saltwater tank sizes are diff than fresh with same volume?

[SnakeIce]

I am getting an acryllic salt tank that is said to be 55 gallons... is that a standard size and does it hold 55 gallons?

what I am trying to ask... do salt tanks actually have a greater volume as an allowance for live rock, and other stony stuff?

 

[mogurnda]

LXWXH (in inches) divided by 231 will give gallons. Once the stuff is in the tank, you kind of have to guess how much water is left.

 

[SnakeIce]

oh i went looking at makers of acryllic tank and found that there is a reef 55 that is bigger than a regular 55, so I answered my ? but I will just have to measure it when I get it on hand to do so

 

[mogurnda]

Usually "reef ready" means that it's drilled for overflows. I didn't think it had anything to do with size.

 

[SnakeIce]

it wasn't a reef ready per se but was called a 55 but was wider with other dimensions the same thus bigger than 55 but called a R55 by the manufacturer

 

[SnakeIce]

lol looked again one is the regular 55, 48-13-20 and the 55R is 36-18-20 so marginally over 55 instead of under

 

[kreblak]

I would go with the 48 inch tank. It always helps to have the extra swimming space for any fish you put in. I have a 36 inch tank, and it has limited my fish selection.

 

[BrianH]

While the 48" width is nice for some larger fish, the 18" depth is better for stacking live rock and lighting. If you can, I would try either a 75 or 90 gallon. This way you get the 48" width and the 18" depth.

Brian

 

[VoodooChild]

A quick word on live rock displacement...being as porous as it is, you'd be amazed as to how much water actually gets moved. I removed a bucket of water from my 30 before adding 45 pounds of live rock and I had to dump well over 1/2 of the bucket back in, as compared to rainbow rock or things along those lines. This doesn't really apply to much as far as space goes, but since you asked about gallons, thought it might help. That being said, live rock is different with different degrees of density, but you shouldn't find that much of a difference.

 

[liquafaction]

If I had it to do over again, I would never have bought my first tank (100 gal). I wouldhave waited for a 250 gal plus to come around. I really want a 500, you just get more choices on what you can stock the bigger you go. I have also noticed that it does not take a lot of anything to change the water parameters in 100 gal. I could not imagine having a smaller one.