experiences with bow or hex or non-rectangle tank styles

I had a 36 Aqueon bowfront - LOVED IT! Unfortunately, it cracked across the bottom (floor & stand issue).
The bowfront gives a nice flexibility to tank decor layout/planting due to the slight, but significant, widening. I've had two acrylic tanks with "eurobracing" and that bracing made it very challenging to add external canisters. Acrylic is nice, BUT
1) you want thicker, not thinner acrylic.
2) read reviews of acrylic tank makers. I bought one ($$$) with very thin acrylic and the seam leaked after 2 years due to very poor construction. You want zero air bubbles in the seams. I'll just note the tank manufacturer's initials: "GC"
3) careful when cleaning, acrylic scratches very easily.
4) acrylic is very expensive!

Good to know. I was looking at this: Nat'l Geographic Aqua Oasis.

It's good purchase price, but some slop in construction and stand is minimum. It's strange construction of mixing acrylic and glass. I understand about scratching and that is why stayed away from acrylic for so long, but had a 12gall acrylic and haven't noted any scratches yet. Worst case I figured I could always buff out the scratches.

The other acrylic, has a much smaller opening at the top that reviews have indicated can be issue.

I don't like the noise of canisters and so will go UG or something like a marineland emporer.

Currently thinking more of the bowfront because of the wider viewing vs a hex, and easier to get supplies for

Hex tanks are terrible - mostly wasted space with no room for fish to swim.


Canister filters are the quietest filters you can get. Those other filters you mentioned are far far noisier.

Bowfront tanks are very nice, but they do add a bit of distortion when your not directly in front of the tank or if looking to the edge. My wife has a 26 gal bowfront... loves it!
I've always wanted a big, wide cylinder tank but very expensive for the size.

jaysee said:

Hex tanks are terrible - mostly wasted space with no room for fish to swim.


Canister filters are the quietest filters you can get. Those other filters you mentioned are far far noisier.

Click to expand...

I have an Eheim classic that I just can't use because of the noise factor. I even tried putting it inside a cabinet with foam sound deadening materials, and still way too too noisy. Perhaps it's the model and not the type of filter.

It's sitting in the garage just because I haven't figured out how to get rid of it, and hate to just
throw in garbage can.

It's a problem with your particular filter. Canisters are as silent as filters come. What kind of noise is it making?

It's an Eheim 2600. The propeller motor sits on a flat plastic plate on top of the canister. This assembly has too much harmonic vibration noise when it runs. Taking a fresh look at it, I guess I could try adding a rubbery gasket between the motor and the plate to see if that works. The filter works very well, but in a quiet environment, it just generates too much noise.

I have a 36-gal bowfront tank and I love it. My harlequin rasbora can school nicely from one side to the other side of the tank. My friend has a 44-gal hexagonal tank and I don't really like it. The fishes seem to be stacked in the water column