long or short?

[konrad05]

I was hoping somebody could give me some advice on buying a new tank. I don't know whether a short but deep tank is better than a long but shallow tank. Does the depth make a big difference? It's going to be planted.

 

[endparenthesis]

Seems to me long would mean space for more plants, less water for the light to get through, and longer bulbs (which I'm guessing tend to be higher wattage).

 

[modernhamlet]

Long also generally means more surface area and thus, more fish, as well...

 

[jams.alaskan]

Long - your rainbows will love the acres of swimming space!

ALASKA

 

[Nina7777]

Ok, One question for you first! How do you fit all those fish in a 29 gallon? I know none of my business i am just curious!

Ok to figure out whether you want long or short, think of the potential sizes of your fish. Longer tanks will give more swmming room back and forth, but the depth will not offer much turning around room for your larger fish. For instance your bala will love swimming back and forth in a long tank but when he gets bigger he will not be able to turn around.

If you can afford it, i would opt for long and with depth, say a 75 gallon or more.

JMO. I went with the short with more depth and it seems to work well with my fish! (although i have to get a bigger tnak for my bala's)

 

[Cheese Specialist]

A long tank is better because of the extra surface area it gives you, allowing for more fish than a tall tank of the same volume would allow.

Not only that but IME most fish swim along rather than down.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Ok, One question for you first! How do you fit all those fish in a 29 gallon? I know none of my business i am just curious!

wow

You are definatley going to want long for all those bottom dwellers.

 

[BIGMAC]

Thats a lot of fish you got there

 

[gixer]

29 Gallon:
6 clown loaches
14 neons
10 rummy nose
1 giant danio
1 bala shark
1 yoyo loach
1 redtail loach
1 dojo loach
1 zipper loach
1 kuhli loach
3 bosemani rainbows
3 cloud fish
2 zebra danios
2 red eyed tetras
4 red finned tetras
2 rasboras
1 dwarf rainbow
2 glass catfish
1 congo tetra


2 platies
1 swordtail
1 zebra botia
2 celebs rainbows

jeeeeeeeeeeeesus. that is a lot of fish take out the loaches and the bala and your still about twice overstocked IMO

to answer you question on 55 or 65gallons i would suggest add another hundred on and you should be somewhere near

 

[pendragon]

Oh. My. God.

That list just cannot be accurate. I don't think it's physically possible to stuff that many fish in a 29-gallon. By my count that's 53 fish! I don't mean to be too heavy-handed, but my friend, if your list is accurate you have serious stocking issues with a capital "S". Sooner or later you're going to have to find alternate accomodations for some of those fish, even with the new tank.

Regarding the tank, if you had your preference you want both length and depth, buuut... we can rarely have everything we want. Take the long one. Please. If you have to choose between long-and-shallow or shorter-but-deeper, you generally want the longer one. But unless it's 18-inches deep or more, no angelfish, and only then if you make adequate room for them.

53 fish? Oy vey.

pendragon!

 

[Nina7777]

Ok i am royally confused. In your profile you have less than half the amount of fish in the my fish and aquarium section,than in your signature!

Whats the deal?

 

[Idolz]

Thats actually 63, if include the last list at the bottom of her sig.
Yes it is a bit overstocked....
I'd go with the biggest long tank you can afford, as far as buying a tank goes.

 

[konrad05]

LOL, sorry I couldn't post earlier, YES my tank is overstocked, and last time I counted there were around 60. All the fish aren't big yet, the bala is around 4" though, biggest loach is around 3-4". Whats the secret? Water changes every 1.5 weeks and a really good eheim canister filter. The picture in my profile shows the tank, planted with a homemade CO2 system. It's not like I threw in all the fish at once, it started at about 30 fish, then gradually accumulated to what it is now. Best part of all, everything is compatible. Thanks for the advice on the tank. I've been to almost every pet shop and I've narrowed it down to a 55 long and a 65 gal short, but for the 55 there is no plastic canopy for a double fluorescent light strip, only glass. 75 was also an option, but I'm not too sure how 750 lbs will do on the second floor of my house. Also one more question, if I'm getting a long, would 2 medium canister filters (2215 and 2213 eheims) be better than one large 2217? I'm losing my head in all the options

 

[konrad05]

Ok i am royally confused. In your profile you have less than half the amount of fish in the my fish and aquarium section,than in your signature!

Whats the deal?

The other 29 gallon is just for one native bullhead catfish, he's about 14" now, soon to be released back into the wild.

 

[Auratus]

20 Gallon:
10 goldfish
1 fig 8 puffer
1 pleco
4 platies
10 snails

ummmm... with the high ammounts of waste from the goldfish (10!) how do the other fish stand it? And some are warm water and some are cold water fish. And some are freshwater and one is brackish.... where did you get your stocking methods?