Fish Tank Size Calculator
I have a twenty gallon tank and I need some answers.?
I have just purchased a twenty gallon tank. It is long and not very high. The measurements are 36 inches in length, 16 inches in height(will probably only fill up to 15 inches high), and 12 inches in width. My first question is this really only twenty gallons? I tried an aquarium calculator but I am not sure if it was accurate. My next question was If I could house one and only one red belly piranha with a couple inch convict cichlid. What kind of piranha would survive alone and could fit in this size of tank? Also, is there another fish that could replace the piranha that is intelligent and comes up to me when I feed it?
Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks!
Cody the bewildered fish guy.
Sounds like a 30 gallon tank. Use a standard calculator to determine actual tank volume and “nominal” volume. There are 231 cubic inches in a gallon, so all you have to do is divide the total cubic inches of the tank by 231. The actual volume is based on inside measurements minus the space you plan to leave at the top for air. Nominal volume is based on the outside volume, so it includes the air space and also the space occupied by the plastic frame and the glass. It’s also rounded up, and sometimes a few gallons are arbitrarily added to give the tank a different number from some other tank size that calculates out to the same volume. You need a chart, not a calculator. Your tank is listed as a 30 gallon.
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/forum/index.php?topic=15978.0
The most intelligent family of fish based on relative brain to body ratio and supported by the variety of behaviors the fish demonstrate in the wild and in captivity, are the cichlids.
Piranha are large tetras, related to neons, and are schooling fish, so keeping only a few of them or worse, only one, puts them under a lot of stress and causes them to behave oddly. Unless you have a 600 to 1000 gallon aquarium for them, it is difficult to get them to behave normally or breed and reproduce.
In a twenty long or a 30, kribensis cichlids are a good choice. Pick a male and female about the same size. Intelligent fish do not always come up to you when you feed them. They are too smart for that and you have to earn their trust by feeding them for a while. They learn to recognise you and also notice whether you have the fish food can, or a net, in your hands. My compressiceps cichlids know when I’m going to feed them and come up to the surface to knock down food. Except when I bring someone in the room with me. Then they go station themselves by the entrance to their caves, just to be safe. They have accepted my 10 month old grand daughter, so i can hold her while I feed them. Angel fish would be OK in a 30. Eventually you would get a pair, and then move out all other fish. Pick standard fin angels since the veil and super veil angelfish require tall tanks. Angelfish are cichlids too, even though they look quite different from convict cichlids and kribensis.
The piranha is likely to eat any tank mates, even convict cichlids.
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