hey guys i want to do a 18x14x6inch shallow reef

i want all info and guidence on getting this tank

a couple of simple and quick Q,s

does lowes carry glass and do they cut it ?

if not where do i get it ?

would i be better off to do a acrlic tank ?

is there a place online to order glass ?

what is your favorite aquarium silicon ?

is a 18x14x6 reef practilcal ?

the foot print off this tank will be larger than a 10gal and 15gal high can i stock it as such ?

would it be better to have a smaller foot print say 18x12x6 ?



please give all advice

Thats 6.5 Gallons so you will not be able to add as much livestock as a 10G tank. You will lose water to evaporation faster then those other tanks as well.

yea but its realy wide 14in so thats an extra 4inch of front to back so i acctuly am ownly loseing it in hieght

why whould there be so much more evap


do you like the tank size ?

surface area will account for most of the evap

yea i was thinking about that


i doubt it would uncontrably bad


ok what would some pros about this tank be ?

we could take it down to even 10in but i think it would lose alot of its coolness maybe ?

It would definitely be cool and unique. I think it would be hard to see in from the side and take in all the corals, though; you would have to figure out how to keep the surface calm while still getting good flow, which I think is going to be hard to do in such a shallow space. You also probably could not run a sand bed, as it would take up too much space. In my opinion, that size tank would be great for a frag tank, but not so great for a display tank. Shallow tanks are awesome, but there needs to be enough side panel space to see into the tank!

There's a company called glass cages that makes a line of 6" tall aquariums:



Not many here like their quality, but at the very least you could get the glass, and if the silicone is not to your liking you could always reseal.

i wouldnt use lowes glass. they are too thin for a tank like that

i would at least go with 1/4". look up the yellow book in your area and call those window and glass shops to get a quote. im guessing a tank of this size would be around $70 bucks.

as for silicone, GE silicone 1 or 2 would be fine. stay away from those bio free stuff as it will leach stuff into the water. 100% pure silicone is what you want

Actually, the lowes glass would probably be fine. Water pressure on glass is a function of depth of the tank, not footprint size, so at only 6" tall 1/8" glass would be enough.

You'd probably get a better deal at a Glass shop though and they would cut all the pieces to your specifications, unlike Lowes who does not cut glass. Also go with 1/4" that will be better and maybe think about raising the height to like 12" a 6" tank is extremely shallow and probably won't give you much room to play around in.

i agree, i like at lease a 2" sandbed, so a 6" tank doesnt leave much room at all
i would go with a 20"x20"x12" tank or something like that

Have you checked these out? Similar dimensions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/20X16X8-RIMLESS-ACRYLI...=item2c5147d184

6" won't give you much room for growth if you plan on having anything that has vertical growth. It should work fine for zoas and other small corals though.