A Cheat Sheet to Fish Tank Gallon Sizes and Dimensions

Are you in need of an overview chart that’s referencing the sizes and dimensions of all fish tanks? You may want to bookmark this page.

Fish Tank Measurements With Standard Shapes

Firstly I will be listing the dimensions and gallon capacities of the most popular aquariums with a standard rectangular shape.

After that, I will list the branded tanks with irregular shapes and sizes.

Here are the dimensions and gallon sizes of all standard fish tanks:

Small Standard Aquariums

You’d want to avoid getting a small tank if you’re a complete beginner in fish keeping.

Smaller tanks get polluted the quickest and it’s more difficult for a beginner to keep the water parameters in check.

Tank Size	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Aquarium Shape
2.5 Gallon	12.25 x 6.25 x 8.125	Standard Rectangular
5 Gallon	16 x 8 x 10	Standard Rectangular
5.5 Gallon	16.25 x 8.375 x 10.5	Standard Rectangular
10 Gallon Leader	20.25 x 10.5 x 12.6	Standard Rectangular
10 Gallon Long	24.25 x 8.5 x 12.6	Standard Rectangular
15 Gallon	24.5 x 12.5 x 12.75	Standard Rectangular
15 Gallon Tall	20.25 x 10.5 x 18.75	Standard Rectangular
15 Gallon Show	24.25 x 8.5 x 16.6	Standard Rectangular

Mid-Sized Standard Aquariums

If you’re a fish keeping beginner you’d want to start with a mid-sized tank as it’d be easier to manage.

I realize we all may have space and budget constraints but if you have the means to – go for a middle-sized aquarium.

Tank Size	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Aquarium Shape
20 Gallon Tall	24.25 x 12.5 x 16.75	Standard Rectangular
20 Gallon Long	30.25 x 12.5 x 12.75	Standard Rectangular
20 Gallon Extra Tall	20.25 x 10.5 x 23.75	Standard Rectangular
23 Gallon Long	36.25 x 12.625 x 13	Standard Rectangular
25 Gallon	24.25 x 12.5 x 20.75	Standard Rectangular
29 Gallon	30.25 x 12.5 x 18.75	Standard Rectangular
30 Gallon	36.25 x 12.625 x 16.75	Standard Rectangular
30 Gallon Breeder	36.25 x 18.25 x 13	Standard Rectangular
30 Gallon Extra Tall	24.25 x 12.5 x 24.75	Standard Rectangular
33 Gallon Long	48.25 x 12.75 x 13.375	Standard Rectangular
37 Gallon	30.25 x 12.5 x 22.75	Standard Rectangular
38 Gallon	36.25 x 12.625 x 19.75	Standard Rectangular
40 Gallon Breeder	36.25 x 18.25 x 17	Standard Rectangular
40 Gallon Long	48.25 x 12.75 x 16.875	Standard Rectangular
45 Gallon	36.5 x 12.625 x 23.75	Standard Rectangular
45 Gallon Long	48.25 x 12.75 x 19	Standard Rectangular

Large Standard Aquariums

Large tanks can be very rewarding if you do your homework.

Nothing compares to having a big ecosystem with lots of small schooling fish, turtles or monster fish at home.

Larger aquariums are also the most stable in terms of water parameters.

Tank Size	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Aquarium Shape
50 Gallon	36.375 x 18.375 x 19	Standard Rectangular
55 Gallon	48.25 x 12.75 x 21	Standard Rectangular
60 Gallon	48.375 x 12.875 x 23.875	Standard Rectangular
65 Gallon	36.375 x 18.375 x 25	Standard Rectangular
75 Gallon	48.5 x 18.5 x 21.25	Standard Rectangular
80 Gallon Extra Tall	48.875 x 14 x 30.75	Standard Rectangular
90 Gallon	48.5 x 18.5 x 24.375	Standard Rectangular
100 Gallon	72.5 x 18.5 x 19.375	Standard Rectangular
110 Gallon Extra Tall	48.875 x 19 x 30.75	Standard Rectangular
120 Gallon	48.5 x 24.5 x 25.5	Standard Rectangular
125 Gallon	72.5 x 18.5 x 21	Standard Rectangular
150 Gallon	72.5 x 18.5 x 29.5	Standard Rectangular
180 Gallon	72.5 x 24.5 x 25.625	Standard Rectangular
210 Gallon	72.5 x 24.5 x 29.625	Standard Rectangular
225 Gallon	72.5 x 27.5 x 27.5	Standard Rectangular

Measurements of Brand Fish Tanks With Irregular Shapes and Sizes

Branded tanks don’t follow any rules about dimensions or gallon capacities.

They are mostly unique and the brand that makes the tank decides what its measurements would be.

Here are the dimensions of all irregularly-shaped aquarium kits:

Small Branded Aquariums

Starting with the dimensions of the smallest branded tanks, this is probably the longest chart in this list.

That’s because many brands recognize that small tanks are the biggest revenue drivers (which is not a good thing, since as I said earlier, beginners should ideally start with a mid-sized tank).

Aquarium Kit	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Shape
0.5 Gallon Penn Plax Aqua-ponic	5.875 x 5.875 x 8	Cylinder
1 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	6.375 x 6.375 x 6.375	Cube
1 Gallon Koller Kit	7.5 x 10.5 x 10.2	Pentagon
1 Gallon Koller Hex	7.8 x 7.8 x 8	Hexagon
1 Gallon Koller BettaTank	9 x 9 x 10	Bowl
1 Gallon Koller Deco	15 x 3.8 x 8.5	Half Circle
1 Gallon Aqueon MiniBow LED Kit	8.5 x 6.25 x 9.25	Bow Front
1.4 Gallon Penn Plax Aqua-ponic	7.875 x 7.875 x 10	Cylinder
1.5 Gallon Tetra LED Cube Kit	8.00 x 8.20 x 10.20	Cube
1.5 Gallon Tetra GloFish Kit	7.25 x 8.5 x 11.5	Cube
1.5 Gallon Koller AquaScene	8.5 x 8.5 x 9	Cube
1.5 Gallon Koller BettaView 360	8.1 x 8.1 x 9.8	Cylinder
1.5 Gallon Koller AquaView	9 x 8.2 x 10.8	Half Cylinder
1.5 Gallon Penn Plax Betta Fish Kit	8.5 x 6 x 9.5	Rectangular
1.6 Gallon Koller BettaTank Pedestal	9.5 x 9.5 x 9.5	Bowl
1.7 Gallon Koller BettaTank	9.5 x 9.5 x 11	Bowl
1.7 Gallon Koller AquaScene	8.4 x 8.4 x 11	Hexagon
1.8 Gallon Tetra Waterfall Globe	12 x 10.75 x 13.5	Bowl
2 Gallon Fluval Spec	7.25 x 9.25 x 10	Rectangular
2 Gallon Koller Hex	9.2 x 9.2 x 9.2	Hexagon
2 Gallon Koller AquaView 360	10.2 x 10.2 x 10.5	Cylinder
2 Gallon Koller Gumball	8.5 x 8.5 x 10	Bowl
2 Gallon Penn Plax Prism Nano	7 x 10 x 9	Rectangular
2.5 Gallon Koller AquaView	9.5 x 9.5 x 11.2	Pentagon
2.5 Gallon Koller AquaTunes	9.5 x 9.5 x 11.2	Pentagon
2.5 Gallon Koller AquaTunes	9.5 x 9.5 x 11.2	Cube
2.5 Gallon Aqueon BettaBow LED Kit	11.5 x 7.63 x 12.5	Bow Front
2.5 Gallon Aqueon MiniBow LED Kit	11.5 x 7.63 x 12.5	Bow Front
2.6 Gallon Fluval Spec	10.8 x 11.8 x 8.7	Rectangular
2.65 Gallon Marina 360	10 x 10 x 10	Cylinder
2.7 Gallon Penn Plax Vertex	10 x 9 x 7.75	Cube
3 Gallon Tetra LED Cube Kit	10.3 x 11 x 17.5	Cube
3 Gallon Marineland Silhouette	14.2 x 13.7 x 12.3	Rectangular
3 Gallon Tetra GloFish Kit	14.6 x 8.8 x 11.2	Rectangular
3 Gallon Tetra ColorFusion Half Moon	12.9 x 6.8 x 12.5	Half Cylinder
3 Gallon Marineland Contour Desktop	9.63 x 9.63 x 14	Cube
3 Gallon Tetra Bubbling Half Moon	12.9 x 6.8 x 12.5	Half Cylinder
3 Gallon Tetra GloFish Half Moon	7.5 x 7.5 x 7.7	Half Cylinder
3 Gallon Tetra GloFish Crescent	13 x 7 x 9.5	Bow Front
3 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	9.25 x 9.25 x 9.25	Cube
3 Gallon Koller AquaView 360	10.2 x 10.2 x 14.5	Cylinder
3 Gallon Koller AquaView	14.5 x 10 x 9.2	Flat Back Hexagon
3 Gallon Koller AquaTunes	12.8 x 11.8 x 9	Cylinder
3 Gallon Koller AquaView	11.5 x 11 x 11	Bowl
3 Gallon Marineland Nook Kit	13 x 7.1 x 9.3	Bow Front
3.4 Gallon Penn Plax Water World	10.25 x 7.75 x 11	Rectangular
3.5 Gallon Koller AquaView	11.2 x 8.8 x 13.5	Half Cylinder
3.5 Gallon Koller AquaTunes	11.2 x 8.8 x 13.5	Half Cylinder
3.5 Gallon Koller	11.2 x 8.8 x 13.5	Half Cylinder
4 Gallon biOrb Classic	11.75 x 11.75 x 12.5	Bowl
4 Gallon biOrb Flow	8.19 x 11.81 x 12.4	Rectangular
4 Gallon biOrb Halo	11.81 x 11.81 x 13	Bowl
4 Gallon biOrb Life	11.41 x 7.6 x 16	Rectangular
4 Gallon biOrb Tube	12.91 x 12.91 x 12.4	Cylinder
4.5 Gallon Koller AquaView	14.8 x 10.8 x 13.2	Double Bullnose
5 Gallon Marineland Portrait	11.8 x 11.6 x 17	Cube
5 Gallon Marineland Contour Desktop	9.6 x 9.6 x 19	Cube
5 Gallon Tetra Crescent	16.5 x 11.25 x 13.2	Bow Front
5 Gallon Tetra ColorFusion Bubbling	16 x 8 x 10	Rectangular
5 Gallon Tetra GloFish Glass	16 x 8 x 10	Rectangular
5 Gallon Tetra GloFish Crescent	15.5 x 9 x 11.5	Bow Front
5 Gallon Fluval Chi	10 x 10 x 14.4	Rectangular
5 Gallon Fluval Spec	20.5 x 11.6 x 7.5	Rectangular
5 Gallon Fluval EVO	20.5 x 11.6 x 7.5	Rectangular
5 Gallon Marina Kit	18.5 x 10.8 x 13.3	Rectangular
5 Gallon Koller PanaView	14.2 x 11.5 x 10	Round-edge Rectangular
5 Gallon Aqueon MiniBow LED Kit	14.5 x 10 x 13.5	Bow Front
5 Gallon Aqueon NeoGlow	11.438 x 11.31 x 14.813	Cube
5 Gallon Marineland Nook Kit	15.2 x 5 x 11.25	Bow Front
5 Gallon Marineland Escape 5	14 x 12.5 x 13.5	Hexagon
5 Gallon Penn Plax Water World	13.75 x 8.75 x 11	Rectangular
5 Gallon Penn Plax Vertex	12 x 10.5 x 9.75	Cube
5.5 Gallon Aqueon NeoGlow	16.5 x 8.75 x 10.5	Rectangular
6 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	11.5 x 11.5 x 11.5	Cube
6 Gallon Koller AquaView 360	11 x 11 x 19.8	Cylinder
6 Gallon Aqueon Ascent Frameless	16 x 8.125 x 13.5	Rectangular
6 Gallon Fluval Edge	16.9 x 10.25 x 14	Rectangular
6.5 Gallon Koller	18 x 11 x 13.5	Flat Back Hexagon
7 Gallon Koller AquaView	18.25 x 12.38 x 13.10	Bow Front
7.5 Gallon Aqueon NeoGlow	14.813 x 14 x 13.813	Cube
7.5 Gallon Aqueon Shrimp Kit	13 x 12 x 14	Cube
8 Gallon Aqueon NeoGlow	15 x 13 x 15.25	Hexagon
8 Gallon biOrb Classic	15.75 x 15.75 x 16.5	Bowl
8 Gallon biOrb Cube	12.6 x 12.6 x 13.6	Cube
8 Gallon biOrb Flow	10.23 x 14.96 x 15.35	Rectangular
8 Gallon biOrb Halo	15.75 x 15.75 x 18.11	Bowl
8 Gallon biOrb Life	15.75 x 9.25 x 16.54	Rectangular
8 Gallon biOrb Tube	12.91 x 12.91 x 20.2	Cylinder
8.75 Gallon Aqueon Shrimp Kit	18.25 x 12 x 13	Rectangular
8.8 Gallon Aqueon Aqua Springs	15 x 15 x 14.75	Cube
9 Gallon Fluval Flex	14 x 13 x 13	Vertical Bow Front
9 Gallon biOrb Tube	16.14 x 16.14 x 14.53	Cylinder
10 Gallon Marineland BIO Wheel	20 x 10 x 12	Rectangular
10 Gallon Tetra ColorFusion Bubbling	20 x 10 x 12	Rectangular
10 Gallon Tetra PLAYMOBIL	20 x 10 x 13	Rectangular
10 Gallon Tetra Complete LED	20 x 10 x 12	Rectangular
10 Gallon Tetra Goldfish	20 x 10 x 12	Rectangular
10 Gallon Tetra Half Moon	17.75 x 11 x 17	Half Cylinder
10 Gallon Tetra GloFish Glass	20 x 10 x 12	Rectangular
10 Gallon Aqueon Glass	14.5 x 12.625 x 18.375	Hexagon
10 Gallon Marina Kit	22.6 x 12.6 x 15.3	Rectangular
10 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro	11.8 x 15 x 13	Cube
10 Gallon Aqueon	20.25 x 10.5 x 15	Rectangular
10 Gallon Aqueon Ascent Frameless	18.75 x 10 x 15.75	Rectangular
10 Gallon Aqueon Hexagon LED Kit	14.5 x 13.375 x 14.75	Hexagon
10 Gallon Aqueon Incandescent LED Kit	22.88 x 12.75 x 13.88	Rectangular
10 Gallon Aqueon NeoGlow	20.5 x 10.5 x 12.5	Rectangular
10 Gallon Penn Plax Water World	17.75 x 11.75 x 12.63	Rectangular
10 Gallon Penn Plax Vertex	13.75 x 13.75 x 13.75	Cube
11 Gallon Aqueon Framless	20.25 x 10.5 x 12.625	Rectangular
11 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	20.25 x 10.5 x 12.625	Rectangular
11 Gallon Aqueon Aqua Springs	15 x 15 x 17.75	Cube
12 Gallon Fluval Edge	17.5 x 10.25 x 22.9	Cube
12 Gallon biOrb Life	14.76 x 10 x 22.04	Rectangular
13.5 Gallon Fluval EVO	22 x 15 x 11.5	Rectangular
14 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	15.125 x 15.125 x 15.125	Cube
14 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro Peninsula	11.8 x 20 x 13	Rectangular
14.5 Gallon Fluval Flora	15 x 15 x15	Cube
15 Gallon Fuval Flex	16 x 15 x 15	Vertical Bow Front
15 Gallon SeaClear Deluxe	15 x 15 x 20	Hexagon
15 Gallon Aqueon Column	13.75 x 13.75 x 25	Cube
16 Gallon Aqueon	20.25 x 12.875 x 17.75	Bow Front
16 Gallon Fluval Spec	21.8 x 11.5 x 17.5	Rectangular
16 Gallon Aqueon Bow Front LED Kit	20.25 x 12.875 x 20.5	Bow Front
16 Gallon biOrb Classic	19.75 x 19.75 x 20.5	Bowl
16 Gallon biOrb Cube	15.75 x 15.75 x 17	Cube
16 Gallon biOrb Halo	19.66 x 19.66 x 22.83	Bowl
16 Gallon biOrb Life	16.54 x 11 x 24.4	Rectangular

Mid-Sized Branded Aquariums

The mid-sized branded tanks can also be good for starters in the hobby, as long as they are not too weirdly-shaped.

Aquarium Kit	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Shape
20 Gallon Marineland BIO Wheel	24 x 12 x 16	Rectangular
20 Gallon Tetra Complete LED	24 x 12 x 16	Rectangular
20 Gallon Tetra Goldfish	24 x 12 x 16	Rectangular
20 Gallon Aqueon Glass	18.75 x 16.25 x 20.625	Hexagon
20 Gallon SeaClear Deluxe	15 x 15 x 24	Hexagon
20 Gallon SeaClear	24 x 13 x 16	Rectangular
20 Gallon Marina Kit	26.3 x 15 x 19	Rectangular
20 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro	23.62 x 15 x 13	Rectangular
20 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro Peninsula	11.8 x 30 x 13	Rectangular
20 Gallon NUVO Concept Pro Peninsula	15 x 20 x 13	Drop Off Rectangular
20 Gallon NUVO Concept Pro	20 x 15 x 13	Drop Off Rectangular
20 Gallon Aqueon Ascent Frameless	23.75 x 12.625 x 19.75	Rectangular
20 Gallon Aqueon Hexagon LED Kit	18.75 x 16.25 x 23	Hexagon
20 Gallon Marineland Half Moon Combo	23.5 x 12.12 x 23.45	Half Cylinder
21 Gallon Aqueon Framless	24.25 x 12.25 x 16.75	Rectangular
21 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	24.25 x 12.25 x 16.75	Rectangular
25 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro Lagoon	23.62 x 19.68 x 11.8	Rectangular
25 Gallon NUVO EXT Lagoon	23.6 x 19.7 x 11.8	Cube
26 Gallon Aqueon	24.125 x 14.75 x 20.875	Bow Front
26 Gallon SeaClear	36 x 12 x 16	Flat Back Hexagon
26 Gallon Aqueon Bow Front LED Kit	24.125 x 14.75 x 23.625	Bow Front
28 Gallon Tetra Connect	24 x 15 x 18.9	Bow Front
28 Gallon biOrb Classic	24 x 24 x 25	Bowl
29 Gallon Marineland BIO Wheel	30.25 x 12.5 x 18.75	Rectangular
29 Gallon Tetra Complete LED	30 x 12 x 18	Rectangular
29 Gallon SeaClear	30 x 12 x 18	Rectangular
30 Gallon Aqueon Framless	30.25 x 12.5 x 18.75	Rectangular
30 Gallon SeaClear	36 x 12 x 16	Rectangular
30 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro	35.43 x 14.96 x 12.99	Rectangular
30 Gallon NUVO EXT	35.4 x 15 x 13	Rectangular
30 Gallon Aqueon Frameless	30.25 x 12.5 x 18.75	Rectangular
30 Gallon Marineland Half Moon Combo	26.7 x 13.5 x 26.9	Half Cylinder
32.5 Gallon Fluval Flex	32.5 x 15.35 x 15.75	Vertical Bow Front
35 Gallon Aqueon Glass	23.25 x 20.25 x 24.75	Hexagon
35 Gallon Aqueon Hexagon LED Kit	23.25 x 20.25 x 27.125	Hexagon
36 Gallon Aqueon	30.25 x 15.5 x 20.875	Bow Front
36 Gallon Aqueon Bow Front LED Kit	30.25 x 15.5 x 23.625	Bow Front
40 Gallon SeaClear	36 x 12 x 16	Rectangular
40 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro	23.62 x 19.68 x 18.89	Cube
45 Gallon NUVO EXT	23.6 x 19.7 x 18.9	Cube
46 Gallon Aqueon	36.375 x 16.375 x 20.875	Bow Front
46 Gallon SeaClear	36 x 16.25 x 20	Bow Front

Large Branded Aquariums

And finally, here are the dimensions of large branded tanks that have irregular shapes.

Aquarium Kit	Dimensions in Inches L x W x H	Shape
50 Gallon SeaClear	36 x 15 x 20	Rectangular
50 Gallon NUVO Fusion Pro Lagoon	29.92 x 23.62 x 16.14	Rectangular
50 Gallon NUVO EXT Lagoon	30 x 23.6 x 16.1	Rectangular
50 Gallon NUVO INT	23.6 x 23.6 x 19.7	Cube
54 Gallon Aqueon	39 x 27.25 x 23	Corner Bow Front
55 Gallon Marineland BIO Wheel	48.25 x 12.75 x 21	Rectangular
55 Gallon Tetra Complete LED	48 x 13 x 21	Rectangular
60 Gallon NUVO SR Pro	35.43 x 23.62 x 16.14	Rectangular
70 Gallon NUVO INT	23.6 x 35.4 x 55	Drop Off Rectangular
72 Gallon Aqueon	48.375 x 18 x 23	Bow Front
75 Gallon NUVO EXT	35.4 x 23.6 x 19.7	Rectangular
75 Gallon NUVO INT	35.4 x 23.6 x 19.7	Rectangular
90 Gallon NUVO SR Pro	47.24 x 23.62 x 16.14	Rectangular
100 Gallon NUVO EXT	47.3 x 23.6 x 19.7	Rectangular
100 Gallon NUVO INT	47.3 x 23.6 x 19.7	Rectangular
112 Gallon NUVO INT Lagoon	35.4 x 35.4 x 19.7	Cube
150 Gallon NUVO INT Lagoon	47.3 x 35.4 x 19.7	Rectangular
200 Gallon NUVO INT	70.9 x 30 x 21.7	Rectangular
200 Gallon NUVO EXT	70.9 x 30 x 21.7	Rectangular

How to Calculate the Weight of Your Aquarium?

To calculate the total weight of an aquarium you’d want to first figure out how much it weighs empty.

After that, you calculate the water weight and then add the two together. To find out how much your tank weighs follow these steps:

1. Calculate the surface area of the fish tank.

   To find the total surface area of your tank you’d need to find the surface areas of each of its walls, including the bottom, and add them together.

   The surface area of each rectangular flat surface is calculated by multiplying its sides.

   So if your tank’s wall measures 10 x 20 inches, then you multiply that and get that the surface area of that wall is 200 square inches.

   Do this for each of the tank’s flat surfaces and add them together.

   The formula for finding the surface area for a standard rectangular tank is:

   (2 × length × height) for the sides + (2 × width × height) for the other two sides + (width × length) for the bottom.

   Bowfront tanks are an exception to this formula because they have a curved wall which is almost impossible to calculate on your own at home.

2. Calculate the empty weight of your tank.

   To calculate the empty weight of a tank you’d want to multiply its total surface area by the thickness of the walls.

   The material your tank is made of plays a role here since different materials have different weights.

   Typically aquariums are made of acrylic or glass. Glass weighs roughly 0.5165 pounds per square foot for each millimeter of thickness.

   Acrylic weighs approximately 0.24 pounds per square foot for each millimeter of thickness.

   Measure the thickness of the tank’s walls in millimeters and write that down.

   To proceed with calculating the tank’s empty weight you’d want to convert the square inches of total surface area we found in step 1 into square feet.

   This is easily done by dividing the total square inches by 144 since there are 144 sq inches in an sq foot.

   After you convert the surface area of the fish tank in square feet multiply that by the thickness of the glass in millimeters and the specific weight of the material.

   The formula looks like this:

   Tank Surface Area in Square Feet × Thickness of the Wall in mm × Specific Material Weight.

   For example, if your tank has 7 square feet of surface area, with a wall thickness of 10 mm, and is made of glass the calculation would be 7 × 10 × 0.5165 = 36.155 pounds of empty weight.

3. Calculate the gallon capacity of the tank.

   All tanks that you buy from the store will have a label clearly stating how much water they can hold.

   However, if you get a second-hand tank or have just forgotten what it was there is a way to calculate that.

   You simply need to convert the tank’s height, length, and width from inches to feet, then multiply them to find out the volume in inches.

   Turn that into cubic feet and multiply the result by 7.48. To convert the cubic inches into cubic feet you need to divide the volume by 1728.

   If this seems counterintuitive thank the Imperial unit system.

   Taking this into account you can use the following formula to calculate the gallon capacity of your tank:

   (Lenght × Width × Height, all in inches) ÷ 1728 x 7.48

   So if you have a tank that measures 10 × 20 × 15 inches and you’re going to fill it with fresh water, then the calculation would look like this:

   ((10 × 20 × 15) ÷ 1728) × 7.48 = roughly 13 gallons.

4. Calculate the filled weight of the tank.

   To do so you’d want to first find the weight of water and then add that up to the empty tank weight.

   To calculate the weight of water:

   Multiply the gallon capacity of your tank, which we found in step 3 by how much water weighs per pound.

   Freshwater and saltwater have different weights because of their different density.

   Freshwater weighs 8.345 pounds per gallon. Saltwater is heavier and weighs about 8.554 pounds per gallon.

   So if your tank can hold 20 gallons and you want to fill it with freshwater then multiply 20 × 8.345 = 166.9 pounds.

   Now add that up to the tank’s empty weight (calculated in step 2) and you’d find the total weight of your tank when it’s filled to the brim with water.

I provided all the formulas so that anyone with a non-standard tank can figure it out on their own.

For a generic weight estimate of standard tanks you can use a fish tank weight calculator like this one.

Getting equipment according to the dimensions of the aquarium?

Selecting aquarium equipment based on the size of the tank is essential for its long-term success.

Lighting

The dimensions of a fish tank play a huge role in the choice of aquarium lighting because light itself has a limited water penetration.

by tomas10024

If you’re in the middle of your research on choosing a suitable light fixture for your aquarium plants you can check my guide on that here.

In that link, I do specific product recommendations based on aquarium depth and the type of plants you may want to keep.

The same rules apply for picking adequate grow lights for saltwater reef aquariums.

Corals are very sensitive to the intensity and spectrum of the incoming light they use for photosynthesis.

To end up with the right LED light you’ll need to take into account the dimensions of your coral reef aquarium.

There are stronger units that penetrate the water well and are suitable for deeper reef tanks and others that are less intense, making a good addition to aquariums with less demanding corals.

I made specific recommendations on choosing the best LED lights for corals based on aquarium height and the species you want to keep. Visit the link to learn more.

Filter

Choosing the flow rate of a water filter should also be made in conjunction with the gallon capacity of the fish tank.

If you keep larger carnivorous fish that produce more waste or you plan to overstock the tank you’d want a stronger filter that turns the water at least 6 times per hour.

For Oscar or Cichlid fish tanks getting an external canister filter makes perfect sense as these units produce more flow and have enormous space for media, which in turn keeps the aquarium clean and safe.

I have an article on choosing one according to your aquarium’s gallon capacity (visit the link to learn how to make a choice).

If you want to keep aquatic turtles you should still take into consideration the available water volume in the aquarium.

In this case, you can check my article on picking a good filter for a turtle aquarium according to gallon capacity.

Turtles are messier than most aquatic pets and require a water turn over of at least 8 times the whole aquarium’s gallon capacity per hour.

by turtleuwu69

Heater

A small 3-gallon, 5-gallon, or 10-gallon tank with tropical fish requires a small-sized aquarium heater that’s ideally under 6.5 inches in length.

I’ve seen enough small aquariums with a spoiled interior because the owner got an over-sized heater.

Wavemaker

Last but not least, the gallon capacity of your reef tank, for example, plays a major role in your choice of aquarium wavemaker.

You can check my guide on how to make the correct choice by clicking here.

Knowing the exact dimensions of your new fish tank will give you the needed information to make adequate decisions on choosing livestock and the purchase of equipment.

Drop me a comment below if you have any questions in those areas and I will answer as soon as I see it.

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