The volume of your tank is the starting point for a dozen calculations. The volume depends on the type and number of fish and plants, the characteristics of the filter and heater, the dosage of medicines and fertilizers necessary for the successful functioning of your home ecosystem. How often beginner aquarists are guided by the figure indicated in the factory characteristics of the tank and make mistakes, sometimes irreparably for their pets. If you want to turn your aquarium into a real underwater kingdom, you have to start with math.
It is necessary
- - roulette
- - pencil and paper
- - calculator
Instructions
Step 1
If your aquarium is a parallelogram, you will need to measure its width, depth and length from the outside and record these values.
Step 2
Now you have to calculate the internal dimensions. To do this, measure the wall thickness of the tank, multiply by two and subtract the resulting figure from each measurement. For example, the wall thickness of the aquarium is 0.5 centimeters. You need to subtract a centimeter from the outside length to find the inside length.
Step 3
Convert centimeters to meters and calculate the volume of the aquarium using internal measurements. Multiply the length by the width and the height, and you get the volume in cubic meters.
Step 4
Now convert cubic meters to liters. One cubic meter contains one thousand liters.
Step 5
Let's take a standard 50 liter aquarium with a wall thickness of 0.5 centimeters and the following external dimensions of 54x27x35 centimeters. Its internal dimensions will be 53x26x34 centimeters. From each measurement, we subtract 1 centimeter, the wall thickness of the aquarium, multiplied by two. Its volume in cubic meters will be 0, 54 x 0, 26 x 0, 35 = 0, 0491 centimeters or 49 liters.
Step 6
It would seem that the difference in 1 liter is not so significant, but this volume corresponds to the amount of water poured into the aquarium to the very edges and only if there is nothing else in the tank. If we do not add 3 centimeters of water to the edge of the aquarium, then there is another 0.5 liters less water in it. How did we know this? Multiplying the bottom area by the height from the surface of the water to the edge of the aquarium, that is, 0, 54x0, 29x0, 03 and translating the resulting figure - 0, 0042 - from cubic centimeters to liters.
Step 7
Now you can subtract about a liter of water for the volume occupied by the filter and heater. And about 0.5 liters for driftwood or other decorative ornaments. And don't forget the algae. But there is still soil! 2 centimeters of basalt chips will take about 0.8 liters of the total volume. So your 50 gallon tank actually holds about 47 gallons. And the larger the aquarium, the more noticeable the difference between the declared volume and the real one.
