hello all... as i said in another thread ,i am in the process of building a new tank (approx 180uk gal) but i am wondering after reading necros post in another thread about the tank footprint, do you recomend making the tank ,high,or long ....im thinking longer is better as increased length gives further swiming distance ...as increased height is better looking ,the O,s will only be able to raise and drop in the water ??????????? i am about 2 weeks away from putting this info i receive into practice after much deliberation i cannot for the life of me decide what "FOOTPRINT" to choose so ALL INPUT will be very much apreciated:huh:

i beleive that the best footprint for an oscar tank in the 175 gallon range would be something like 7x2x2 this would give the o's enough room to turn, enough height to be asthetically appealling and 7 linear feet of swimming room.

if you have the room an 8x2x2 (200 imp gallons) is an even better size.
when i built my tank i was restricted in wall space so at the time i couldnt go any longer than 6 feet. so instead of 24 inches in width and height i went with 27 inches. this gave me a total volume of 190 gallons which was almost as big as wanted anyway.

like yourself i am restricted for room (the missus) so the dimentions i have to work with are a bit strange ..in order to get the water volume (galons)it can be something like 84x26x24 or 72x24x30 these combos both contain aprox 185 uk galons but is the long one better ?????????(i cant make the 84 ,30 high as wife says its to big).....even though my room is 35ft long x 21ft wide!!!!!!!!!!!!its times like this i wish i stayed single!

biggamehunter wrote:



lol i heard that. imo i think the 84x24 would be best. lots of linear room and large enough width for an adult oscar to turn around in. and if, by some freak chance, they get too big to turn you have compelling arguement to upgrade again.

even in the normal pond practice, lateral surface is
prefered than deep, so you have two parameters to consider,
the lenght and the width that your space can accomodate.

spot on guys. Its the surface area that's most important as this is how oxygen enters and carbon dioxide is expelled. best shape is square but most people don't like this shape me included as its hard to find a home for it in a house. add width or length not depth. 2ft is enough depth. once you add a lid to the 2ft makes cleaning gravel a fair job.