Tank size recommendations

[ArkyLady]

Let's try this again without all my babbling:

We will be building a tank to house 6 bala sharks and 6 clown loaches. If all these fish reach 12", that would work out to 144 gallons using the 1" per gallon formula. But what I want to know is what minimum length/width/height dimensions should I be focusing on to keep these fish happy when they are full grown?

Thanks :)

[ArkyLady]

*bump*

[Richer]

The biggest footprint you can manage. Depth isn't really important. Personally, I'd would go with a 6'x3' footprint (or 7x2) or larger. That would give your bala sharks lots of room to go swimming around in, and will give you lots of space for your clown loaches... infact you could probably get more clown loaches than you plan for. Remember, the more surface area, the better.

HTH
-Richer

[JamisonBWolsh]

Your going to build this tank yourself? Isnt it hard to build a tank? I mean, it SOUNDS easy... take 5 measured peices of thick glass and sillicone it all togethor. But it cant be THAT easy? If it was, then EVERYONE would be doing it.. Dont you need special equipment?

[quick061]

not special equipment to put it together no. the only part you might need additional equipment for is cutting but since you can probably get it cut at most distributors when you buy it its not that big of a deal.

then its just a matter of getting it constructed right which takes knowledge and patients, but no equipment.

[ArkyLady]

Richer thanks! That's the info I was looking for. I was considering going 3 feet wide since I can't really fit an 8 foot long tank anywhere in my house and I could get more area for them with less wall space. I'm also planning to go with 16-18" deep so I can use the less expensive 1/4" plate glass and also because I have a 55gal that's 2' tall and I hate cleaning it, what a pain :)

Instead of adding any more of the large monster fish, I had thought about adding a school of maybe 8-12 small, colorful, active, top swimming fish. Maybe some kind of tetra? As far as I know, the balas or loaches shouldn't give even small fish any problems, but that may not be the case when they start getting really large.

Jamison we'll be building a plywood tank based on the plans from GARF http://www.garf.org/ I suppose I should have specified that. IF I can find a place to build me a custom glass or acrylic tank the size I want for anywhere near what it will cost us to build the plywood one, I will consider that option. So far though all the places I have priced are considerably higher. I don't really have a materials cost yet because I haven't decided for certain the dimensions, but I'll be happy to post them once I get it together.

Richer, do you think if I went 5' long, 3' wide and 18" deep that would be sufficient? Works out to nearly 170 gallons. That would fit best in my house at least, but I could probably squeeze out room for a 6' long if it were absolutely necessary (yeah I know bigger is always better hehe)