Habitat - Indoor :: length vs. depth

[pumpkinsherbet]

my boyfriend went to the pet store yesterday and completely freaked out to see the 55 long they had. i want to get a 90 gallon, min. 72 gallon and my boyfriend's going nuts refusing to have ''that type of monstrosity" in the house. one of the restaurants we go to has a 500 gallon aquarium, if you cut it in half it's slightly smaller than our entertainment centre. not difficult to pull off, most of its volume came from depth not length.

so i guess my question is, would the little ones fare well having a deeper swimming space rather than a longer swimming space? of course, i'd make sure they had plenty of space to get around each other, avoid the aggression. is a deeper 90/100 gallon available on the market or would i have to have that custom made? he's starting to talk about getting rid of the turtles, i want to let him know that we can still keep them, and that 55L is not the only indication of what's doable. it's not like he's the one taking care of them anyway. boo.

[marisa]

Longer (and wider) is preferable to just deeper because it provides a bigger "footprint"---horizontal swimming area.

[pumpkinsherbet]

i don't want to give up my turtles

[industrial_girl_2000]

Sounds like a compromise is in order here. Is there something you can "trade" to your boyfriend in exchange for getting your "monstrosity" tank? Like stuff that you don't like to do, like him having his friends over for video game night, practicing loud music, or having guys' night once a week or whatever?

I can totally empathize with your situation, just trying to help.

[SpotsMama]

I'm surprised to hear that someone feels that a big tank is a "monstrosity". I think the big tanks are beautiful. They are the focal points of any room, interesting and real conversation starters. That's why they're used in places like restaurants where a pleasant and beautiful atmosphere is desirable. They are actually quite popular these days in upscale homes and businesses.

Another advantage of a big tank with good equipment is that it is actually a lot less work to maintain than a small tank. It seems counterintuitive, but it's what lots of people have learned. I've got a 100 gallon tank and spend a lot less time keeping it clean now than I used to, with much better results.

I think

[Erroneous]

Of course if you don't have much space, then a big tank can seem like a monstrosity. I think when it comes time to getting a new tank (hopefully after a couple years when I can get a house) I may try to build a tank so that it can be deep and longish, provided I can do it cheap enough. If I were to do it, I think I would do an acrylic tank as that can be easier to work with, lighter, tougher, can be molded to unique designs, and is less expensive. The only down side is that it can scratch more easily.

[SpotsMama]

Good points.

[pumpkinsherbet]

Sounds like a compromise is in order here. Is there something you can "trade" to your boyfriend in exchange for getting your "monstrosity" tank? Like stuff that you don't like to do, like him having his friends over for video game night, practicing loud music, or having guys' night once a week or whatever?

wow, heh, that advice makes me really regret being the laid back girlfriend i have been. he already gets that stuff! i even told him i wasn't going out with him anymore to play pool, because i always have to fight to play too so that's a separate activity for us, now. i did consider going in the opposite direction, telling him if i have to get rid of my turtles he has to get rid of his guitars.

i told him the actual dimensions for the 90 gallon, going so far as to pull out the tape measure and actually show him how big it was going to be so stop freaking out it's not that bad! so he's eased up and i got the okay. plus, i gave him the okay to get a cat (which i wanted too, but shhh) so we're all squared away now.

thanx everyone!