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I would like to start a small tank for my dorm room that is easy to keep and move back and forth each year. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these tanks listed below?

I have narrowed it down to just these 3:

#1: http://www.petco.com/product/104565/All-Glass-Aquarium-5-Gallon-Aquarium-Kit.aspx

#2: http://www.petco.com/product/12788/Marineland-Eclipse-Hex-5-Fully-Integrated-Aquarium-Kit.aspx

#3: http://www.petco.com/product/2398/Marineland-Eclipse-System-Six.aspx

Does anyone have any experience with any 3 of these?
Does anyone suggest one over another?
Would I be able to grow plants in these?
Any problems? I read in the reviews about the acrylic ones scratching and a couple of leaking issues with all 3.

The main post is in General Freshwater under Dorm Tank.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Does anyone know the dimensions of the light bulbs in these tanks?
Has anyone ever been able to find a Daylight/Sun fluorescent light that fits into these to use for plants?

Look under Planted Aquaria under Planting a Dorm Tank for more info.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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5 Gallon Album

Get the 6.


If they all are lit with incandescents, you can swap that to a screw-in fluoro like the Phillips genie (works even in very small hoods) but either way the water is going to heat up, and while this'll be great in winter it'll be lousy in summer. More water volume should mean a lower overall temp, and worst case it will allow you to drop the water level and crack the lid without losing much swimming space.

Acrylic does scratch, but just play smart. Don't use scouring pads, don't choose rough gravel, don't swoosh the gravel around against the acrylic too much. While it might scratch a bit, the water will hide all but the deepest (unless you severely mince it with heaps of tiny scratches, then it looks cloudy even with the water).



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

In the long run though, would the MiniBow 5 be better?
As in from moving it back and forth and the glass will not get scratched like the acrylic even if I am really careful.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
20 Gallon Album
5 Gallon Album