Dats need room

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T

TCZeli

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 27, 2007
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I am aware of the importance of length and depth of a tank for larger fish, but how important is hight? I plan on upgrading to a 125Gallon. I found on at a decent price taht is 6'x2'x17". The largest fish I plan on having in there are Datnoids (hopfully about 3) but 17 inch seems kind of shallow, no? Anyone have bad experience? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

oh by the way im loving this forum:headbang2
 
There is something to be said about the appeal of a dat's laterally compressed body, and I think shallow tanks don't do a very good job of showing that off.

A tank like you describe gives a much lower viewing area than more equally proportioned tanks, so if your goal is to display your fish then a taller tank would be more ideal.
 
i would just go with a 6x2x2 if you looking at a 6'er.
also remember they grow kinda slow so if they are small it will take some time to grow the out.
 
It seems that height dimension is better suited for catfish, polypterus or rays. It would be a decent growout tank though if you plan on upgrading in the future.
 
6x2x2 would be perfect except I am moving into a apt with limited room. I settled on a 125G cuz it was a big enough upgrade from my 55's while still not being monsterous. but 17in high is not good enough. 6x2x2 is about 180G? I was thinking with going with a 150G 5x2x2. I am losing a foot in the length but it has the right depth and height. What do you think.... Should that hold 3 dats and some random other stuff for a while? Thinking about going with the fluval xp5.
 
TCZeli;964385; said:
6x2x2 would be perfect except I am moving into a apt with limited room. I settled on a 125G cuz it was a big enough upgrade from my 55's while still not being monsterous. but 17in high is not good enough. 6x2x2 is about 180G? I was thinking with going with a 150G 5x2x2. I am losing a foot in the length but it has the right depth and height. What do you think.... Should that hold 3 dats and some random other stuff for a while? Thinking about going with the fluval xp5.
Click to expand...

Yes a 6x2x2 is a 180g. The 150 should hold the 3 dats, but you might as well get the 180 to begin with. It will be less of a hassle in the long run when you will want that extra foot.
 
if you were going to get 6x2x17 how is 6x2x2 too big :screwy:
 
17 deep is not enought
 
I was talking about gallons. I was also trying to keep my costs down. I am moving into a smaller apt. with 2 other ppl. i deff need to upgrade from my 55 but a 75 is no-better, so I decided on a 125 as it was the next smallest. since that is only 17 inch tall I had no choice but to go up a level (150). I will be in this apt for 2-3 and want to set up the smallest tank possible because making a move is hard enough with a 55. I really dont want to try and trasnport a 180 gallons worth of water along with the tank and fish when I move again in another couple yrs. yes the 180 is only 30 gallons more then the 150 but remeber I settled on a 125 and now went to a 150 so a 180 would really be 55 gallons more then my first choice. Believe me I rather have a 400G, but that is a plan when I move into my own house.
 
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