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kona reefer

Circular reef tanks?

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I wonder what you guys think of circular reef tanks. I remember I saw one featured in CORAL magazine once and started thinking about them a bit more. A few initial ideas I had:
  • Allow fish to swim unobstructed (good for surgeonfish)
  • Create great gyre flow very easily. Might create a dead spot though in the center of the tank where the rock work is.
  • As long as not too big, could be lit by a single metal halide fixture (tank diameter limited to 24-30” per halide, and the edges will be dimmer)
  • Image distortion?
  • Expensive? Only acrylic? Difficult cabinetry, limited under tank space.

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  1. Robb in Austin's Avatar
    I think they are kinda meh aesthetically, but also for the negatives you listed. Although, that giant one in Australia on RC is prolly gonna be awesome.
  2. OneReef's Avatar
    I think Marc posted about them awhile back. Said a big neg was the distortion if I recall
  3. melev's Avatar
    If you can afford a big circle of acrylic, and don't mind how it looks to your eyes, go for it. I would recommend you see one in person and get a good feel for it before you pull the trigger and spend your money.
  4. kona reefer's Avatar
    Yeah, I don't see myself upgrading any time soon, and I doubt I would be able to afford a circular tank anyway. I was just thinking about it and wondered if certain surgeonfishes (sohal, achilles, clown for example) might like this type of layout in that they could keep swimming in one direction without having to stop and turn around.
  5. DJ in WV's Avatar
    I dont care for the distortion of the view even on my 72 bow It is very noticeable to me and a cylinder is worse. PNG Aquarium in Pittsburg zoo has a sea dragon tank about 4 dia and the view is terrible