They are not terribly expensive to set-up, and with a robust filtration system and good aquarium maintenance, it’s easy to avoid problems. The ideal capacity for a beginning fish keeper is a medium-size aquarium from 20 to 40 gallons. Things can quickly go sideways in these tiny set-ups.

While these sizes are popular with beginners, it’s actually much harder to care for a small tank. Small aquariums range in capacity from 2.5 to 15 gallons of water, and many can easily fit on a desk or sturdy table, so you may not need to invest in an aquarium stand. Unlike the rest of the world, aquariums in the US are rated by their capacity in gallons of water instead of liters. Let’s compare the specs between a wide range of standard tank sizes, from small Nano aquariums to the big behemoths that weigh over a ton when filled. It’s harder to compare aquariums when you’re looking at a rimless, bow front or other non-standard sizes like hexagon fish tanks, and you’ll likely need to play with those pesky calculators and make your own aquarium size charts. It’s very easy to compare standard tanks by looking at a table, like the ones we’ve provided below. For instance, all standard 10-gallon tanks have approximately the same dimensions (20 x 10 x 12 inches) and weigh about 111 pounds when filled with gravel and water. Measurements may vary slightly across brands without altering their basic specs. Standard tanks are measured externally across the plastic base.

These tanks are made from glass that’s usually 0.375 to 0.5 inches thick, and larger standards over 40-gallons have additional support rails across the center of the aquarium. Standard aquariums are the classic rectangular glass tanks that are sealed with silicone and have a plastic base and rim for extra support. This spares you from having to use an aquarium calculator or doing the math by hand. These days, the main advantage of choosing a standard-sized aquarium over a unique design is you can easily look up and compare their dimensions, capacities and most importantly, estimate how much the filled tank will weigh. This is a big change from the past when we only had the choice between standard size aquariums or shelling out the big bucks for a custom tank. If you’ve shopped around for aquariums in the last few years, you may have noticed that there’s a lot of options when it comes to modern tank styles and designs.

Dimensions of small military tanks