Frustrating advice for newcomers to the fish world

[Essjay]

I suppose it depends on how such legislation would define the volume of a tank - the amount of space occupied by a tank or the amount of water it can hold. A non-fish keeper would probably define the size of a tank as the volume of space it occupies.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I suppose it depends on how such legislation would define the volume of a tank - the amount of space occupied by a tank or the amount of water it can hold. A non-fish keeper would probably define the size of a tank as the volume of space it occupies.

Its a bit of a grey area isn't it.....and aquariums are not cheap, especially those larger ones with the matching cabinets etc. They can be a big investment to then discover once its home and you are filling it up etc to find that what it says on the box doesn't come anywhere near to reality, even moreso when you have carefully planned the stock only to realise that the aquarium will not be big enough.

 

[itiwhetu]

Its a bit of a grey area isn't it.....and aquariums are not cheap, especially those larger ones with the matching cabinets etc. They can be a big investment to then discover once its home and you are filling it up etc to find that what it says on the box doesn't come anywhere near to reality, even moreso when you have carefully planned the stock only to realise that the aquarium will not be big enough.

That is why it is important to know what you have got. I reckon only about half over the fish keepers here would know the actual volume of their tanks. Yet they add fertilizers and medications to them!!.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

That is why it is important to know what you have got. I reckon only about half over the fish keepers here would know the actual volume of their tanks. Yet they add fertilizers and medications to them!!.

I agree with you entirely...but at the same time you can't hold it against them if they over or under dose when the aquarium manufacturers and to some extent the volume calculation sites are inaccurate too.

Its actually quite frightening how easy it is to over or under dose additives etc when you have such conflicting information as to the real volume of your aquarium. You can't blame people who read the box 60 litres and assume that the aquarium inside is 60 litres.

If you are bombarded with different numbers from the box and websites...how do you know which is the right number once your aquarium is scaped and filled?

 

[itiwhetu]

I agree with you entirely...but at the same time you can't hold it against them if they over or under dose when the aquarium manufacturers and to some extent the volume calculation sites are inaccurate too.

Its actually quite frightening how easy it is to over or under dose additives etc when you have such conflicting information as to the real volume of your aquarium. You can't blame people who read the box 60 litres and assume that the aquarium inside is 60 litres.

If you are bombarded with different numbers from the box and websites...how do you know which is the right number once your aquarium is scaped and filled?

There is not meant to be any blame here, this is a warning only. And I may be wrong.

 

[Essjay]

Even if a manufacturer were to quote the volume as the amount of water a tank could hold, the fish keeper would then add substrate and decor which would reduce that water volume - and the amount of substrate/decor would vary from tank to tank.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

So basically there is no chance of anyone ever getting the right dosage of anything into their aquarium is there?

No manufacturer is totally accurate on their boxes as to the volume of the aquarium inside the box
No volume calculation website is totally accurate
No aquarium will ever have the same volume by virtue of their scaping...not even two or more identical aquariums such as my 4 hexagonals cos they are all scaped differently.

That pretty much scuppers the ability to follow the dosage instructions on every single additive or medication

That is really useful...especially to newbies in fishkeeping.....not.

 

[Essjay]

It means that we should say, every single time, "add the dose of xxx for the amount of water in the tank and not the manufacturer's quoted volume". But even then how many people actually know how much water is in their tank?

 

[itiwhetu]

It means that we should say, every single time, "add the dose of xxx for the amount of water in the tank and not the manufacturer's quoted volume". But even then how many people actually know how much water is in their tank?

The best thing aquarists can do, is when they set up their tanks is fill them then drain them and measure the volume of water and then write that down somewhere. In my breeding room I did that and had the volumes written on the side of each tank so I knew what I was dealing with.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I knew there was another reason why I use bottled water in my aquariums....makes for easy calculations if anything needs to be added

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

So whilst in a local Pets at Home, I checked all of the meds and treatments on offer and all made it quite clear in their instructions and dosages referred to so many litres of water.
Not a single tank claimed to hold x litres of water.
Unfortunately, just way too many people have been subjected to a failed educational system.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

So whilst in a local Pets at Home, I checked all of the meds and treatments on offer and all made it quite clear in their instructions and dosages referred to so many litres of water.
Not a single tank claimed to hold x litres of water.
Unfortunately, just way too many people have been subjected to a failed educational system.

This what I meant by confuzzling by what the box states against the actual volume and what the volume website calculators state

The name of the aquarium is Ciano Aqua 80

So one might assume that means that it is 80 litres. (The 80 is actually the length, not the volume)

When infact, once you hunt down and read the small print, its actually 71 litres before the substrate etc is added.

Aqua 80 - Ciano

ciano.pt

(I actually have one of these, it used to house Phoenix Axolotl but is now home to fish....and it was not easy to calculate the exact water volume once it had been scaped.)

 

[Essjay]

Some manufacturers name a tank with a number corresponding to the volume (eg Juwel's Rio 125) while others use a number in the name corresponding to the length of the tank. Your Ciano tank is an example of this as it's 80 cm long. How many necomers to the hobby will realise this?

 

[Ichthys]

If people assume the number means the volume then it’s their own fault, no? The volume of a tank is pretty easy to work out. Substrate and decor is pretty easy to approximate also. You can easily end up with a figure that’s reasonably accurate. And chemical treatment doses are approximate anyway, so I don’t see much of a problem here.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

This what I meant by confuzzling by what the box states against the actual volume and what the volume website calculators state

The name of the aquarium is Ciano Aqua 80

So one might assume that means that it is 80 litres. (The 80 is actually the length, not the volume)

...And why on Earth would any one assume that? I'm being polite by blaming the education system. In a lesser mood, I would simply call people stupid, making quick assumptions without actually looking at the information clearly supplied.
Searching further for that particuar item, all of the links I followed talk of a tank that holds 71 litres, or even approximately 71 litres. Most also clearly show the length as being 80cm and it doesn't take much to see that other tanks in the range follow a similar pattern, with, as said, the number in the name corresponds to the length of the tank.