I want to buy a 72 gallon bow front aquarium and stand, but live in an apartment building on the second floor. Should I be worried about the weight of the tank?

Here in Chicago, we set up aquariums larger than that in second or third floor apartments all the time. It should not be a problem. One tip we can give you is that if you have hardwood floors, set up the aquarium so that its longest side runs parallel with the floorboards.

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Does an acrylic tank require a standard aquarium stand or a special stand?

An acrylic tank requires a stand that fully supports the bottom panel of the aquarium with some form of platform. Wrought iron stands for example, would not work as they are open in the center. However, if you placed a piece of 3/4" plywood on top of a wrought iron stand, that would work fine.

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What are the pros and cons of acrylic versus glass aquariums?

We tend to favor acrylic aquariums over glass. In our opinion, acrylic is superior to glass as an aquarium material in all respects except one. The one issue with acrylic tanks is scratching.
Acrylic offers greater clarity, is much lighter in weight, has a higher tensile strength and insulates better than glass of the same thickness. Well-made acrylic aquariums are literally welded together, using a method that makes an acrylic seam stronger than the acrylic panel itself. Acrylic tanks do not depend on the silicone cohesive bonding used to assemble glass tanks, so they rarely leak. Glass aquariums have a greater tendency to leak, and should always be placed on a good flat and level surface to help prevent this.
Acrylic aquariums are also built with a top panel welded in place with openings in it for access and filtration. This makes the tank stronger and eliminates the ugly "salt creep" that can occur with glass tanks. However, the smaller access openings do not allow most larger decorations to be placed in the tank, so the hobbyist must get creative with decorating or special-order a tank with a thicker top and larger access openings.
Acrylic is 50% lighter in weight than glass. A person can lift a 55 gallon acrylic aquarium with one hand! It takes two people, using both hands, to lift a 55 gallon glass tank. This is an advantage for folks who tend to move frequently.
Acrylic is easier to drill for custom filtration plumbing applications, although glass aquariums may be ordered with pre-drilled holes for plumbing.
Acrylic is a softer material than glass and scratches easier. When cleaning an acrylic tank, greater care must be taken not to accidentally rub gravel, rocks, or coral against the tank panels. Scratches may be easily buffed out of an acrylic tank (even under water!). Scratches in glass are forever! Scratches in glass aquariums (which can also be scratched by rocks, etc.) cannot be repaired.
Because acrylic is a more pliable material than glass, it may have a tendency to bow outward or warp slightly when filled. The amount of bowing is usually negligible however, and ordering a tank made of thicker acrylic will almost always prevent this from happening. The tops of acrylic aquariums may also warp under high heat conditions, such as under metal-halide lighting. This will not affect the strength of the tank, but acrylic aquariums should be ordered with thicker tops to prevent this from happening if they will be used for reef tanks equipped with strong lighting.

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I saw some cool-looking tower and coffee table aquariums in a furniture store. Are these good choices for an aquarium?

When shopping for an aquarium, avoid tanks that are more than twice as high as they are long, or aquariums built into cool shapes like coffee tables. There are many so-called ""tower" tanks on the market that hold a lot of water but have very little surface area for their size. A fifty gallon cylinder aquarium measuring 16 inches in diameter by 6 feet high will only house as many fish as a fifteen gallon aquarium! Coffee table aquariums afford very little cover for the fish, have limited access for maintenance and do not allow the means to equip the tank with good filtration. Don't be fooled by these cool-looking but very impractical toys. Here at The Aquarium Professionals Group, we have a term for these novelty aquariums: We call them "death traps."

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How does the shape of my aquarium affect the number of fish I can keep?

While there are other factors that determine how many fish can be kept in a given aquarium, the most important is the level of dissolved oxygen in the aquarium water. All aquatic animals in an aquarium require oxygen to survive. The higher the level of dissolved oxygen, the more fish the aquarium will hold. Dissolved oxygen levels in an aquarium are directly related to the surface area of the tank (the amount of water that is exposed to air). It is at the aquarium's surface that carbon dioxide escapes and oxygen enters the water. Aquariums that are wider and/or longer will have more surface area and will therefore hold more fish. As a general rule, standard rectangular aquariums will usually hold more fish than an unusual-shaped aquarium of the same volume. For example, a 30 gallon rectangular tank measuring 36" long x 13" wide has approximately 3 square feet of surface area. A 30 gallon hexagon aquarium measuring 22" long x 16" wide has approximately 1¾ square feet of surface area. In this example, the rectangular aquarium will hold nearly two times more fish than the hexagon aquarium.

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What is the smallest size that a salt water aquarium can be?

While it is possible to set-up a successful saltwater aquarium in any size aquarium, it becomes very difficult to maintain any marine tank smaller than 40 gallons, especially for a beginner. Most authors of aquarium books recommend that new hobbyists begin with nothing smaller than a 55 gallon aquarium, and we agree whole-heartedly. Depending on specific gravity, salt water contains about 1/6 the amount of oxygen as an equivalent volume of fresh water. This means that smaller tanks will not be able to hold that many animals. It is easier to pollute a pond than a lake. Larger aquariums are harder to pollute than smaller ones. The larger the volume of water, the more forgiving the ecology of the aquarium. It is very common for beginners to make mistakes, including putting to many fish in aquariums, starting with too many fish, over-feeding, using too little filtration, etc. If the tank is too small, those mistakes become magnified because there isn't enough water to absorb the results of these mistakes. It is therefore much safer to go with a larger tank, of at least 40 gallons.

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I have never owned an aquarium and am thinking of getting one. I don't have much knowledge about it. What things do I need to consider if I decide to get one. I will probably get a 15-20 gallon fish tank.

The very first thing you need to get, before you buy an aquarium, is an inexpensive book. You can also go to a library to do some reading. This is a hobby, and like many hobbies, it is always wise to do some reading first to find out whether it's right for you. You will not be able to learn everything you need to know on the Internet, and there is no way we can list all of the things you "need to consider" here as there are entire books written just on the subject of starting an aquarium. Here's a few quick tips: 1) Make sure you get a rectangular tank. Odd-shaped tanks have less surface area and are more difficult to keep clean. 2) Invest in two filters! For a tank that size, an undergravel filter and a hang-on power filter will work fine. Don't fall into the trap of just getting a power filter, no matter what anyone tells you. The vast majority of the questions we answer are from hobbyists who only have a power filter. They get cloudy water and lots of problems. 3) Decide which fish you want to keep before you buy and set-up your aquarium. It is easier to choose equipment and design the aquarium around the fish you want, rather than setting up the tank, then trying to get fish that fit your set-up. 4) Once again, do some reading. In almost every situation, when people write us for help with their aquarium problems, we ask them what books they've read, and they almost always answer "NONE." In most of these cases, if they had only done some reading, they could have solved their problems by themselves.

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How do you calculate how many gallons of water an aquarium will hold?

Take the length, width and height of the tank in inches and multiply them together to get the number of cubic inches in the tank, then divide by 231.

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Is 15 inches in height suitable for an aquarium?

The height of an aquarium does not matter as much as the length and width of the tank, as it is surface area that determines how many fish may be kept and how healthy the environment will be. Having good surface area is important for gas exchange and is a major factor in selecting an aquarium.

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I am planning to purchase a 95 gal quarter round fresh water tank. I was wondering since this would be my 1st tank, do you think this would be too much of an undertaking?

The larger the tank, the easier it will be to maintain and the harder it will be to pollute. A larger volume of water can also better absorb the results of mistakes, such as over-feeding. You are on the right track.

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Frequent Aquarium Questions