How tall should my custom tank be??

For rimless I wouldn't go more than 24" high.

There is a big difference in how easy it is to take care of a tank, once you go beyond 24 inches in height. Few people can reach the bottom with higher tanks. That means you struggle to plant it, clean it, or anything else you need to do in it. I am on my second 24 inch deep tank now, and I can't see ever wanting a higher one. But, no question, higher tanks look absolutely great.

You can easily light even 30 inch or higher tanks, so that shouldn't be the criteria.

24"

zavikan said:

I am planning on having a large rimless tank made. Dimensions being 43L18D

I would like to have it lit by a metal halide pendant. Someplace between 2-3wpg. The two common sizes I have seen are 150 and 250 watt

My question is, how tall should this tank be? whats a good height for planted tanks?

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I wouldn't take issue with what was said about the height, but I'd add that there's a limit to the breadth of a metal halide bulb. Even if you opt for the 250-watt bulb, you shouldn't expect it to have the capacity to provide sufficient lighting for plants in an area of more than a 2-square feet below it. So , if your plan is to have your tank be 43-inches long, then you'd need two MH bulbs to cover that length if your design plan includes having plants throughout the tank as opposed to concentrating them in one area.

Follow the golden ratio and you can't go wrong:
1.618

Here's the math, I think :icon_ques

43" ÷ 1.618 = 27"

or

18" * 1.618 = 29"

I have a 26" tall Fluval Osaka. I have a 34" sleeve. Full, I barely reach the bottom of the tank. I'm 6' tall too, and the cabint is lower than std. A few inches more height and I wouldn't be able to reach in.

I do most of my maint during a water change when the water level is down to about 14". That's a lot easier and tools and things reach easily.

I'm not sure a 24" height would be that much easier to work with, but there is the light issue too. 2 more inches of water just requires your lights to penetrate that much deeper.

If you're doing custom you have options, but I'd say 18-24" is good, no less to give some headroom to your aquascape and fish.

btw, did you mean 48 x 18 instead of 43 x 18? Reason I ask is that 48x18 is the footprint of std 75 and 90 gallon tanks and 48" a std length for light fixtures, next would be 36". Consider the size of accessories in your planning.

Left C said:

Here's the math, I think :icon_ques

43" ÷ 1.618 = 27"

or

18" * 1.618 = 29"

Click to expand...

That is correct.

To the OP, why the dimensions that you have chosen? I understand the 18" deep but the 43" long is not normal and will be difficult to do anything but MH lighting since bulbs are 36" or 48" long. This is not an issue since you are planning to do MH lighting, I am mostly just curious.

I have an extremely overbuilt buffet that I am using for a stand. Its length allows for a footprint of 18x43, which visualizing, looks quite nice.

I was planning on using mh anyway, as cosmetics of the tank is extremely important to me. MH gives me the best cosmetic solution for lighting. 3-4 55w MH pendants should do nicely. Nothing will be going over the rim of this rimless tank.

As lighting is the only thing affected by the length of a rimless tank, I dont think a custom length is terribly important. I can control the intensity by pulling the light away/closer to the tank. More information on how THAT works would be nice though.

zavikan said:

I have an extremely overbuilt buffet that I am using for a stand. Its length allows for a footprint of 18x43, which visualizing, looks quite nice.

Click to expand...

Cool