Loaches Online Forum

After a bit of pondering I am going to order a 10mm thick tank with dimensions 48" X 18" X18" I believe this will give around 250 litres or 55ish gallons worth of room, compared to my current 90 litre/ 23 gallon tank. This will house my 8 Clowns, 2 angel fish, 1 plec, 2 albino cory's and 1 glass catfish. Hopefully Emma you will see this thread - I know you mentioned about a 55 gallon tank before for someone else. Would this suffice

midman wrote:After a bit of pondering I am going to order a 10mm thick tank with dimensions 48" X 18" X18" I believe this will give around 250 litres or 55ish gallons worth of room, compared to my current 90 litre/ 23 gallon tank.

That is the sort of size tank that I would recommend to people starting out with small clowns. As some of yours are medium sized, I'd suggest that you try to opt for one that is slightly bigger e.g. at least 5ft long. Also, bear in mind that they will need a minimum 6ft x 2ft x 2ft when fully grown, and preferably bigger.

I realise that the 4ft tank is better than what they are currently housed in, but the less times you have to move them, the better. Clowns, particularly larger specimens, are very fast powerful fish that require a lot of swimming space. Unfortunately, a 7" specimen in a 4ft tank does not seem adequate, knowing how strong these fish are and how they can put on extreme bursts of speed when they choose to. This is very difficult to convey in words.

Angelfish require extra tall tanks when adult, due to their height and trailing fins, so this should be considered too.

Hope this helps,

Emma

Thanks Emma. I will have to wait until I move house then. I would love a really big tank like you suggested (well, big for me) but I simply don't have the space at the moment - I have a 1 bed terraced house. When we move to our 2/3 bed I will get one. I just don't want to leave them where they are, but I also don't want to get an intermediate tank just until we move, to then have to get another one. Decisions. Either way, a 30" tank is not big enough!!! I think I will go with the 48" now and then in the future consider my options again when it is more practical to do so.