55 gallon vs 40 Breeder... thoughts?

[DMD123]

Looking to expand and do a couple hospital/growouts. What would you choose? The standard 55 gallon or the 40 breeder?

Looking at these sizes due to Petco sale. 50% off on these two sizes.

 

[sir_keith]

Same surface (or substrate) area, so that's not a factor. I'd go with the 55 because it's more versatile: could be a grow-out tank, could be a show tank, could be anything. And to me a 48" tank is always prettier than a 36" tank.

It really depends on the shape of the space you have available. I use 40L tanks as grow-outs because I have several 55's, and the 40L's fit nicely beneath them, as shown below. But no one seems to make 40L's anymore, so they're hard to find.

Good luck!

 

[lloyd378]

40 breeder all day. Not even close. It’s basically the smallest of the large tanks......
The 18” wide by 3 feet can comfortably growout fish to 7-8 inches. It may lose a foot in length but the gained width is super helpful with cichlids.

I got rid of all of my standard 55 and changed them all over to 40b.

 

[DMD123]

I have two 65B and my stack rack idea would be easier doing 40B but I can also do something else since its kind of from scratch idea. Really the best would be 75 gallon tanks but more than I want to spend right now.

 

[fishguy1978]

I like my 55g for the length but dislike the 12in width. I love the 40, 50, 65Bs because of the 18in width. Hmm, maybe ....

 

[FishBeast]

Honestly in this range, if you can find some and if you have the room, go with 75 gallon. 4 feet wide like the 55 but as deep as the 40.
They should also be half off too.
For $20 more than the 55 you get so much more versatility.

 

[DMD123]

Honestly in this range, if you can find some and if you have the room, go with 75 gallon. 4 feet wide like the 55 but as deep as the 40.
They should also be half off too.
For $20 more than the 55 you get so much more versatility.

I see in my emails that Petco will do 50% off on 75 gallon tanks but I don't think I have ever even seen one in a local store... Bet they would sell a ton of them if they had them

 

[FishBeast]

I see in my emails that Petco will do 50% off on 75 gallon tanks but I don't think I have ever even seen one in a local store... Bet they would sell a ton of them if they had them

The 6th Ave Petco had a couple this past Saturday. I can check our Petco here in Gig Harbor too!

 

[DMD123]

I will check the 6th Ave location when I get back. Thanks for that

 

[sir_keith]

I will check the 6th Ave location when I get back. Thanks for that

Can't you just order it at whatever store is convenient for you, and have it shipped there? I may be wrong about this, but I seem to recall doing this in the past...

 

[DMD123]

Can't you just order it at whatever store is convenient for you, and have it shipped there? I may be wrong about this, but I seem to recall doing this in the past...

Hadn’t thought about that... my Lakewood store kind of is lame so I was just expecting to go elsewhere

 

[FishBeast]

Can't you just order it at whatever store is convenient for you, and have it shipped there? I may be wrong about this, but I seem to recall doing this in the past...

I completely forgot that I did this too before... They located a tank for me from the Federal Way store and trucked it over to my local location.

 

[DMD123]

Called 6th ave and they were helpful... lol, in their best way. The $1 per gallon sale is going until 11/16 but they were out of bigger tanks, 29g was as big as they had.

 

[DMD123]

Been doing some thinking and the best stack rack configuration would be with 40B's but looking for a 75g. The 75g would house the baby midas I have coming and it could be used in the future for an adult fish. Waiting for a gift card to come in and then need to get to Lowes for 2x4's.

 

[DMD123]

Finally found the elusive 75 gallon at Olympia Petco. A bit rough on the plastic frames from stacking on each other but at least it is a new tank for $99. I still need a lid for it.

I will say that when the 75 sits next to the 40B’s at the store, you do have to respect the size of the 40’s. They really are substantial.

 

[DMD123]

I ended up buying a Dewalt steel rack for my stacked tanks to have a growout for my midas babies. It should work well with the 75 across the top and the 65B in the middle and a small storage area underneath. I want to find some bins to put under and then get some plywood to go across the shelves. The rack is only 18" wide and the 75g is 18 1/2" and the 65B about 18 3/4", So Im thinking a 3/4" sheet of plywood should do the trick

 

[FishBeast]

I ended up buying a Dewalt steel rack for my stacked tanks to have a growout for my midas babies. It should work well with the 75 across the top and the 65B in the middle and a small storage area underneath. I want to find some bins to put under and then get some plywood to go across the shelves. The rack is only 18" wide and the 75g is 18 1/2" and the 65B about 18 3/4", So Im thinking a 3/4" sheet of plywood should do the trick

I've seen those racks! They are definitely high quality, plus the yellow DeWalt color is nice! That should look really good! Congrats on scoring the 75! Post pics of your setup soon

 

[sir_keith]

For anyone who might still be interested, the Petco in Poulsbo has at least two 75 gallon tanks in stock at the moment. Wish I had some more space in my fish rom; those tanks are nice!

 

[FishBeast]

For anyone who might still be interested, the Petco in Poulsbo has at least two 75 gallon tanks in stock at the moment. Wish I had some more space in my fish rom; those tanks are nice!

That is awesome!

 

[DMD123]

Had to revisit this one.... I originally started with plans to build multiple stack racks in the garage with 2x4’s and then move over my two 65B’s. With this setup the ideas were to do 40B or 55g tanks. Forward to today and I went with metal racking by Dewalt and going with two 75g tanks to go with my 65B’s. This was the best use of space and tank size I needed for the types of fish I raise.

This is the setup in its final stages work... will be done soon