How Many Gallons Is My Tank?

[trojannemo]

so i bought this tank 8 months ago used as a 38G (US). i've since seen it new for sale, also marked as 38G, but i can't find a way to make it be that much!

it measurements are:

- 36" in length, but that is from the outside of the glass on one side, to the outside of the glass on the other side, making it actually be somewhere around 35.5" in length inside the aquarium

- 12" deep, but like i said, from the outside of the glass, around 11.5" inside the aquarium

- it's supposed to be 20" high (according to label), but i call BS, from the topmost part of the top plastic part, to the bottom of the lower plastic part, it's about 19.7", but the point is the water level doesn't go that low nor that high anyways! i think the actual aquarium height is around 18" or so.

using various calculators, i've gotten the following numbers:

advertised size - 36x20x12 = 37 US Gallons
actual size - 35.5x18x11.5 = 32 US Gallons
rounding off - 36x18x12 = 34 US Gallons

it's not going to change anything for me in terms of stocking or equipment, as this tank has been running for a while. i'm just a damn curious person and this has been bothering me.

in terms of standard sizes, i've never heard of 32 or 34G tanks, but i've heard of 33G tanks. is that what my tank is then?

 

[Nick16]

use the aquarium calculator on this site. at the top of the page m8. HTH

 

[VictorMeldrew]

Yep use the calculator on here, its easy to use

 

[wendywc]

I think it's good to know how to work it out for yourself.
Personally, I'd go with the inside dimensions for actual volume.

35.5" x 11.5" x 18" = 7348.5 cubic inches
To convert from cubic inches to US gallons, divide by 231.
7348.5 / 231 = 31.811688

About 31.8 US gallons. So you're right in saying it's 32 US gallons for actual.

 

[trojannemo]

use the aquarium calculator on this site. at the top of the page m8. HTH

Yep use the calculator on here, its easy to use

using various calculators, i've gotten the following numbers:

advertised size - 36x20x12 = 37 US Gallons
actual size - 35.5x18x11.5 = 32 US Gallons
rounding off - 36x18x12 = 34 US Gallons

thanks for the replies. knowing now that my tank is 32/33G or so, that's fine. my question is, why was it (and is continued to be at the stores) labeled as a 38G?

 

[nosoup4you]

Apparently they don't have the fancy schmancy aquarium calculator like we have here. LOL Perhaps you should take it up with the people you bought it from and/or the manufacturer...pretty unethical if you ask me.

 

[wendywc]

Happens all the time. Manufacturers tend to round up pretty liberally. My 30 gallon was said to be a 34, if I remember correctly (it's been many years). And my 55 gallon was labeled as a 60 at Petco.

I guess when you go shopping, you should take a tape measure with you.

 

[trojannemo]

Happens all the time. Manufacturers tend to round up pretty liberally. My 30 gallon was said to be a 34, if I remember correctly (it's been many years). And my 55 gallon was labeled as a 60 at Petco.

I guess when you go shopping, you should take a tape measure with you.

hehe. well i got it for $25 so 32G or 38G it was still a great deal