Opinions On Tanks-Anyone Have These?

[Fish_Girl]

Hi all!

So i started a thread a couple of days ago asking for suggestions for a new tank for my 3 ADF's and possibly a betta. Thanks to those who replied btw! I have spent the last couple of days looking all over the net at various tanks-i wanted something a little smaller then my current rekord 60 as i want to place the tank on my desk. After searching through countless online stores and countless tanks i think i have narrowed it down to either the Arcadia Classica 30L or the Interpet Fish Pod 48L and i wondered if anyone on this forum who owned either tank could give me their opinion on them? Would you recommend either?

We are not flush with cash so i want to make sure we are picking the perfect tank that will last. As i said it will be home to just the 3 froggies but i think i will most likely be adding a Betta to the tank once it is ready too. The fish pod has really good reviews everywhere so i am edging more towards that one and i plan to go to PAH tomorrow to take a look at it(but not purchase it as i have found it cheaper online!) but the Arcadia Classica doesnt have much info anywhere and has no reviews, i also dont have the option of viewing before purchasing. Obviously the other negative is that it is 18 litres smaller then the fish pod, but with it being for only the frogs and eventually 1 Betta i cant see this being a problem if the tank itself turns out to be superior to the fish pod. I did wonder about the filters in both and if they are safe for the frogs, and indeed a Betta? I know you can get a filter hide for the Fish Pod, but wondered if this sufficiently covered the filter in a way that the frogs couldnt be sucked into the gaps? Would really really appreciate it if anyone is able to answer my questions. I am also open to other recommendations of similiar sized tanks if anyone has any.

I have some ideas for how to decorate the tank so that it looks nice and natural and good for the frogs and im really excited about getting started on it and finally getting the frogs into a new tank!

 

[KittyKat]

I am currently cycling an Arc Tank (Arcadia, with Classica equipment), it seems nice enough.. The Classica 700 filter is frog-safe, I could say, although not baby-shrimp safe (just so you have a point of reference).

 

[Fish_Girl]

Thankyou for the reply We went to pets at home today to take a look at the fish box and i quite liked it-much bigger in real life then trying to figure it out with a measuring tape lol I really want the tank for my desk but i am so so tempted by the bigger version-they have the 64L version and cabinet on offer for £99 Which i think is an amazing deal but probably a little big for 3 ADF's and a Betta

As i said i would appreciate any recommendations of tanks that are around the 40L mark. Want to make sure i make the right choice for them and dont go stumbling across something better once i have purchased them a new tank! Might have a peek in the LFS next week too though they dont tend to have many medium sized tanks but might be worth a look!

 

[KittyKat]

Thankyou for the reply We went to pets at home today to take a look at the fish box and i quite liked it-much bigger in real life then trying to figure it out with a measuring tape lol I really want the tank for my desk but i am so so tempted by the bigger version-they have the 64L version and cabinet on offer for £99 Which i think is an amazing deal but probably a little big for 3 ADF's and a Betta

There's no such thing, as "a little big", if you have the space (and the price looks decent), then they will appreciate the space too! (Well, at least the Betta will, I don't do frogs, so can't help you there.)

As i said i would appreciate any recommendations of tanks that are around the 40L mark. Want to make sure i make the right choice for them and dont go stumbling across something better once i have purchased them a new tank! Might have a peek in the LFS next week too though they dont tend to have many medium sized tanks but might be worth a look!

Anyway, the same Arc Tank I have also comes in 35 and 45 litre, the 45 has a 40 x 28 cm footprint, which is desk worthy..

 

[Fish_Girl]

Thankyou for the reply We went to pets at home today to take a look at the fish box and i quite liked it-much bigger in real life then trying to figure it out with a measuring tape lol I really want the tank for my desk but i am so so tempted by the bigger version-they have the 64L version and cabinet on offer for £99 Which i think is an amazing deal but probably a little big for 3 ADF's and a Betta

There's no such thing, as "a little big", if you have the space (and the price looks decent), then they will appreciate the space too! (Well, at least the Betta will, I don't do frogs, so can't help you there.)

As i said i would appreciate any recommendations of tanks that are around the 40L mark. Want to make sure i make the right choice for them and dont go stumbling across something better once i have purchased them a new tank! Might have a peek in the LFS next week too though they dont tend to have many medium sized tanks but might be worth a look!

Anyway, the same Arc Tank I have also comes in 35 and 45 litre, the 45 has a 40 x 28 cm footprint, which is desk worthy..

Thankyou very much for your reply-again! and you are right, there is no such thing as a little big and i am definately torn, i had really wanted the tank to sit on my desk so the frogs can keep me company while working but after seeing the bigger version for such a good price i am definately going to have to think hard about it.

I have actually seen the Arc tank you mentioned during my search, but when seeing the little photos of it it didnt look like it had a lid so i hadnt even bothered looking properly at it(we have 3 indoor cats!) but i have just searched again for it and it seems like it might have a glass lid? would i be right in thinking that? if so, i wonder if its easy enough to feed the frogs/fish? does it have a feeding "hole/hatch" or would it require removing the whole lid every day for feeding time? I also wonder if it would be strong enough to take the weight of my curious kitties-they like sitting on top of our tank now probably because of the warmth from it, but if they had a birds eye view of the frogs they would definately be sitting on that one! looks like a very nice tank too so think will have a research into that one aswell-thanks for the recommendation!

 

[KkAaNnEe]

I dont think they have lids do they? Sometimes people get a bit of clear acrylic cut to size with possibly a hole drilled out for feeding, so no need to remove all the time..

I think the best advice on here is to get te biggest you can afford at the time, progression in this hobby means for a lot of people, you guessed it, upgrading. So get the big one lol then you'll have better options if you want to try different species etc, its also easier to manage a larger volume of water. I now have a 300L tank which is easier than my first 35L lol!

 

[KittyKat]

I have actually seen the Arc tank you mentioned during my search, but when seeing the little photos of it it didnt look like it had a lid so i hadnt even bothered looking properly at it(we have 3 indoor cats!) but i have just searched again for it and it seems like it might have a glass lid? would i be right in thinking that? if so, i wonder if its easy enough to feed the frogs/fish? does it have a feeding "hole/hatch" or would it require removing the whole lid every day for feeding time? I also wonder if it would be strong enough to take the weight of my curious kitties-they like sitting on top of our tank now probably because of the warmth from it, but if they had a birds eye view of the frogs they would definately be sitting on that one! looks like a very nice tank too so think will have a research into that one aswell-thanks for the recommendation!

They have acrylic coverglasses, no lids through. Without the coverglass, the evaporation would be too high (I'm currently getting 10 litres per week). It has a cutout at the back (for the light fitting) and one at the front for the food. It's not 100% cat proof, but the light fitting overs most of the top anyway. If you can give me a list of the exact points you want to see, I can get some photos of them for you

 

[Fish_Girl]

I dont think they have lids do they? Sometimes people get a bit of clear acrylic cut to size with possibly a hole drilled out for feeding, so no need to remove all the time..

I think the best advice on here is to get te biggest you can afford at the time, progression in this hobby means for a lot of people, you guessed it, upgrading. So get the big one lol then you'll have better options if you want to try different species etc, its also easier to manage a larger volume of water. I now have a 300L tank which is easier than my first 35L lol!

Thankyou for the reply-i think KittyKat just answered our question for us about whether it has a lid! I know what your saying about getting the biggest tank you can because of wanting to try different species, but I am happy just keeping my frogs and hopefully a betta. I have tried a few different species over the years in the tank that we have and although they have all been a joy to keep(loved our loach!) we will be sticking to just that for the forseeable future.

I have actually seen the Arc tank you mentioned during my search, but when seeing the little photos of it it didnt look like it had a lid so i hadnt even bothered looking properly at it(we have 3 indoor cats!) but i have just searched again for it and it seems like it might have a glass lid? would i be right in thinking that? if so, i wonder if its easy enough to feed the frogs/fish? does it have a feeding "hole/hatch" or would it require removing the whole lid every day for feeding time? I also wonder if it would be strong enough to take the weight of my curious kitties-they like sitting on top of our tank now probably because of the warmth from it, but if they had a birds eye view of the frogs they would definately be sitting on that one! looks like a very nice tank too so think will have a research into that one aswell-thanks for the recommendation!

They have acrylic coverglasses, no lids through. Without the coverglass, the evaporation would be too high (I'm currently getting 10 litres per week). It has a cutout at the back (for the light fitting) and one at the front for the food. It's not 100% cat proof, but the light fitting overs most of the top anyway. If you can give me a list of the exact points you want to see, I can get some photos of them for you

Thankyou so much for answering my questions about the lid-is it the 45L one that you are cycling at the moment? I have been looking on various websites about it and really do like the look of that one and i see what you mean about the light covering most of the top-wonder if it would be enough to deter my silly cats though Do i assume from your name that you have kitties too and can speak from experience? I do like the footprint of the 45L Arc, though the height might a problem with the frogs as they cant be in anything deeper than 14 inchs. Of course this could be rectified by having a deeper layer of gravel and not filling the tank right to the top-would that cause any problems with this tank do you think? Any photos you can get would be really appreciated, especially of the lid and feeding hole. Would the lid still sit on properly with a heater being added to it too? sorry for all the questions

 

[KittyKat]

They have acrylic coverglasses, no lids through. Without the coverglass, the evaporation would be too high (I'm currently getting 10 litres per week). It has a cutout at the back (for the light fitting) and one at the front for the food. It's not 100% cat proof, but the light fitting overs most of the top anyway. If you can give me a list of the exact points you want to see, I can get some photos of them for you

Thankyou so much for answering my questions about the lid-is it the 45L one that you are cycling at the moment? I have been looking on various websites about it and really do like the look of that one and i see what you mean about the light covering most of the top-wonder if it would be enough to deter my silly cats though Do i assume from your name that you have kitties too and can speak from experience? I do like the footprint of the 45L Arc, though the height might a problem with the frogs as they cant be in anything deeper than 14 inchs. Of course this could be rectified by having a deeper layer of gravel and not filling the tank right to the top-would that cause any problems with this tank do you think? Any photos you can get would be really appreciated, especially of the lid and feeding hole. Would the lid still sit on properly with a heater being added to it too? sorry for all the questions

No, I've got the 60 litre version What about having the deep sand bed, then have the water only 14" deep and growing plants like Hygrophila, etc, which will grow out of the water and flower? The water lever doesn't matter as the filter and heater can be placed wherever you want..

Yes, the coverglas is not tight fitting, so cables are not a problem. Watch my cycle log, I'll try to get the photos up on Tuesday at the latest

 

[Fish_Girl]

They have acrylic coverglasses, no lids through. Without the coverglass, the evaporation would be too high (I'm currently getting 10 litres per week). It has a cutout at the back (for the light fitting) and one at the front for the food. It's not 100% cat proof, but the light fitting overs most of the top anyway. If you can give me a list of the exact points you want to see, I can get some photos of them for you

Thankyou so much for answering my questions about the lid-is it the 45L one that you are cycling at the moment? I have been looking on various websites about it and really do like the look of that one and i see what you mean about the light covering most of the top-wonder if it would be enough to deter my silly cats though Do i assume from your name that you have kitties too and can speak from experience? I do like the footprint of the 45L Arc, though the height might a problem with the frogs as they cant be in anything deeper than 14 inchs. Of course this could be rectified by having a deeper layer of gravel and not filling the tank right to the top-would that cause any problems with this tank do you think? Any photos you can get would be really appreciated, especially of the lid and feeding hole. Would the lid still sit on properly with a heater being added to it too? sorry for all the questions

No, I've got the 60 litre version What about having the deep sand bed, then have the water only 14" deep and growing plants like Hygrophila, etc, which will grow out of the water and flower? The water lever doesn't matter as the filter and heater can be placed wherever you want..

Yes, the coverglas is not tight fitting, so cables are not a problem. Watch my cycle log, I'll try to get the photos up on Tuesday at the latest

Thankyou once again for the reply, you have been a great help! Its funny because i was already considering putting some Hydrophila as it was recommended to me for the frogs and it seems Bettas also like them? I have a few ideas whirling around my head for tank set ups but i am going to start another thread about that as i want to pick everyones brains and see what people suggest to make our new tank the ultimate frog/#21####

I started reading your log and i will continue to do so because its really interesting but i noticed that you say that lid is loose fitting and sags in the middle so it seems unless i do as kkaannee suggested and get a new lid made for it, then it just isnt 100% safe around the kitties. we have the smallest holes in the back of the lid of the rekord 60 and we ended up having to cover them as a couple of our fish disappeared so really dont want to go putting the frogs and a future betta at any risk from our naughty cats. Im once again thinking about the interpet fish pod as it was a nice looking tank and definately big enough with 48L. Would still have to put a deep layer of substrate etc in due to height but think i could make it work with that tank. Shame because the Arc is a lovely looking tank, if only they had put a better lid on it!