# Aquarium height



## herezor (8 Nov 2015)

Hi all

I realised this morning that I must have a leak in my tank. Not very important, but I may end up with a flooded floor and I am sure I don´t want that (and neither does my wife for sure). So I am thinking on buying a new tank (she, my wife, has seen the small puddle on the aquarium table and she agrees on that...) . Acording to the space I have, the maximum I can get is a 80 cm long. My "silly" question is: what is best for viewing, managing and proportionality, a 30 cm high or 40 cm. 30 cm high seems a little too small, but I have now 45 cm and it is too high... so I am not so sure about a 40 cm high as it also seems too high.

I am thinking in a non-standard 80x40x30. 30 would be the height. Is it not too shallow for fish to swim later on, or is it enough?. Wouldn´t it be better a 80x40x40...?. I want more visual depth so I am almost sure that I want 40 cm deep, but height is what concerns me. 40 or 30 cm...

What do you experienced guys recommend?

Cheers

Pedro


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## Andy D (8 Nov 2015)

I doubt most fish would care too much about the height. 

You have to look at it. What do you prefer?

Perhaps cut out some card in the two sizes and put it in place and see which you prefer? 

I would say that from a general set-up/'scaping point of view then the 40cm height will probably be better.


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## matt (8 Nov 2015)

I'm building a 25cm hight acrylic tank right at this moment, I'll get some photos up in a mo to give a sense of prospective.


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## matt (8 Nov 2015)




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## matt (8 Nov 2015)

Should be done in the next 20 mins or so.


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## matt (8 Nov 2015)

And finished.
120x60x25


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## Martin in Holland (9 Nov 2015)

Great build matt, this will give you an nice perspective for sure.


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## banthaman.jm (9 Nov 2015)

Hi, i have a 45cm cube with a top section of 15cm it can be a bit of a nightmare to get right to the bottom of the tank when doing maintenance.
Jim


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## herezor (9 Nov 2015)

Thank you all guys.

Andy, thanks a lot, I have already done that but I was not convinced. I know fish do not care about height, my idea is to use harlequin rasbora and maybe in a shallow tank they don´t look very good. Well I can always go for an even samller fish like rasbora briggittae or galaxy...

Matt, that looks really nice. I think I will go for the 30 high. It will be much easier to reach the bottom for cleaning and arranging things as my aquarium table is already quite high (around 1.2 m), plus filter head will be reduced regarding my current tank and hence, flow increased.

Thank you guys, you helped me a lot. 80x40x30 will be it.

Cheers

Pedro

PS: I will upload pictures when I get it. It will probably take around 3 weeks to have it manufactured and sent...


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## alto (9 Nov 2015)

36cm is also a fairly popular tank height ... consider what sort of substrate depths you're likely to use ... 6cm - 10cm can easily be taken up by gravel etc,


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## herezor (9 Nov 2015)

Yes alto, that´s another idea that I have. I asked the guy if he can do it this size (he makes tanks ad-hoc), because it is not as high as 40 but not as low as 30. Just in-between. That size might be just what I want

Waiting for his answer...

Cheers
Pedro


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## zozo (9 Nov 2015)

matt said:


> And finished.
> 120x60x25



Wonderfull build..  This is on my wishlist too, to do one day, maybe next year.  Do you have more experience with acrylic tanks? What about all the scratchy horror stories? This week i'm building myself a glass tank and go for 90x35x35 cm.  The plan was first 30 cm but taking substrate in consideration i settled for 35 cm..


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## PARAGUAY (9 Nov 2015)

Maybe the recent post of IKEA doing flat pack aquariums is not that far away.Excellent job  .Dragons Den sharpish Matt


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## PARAGUAY (9 Nov 2015)

herezor their is a company that makes a fish safe under water sealer non toxic www.huttonaquaticproducts.co.uk


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## matt (9 Nov 2015)

zozo said:


> Wonderfull build..  This is on my wishlist too, to do one day, maybe next year.  Do you have more experience with acrylic tanks? What about all the scratchy horror stories? This week i'm building myself a glass tank and go for 90x35x35 cm.  The plan was first 30 cm but taking substrate in consideration i settled for 35 cm..



Thanks, this is my second acrylic build. I did a "How to" guide here
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-acrylic-tank-build-new-update.31622/
on my first build.
No scratches yet and it's been going nearly 2 years, but I am very carefull when doing mantainance
and it's eaiser to get scratches out of acrylic than glass anyhow


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## matt (9 Nov 2015)

PARAGUAY said:


> Maybe the recent post of IKEA doing flat pack aquariums is not that far away.Excellent job  .Dragons Den sharpish Matt


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## zozo (9 Nov 2015)

matt said:


> Thanks, this is my second acrylic build. I did a "How to" guide here
> http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-acrylic-tank-build-new-update.31622/
> on my first build.
> No scratches yet and it's been going nearly 2 years, but I am very carefull when doing mantainance
> and it's eaiser to get scratches out of acrylic than glass anyhow



Oh yes!! Now i remember, red this thread while back, even before i was ukaps member.. Good to know it's just a horror story.. I only builded some acrylic light fixtures till now. These you don't have to clean so much. But tanks i have no experiense. Well thanks for the info, something to think about next year..


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## herezor (10 Nov 2015)

Finally I have ordered a 80x40x35 cm with 6 mm glass for just 102 euros including delivery (76 euros manufacturing). Great price I think. The only drawback is that it will take around a month to get it. Well, no big deal as I emptied my current tank and as I started it as DSM, it will be DSM for another month . This hobby involves patience and I am patient...Then I´ll move everything to the new tank so I hope I will preserve the soil cycling. Pitty about the well stablished rooting system of my Eleocharis sp mini . Well looking at the bright side, I will have much more plant biomass than when I started my current tank and won´t have to spend a dime on it.

Thank you all for your inputs

Cheers

Pedro


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