Birthday Soon...

[KrazyKuhli]

Its my B'Day End of march and I'm looking at getting a bigger tank,
At the moment I have a 24x15x12 67L

Now,I have a sturdy Sideboard thats 4ft long and 16" wide,

Do I get a 36x15x12 tank 106L £55 could use old hood.

Or 48x15x12 tank 142L £70 but will need a new hood £50 and external filter £30

Im using Led's so lighting isn't a problem.

Please help!!

 

[scotty]

it all depends on what you want to stock it with,and are you really sure the sideboard wil take the weight?


scott

 

[KrazyKuhli]

Quite like to have shoaling fish,I have 12 neons but have seen some Green neons that would look good.

the sideboard is really solid and the 4ft tank will be on all the supports and side panels.

I had a 4ft tank previously (borrowed) and loved it,Wife didn't due to the electric bill, but now i'm running some Led's instead of 3 40W tubes lol

Jake

 

[CezzaXV]

I'd go for the bigger tank. It's better that way, else you'll get a few months down the line and wish you'd gone with the bigger tank!

 

[nurglespuss]

I would also be very worried about this sturdy sideboard...

Aquarium 1:
106.2L
Pounds: 234.1
Stones: 16.7

Aquarium 2:
141.6L
Pounds: 312.1
Stones: 22.3

Get a dedicated stand, I know of soooo many broken tanks/furniture because of this.

 

[KrazyKuhli]

I would also be very worried about this sturdy sideboard...

Aquarium 1:
106.2L
Pounds: 234.1
Stones: 16.7

Aquarium 2:
141.6L
Pounds: 312.1
Stones: 22.3

Get a dedicated stand, I know of soooo many broken tanks/furniture because of this.

I've been looking at whole units on ebay and they go for £150-£250 and would need to save for a bit longer but i'd still have to get a new 'Glass bit' for it.

Also all the cheap ones are about 100miles away

 

[nurglespuss]

Darn thats a shame....

There are other options:

Do you have a local trade/swap group on facebook? (e.g. we have one called Aber Swap) I got my metal stand off there for £10....

OR - look up using breeze blocks. Back in 'the day' When there were many weird and wonderful large tanks, but no stands to speak of, we used breeze blocks and 1/2 inch ply wood on a level surface.

 

[juggernuts]

I would be very carefull, sideboards and such may seem very sturdy but as above 141 litre tank, when filled will be looking around 160kg maybe slightly more. 1 litre of water is equal to 1kg in weight, now if you can imagine that kind of strain of the sideboard over a long time.

It may just slightly start to buckle. I had a "sturdy" solid set of draws, they got a 60l tank on top. After 2 weeks i noticed a very tiny lean in the drawers by noticing the level of the water wasnt very straight, 2 days later it was leaning even more. Needless to say, I removed the tank and what used to be a sturdy set of drawers is slightly buggerd now.

Id just be carefull as 160+kg is a lotttttttttttt of weight for a sideboard probably expected to hold about 30kg at best.


Just also the electricity footprint of a fishtank is minimal, and if your running LED's that will have halved it no doubt to what it was. I have a 4ft with two externals, a heater, and 2 80w bulbs on around 7 hours everyday and i think over a month its something stupid like 10 quid.

If chances permit, Id go for the slightly larger tank, Im sure if you looked about you could find one for a good price, IMO id look on Aquarist Classified.com and you will get a tank stand and possibly filter for the same price you would get your smaller tank new.

Best of luck and keep us all informed how you go