you want to upgrade, a 120 is too small an upgrade from a 75. After the 125 I thought it was time I got an upgrade to the 20 gallon and that's when I got the 100 gallon cube tank. 

If you go 75 gallon, glass for sure. If you got 120, glass would still be a lot cheaper, but the weight savings and insulation for heating the tank really start to come into play. You gotta be careful on the inside because of substrate etc, but on the outside they can be polished out.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

Regarding the heat loss of glass vs acrylic... Is it significant? 

I actually try to keep my bedroom a little warmer so like to run a little space heater in my room (especially in the evening when the timed thermostat lowers the temp in the house) so a little heat loss may mean I don't need to run a heater. I'm not saying I'll heat my room with my aquarium, but the fact that I may not need to run a 1500W heater might offset the extra costs of heating a glass tank.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

You would be way farther ahead heating your room with your space heater than it is to try to gain some eat from an aquarium. Acrylic is a substantially better insulator than glass. Think of holding a glass of boiling water versus a plastic cup in your hand. Now make that plastic cup's walls a half inch thick. You'd probably barely feel the heat.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/fres...1-tank-stnad-xp3-light-content-300-obo-36348/

Just get that and you're good to go. Everything included. Great deal for someone needing everything.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/fres...1-tank-stnad-xp3-light-content-300-obo-36348/
> 
> Just get that and you're good to go. Everything included. Great deal for someone needing everything.


I know! perfect, but a few months too early!


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Credit card!!!!!


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

Now, how is that fiscally responsible?  hah. Also, I'm now thinking I may try to fit a 5 foot tank in the space with all the 'guts' underneath.. I'd probably have to diy the lights, but I'd probably have to diy due to costs anyhow. There are 100 Gallon 5 footers, right?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

The moment you step foot into this hobby is already an irresponsible decision; but at times more responsible for some political leaders 
Welcome to the fiscally irresponsible club.

I think a 120 gallon tank would be a nice fit ; a 75 gallon tank would be better for plant growth as the tank dimension isn't as tall.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

I thought about a 100 because I *think*? it's the same depth and height as a 75? (60x18x20) but so not as deep as a 120? But lighting a 5 foot tank is a challenge I've heard. I was thinking I could DIY staggered 4 foot bulbs, or is that not a good idea? 

Also, I'm a little worried about the weight. I've got some friends that are handy in that department, maybe I'll have them take a look at the support undeneath and help me beef it up. It's too bad I can't run it against an outside wall, but that would leave me with no place to put my bed!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Tanks no in multiples of 2 are hard to light if you want to continue with conventional thinking and use one of the all in one canopies. With LED's and custom canopies, watts per gallon, length of tanks, most of that is outdated. You can fashion your own light bar or canopy and then mount how ever many or few lights you want to get the scape and look you want. 
This tank is light with 6 halogen spotlights. View topic - 125 West African build $40 at Home Depot in the US. And he's growing plants with it.


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## 77_Bus_Girl (Dec 30, 2012)

How much brighter would I need to go if I needed to run a glass cover on the tank? (how much does the glass kill the lights?)


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I think you can answer that one yourself by looking out the window. How much light does your clear window cut out?  Unless it's tinted or you're doing a reef it's almost irrelevant. The problem occurs because people go 12 months at a time without cleaning their glass tops and then blame it on the lighting. I mean, if I didn't clean my glasses for 12 months I'd be totally blind.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I agree with what others have said about the 120 (48x24x24) tank.. You can always add more lighting for the extra depth and use a small step latter to help reach the back, but it's much harder to add more size to your tank if you want more floor space, without a total overhaul of your setup. The 24" depth of that tank is my favorite 48" tank. It gives the scape of the tank so much more depth.

On a lighting note, I've been looking at the Aquatic Life fixtures these days. The 48" fixture has 4 x 48" T5HO bulbs (on 2 separate timers) with blue LED moon lights and a built in timer. You can program it to come on/off in a sunrise-sunset schedule and I've read on a few planted tank forums that the reflectors on the Aquatic Life fixtures is of fantastic quality. Much more light gets directed into the tank over some of the cheaper 48" fixtures with lesser quality reflectors.


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