# 30 Gallon Freshwater Tank Plan



## jesse (Aug 11, 2011)

Went into BA's today and wanted a nice long skinny tank for my dresser and decided if i would get a tank it would be a 30G Long tank. The dimensions are 36x12x16. 

Just wanted some help from the experts on which filter(s), light(s) i should get for it and anything else that im missing.

Its gonna be a heavily planted tank and i was either gonna go with as many tetras as i could fit in there or a tank mostly based on angels.

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

I think before you consider buying anything, make sure your dresser can hold the weight of the tank.


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## ThaChingster (Feb 25, 2011)

Fish_Man said:


> I think before you consider buying anything, make sure your dresser can hold the weight of the tank.


+1.
~300 lbs of water right there... plus substrate, lighting, filters, etc. You'd be better off with a stand made for aquariums.

I think a school of cories would look nice, with tangly driftwood, and cardinal tetras swimming about the top

and angels wouldn't be too great in a tank that size, because they do need a lot more space vertically, or their growth will be stunted.


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## jesse (Aug 11, 2011)

Well im pretty sure these dressers could hold that weight. What do you think?


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## ThaChingster (Feb 25, 2011)

jesse said:


> Well im pretty sure these dressers could hold that weight. What do you think?


It looks pretty sturdy, but to help with the weight transfer, put some styrofoam right under the tank. The carpet also helps a bit with distributing the weight. It seems good! And even better because the tank is longer than normal.

The ultimate test is to have everyone in your family on it, if it wobbles, it's bad.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Jesse, consider that for almost every boxed tank-kit on the market, that the lighting included is only able to provide a minimum amount of lighting for plants, and will largely limit the plant species you could successfully keep. Especially in tanks that are on the tall side.

Just something to consider. I think a 33G LONG tank would look ace on that dresser, but they are not a size of tank included in boxed kits.


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## ThaChingster (Feb 25, 2011)

Will Hayward said:


> Jesse, consider that for almost every boxed tank-kit on the market, that the lighting included is only able to provide a minimum amount of lighting for plants, and will largely limit the plant species you could successfully keep. Especially in tanks that are on the tall side.
> 
> Just something to consider. I think a 33G LONG tank would look ace on that dresser, but they are not a size of tank included in boxed kits.


You could just purchase a 36 inch T5HO light, there are people on the forums here selling them for ~$80


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

ThaChingster said:


> You could just purchase a 36 inch T5HO light, there are people on the forums here selling them for ~$80


Yup, an upgrade is a good option and the t5HO would do well on a 17" tall tank, but before doing so, you might want to price out buying the tank and filter individually, and see if the kit makes it worthwhile.


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## jesse (Aug 11, 2011)

thanks a lot for the help guys.

the price of the 30L was $60 and im probably gonna get a AC70 which was $40


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

A good test for the dressers is to stand on them and give em a good little jump. If they break then it's probably a good idea you didn't put your aquarium on it.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

How long is that Ikea dresser? I have a 20 long over a similar one and it's fine - is there a center support in that dresser that extends to the floor (ie is weight bearing)?


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## jesse (Aug 11, 2011)

The dresser is fine and im pretty certain it can take the weight. 

Its 63 inches long and 19 wide.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

It's probably fine for the weight - most stands are made from the same cheap MDF anyways.

The only problem I might worry about is a bit of sagging - on my shorter Ikea dresser there's enough sag in the middle to slide coins through, and the tank edges are right above the sides of the dresser. Just something to consider.


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