Choosing, Sizing, Lighting and Filtering Freshwater and Saltwater Fish Aquariums
© Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld
Choosing an aquarium means making decisions on size, lighting, and filtration systems. Custom-built tanks are readily available, but cost a bit more.
Aquariums should hold about 3-5 gallons of water per inch of fish in the aquarium. This means that if the tank hosts 5 fish that are 1 inch each (5 total inches of fish), the smallest recommended size would be about a 20-gallon aquarium.
For saltwater and reef aquariums, typical marine setups start at 30 gallons and commonly go up to 200 gallons. For beginning saltwater aquarists, a 55 gallon aquarium is ideal, while a freshwater tank is typically 10-30 gallons. If raising cichlids that grow quickly, such as Oscars, a larger-than-average aquarium would be a better choice.
Lighting and Filtration Systems for Aquariums
Lighting systems for aquariums come in only a few standard sizes, due to the standard sizes of light bulbs.
Most filtration systems are rated with the volume/hour that they cycle. A typical freshwater box filter may state that it cycles 300 gallons of water per hour. Total aquarium volume should be cycled 4-5 times per hour. A 30-gallon aquarium, for example, should use a system that cycles 120-150 gallons of water per hour.
Aquariums are generally competitively priced at local fish stores. Take the time to understand if a desired species of fish has any special aquarium requirements, and price all of the aquarium components to make sure that the size of aquarium doesn’t exceed the budgeted range.
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