What Size Is My Tank?

[dleighVA]

Can someone help me figure out what size my used tank is. I've looked at charts on tons of sites and haven't found anything. The dimensions are 20" long X 16" tall X 10" wide. I found a formula to calculate the size and it gave me 13 gallons. Could this be correct?

Can someone also point me in the direction of some good information as to how to stock it and how many fish I can include. I have purchased a 100watt Weipro heater. I am also looking at a Penguin Biowheel 150 which is rated for up to 30 gallons. If the tank really is only 13 gallons (not the 20 I was told) then I guess I could go with the Penguin 100.

Thanks for helping a newbie!

 

[VaegaVic]

I make that 52.4 litres.
12 imperial gallons, 14 US gallons.

I would perhaps for that size tank think of stocking smaller fish such as endlers, cardinal tetras or even the humble fancy guppy.
In terms of the filter, although I have no access to the BioWheel range, being in the UK and all, I would advise always OVERfilter, so ideally stick with the 150.

If you bought the tank new, I would suggest you march back to the shop and complain. 6 gallons is a lot of water to miss when keeping fish.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Measure your tank on the inside up to the point where you will fill to.
Go to the calculator tab at the top of the page.
Enter the measurements in the volume section - RESULT

 

[waterdrop]

Hi dleighVA and Welcome to TFF!

Sounds like the members will soon have you sorted on tank water volume and off and going on your hardware decisions (personally I'd give some consideration to another common american (get this feeling you might be USA based (this is a mostly UK forum)) inexpensive line of filters called the "AquaClear" line - these being very flexible in what media they can take and you'd be surprised how customized you sometimes want your filter media!) The design with the bacteria rotating out in to the air to get oxygen is quite ingenious but does carry a bit of increased risk of losing all the bacteria more easily during a power outage when they of course would dry out and die.

Another popular line of filters for tanks down in the 15G and under range are the Fluval internals. Internals are inherently quiet because they are completely underwater, so these would be quieter than either of the other types (quietness though, is an individual thing, as some tanks are not in bedrooms or other quiet living areas.)

Since you are a newcomer to our beginner subforum here and since you've mentioned the word newbie, let me also humbly submit that in my opinion you've stumbled across one of the great get-together places of serious hobbyists (here at TFF) and you may find yourself running across a lot of very strange seeming info and things quite contrary to what you may have imagined about the hobby or heard from the local store folks. If you are truly interested in the hobby then you may have stumbled into a lot of luck! Your comments lead me to believe you may have the common idea that fish come pretty rapidly to a new tank. I've found that many of the experienced folks here don't think of it quite in that way. Instead, they focus a lot of experienced attention on the creation of "a working biofilter" as the center of the new freshwater environment their new responsibilities will be introduced to.

The hardware of the filter is really just the starting point and then as many as two months or so of attention are often applied (or only a month or so with some luck) to make sure all is running well. In our Beginners Resource Center we have three (or 5) articles to help get you up to speed with your questions on this. They are The Nitrogen Cycle, The Fishless Cycle and The Fish-In Cycle (as well as some other tank startup articles such as the ones by Miss Wiggle and Alien Anna and others.) The questions you get by reading those can then be brought here to your thread and the members can help you in a customized way! Anyway, welcome, and I hope you have fun during your stay.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[dleighVA]

Thanks so much waterdrop for the nice welcome! While I am a newbie I have successfully cycled and maintained a measly 2.5 gallon tank for over 2 years. I am moving on up I should say, with this 14 gallon although today I have just found an amazing deal on a 50 gallon! I am looking into the line of filters you mentioned as we speak!

Thanks again!

 

[chesterscot]

Hi under the tff logo there is a tab saying "calculator" click it.
It will work it out for you or any future tanks

regards

 

[waterdrop]

The way I look at it, you basically want a modern EC (External Cannister filter) in any situation where you can afford it, or the things I've mentioned for smaller or low-on-money situations.

If you are able to plan and get a nice large tank like a 50G you will definately want to try and have a nice EC system. Personally, I like using an external "inline" heater in conjunction with this external filter so that all of the main gear is out of the tank and the aquascape can look more natural (Hydor make a nice external inline heater.)

The main competitors in the EC category are Rena, Fluval, Tetratec/Marineland and Eheim. There are positives and negatives to all of these and you just have to research them. First you have to "size" the filter to your system, probably going for "5x turnover" unless you have reason to be doing something special.

I particularly like both Rena and Eheim, with Eheim getting the edge for being the most quiet (if that is needed) and if money is not a problem. On the other hand, Rena may be a better value and possibly even a little tougher in the long run. I tend to see a little higher reporting of breakages and/or failures from the other two EC brands, but they both have loyal followings and all four manufacturers are in the mainstream for these products. ECs have generally significanly higher media volumes than HOBs or Internals, although this is not true across the board.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum DLeighVA.
Since you have a fully functional 2.5 gallon, you have a huge benefit that many of our new members do not. You have a cycled filter that can be used to jump start your new filter. With a 15 gallon nominal tank and a filter rated for 30 gallons, you have plenty of filtration and can expect to do a fishless cycle in about a week by priming the new filter through using the 15 gallon as the cleaning bucket for the old filter. After that cleaning, just add ammonia for a fishless cycle and prepare to be pleasantly surprised by the speed of your cycle. I find that 7 days after a filter cleaning in a new tank is on the long side of things.
For a 50 gallon tank, I would start looking into canister filters instead of hang on back, HOB, or internal filters. My own experience with canisters in the US is with the Rena product line and the Marineland C-series filters. In the Rena line an XP-2 would be just right, while in the Marineland C-series the smaller of their two filters would be plenty for a 50 gallon.
Once you have that 15 gallon up and running with fish, cleaning that filter would give the canister a nice jump start too. I have never tried to use a filter as small as a 2.5 gallon tank's filter to jump start a large canister so I just can't predict how fast it might go.