Table Top Fish Tanks: Great Articles On Choosing and Maintaining Aquariums, Cabinetry and Fish Stands, Filtration, Fish, Coral Reef and more

For years new hobbyist have asked specialists what size aquarium they should purchase as a first aquarium. We always struggle with the answer (as it seems more like a sales pitch) but the largest aquarium you can afford and have space for truly is the proper answer to this question.

Here’s why?

Water quality is vital to the health of aquarium fish be they saltwater, reef inhabitants or freshwater. The smaller the acrylic aquarium the faster ammonia, nitrite and other contaminates can spread throughout the water column. Here’s a great analogy to think about: Fill a small glass full of water and add a drop of food coloring. Then fill a five gallon bucket with water and add the same drop of food coloring to it. The coloring will completely alter the small glass but simply dissipates in the five gallon bucket. When you begin to think about the food coloring being ammonia in your system you will soon realize that a problem will grow to be critical in a 50 gallon aquarium faster than a 150 gallon system. Sure there are several other considerations; and this is a simple example but you get the point. The more water you have to work with the easier the quality of the water is to maintain.

Here is an even better reason:

You will more than likely get hooked into this wonderful hobby. The larger the acrylic aquarium the more aquarium inhabitants you will be able to keep in the system. Many times you see smaller systems stuffed with fish. It’s only a matter of time before the water quality deteriorates to the point of disaster.

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