Hey im just wondering if anyone has a nice little conversion of how much actual tank is present after adding X lbs of whatever. I have a 55g and about 55lbs of live rock coupled with 20-30lbs of sand. Anyone have a clue on what my actual volume is?
Starting tank volume vs. Actually tank volume
- Thread starter rusty-nail-z
- Start date
Well you would have to measure the displacement of the rock. Get a 30 or 40 gallon trash can, fill it with water 5 gallons at a time and use a permanent marker to note the levels, in incriminates of 5 because you're adding 5 gallons at at time. Then put 25 gallons of water in then add your live rock. The water level will rise and will tell you the displacement of the rock.
Once you have that number you add your sand to the tank, make sure its completely level and measure the width, height, and length from INSIDE the tank.
Then comes the math. W*H*L = inches cubed. Convert that to gallons and subtract the displacement of your rock. It wont be 100% accurate because the sand will absorb some water but it'll give you an idea.
Once you have that number you add your sand to the tank, make sure its completely level and measure the width, height, and length from INSIDE the tank.
Then comes the math. W*H*L = inches cubed. Convert that to gallons and subtract the displacement of your rock. It wont be 100% accurate because the sand will absorb some water but it'll give you an idea.
or (at least for the sand) you could do the sand to a certain depth in the tank measue it's height x length of the tankx width of the tank and that'll get you the volume of the sand/gravel.
Thanx for the responses. im def not going to take apart my established aquarium just to figure out my exact volume. I was just wondering if there was a ballpark number or little formula to figure all that out........
Well, 20 pounds of sand (1-1.5mm grain size) is roughly 320 cubic inches. The rock really will depend on density. If you want a highly inaccurate guess, I'd say roughly 35 cubic inches per pound.
Basically, one gallon is ~230 cubic inches, so if you can visualize how many US gallon milk jugs your rock would fill and multiply that number by about 200 (because aragonite rock will take on some water), you could guess at the displacement of your sand and rock.
From experience, I'm usually looking at losing about 10 gallons of "water capacity" from a 55 gallon aquarium--in other words, a full fill is more like 45G. This will differ for you based on how much and what kind of rock and sand you use.
Basically, one gallon is ~230 cubic inches, so if you can visualize how many US gallon milk jugs your rock would fill and multiply that number by about 200 (because aragonite rock will take on some water), you could guess at the displacement of your sand and rock.
From experience, I'm usually looking at losing about 10 gallons of "water capacity" from a 55 gallon aquarium--in other words, a full fill is more like 45G. This will differ for you based on how much and what kind of rock and sand you use.
Germanman
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