newbie question

[unheardthreat]

hello, im young and just been introduced to the hobby. After a lot of research i still have a simple question that I can't find an answer to. I was looking for a glass tank to buy and i was looking at AGA or Oceanic. while looking at oceanic i saw there were regular tanks and reef ready tanks. i wanted to know what is the difference and which tank i should choose. i was thinking a 55-60G tank. thanks

[wharyat]

Hello, and welcome to TRT!!


Reef ready (RR) tanks are tanks that already have the overflows so you dont have to do any drilling. If you're not experienced with drilling glass tanks then I recommend going with RR.

What size are you looking for? 4' or the 3' length?

The wider (front to back) your tank is the more unique aquascaping you can pull off.

I won't get too deep into everything right now, ask all the questions you need, we are all glad to help.

Some things to consider:
fish, inverts, corals (lps, sps, softies)
ligthing MH, PC, VHO
skimmer, water movement, fuge, sump, etc.

[Twitterbait]

I agree RR is better but besides that i really do not recommend glass tanks in general. They are so out of date and the only things they have over Acrylic is the price (which won't help in the end when you have to re-seal them) and scratch resistance. They are sooo heavy and a pain to alter. If money is the issue i still say it is better to wait until you can afford Acrylic since odds are you will want to move to it eventually. Just my thoughts. Hope it helps.

[btang]

RR is the way to go. You have found a great place to get answers to your questions. Go slow, plan and read, read and read some more. Look at the links to tank of the month. Great info on a fully running tank.

Welcome and keep us posted.

[JennM]

Originally Posted by Twitterbait

I agree RR is better but besides that i really do not recommend glass tanks in general. They are so out of date and the only things they have over Acrylic is the price (which won't help in the end when you have to re-seal them) and scratch resistance. They are sooo heavy and a pain to alter. If money is the issue i still say it is better to wait until you can afford Acrylic since odds are you will want to move to it eventually. Just my thoughts. Hope it helps.

Respectfully disagree with the above. Glass tanks are not "out of date". If the statement above was qualified with "for aquariums over 300 gallons" I'd be inclined to agree, but in my experience, for tanks smaller than 300 gallons, glass is more cost-effective, more scratch resistant, and more practical for the application.

Of course a lot boils down to opinion too - some folks prefer glass, others acrylic and I prefer the former.

You did receive an apt description of reef-ready versus standard, and it's my recommendation to go reef-ready too, for the size of tank you are suggesting. The AGA 65-gallon is a nice size - 36 x 18 is the foot print, lots of front-to-back real estate to play with.

HTH

Jenn