Tank size comparisons?

[lemonade2]

Can someone try and show me a comparison between a 20 gallon and a 55 gallon tank? I'm thinking of upgrading, but I'd like to see the actual size difference.

[megmaholm]

I don't have pics to show a comparison, but check this link out for dimensions/weights on different sizes: http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquar ... eights.htm

A 55 is significantly longer, a little deeper, and a decent amount higher depending on if you're looking at a 20 gallon high vs long.

Personally, if you can, bigger is always better! I started with a 15 gallon high, upgraded to a 29 gallon, and maybe a month later I moved to a 55.

[lemonade2]

I don't have pics to show a comparison, but check this link out for dimensions/weights on different sizes: http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquar ... eights.htm

A 55 is significantly longer, a little deeper, and a decent amount higher depending on if you're looking at a 20 gallon high vs long.

Personally, if you can, bigger is always better! I started with a 15 gallon high, upgraded to a 29 gallon, and maybe a month later I moved to a 55.

Yeah, a 55 gallon long tank for $45 dollars

[Eugooglizer]

I agree that you should go for the 55g. The width is actually the same (as both a 20g tall and a 20g long), but it'll provide twice the length (48" vs 24") and 3" more height than a 20 tall, and 18" more in length and almost 7" more height than a 20L. A couple of years ago I moved my crabs into a 55g and converted a 20g tank into a topper which ended up working really well. My crabs definitely utilized that extra height. Here are some pics of the set up, it might help you visualize a little better the size difference (I apologize for the cruddy quality of the pics lol).

[moonbeam]

I agree that you should go for the 55g. The width is actually the same (as both a 20g tall and a 20g long), but it'll provide twice the length (48" vs 24") and 3" more height than a 20 tall, and 18" more in length and almost 7" more height than a 20L. A couple of years ago I moved my crabs into a 55g and converted a 20g tank into a topper which ended up working really well. My crabs definitely utilized that extra height. Here are some pics of the set up, it might help you visualize a little better the size difference (I apologize for the cruddy quality of the pics lol).

not to hijack the thread but I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to stack tanks and I also have a 55 gallon. How do you get your 20g to stay on top? How often do you take the top off to do things like food and water changes? If you do take it off and a crab is currently up there how do you secure the safety of the crab while taking the top off? Thank you in advance for any tips you can give


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[Eugooglizer]

I actually modified the 20g (it was a 20L) by removing the bottom pane of glass from the tank so that I could just use a regular lid on it which allowed me to access the tank from the top. For me it would've been way too much of a hassle to have to remove the 20g every time I needed to get inside of it.

There was also a space on the far right that wasn't covered by the topper and that I cut a piece of plexiglass to make a lid there, and that provided access to the right half of the bottom tank. The far left side had built-in pools, and I made a structure to hold the light fixture for the area above the pools that was easy to lift off when I needed to do any maintenance on the pools or access anything else on the left half of the tank.

The width of the 20g and 55g gallon were practically the same, so the rim on the bottom of the 20g rested perfectly on the upper rim of the 55g. It was actually pretty stable even without taking extra steps to secure it, but I attached a small ledge or shelf to the bottom left side of the 20g which ended up acting as a sort of a brace which you can see in this picture:

[Ryry]

Wow that's so awesome!

[moonbeam]

Wow thank you so much for all that info! One last thing. How did you remove the bottom pane of glass? I'm very interested in doing something like this in the future.


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