Bowfront owners, I have a question for you.

[Orion]

Pondering getting a 28 gallon Bowfront for a SW tank. (Personaly I'd rather have the 155 gallon, but I was veto'ed pretty darn quick after I told how much it was).

I've only had the standard rectangle tanks in the past, and my biggest concern with the bowfront is the distortion from the curve of the glass. How noticeable is it, if any? Anybody with a bowfront that wish they didn't buy it?

I didn't think a lot about this till I really looked at one of those wave tanks. The convex part looks fine, but the concave section does look rather distorted. I know that bowfronts are convex, but it still makes me wonder. (I think I'm useing the terms convex and concave in the proper manner )

I think I may have asked this before, but if I did I'm just going for good measure for this.

I want a different tank for my first SW tank. I pesonaly really like the cube tanks. Petsmart has a 30 gallon cube for around the same price as the 28 gallon BF. But my better half likes the BF better. I really don't mind, I just want my SW tank!

 

[Fuzz16]

i personally dont like the idea of BF. i fear they are not sturdy enough and would be more suseptible to breaking
plus, fish look awkward in it unless your looking straight in. like a bubble glass sorta
id go with the 30g personally. its 2g bigger! which i suppose is a lot for a nano

 

[MOsborne05]

I had a 26 gallon bowfront and I hated the distortion! I had bb gobies in it, so if I looked closely to try and find them it made my eyes hurt And it seemed like I could never get a clear look at anything in the tank, unless it was right at the glass. I definitely would suggest getting the cube instead. I'm getting a Mini-Bow 7 and I'm hoping that the distortion won't be as bad as the bigger tanks.

 

[Orion]

Being a Sw tank I'm sure I'll be spending hours looking at the little critters running about, and since I'm getting up there in age my eyes just aren't what they used to be. lol

Good things to think about. Thanks!

 

[GIS Guy]

I have had my bow front for the past 9 +- years.
During this time I have not noticed any significant distortion.
The view has always been fine.
And structurally sound (9 +- years).
The best thing I like about the bow front is the additional gallons.
The 28g bow front footprint is a little large than a 20g high, but not by much.
Because they are approximately the same size, it'll fit is a lot of places.
Also, the aquascaping is much better because of the added front to back depth.

 

[hyunelan2]

I have never noticed any distortion in my 46g bowfront. Ditto the comments above by GIS Guy.

 

[Limi310]

Orion, you're funny...you pretend to be old.
I've spent lots of time sitting in front of my 46BF and not had any major problems with distortion. With that being said.....it does sometimes seem that the closer you are to the glass...every once in a while you might hit a spot that seems a little distorted. But I mean your face almost has to be touching the glass.
Sitting from a normal distance and observing the fish, I've never noticed any distortion in the way the fish looks. And it's perfectly structurally as sound as any other fishtank.
I agree with GIS Guy that the added depth is great for aquascaping.

ALSO....this is a neat idea that I saw - someone turned their BF around (so the flat part was the front) and used the back 'bow' for aquascaping all their LR. It was in the corner of their room. It actually looked VERY cool. But I suppose might defeat the purpose of the BF for your wife since she liked the look of the tank.

On another note, I am actually about to convert my BF to a SW tank myself, so I can let you know how it goes

 

[Mom2Angel]

I have a 46 gallon bf and do not notice any big distortion...I love the looks of it actually!

 

[Seleya]

I also have 2 46 bowfronts and love them. I'm not sure if the smaller bfs have a greater curve to the glass or not -- that may affect the optics. I also have an Oceanic 33 cube and it's a very nice tank but I prefer the bows.

 

[Orion]

Sweet, thanks for the comments guys.

LOL@ Limi. well, I may not be that old in years but I sure as heck feel like it. I need to quit working these 12+ hr days. And you know that is a great idea about turning it around to where the bow is in the back. Makes me feel better that if we don't like it, we can still have a 'real' tank! hehe

 

[Lonewolfblue]

No distortion in my 26G bowfront, and it's been running for 2.5 years.

 

[Fuzz16]

hmm maybe its just some people
my dad is old...its okay to be old!

i want to be old someday!

 

[Brinny-chan]

My stepbrother has a bowfront and I love the look of them! I've never noticed any distortion when looking in the tank either. I think they're neat, and I personally think the bows are better for looking anywhere from straight-on. I try to look at on angle in my 10G and it makes my eyes hurt I never have that problem with bowfronts.

 

[saltwater4life]

they look for having active fish/inverts there is a BF at my lfs and there is a puffer that always swims from one side to the other as you walk by it and i think they are good to have for fish so that dont run into the walls if your fish run into the walls