A choice of tanks

[Novafish]

Hi there,

I'm looking at purchasing a tank for some fancy goldfish, not decided the species but probably Oranda, or Black Moors.

I have the choice between a standard approximately 70 gallon long tank, or a 75 gallon table aquarium. In theory, the bigger the tank the better? To be clear, I would absolutely not use the table, as a table. It would be a display tank. The dimensions are approx 45 x 25 x 15,5". My one concern, is that the table is only 15,5" inches high, as opposed to the 22" of the standard 70 gal. Would this be enough for goldfish, or would they benefit from a greater height, but less "depth" from their tank?

Thanks for your thoughts/opinions,

Regards,

 

[AquaBarb]

Never kept the above but i think in general Goldfish, particularly Fancies, tend to struggle in deeper water. The way they swim and their body shape etc tends to make Longer and shallower tanks much better for them.

So id go greater depth over height.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

One is 45 inches long x 25 inches wide x 15,5 inches high?
If that is 25 inches wide it will probably be made of 10mm thick glass, which can get heavy. If it's less than 10mm thick, it's an issue.

What's the other one?

Long and wide is better for fish.

Fancy goldfish (double tail/ fantail) have shorter bodies and their internal organs are squished up. This can increase the chance of them having problems digesting food, developing problems with their internal organs, and floating around due to air trapped in their digestive tract. They should have plenty of plant matter in their diet and minimal dry food (certainly minimal dry food from the surface). If you feed dry food, monitor them and if they start floating about when they stop swimming, stop the dry food for a week and give them frozen or live food instead.

 

[Novafish]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, I'm guessing the coffee table aquarium is going to be pretty heavy. Although I'm yet to find a source for its exact weight. I'm assuming it's going to weigh 50kg plus.

The other tank is 1m20 x 40 x 55 cm, as opposed to roughly 1m16 x 60 x 40 (coffee table).

 

[Colin_T]

The tank that is 55cm high should be made of 10mm thick glass too.

The coffee table one (116cm long x 60cm wide x 40cm high) is probably better but it won't have as good a viewing area from the side due to less height. However, it has more width, which is better for the fish when they get bigger.

The other tank (120cm long x 40cm wide x 55cm high) is taller but narrower. It has a better viewing area and is wide enough for the fish when they are young but will restrict their movement as they get older.

If the coffee table had an extra 10cm height that would be an easy choice. If you can't find a different tank (say 4ft long x 45-60cm wide x 45-60cm high), I would probably go for the coffee table but it would annoy me due to lack of viewing height.

Over here I would say get a 4ft x 18in x 18in or a 4x2x2ft.