Gallons

[jaodissa]

When someone asks the size of your tank are they asking how many gallons it can hold or how many gallons you have in it. My tank holds 45 gallons but with the sand and live rock I only get about 37ish (rough guess). So when measuring for fish and that whole 2 inches per gallon thing do you go based on what you have without or with rock? Id say there is 5 inches of sand and 60 lbs of rock. (another rough guess.)

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by Jaodissa
http:///forum/post/3137943
When someone asks the size of your tank are they asking how many gallons it can hold or how many gallons you have in it. My tank holds 45 gallons but with the sand and live rock I only get about 37ish (rough guess). So when measuring for fish and that whole 2 inches per gallon thing do you go based on what you have without or with rock? Id say there is 5 inches of sand and 60 lbs of rock. (another rough guess.)
i give tank size, i wouldn't go by the rule of 2 inches per gal most people on here will say that, the rule you are going by is trash. you need to look at your tank and see what your system can hold for a bio-load.

 

[jetskiking]

When calculating rock,sand,equipment etc. go by the tank size. When calculating additives or chemicals go by actuall water volume.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I've always gone by actual tank size. I don't see the point of guestimating water displacement in terms of gallons. My general rule of thumb is to not add a chemical to your tank that you can't test for accurately. That includes strontium, iodine, molybidium, Iron, etc. etc.
I wouldn't call my 55g drilled tank with a 20g sump a 58 1/5th gallon aquarium. By that matter, I wouldn't call it a 75 gallon either. I'de say "oh, I have a 55g standard." Which describes the dimensions much better then anything I've previously said.

 

[calbert0]

well there are a few things you have to take into account....
when thinking about the amount of bio-load and waste, and the amount of additives to add (calcium or dechlorifier for example) you should say the total gallon capacity of your system.
that being said, if you are talking about how big of a fish you can house, or territorial issues, you need to reference your display tank size/dimensions..
you can have a 10 gallon display tank, with a 50 gallon sump, but that doesnt meen you have a 60 gallon tank that you can put a tang or lionfish in...
when someone asks me how large my tank is i always say "well i have a 29 gallon display tank, but about 70 gallons of total water capacity in my system"