i've only had fish (and in fact knew anything about having them) for a little over two months, but i've enjoyed it so much i've been asking for a bigger tank for father's day 
problem is, i don't have much space to put another one in. the best spot i think is on top of a waist-high concrete wall on my balcony.
here's a picture of the spot (don't mind the ugly neighbor's house in background. obviously im still bearing a grudge from listening to heavy construction 20ft away from my bed 8am-5pm mon-sat for over a year, not to mention that ugly view where i USED to see migratory birds hunting in the grass):
zoomed out:
NOW, APOLOGIES, BUT SOME MATH-you probably can't see it, but the tape measure shows almost exactly 4' across. wide, however, is only 8 1/4", but easily expandable to 13 1/2", would this base (48"x 13 1/2") be stable enough to support a tank with a height enough to hold 50 or 40 UK gallons? lemme compute...........that would be 21.41" high for 50 UK gallons (48" x 13.5" x 21.41"), or 17.37" high for 40 UK gallons (48" x 13.5" x 17.37") (hope my computations are correct lol). is this still stable enough for a semi-outdoor setup where moderate winds might blow and a cat might jump on it every now and then? is it stable enough for 55 or 60 gallons even (23.6" and 25.69", respectively)? on the other hand, up to what height might be recommended if i dont expand and leave the width at 8.25"? (like a long, shallow tank for the tiger barbs?)
MORE PRACTICAL CONCERNS- i dont know anyone with a semi-outdoors setup like i'm planning, so what concerns might i face if i go through with this? what i've thought so far:
rain- not much of a problem (its started raining as i was taking the pics 5pm looked again right after the area is almost completely dry still), the overhang of the roof goes out around 4' more at the back of planned tank, at the left it almost exactly ends right where the tank would, but there are wooden rafter thingies and i plan to cover that side from base to roof with maybe tarpaulin. can little amounts of rain that get through wreak havoc on established bacteria etc though?
sunlight- from the time sunlight directly hits the left side of the tank it would have around 6 hrs of direct sunlight on a bright day, but as stated i plan to cover this from base to roof with maybe tarpaulin and maybe only allow 1hr/day at the very most?
animals- im gonna have the top completely covered with screen and glass. anything special i should know about this?
BUT OF COURSE THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCERN- if you suggest a particular size tank, could you also suggest what fish i can put together in a planted community?
this is still primarily for my 4-yr-old daughter's enjoyment, she'll prolly like colorful and/or long-finned ones, that i can put a good number and variety of. (also for possible future breeding maybe? i have a smaller tank which the new one will replace)
GJ all on this Web 2.0 thing!
My Tiger Barbs
problem is, i don't have much space to put another one in. the best spot i think is on top of a waist-high concrete wall on my balcony.
here's a picture of the spot (don't mind the ugly neighbor's house in background.
obviously im still bearing a grudge from listening to heavy construction 20ft away from my bed 8am-5pm mon-sat for over a year, not to mention that ugly view where i USED to see migratory birds hunting in the grass):
zoomed out:
NOW, APOLOGIES, BUT SOME MATH-you probably can't see it, but the tape measure shows almost exactly 4' across. wide, however, is only 8 1/4", but easily expandable to 13 1/2", would this base (48"x 13 1/2") be stable enough to support a tank with a height enough to hold 50 or 40 UK gallons? lemme compute...........that would be 21.41" high for 50 UK gallons (48" x 13.5" x 21.41"), or 17.37" high for 40 UK gallons (48" x 13.5" x 17.37") (hope my computations are correct lol). is this still stable enough for a semi-outdoor setup where moderate winds might blow and a cat might jump on it every now and then? is it stable enough for 55 or 60 gallons even (23.6" and 25.69", respectively)?
on the other hand, up to what height might be recommended if i dont expand and leave the width at 8.25"? (like a long, shallow tank for the tiger barbs?)MORE PRACTICAL CONCERNS- i dont know anyone with a semi-outdoors setup like i'm planning, so what concerns might i face if i go through with this? what i've thought so far:
rain- not much of a problem (its started raining as i was taking the pics 5pm looked again right after the area is almost completely dry still), the overhang of the roof goes out around 4' more at the back of planned tank, at the left it almost exactly ends right where the tank would, but there are wooden rafter thingies and i plan to cover that side from base to roof with maybe tarpaulin. can little amounts of rain that get through wreak havoc on established bacteria etc though?
sunlight- from the time sunlight directly hits the left side of the tank it would have around 6 hrs of direct sunlight on a bright day, but as stated i plan to cover this from base to roof with maybe tarpaulin and maybe only allow 1hr/day at the very most?
animals- im gonna have the top completely covered with screen and glass. anything special i should know about this?
BUT OF COURSE THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCERN- if you suggest a particular size tank, could you also suggest what fish i can put together in a planted community?
this is still primarily for my 4-yr-old daughter's enjoyment, she'll prolly like colorful and/or long-finned ones, that i can put a good number and variety of. (also for possible future breeding maybe? i have a smaller tank which the new one will replace)GJ all on this Web 2.0 thing!
My Tiger Barbs
I'd advise you to call in the pro's if you go ahead with this, as siliconing in a pre-built tank may be hard. Alternatively, try a smaller tank (in tearms of height), say arround a foot 
