What's A Big Tank?

[idlefingers]

I know this is a bit of a random question, but what size would a tank be before you consider it large?

I was just reading about some plants on aqua essentials and one said it was better suited to larger tanks... so what's a large tank? Not just in regards to plants, though. To me, my 52 gallon is large, but I know it's not very big in the realm of how big they can get.

I know there's never going to be a definitive answer, but I'm interested to see what people consider as a large tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i'd have probably said about 60 us gallons.... gone for 50 as that's closest!

 

[Darkstar]

Anything 6ft and over imo.

 

[CFC]

Theyre not large until you get into tripple figures, a 4x2x2 foot tank is the smallest sized tank i'd call large with anything smaller being average small or tiny. Most people can accomidate and afford a standard sized 4 foot tank which is 40 to 75 gallons so that would be average, tanks in the 20 to 40 gallon range are small and anything smaller than that is tiny.

 

[dwarfgourami]

To me:

anything under 2 foot is a nano tank
2 foot is a small tank
3-4 foot is a medium tank
anything over 4 foot is a large tank, though I'd really be thinking more along 6 foot lines

or put it another way: to be labelled "large" a tank should be big enough to house some of the larger commonly sold fish, say a common plec or an oscar (not counting the real monsters like red tail catfish that shouldn't be commonly sold anyway).

a medium tank should be able to house medium fish like swordtails or mollies

a small tank for small fish, like guppies and tetras

and a nano tank for nano fish, like my new heterandrias

 

[Miss Wiggle]

or put it another way: to be labelled "large" a tank should be big enough to house some of the larger commonly sold fish, say a common plec or an oscar (not counting the real monsters like red tail catfish that shouldn't be commonly sold anyway).

yeah definately, that's why I'd say 60g which i think is roughly 4'x2'x2' as a standard rectangle, although i'd actually say go slightly bigger for an oscar it wouldn't be crime of the century to put any of the larger commonly sold fish in one.

 

[prankster705]

4' X 2' X 2' is 120 gallon...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

4' X 2' X 2' is 120 gallon...

hmmmm just looked it up and your right, which has just confused the hell out of me as we've a 4x2xslightly less than 2, and we've always thought it was 60 gallons!!

please just ignore everythign i say today, i blame it being a monday

 

[The-Wolf]

tanks in the 20 to 40 gallon range are small and anything smaller than that is tiny.

to go a stage further than that, under 10G is a vase, put flowers in it not fish

 

[LisaLQ]

I said 75g or bigger, as a 4ft x 18" x 18" is the biggest I'd class as a medium, and that's 75g. But large to me personally is a 6ft or larger, but I am biased because I have 6ft tanks. It's all in the eye of the beholder in other words, folks with a 10g tank are going to think a 50g is massive, whereas those of us with 6ft tanks would class a 50g as small!

 

[raptorrex]

i never had a tank smaller than 40 ukg, so i tend to think of that as normal, say medium. with big starting with a 4x2x2, and the only one you will ever need being 8x2x2. well for me anyway. lol i think big tank is defined in this month PFK! one you can swim in.

 

[dwarfgourami]

tanks in the 20 to 40 gallon range are small and anything smaller than that is tiny.

to go a stage further than that, under 10G is a vase, put flowers in it not fish

Not sure I quite agree with that. I think somebody with the right expertise can make a very good nano tank, I certainly wouldn't want George Farmer to be banned from doing so. But nano tanks are about nano fish (or invertebrates). To be honest, why should a heterandria formosa require the same amount of swimming space as a guppy when they're about a quarter of the size? And their waste production must be much less than a quarter of that of a guppy.

 

[BigIan]

or put it another way: to be labelled "large" a tank should be big enough to house some of the larger commonly sold fish, say a common plec or an oscar (not counting the real monsters like red tail catfish that shouldn't be commonly sold anyway).

yeah definately, that's why I'd say 60g which i think is roughly 4'x2'x2' as a standard rectangle, although i'd actually say go slightly bigger for an oscar it wouldn't be crime of the century to put any of the larger commonly sold fish in one.

4x2x15....

9 inches mases ALOT of diffrence

 

[LisaLQ]

Not sure I quite agree with that. I think somebody with the right expertise can make a very good nano tank, I certainly wouldn't want George Farmer to be banned from doing so. But nano tanks are about nano fish (or invertebrates). To be honest, why should a heterandria formosa require the same amount of swimming space as a guppy when they're about a quarter of the size? And their waste production must be much less than a quarter of that of a guppy.

Who said anything about being banned from keeping a small tank? lol I think he meant in his opinion, not that it should be law

There's more to a fish's tank space needs than just their body size and waste production. Look at danios, they're the same size as many tetras, but need more swimming space because they're just a very active fish. Just like my old vieja intermedium cichlid needed a bigger tank than an oscar, despite his adult size being a couple of inches smaller and his waste production being much less - purely because of the fact that where he came from in the wild, and it's conditions, meant he needed a long tank with lots of swimming space.

Anyhoo....sorry for hijacking, just dont want another board war to start over someone posting their opinion and it being misread - no-one said anything about banning smaller tanks!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

4x2x15....

9 inches mases ALOT of diffrence

PMSL

thought yours was 4x2x18 which would obviously make less difference, that explains it.