Why wider tanks are not more popular / common?

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fattiger

Candiru
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Jul 9, 2012
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I don't know if this has been discussed before or not, can't seem to find any threads at the moment.

But I have been pondering - why aren't tanks wider than 24" more common? 180G is 6'x2', 240G is 8'x2', both are not ideal for fish around 2' so I am frustrated about having to look for custom built or oddball tanks to go over the 2' limitation.

Why aren't 6'x3' and 8'x3' a standard build?
 
The largest part of the fish keeping world don't keep fish that need over 24" wide tanks. About the same as asking why are there more 55g tank then 180g tanks. All about demand.
 
Cost prohibitive I believe the actual sheets the acrylic comes in would cause a lot of wasted material which is the most expensive part of making tanks.

i.e. - If stock sheets are 8x4 then one sheet (cut in two pieces) can be used for the top and bottom. If 8x3+ footprint is needed, it would require two separate sheets to be cut down doubling materials cost. There are not many things that can be made with the remaining 8x1 leftover piece. (example math BTW)
 
Because we americans buy off the shelf ,in germany and much of europe tanks are usually custom build and they are willing to pay the price, most casual aquarists are not, willinh here to pay for that, supply and demand so there you go.
 
Like Bderick said it's supply and demand. it costs a lot more in material to make a 3' wide tank than it does to make a 2' wide
 
Would make them even harder to fit thru doors and such.. And takes up floor space into a room instead of against a wall, and less of the volume if water is really displayed.. Don't really know just my thoughts.. I think it is just demand as someone else said... fish that would really need that extra width are not that common so neither are the tanks to house them.

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lambogriffin said:
Would make them even harder to fit thru doors and such.. And takes up floor space into a room instead of against a wall, and less of the volume if water is really displayed.. Don't really know just my thoughts.. I think it is just demand as someone else said... fish that would really need that extra width are not that common so neither are the tanks to house them.

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Click to expand...

You hit one of the number one things right on the head. The Size of doorways getting into most houses are restrictive to fit very much. Get them to wide and you will either have to cut a bigger doorway, or get a smaller tank. Also, the manufactures for the most part have pre-set dimensions for their off the shelf tanks. They manufacture these in mass quantities to be profitable. They can make custom sizes of course for a fee.
 
I would prefer a more square shaped tank. I want to go down this road when I upgrade but I think cost will be a problem.
 
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