I'm 'hexed' (60 gallon on sale at LFS)

[webmoose]

Thanks Allivymar... cool articles.. I've read lots of articles and wanted the opinon's from this board... Allivymar always give great advice! I appreciate your time!

Moooooose

Still like a deer (or a moose i guess) in the headlights about the bigger tank.. Just want to make the right decision... I think this will take a while.... I am sure I've already drove Allivymar crazy... How bout this one? How bout that one.... Bow front / tall tank / long tank..... I am perplexed. (Hex'd.)

 

[ferret]

I don't think I like hexes. I think someone mentioned how the six panes of glass make viewing harder. It'd be just as easy to get a tall square tank, and possibly cheaper too.

The only 'shaped' tanks I'd consider are bow fronts, cubes and the corner tanks. I'm seriously considering having a corner tank in the future. You can get those 46 gallon tanks, set them in some unused corner, and you're all set ;p They seem to have a lot of floor space compared to standard rectangle tanks.. Instead of being all length, there's width as well.

 

[TankGirl]

I think it is personal preference, in the end. There are folks who keep hex tanks happily for years and those (like me ) who don't particularly care for them at the moment. My preferences change with the wind, however, and if I saw a great deal on one I would probably snap it up. There are many options for fish that would go great in it, just like every tank configuration. If you have a spot in your house where it would look good, go for it! (check back after you get it and you will get TONS of opinions on what should, and should not go in it!)

 

[juliemichelle]

I've had DWARF gouramis live happily with my bettas. Regular gouramis are too cranky to put in there. 8O The only problem seems to be putting a male and female betta in the same tank.

 

[TankGirl]

I have two dwarf gouramis and they are pretty cranky! I think they are something like cichlids in that they have personalities and you never know if you are going to get an aggressive one or not. I lucked out (ha) and got two aggressive ones. Different tanks, of course, but they have trouble with their tankmates.

 

[Allivymar]

I agree with TankGirl; if I really like something I buy it LOL Its personal preference. I like hex tanks, although the only one I have atm is the 8g QT tank. Thing is, one just needs to be sure to add fish who wil live happily in the tank. As long as you keep that in mind, you should be fine no matter what sorta tank you get. Flip side to that is to decide what fish you want, and buy a tank that will suit them

For example, tall tanks are great for high bodied fish like discus. Long tanks suit fish who need space to swim like danios. A hex would be great for fish who don't require large amounts of space to swim like angels.

I've a 55g standard tank, a 10g standard and my 25g tall is going to be converted to SW soon. The 55g contains angels, loaches and a plec. The 10g has dwarf gouramis, neon/cards and otos. I'm thinking seahorses possibly for the 25g as its a tall tank and they'll do well in a tank like that as opposed to a fish who needs more space to move (also considering clowns instead as they too don't need large amounts of swim space).

I'd love a corner tank, but this apt has funky walls, and believe it or not, there are no useable corners; its an attic apt and all the outside facing walls angle in at 30 degrees at 2 feet from the floor. All the vertical walls have the basics already on em, like radiators and TV's and bookshelves; the vertical corners are where the doors are...

 

[ferret]

That's the funniest thing about them. The dwarf gouramis seem tons more aggressive than the larger varieties. Way back months and months ago I had 2 opaline and 2 gold gouramis in my 75. Never caused a problem. When they moved to another tank that had a dwarf gourami, he caused all kinds of fights.

 

[Allivymar]

Oh, and as for the dwarf gouramis.

I actually have 3 in my planted 10g; 2 colisa lalia, 1 colisa sota. Surprisingly, they get along but I did NOT plan on it. In fact, I had bought 2 with the caveat I may have to return one. They did fine together. I then decided I wanted a female, as one was building bubble nests every week, and puchased what I hoped was a female (gourami #3). I had already spoken to someone who was willing to take the 3rd fish in case things didn't work out. Atm, they all have staked out diff areas of the tank and aren't amazingly aggressive towards each other (some chasing, but rarely do they face off). But this is an exception to the rule, and I know I may have to remove at least one gourami at some point; I have that friend's tank available if one of em needs a new home.

 

[webmoose]

So technically I might want to approach it this way.... I love cory's I would love a large tank I could house 1 or 2 different schools of 6 or so on the bottom.... I would love to have some tetra's (currently have neon's and cardinals) in the middle and a gourami or two..... for the top.

Cool good tank for this combo would be??

 

[Allivymar]

I'd prob go with a longer tank with that crew; you want to see those schools moving across the tank, the schooling fish will prefer the space and a long tank will give the fish the best opportunity for moving in a schooling group. The tetras will look especially stunning. Its the only thing I'm sorta disappointed about with my 10g; my noens/cards school, but I'd love to see them move distances which obviously can't happen in the 10g.

 

[webmoose]

what is a good size for a "long tank" I've seen lots of 46... I don't think I've seen any 55's.. I think it skipped that size and went to 76...? Or am I just crazy! (twitch)...

HOB filter on each end on long ones? (stupid question... maybe I am full of them....)

going to have to change my signature to how does Allivymar put up with me.. .Honest I am not trying to make you into my own personal shopper...

 

[tastybrains]

I have a beautiful, but sadly very aggressive, male betta that I've kept in a 1/2-gallon bowl for most of his life. He is always blowing bubble nests, and is very active. It is worth noting that I do partial water changes every 3-5 days and also that the temperature in this room never gets below about 72 degrees because of my computer equipment. However, I think that it's entirely possible for a betta to be happy in relatively small quarters (as long as you take care of them accordingly!!)

As for bettas and gouramis: here is a simple test that has always worked for me. Put your male betta in a bowl and then dunk it in your tank. The betta will be floating around, shielded, in your tank's environment and you will be able to tell very quickly whether either he or the gourami has an attitude problem. The other fish in the tank, if they are like mine, will come to investigate the new addition. If the gouramis or the betta flare incessantly at each other, there are going to be problems. The betta I keep in the bowl literally goes nuts flaring and trying to attack the gouramis when they swim by; however, I had a previous male that just minded his own business. When I actually put the placid betta in the tank, he and one of the gouramis almost seemed to become "friends" -- they would often swim around together and would sleep snuggled up next to each other on the bottom. Very cute.

 

[Allivymar]

Bwaahahahaha! I really don't mind all the questions They're fun to answer!

I use an Emperor400 on my 55g; it seems to work well (has a double Bio-Wheel, and turns over 400 gallons per hour) although I will most likely add another filter at some point as I'm getting a couple more fish for the tank. In theory, you want 6-10x the amount of gallons in the tank turning over every hour thru the filter; the 400 is sorta underfiltering my tank atm as its pulling about 7.3x my tank amount thru the filter per hour (and I have 5 soon to be 6 angelfish, 4 soon to be 5 loaches and a big fat pleco in there). It sits on one end of the tank, which leaves the other side really calm (and my angelfish lurve it). It also provides enough surface agitation that I don't need to add aeration as well.

I'm surprised you aren't seeing any 55g; they are pretty standard. Maybe the store sold out? I do know they are hard to find online; most chain stores don't sell larger tanks online as the shipping is a pain.

I like the test idea btw brains; awesome idea!

 

[ferret]

I find most stores stop at 55, and you have to order larger tanks. Funny ;p

Yes, in general if you've got the dough, you'd want two hob filters for a tank longer than 48 inches (Standard for 55s to 90s). Even if you don't need the filtration, its a good idea to have a backup filter, and the second one will help with water circulation on the far side of the tank.

 

[RodneyCK]

My first saltwater aquarium was a 30g hex. I too found that fish prefer to have longer tanks, especially my little yellow boxfish. I remember transferring him from the 30g to the 55g long. He would swim from one end to the other in excitement. His name was noodle, because one of my friends said it looked like a piece of gnocchi.

My suggestion would be to stay clear of hex aquariums, pretty but not functional.

 

[Allivymar]

Gnocchi *giggle* I think that would have been an awesome name itself!

And welcome to Aquariumadvice Rodney!

 

[madasafish]

40 Long (from All-Glass) is a possible size. I used to hate them when I first saw them, but now I deperately want one. They're great for longer fish such as eels and Black Ghost Knives. And with a longer tank, you a higher surface area/volume ratio. A plus, as others have mentioned. It takes the same fixture as a 55, I'm pretty sure.

On a side note, I just bought a 4 gallon tall. I'll take some pix and send it to you. It kinda cool! But requires an incandescent bulb...

 

[RodneyCK]

Thanks Allivymar!!! I stumbled upon this site and forum a few days ago. A wealth of information and everyone seems really nice, a good find indeed.

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah, we kinda like it here Rodney *grin* Good buncha folks, lots of info and experiences to chose from and read thru. Heh, we have our conflicting opinions, but one of my fav things about this place is folks don't get all upset n flame just cause someone doesn't agree.

Hey madasa? Whats going into that teeny lil tank? Don''t just send moose a pic; we all wanna see!

 

[madasafish]

Hehe. Sorry. The "you" was supposed to refer to everyone. Just realized that sounded rather specific.

Well, I'm hiding it from my G/F right now (she's anti-MTS), so I'll try to take a pic sometime. Nothing to talk about yet. I'm trying to get around some logistical problems right now............