Advice for 55-60 gallon new setup

[JennyPenny]

Hello all! My husband and I have recently purchased and settled into our first home. I brought my 10 gallon tank with me (which was an exciting trip, even though the new house is less than 5 miles away from the old apartment) and everyone is well in there. Now that we are settled, I would like to get another tank. I have never dealt with anything bigger than 10 gallons. I am open to anything, but have been considering something around 55-60 gallons. If possible, I would love to buy a tank with a stand (something nice that offers good storage). I have clicked around online but I wanted to see if y'all had any brand suggestions. We are not in a huge rush and we want to do plenty of research before we buy. If anyone has any recommendations, they would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

[sheamurai]

You can generally wait for a sale and buy a tank/stand/light fixture kit for a decent price. If you are thinking long term, then you might as well go new.
I have no brand suggestions for you, just a couple tips...

Buy the biggest tank you comfortably have space for. If MTS strikes you will regret the buying stages when you could have just done it once. You may think your 55 is big now, but when you start looking at other species and wondering how many you can squeeze into your tank...

Stay away from "tall" tanks unless you have a specific set up in mind. Fish swim lengthways, not so much up and down, so "footprint" in the long run is more important than gallons...plus a tank thats not too deep is easier to do maintenance in.

Do some water tests on your tap water. Then you'll know what fish will do best in your tank, without fiddling with the water overmuch. If you end up having your heart set on something you have to alter your water for, thats fine, but at least know your water before stocking your fish. Then you'll have a better idea of what to stock, and what your baseline is if you have to diagnose a problem later on.

Wander more than one fish store, and for some weeks in a row. Some stuff they will carry all the time, but other species you will only see once in a long while, so you wait and see what is readily available, in case you have to top up schools or somesuch, and what is rarer and you want to snap up when it comes in. Nothing worse than "settling" for a species, then going back a week later to find something cooler in the store that you coulda got instead.

Happy tank planning!

[SueD]

A couple of other things to consider: when buying kits, often the filter and lighting are pieces that you end up replacing as you delve more into the hobby, so the kit may not turn out to be the most cost effective in the long run. You'll want a filter that is rated for at least twice the size of your tank. So for example, I use an AquaClear 50 HOB filter on my 20 gallon tank. For the larger tanks, many people recommend canister filters. I have no experience with these yet, so someone else may chime in on this.

Lighting will depend on whether or not you will want live plants. In this area, I am also no expert, but I've just started trying out LED lighting (although not for all of my tanks) and so far I really like these. I stick with some of the easier plants that require low to moderate lighting and simply admire the more challenging masterpieces others can create.

When choosing a substrate, also consider whether or not you will be planting.