40 gallon breeder input & pics!

[lowfi]

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking about setting up a 40 gallon breeder for my first reef tank and was wondering how you all felt about that size. The only concern I have about the tank is it being too short for viewing pleasure. The tank is only 16" tall. What I love about this size of tank is that it's so wide for awesome aquascaping possibilities. If anyone has any pics and opinions about this size of tank, it would be great to hear them before I buy. Thanks a lot!!

Sean

[reefman420]

My buddy uses one,they are great for aquascapeing and the short size makes it easy to light,he uses 2 150 watt halides and he keeps sps and clams with no problem,even on the bottem.I like the 40 breeders,and if i wanted a smaller tank i would get one.But i cant go from a 75 to a 40,so i got a 155

[cioutlaw]

Has always been one of my favorite tanks. 25 years ago when I worked for an LFS all the salt tanks were 40 breeders & I always said id have one yet never have. All my tanks Ive had in recent years have been about the same proportion just larger.

[mps9506]

I used a 40 breeder for an sps tank. I think it's an ideal size because it is shallow and wide. Makes top down shots of the corals really easy as well. As far as concerns with the height, I was barebottom and had no qualms with the height from an aquascaping perspective. If you go with a lot of light however, you will be limited to corals that can handle the light because of the shallow depth.

[lowfi]

what about a 50???

[lowfi]

50 gallon dimensions --> 36 3/8 x 18 3/8 x 19

[LiVEWiRE]

I have started a 40 gallon breeder tank with a 10 gallon sump and carbon filled canister you can check out my pics on my profile. I have added 65lbs of live rock and 80lbs of live sand and still have plenty of room.

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by lowfi

what about a 50???

40/50/65 gallon tanks will just give you increasing height to work with. I would go with whatever you find aesthetically pleasing.

[DaveK]

Like many other things in reef systems, the correct answer is "it depends". In other words is a 40 gal breeder right for you.

As pointed out, it's a good tank to aquascape, because the front to back dimension of the tank is greater than the hight. However, you are correct about the length. It's only about 3 feet. It also doesn't have a lot of frontal area.

Now if you are looking for a modest size tank for SPS corals, this could be ideal. Of course it would also work well for other corals.

On the other hand, if you want the tank to show off fish better than corals, you might be better off with something a bit larger. For example, if you want a tang, a 40 gal breeder is way too small.

You might find a 70 or 90 gal better to your liking, since they are 4 feet long. Most of the equipment would be similar, but you might have to get it one size larger.

As you can see, this all depends upon what you want to keep in the system. So a 40 gal breeder might be the right choice for you.

[mps9506]

Very good points Dave. I didn't really even think about that when responding. I didn't keep many fish in my tank, only a candy hog and lawnmower blenny. If you are interested in keeping a larger bioload of fish or tangs I would recomend a larger tank.
The nice thing about the 40 breeder is the low height makes smaller corals appear larger and kind of puts things out of perspective. So although it's only a 3 foot long tank, the short height makes the corals seem larger. You lose this with the taller tanks, but gain room for vertical coral growth.

[LiVEWiRE]

Yes I agree DaveK with my 40 gallon breeder I am going all coral with a few small fish like clowns. So mine will be all corals with 4-6 small fish max.

[JOSEPHLB]

I'm actually considering downgrading my 65g to a 40g or 50g breeder.

Same length and depth of the 65g, so no additional stand/canopy purchases are needed.

In addition.. my 4x39w T5 lighting would allow more options on the corals I could keep in a shallower tank.