How much does an aquarium actually hold?

travelinman1969

travelinman1969

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Oct 23, 2003
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I just got back from a LFS and a guy there told me that my 150 gallon aquarium doesn't actually hold 150 gallons of water, more like 140, empty. I beg to differ. I have a 150 gallon that measures 48LX24WX30H. I have distrect marks I've made on the tank so I know exactly how much water to add. Each mark is 1 inch. With my dimensions, that's 5 gallons per inch. If I pull 5 inches, 5-5 gallon buckets are perfect. What is this guy talking about?

I'm getting ready to buy a 210. 84LX24WX24H. He says that tank will only hold about 180 gallons. I bring this up because I need to get a good figure on the weight for the floor. I have figured the tank is 585 pounds dry, 210 gallons at 8.2 pounds per gallon plus 60 pounds on the stand, plus 30 pounds on filters and all, equals 2400 pds.

If it does actually hold 180 then that takes off 250 pounds. Not much but could be big for what I have planned. :D
 
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Maybe he meant that when you measure the inside of the tank the volume is less then if you had measured the outside of the tank and calculated.? It wouldn't hurt to measure it yourself and find out.
 
Okay going by inside dimensions which I haven't actually measured, it comes out to 194 gallons. I'll go down tomorrow and do actual measurements. I'm going on 1/2 inch glass.
 
48Lx24Wx30H will be 34,560 cubic inches of capacity assuming those are the inside dimensions. If they're the outside dimensions, the volume will be slightly less.

34,560 in^3 = 20 ft^3
20 ft^3 x 7.48 gal/ft^3 = 149.6 gallons if it's filled to the brim. Ornamants, substrate, fish, and the little bit of space at the top will reduce the actual water held.

So your tank could hold about 150 gallons, but it likely won't.

EDIT: I guess I'm a bit slow tonight :) That calculator would have been a bit easier.
 
I have never had a tank which actually held the nominal volume, most are well short of that figure.

My big tanks are all idle right now, so I don't have their cards handy, but of the tanks which are up in this room, one of the 55s has 41 gallons measured water volume, the other has 42 gallons. the 29 has 23 gallons actual water volume, etc.
 
I see where this guy is coming from now. Just figured inside dimensions of my 150 and I come out to 135 gallons. That would be empty, so figurin about 100 pounds of gravel, 7 pounds of fish in the mix........... :p Guess the guy was right. Never thought of it that way and I just always figured they carry their actual value.

Hey, can we start a class action against the companies for misrepresentation?
 
yea they do the measurements from the outside so on huge tnaks its going to be really thick material; cutting into water space plus who fills their tanks to the brim? im sure alot of unused space is there too.
 
Along the same lines is the rated gph of filters. I have read on here that they are rated while they contain no media in them. So short of conducting our own tests how are we supposed to know how much actual gph we are getting?
 
Yeah, its shame really but it seems everything is getting "PR" figures attached to it rather than actual truths, this has been going on in the computer industry for years (just think AMD) and it seems to be getting worse in aqautics.

All the tank makers measure there tanks from the outside and qoute figures based on that with no adjustment for glass thinkness or indeed as already said the fact that no one fills a tank up to the brim.
I think no one manufacture wants to change to the more accurate system. after all who would buy a 146.5g from company X when company Y sells a 150g for the same price???
 
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