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I like the size of my 90 gallon.
48"X18"X24"

I think 125's are perfect for pairs of medium sized (12-14" new world cichlids. especially guapotes like P. loisellei or P. friedrichsthalli that are very active swimmers. haitiensis would also do great in a 125. I agree that I'd rather have 2 180's instead of my 125 and 150, but I've yet to find as good a deal on a 180 as I found on my 125 and 150.

The 20 long, 40 long, and 125 get my votes - there's a reson they've been mentioned already! However, let's not leave out the ol' 30 breeder, a great workhorse of a tank.

And of course the actual perfect size: custom or home-made!

-Molly
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I really like my 125 gal (6ft long) tank. A good number of fish can go in there

Heh, I find my 125 gallon quite restricting. I can't permanently keep Tigrinus Catfish or stingrays like the 180 gallon... On the other hand, I've been told that, per gallon, the 125 gallon is the cheapest of the large tanks.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Shinigami 2004-08-26 10:01][/span]

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Perfect tank eh... but perfect lower cost tank er..?

20 gal long's are nice.
I want a 40 gal long for my next tank..
155 gal would rock..but for now,
I really like my 125 gal (6ft long) tank. A good number of fish can go in there, and it's got alot of room to decorate. And, I can see it easily from my bed

I just love tanks that hold water

The Amazon Nut...

i dont like tanks that are low they dont look nice

155g. bowfront, oh man thats a sweeeeet lookin tank. nothin touches that, i dont care if its 500g. nothin

I don't have one, but I've always liked the 38 gallon's dimensions. Same with the 29 gallon's.

Well, there can't really be a perfect tank size, but in my opinion, for a small set-up the 20 is good, for the medium set-up the 40 gallon breeder is good (MUCH better than the 55, actually), and for a large set-up nothing beats AS BIG AS POSSIBLE!

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I am just returning to the hobby after a 10+ year hiatus. ( A long story that includes marriage, children, dogs, etc.) I find the argument for a 75 gal. tank to be sound. I like the idea of cheap lighting. Has anyone rigged a shop light like a hood, as I believe a previous poster may have suggested? ( As you can see I not to much into the looks, just the fish)

Since the size of fish that I enjoy most stay 6" and less, I'd say the common 75 gallon tank is perfect. You can easily have 3 fairly large schools plus a showcase fish or two.

considering these factors what would is the perfect tank size
price
stocking options
different species stocking option(can have many different type of fish)
accessories prices
stability
ease of care.

my vote would be the 30g being 36in long you can do all different kinds of cichlids, communities, and ect....

also the filters and heater and different accessories are easy to get and relativly cheap. also you can put it almost anywhere

I love my 75 gallon. I think the fish enjoy the extra room, they all have their own space. And the tank/stand filled up some spare space in my living room in a nice pleasant way. I know the 75 gal is small by some fish keeper standards, but I call it my lake.

A friend of mine has a 29 gal and when I saw it a year ago before I got my tank, I remember thinking how huge their tank was. Now it looks tiny in comparison and I think maybe their fish are a bit cramped compared to the freeness mine enjoy.

i used to really enjoy tanks in the 30-75 gal range until i got my first 100g+ tank. nothing beats the sight of several large schools of smaller community fish cruising around the open waters. the initial expense is higher, but well worth it long term. having small children who love fish (and a somewhat tolerant wife) helps justify the cost.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this one before I was going to buy and decided a 75 gallon tank is the way to go. It's a common size, readily available and reasonably priced. You can take a bunch of different approaches to a tank, stock it in different ways, and you could keep the vast majority of aquarium fish in there (but not all at once ). I think 4' long tanks are preferable because you can easily find full spectrum flourescent bulbs for cheap at places like Home Depot. You can rig up some shop lights if you want to grow plants. The 75g also isn't as deep as a 90g, so it's a bit easier to light for plants if you want to go that way. It seems to have it all.

55 gallon

other than that, you dont have to really go bigger than a 175 gal

I always have thought bigger the better, of course this depends on the space and amount of money you can give! I would say 55g minimum for a larger tank..if not a 30 gallon being longer than the 29..Even though it takes longer to make a water change or decorate a larger tank, a bigger tank is more stable.

for a big tank nothing beats a 180g 6'x 2'x 2' and for a smaller tank, a 50g 36'' x 18'' x 18'' are pretty good

cfd

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Billy was a scientist, Billy is no more. For what he thought was H20, was H2SO4

I changed from a 15 gal to a 40 gal, and I'd have to say that while I like the extra stocking options (and lots of cories ) I miss how easy it was to look after the smaller tank. Gone are the days of one-bucket water changes...

I'd love to have a bigger tank, but for now the 40 gal is probably the best size for me in terms of maintenance and expense, while still being big enough to reduce my tank-envy