The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Upgrading

[nadajdui]

I've been thinking for a while about upgrading my 33 gallon (12"W 18"T 36"L) to a 40 or 50 gallon.
I have the filtration and the heating necessary.
The only thing in the tank right now is a 5" BN Pleco. Not thinking too much on the stocking now, just the advantages and disadvantages of upgrading. I know there are some obvious ones, but I wanna hear what you think.
Thanks.

 

[Callum]

a few advantages are more fish, more stable enviroment, more space to aquascape

a few disadvantages: cost, trying to get the parents / rest of the family to agree to a big tank

 

[nadajdui]

Heheh, right now I'm just mulling over the cost. I would really like to do this, but it's definitely the money issue that I'm battling right now.
This is likely going to be a longterm thing, I just wanted to see if anyone had reasons not to do it (aside from the parent thing haha).
Thanks.

 

[Phoenixfish]

i just upgraded from a 5.5 to a 35 ish
and bar the actual tank and stand etc there isnt much more money involved, well you have to space your stoking anyway so i kinda dont realise the amount im prob wracking up, i added 7 neon tetras(2 free ^^) and 2 3 spoted gouramis (poss sp)

 

[wendywc]

Honestly, I don't think it's worth the time, effort, and money to upgrade from a 30ish gallon tank to a 40-50. All you have is a bristlenose right now, so you have plenty of room to add to the tank and make it wonderful so easily and quickly... just the way it is.

An upgrade to a 55 or 75+ gallon tank and setup is a different story though.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

disadvantage? not upgrading enough as much as i enjoy my 60g, i still really wish that i had gone for a wider tank; 12" really isn't as wide as you might think. if i was to do it over again, i'd definitely go for a tank that's 18+" wide and try to avoid getting another deep tank (24" is as long as my arm, which makes fish-catching and plant-moving a pain in the b-u-t-t.) my next tank will probably be a "breeder" 50g or a 75g.

another "disadvantage" is getting too excited about the bigger tank and trying to cram too many new fish in it. i see that a lot on the forum: someone with a 10g decides to buy a 50g and gets so excited about big new fish that the larger tank winds up more overstocked than the 10g was.

however, the biggest advantage of upgrading is that big tanks are AWESOME a properly stocked 50g is a show-stopper and really brings home how different a 5g is from a lake. plus its easier to maintain and you have a lot more flexibility about what you can stock.

 

[nadajdui]

Hmm, I think if I do end up upgrading, it will be 50 gallons+. But no more than 75 gallons, as there just isn't the room for that sort of thing if I go even larger.

 

[mr.dark-saint]

Honestly, I don't think it's worth the time, effort, and money to upgrade from a 30ish gallon tank to a 40-50. All you have is a bristlenose right now, so you have plenty of room to add to the tank and make it wonderful so easily and quickly... just the way it is.

An upgrade to a 55 or 75+ gallon tank and setup is a different story though.

Yeah it's really not much of an up grade. I'd think double the original size would be an "Upgrade". Same amount of work and very little size differnece. But then again it will be another tank .

 

[Miss Wiggle]

another advantage when you upgrade is you've then got your old tank as a spare... for hospital/quarantine/breeding etc etc...... or you could just set it up and have 2 tanks lol

 

[nadajdui]

Hmmm, definitely no room for 2 tanks 3 feet and over down here where I'm at. Good suggestion though hehehe.
50+ it is, people. Thanks for the help.