Been reading and learning, now on to shopping

[Intrepyd]

I've been thinking about starting an aquarium for some time, and I'm ready to get started. I'm aiming for a 55g freshwater rectangular aquarium. I'm ambivalent about acrylic versus glass, but I wonder about how easily acrylic actually scratches. My first hurdle is aquarium furniture. I need to make this work in my second bedroom/office, and my wife won't have it unless it's attractive. Looking around pet stores at aquarium stands seems to give a pretty narrow selection of cabinets. Online, I can only seem to find either artless wooden boxes or $2000 beautiful custom pieces.

Where could I start for a reasonable stand that looks halfway decent? Something in a dark brown wood would be perfect.

Thanks! Really looking forward to having a tank to take care of. *celebrate

 

[Kissyboots]

Sweet! Good for you; doing your research before you buy!

I have a 55g currently and got this stand on sale for $89 from Petco: Aquatic Fundamentals 55 Gallon Upright Aquarium Stand at PETCO. It fits perfectly and looks sleek. It's not dark brown wood, but it matches the tank rims.

I also got the 55g for around the same price at Petco as well. One thing to check though, if you want live plants, you have to research the lighting, CO2, substrate, and fertilizers. The normal lighting and hoods that you can get for this tank won't help any.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. If you're interested in live plants, I'll get you links to all the stuff I'm getting for mine.

Welcome to the tank!

 

[Lotus]

You can always ask your local fish store (LFS) what they can order in for you. Most won't keep stock of a huge range of tanks and stands, simply because they don't move fast. However, most stores can order a wide range of styles and colors. Usually, all you have to do is ask what they can get. Of course, have your wife with you if it's important to her how it looks.

It's also going to depend on your style/taste as to what suits you and your decor. A lot of the time, stands come in different woods (light, dark, medium, cherry, etc.) or black. Oceanic also does some sleek looking stands in brushed steel and black glass.

Some stores sell unfinished wood stands that you can stain and seal yourself.

 

[midmichman80]

I have both acrylic and glass tanks and prefer the glass hands down. My acrylic tank is scratched to the max and the algae always finds is way into those scratches. I do have one good scratch in a glass tank, but that was totally my fault, not paying attention while cleaning the glass and got a snail caught between the mag float and the glass. Acrylic tanks are lighter, but when they are full of water and gravel the weight of the tank is kind of insignificant. Some argue that the seamless corners of acrylic tanks are nice, but they don't acutually give anymore viewing changes then glass rectangles with corner trim, IMO. Out of all my stands though, the acrylic stand under my acrylic tank is the nicest of them all. There is no storage under the tank, but the stand is shiny and sharp. I have built my own stand for a standard 55g tank and painted it for less than $20 and I think it looks pretty good, but it is a matter of opinion. I have given you mine(opinoin) on the subject and wish you the best in this very addictive hobby.

 

[unwritten law]

I think if you built one for a 55 gallon it would be very cheap and your wife couldn't complain tooo much. There are threads on this forum on how to build a stand. You can go cheap on a stand if you build it but be prepared to pay more for a filter, light, heater, not to mention the tank.

 

[Monoxide]

I would go with building one if you don't have anything that you want worthy of being used. Like they said many places don't hold big tanks/stands.

 

[Intrepyd]

Thanks for the advice. My wife and I built a coffee table once. Disaster. One of those, "We'll laugh about this someday" catastrophes. I found a decent stand that won't set me back too much:

55/75/90 Gallon Brunswick Aquarium Stand at PETCO

Two more questions come to mind for starters:

1) My LFS seems great and trustworthy, but when I was browsing the other day, they suggested an Emperor 400 power filter for a 55g. That seemed a little overkill to me. What would I lose going with a Penguin 350? (Do they make a 250?)

2) Air stones/pumps have me confused. With a good filter moving water, are the extra bubbles necessary to aerate the tank? Also, is an air stone just the output orifice of an air pump, or are they completely separate systems?

Thanks for bearing with me.

 

[Kissyboots]

1) My LFS seems great and trustworthy, but when I was browsing the other day, they suggested an Emperor 400 power filter for a 55g. That seemed a little overkill to me. What would I lose going with a Penguin 350? (Do they make a 250?)

I have a Penguin 350 on mine and it's perfect. Having more filtration however is not a problem. Just as a heads up though, if you go with these kinds of hoods: Aquarium Lighting & Hoods: All-Glass Deluxe Fluorescent Full Hoods - Oak, then you'll have to have the filter on the left side of the tank. It won't fit on the right in the middle because there's a plastic support thing in the middle (on the All-Glass tanks). This means that the right side of your tank won't have much filtration going and will have still water at the top. I fixed that with bubbles (see below.)

2) Air stones/pumps have me confused. With a good filter moving water, are the extra bubbles necessary to aerate the tank? Also, is an air stone just the output orifice of an air pump, or are they completely separate systems?

This is what I have: Whisper 60 Aquarium Air Pump. They are not necessary and just make the tank look better. Mine is broken right now, and I have to say, my tank looked much better with bubbles... They don't really aerate your tank because the bubbles are too large for the water to absorb oxygen from them. They do help to break surface tension which can aerate the water. I did that with my tank on the right side so the water would keep moving.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Hey, no problem. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it's better to know what you're doing than to run around blind and make mistakes that could be avoided. Ask away!

 

[OrangeCones]

If you have a lot of live plants going well, you don't need to add any airstones. My tanks are saturated with oxygen by day, and still higher than the one with the Penguin by night. I do use sponge filters with powerheads to move the water though.

 

[MissFishy]

It sounds like you are on the right track! I would warn you to be very very wary of ANYTHING a fish store employee tells you, even if they sound trustworthy. Remember, they sell stuff all day, of course they sound like they know what they're talking about. Research everything yourself and don't let them convince you into buying something not on your shopping list.

If you're confused about the whole filter options, I wrote up the pros/cons on my website linked below, with that size tank you probably won't want an airstone.

 

[Intrepyd]

Thanks for all the help. What's the concept behind airstones being ideal or not in certain tank sizes?

 

[jo3olous]

Thanks for all the help. What's the concept behind airstones being ideal or not in certain tank sizes?

airstones are for aesthetic purposes really. they do little to nothing as far as aerating the tank goes. The best way to keep a tank well oxygenated is to have good surface agitation (HOB filter and dont fill the tank to the top) the little waterfall it makes is good agitation. Powerheads that create currents is good agitation but some fish may prefer still water. If you are doing a planted tank, that will def boost the O2 in your tank. hope this helps

 

[unwritten law]

You don't really want too much agitation in a planted tank cause it will dissipate a lot of the CO2. I don't have any air stones anymore. They are loud and take up space.