help with hex design

[douggiestyle]

glass vs acrylic

over flow design

rock layout

lighting

[SDguy]

What size hex??

I had a 30g. It was acrylic. Even though I hate acrylic tanks, glass hex's just have too many seams, IMO, to look attractive.

I had one hole drain at the top, with an elbow facing up to drain surface water. My rock was just piled in. If I did it again, I would make one central pillar and thread the rock onto 3/8" acrylic rod. I had a PFO pendant over the tank. 14K phoenix bulb and no actinic supplentation needed, IMO.

hth

[douggiestyle]

thanks sdguy

looking at a 75 acrylic.

i to hate the acrylic type but aggree about the seams. also thinking easy drilling.

thinking of using the garf method for a pillar in the center. not sure about the overflow. thought of a central drain coming up the center. surrounded by rock but not sure i want rock going that high. so acryllic would allow me to cut slots for a nice overflow on the rear with the addition of a box.

thinking closed circuit high flow setup for water movement. with low flow to and from sump. trying for minimum noise. this thing is going in the home theater room.

lighting is my other prob. ok the pendant thing sounds good but what about some pc lighting. not sure how to arrange that.

[SDguy]

If you go anyhting other than MH, I think it comes down to fitting as much as you can over the tank.

This is what I did for pillars. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=746318

I would not drill the bottom of the tank unless it is going to be a view-from-all-sides tank.

[8BALL_99]

I've got a 35 gallon Glass Hexagon tank.. I like it.. Acrylic is just to easy to scratch IMO.. I installed an external overflow on mine.. Thats how most my tanks are setup. You dont have to have an Acrylic tank to put an external overflow on it...My 180, 60, 35 and I had a 29 all of them have External overflows and they are glass

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL514/944495/5364694/127178092.jpg

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL514/944495/5364694/182586365.jpg

[douggiestyle]

nice design 8 ball. exactly the way i was imagining. yes acylic bothers me also. ive never seen one that didnt have scratches.

that corner tank looks nice.

that is where i am placing mine, in a corner.

though with a corner tank i could achieve that built in look.

anyways i got the wife approval to buy a new tank. so im on the move

i like the idea of a hex. im getting tired of the 2 dimensional look. rock wall on the back of a tank.

[laverda]

One thing I like about hex tank is it is real easy to get a lot of flow with minimal plumping. I you used an OM 2 way or 4 way you could easily get two opposing currents going in a circular pattern.

[jdieck]

IMO there are different tank shapes to match better viewing and living spaces. Hexagons, cylindrical, round ends, elliptical and cube tanks are ideal for all around viewing in the center of a room lighted with a spot MH pendant and center overflows otherwise you loose a lot of viewing area that you still need to clean. If you want it against a wall a half cylinder, bow fronts or flat hexagons or rectangular with back overflows are better suited.
For the end of a narrow hall or aisle I usually recommend either rectangular or concave while for a bay aquarium I recommend a rectangular or one sided round end with overflow on the oposite end..
For a corner I would rather recommend a quarter cylinder, corner pentagon or and L shape with a back overflow and hanging spot pendants.

http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/volcalc.html

[douggiestyle]

laverda, that was my exact idea. clockwise then counter clockwise.