cube tank or regular tank

bwilcox · 12/16/2009, 08:17 AM

What do you guys think would be a better first tank

NaClCrocodile · 12/16/2009, 08:20 AM

Well what size are you looking at? I personally love the look of a smaller cube, less than 50g, but if you're looking at something like a 125 or something I'd definately say regular.

der_wille_zur_macht · 12/16/2009, 08:34 AM

Highly a matter of personal preference, and for me, it would depend at least a bit on where it was going (i.e. what room, what furniture was around it, etc.)

Personally though, I'm a huge fan of non-standard aquarium shapes, as long as they present no challenges. Some bowfronts and corners I don't like, because the curved glass can be a pain (distorts your view and can be a challenge to clean) but otherwise, the standard thin rectangle strikes me as a boring, 2-dimensional shape. Meanwhile, a cube usually stands a better chance of giving you a nice, 3-dimensional view.

Juruense · 12/16/2009, 08:43 AM

I like cubes.

jayhawk317 · 12/16/2009, 11:17 AM

i like the cube. my lfs has a 48x48x24 cube with a center overflow and viewable on all sides, and it looks really nice.

moevilla · 12/16/2009, 12:20 PM

I have both a cube (25 gallon) and regular (40 gallon breeder). I had my cube custom made which cost about twice as much as the regular. If I had to do it over again, I would have just bought the regular and used the rest of the money on equipment. If price is not an issue, I would go with a cube, but it's not that big of a difference. I have seen beautiful set-ups either way. Hope it helps...

DC_40gallon · 12/16/2009, 12:32 PM

Depends on the size, I wouldn't do anything under a 24x24x24 or around 50-60 gallon tank. Your live rock in a cube will have to be stacked in the middle and tall like a pyramid. I love cubes, but size truly makes a huge difference in cube tanks.

Plus they are much more expensive. Personally my favorite tank in the whole world is a old fashioned 75 gallon rectangle. It's wide, long, and perfect depth. You can stock it up with just about anything, plus have tons of room for open sand bed, you can have a 20 frag eggcrate in the corner and it is never noticeable plus more than enough room for thousands of dollars in colony coral all over the tank for decoration.

Keep an eye on craigslist, your likely to find the tank you want at an insane price.

frewd · 12/16/2009, 03:53 PM

for me a like a deeper tank, deeper from front to back of tank i mean. i have had small tanks and big and the best thing to me is at least 25inches front to back

12/16/2009, 08:17 AM	#1
bwilcox Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 55	cube tank or regular tank What do you guys think would be a better first tank

12/16/2009, 08:34 AM	#3
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Highly a matter of personal preference, and for me, it would depend at least a bit on where it was going (i.e. what room, what furniture was around it, etc.) Personally though, I'm a huge fan of non-standard aquarium shapes, as long as they present no challenges. Some bowfronts and corners I don't like, because the curved glass can be a pain (distorts your view and can be a challenge to clean) but otherwise, the standard thin rectangle strikes me as a boring, 2-dimensional shape. Meanwhile, a cube usually stands a better chance of giving you a nice, 3-dimensional view. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

12/16/2009, 12:20 PM	#6
moevilla IRS Benefactor Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Aurora CO Posts: 387	I have both a cube (25 gallon) and regular (40 gallon breeder). I had my cube custom made which cost about twice as much as the regular. If I had to do it over again, I would have just bought the regular and used the rest of the money on equipment. If price is not an issue, I would go with a cube, but it's not that big of a difference. I have seen beautiful set-ups either way. Hope it helps... __________________ It's never too late to become what you could have been...

12/16/2009, 08:20 AM	#2
NaClCrocodile Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 400	Well what size are you looking at? I personally love the look of a smaller cube, less than 50g, but if you're looking at something like a 125 or something I'd definately say regular.

12/16/2009, 08:43 AM	#4
Juruense Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Posts: 1,138	I like cubes.

12/16/2009, 11:17 AM	#5
jayhawk317 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 81	i like the cube. my lfs has a 48x48x24 cube with a center overflow and viewable on all sides, and it looks really nice.

12/16/2009, 12:32 PM	#7
DC_40gallon Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,474	Depends on the size, I wouldn't do anything under a 24x24x24 or around 50-60 gallon tank. Your live rock in a cube will have to be stacked in the middle and tall like a pyramid. I love cubes, but size truly makes a huge difference in cube tanks. Plus they are much more expensive. Personally my favorite tank in the whole world is a old fashioned 75 gallon rectangle. It's wide, long, and perfect depth. You can stock it up with just about anything, plus have tons of room for open sand bed, you can have a 20 frag eggcrate in the corner and it is never noticeable plus more than enough room for thousands of dollars in colony coral all over the tank for decoration. Keep an eye on craigslist, your likely to find the tank you want at an insane price.

12/16/2009, 03:53 PM	#8
frewd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 57	for me a like a deeper tank, deeper from front to back of tank i mean. i have had small tanks and big and the best thing to me is at least 25inches front to back