Does the shape of an aquarium matter?

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I've always been drawn toward the hexagon shape aquarium. I really can't explain it. But as a self proclaimed expert aquarist, I know that the hex shape means difficulty cleaning and obstructed views. So honestly I don't know why I even like them. This makes me wonder what other people prefer. There's all kinds of shapes and sizes but what do you have and why?
 
I've got a 20g cube and am now working on an 180g rectangle. The shape of the tank doesn't matter to me. Now I will say I love the way a drop-off tank looks; I just don't think I would ever personally have one
 
hexagons are the bestagons

my wife has a 30 gallon pond on our back deck, I made a hexagonal surround out of wood for it which we dubbed PONDHENGE during construction

inside the house though? rectangle is more space efficient due to the fact that the rooms in most homes are also rectangles. rectangles in general offer the most horizontal swimming space of any shape for any given gallonage too

I kinda like weird shaped aquariums in theory but in practice they're usually substantially more expensive than a similar volume rectangular one so rectangle wins again
 
I can definitely say that a hexagon is one of the harder tank shapes to keep clean, and decorate! (Plus they eat space as mentioned above, like cylinders!)

Though, they lend themselves to some rather unique builds…

image.jpg

IMG_9883.jpeg

(My heavily modified 35g acrylic hexagon, with a rolling hexagonal coffee table built under it as a stand!)

If you want some even weirder shapes, how about a right frustum? Here’s my wood mock-up for the upcoming build, to help me wrap my head around target viewing pane bank angle, compound glass bevel angle, and AIO divider size:

IMG_8601.jpeg
IMG_8602.jpeg



To go a step further… what about a Dodecahedron?

IMG_2301.jpeg

No actual dodecahedron tanks exist that I know of, just because it’s absurdly complex to cut twelve equal pentagons with 37-ish degree bank angles to each edge of each pentagon (60 beveled edges in total), and very few manufacturers even have the tooling for custom compound angle bevel grinding glass…

but, I’ve already got a dozen blanks of 1/8” thick glass cut to make my first mock up in my free time with 3” leg length pentagons… plus, a 11” pentagon leg length, 24.5” tall, 44 gallon example made out of 1/2” glass all drawn out… it’s going to be an ambitious project that will likely take substantial time, and require some new skills and tooling for the likes of a 3D printed assembly jig…

That’s all just to say, the sky’s the limit when you start doing your own designs, as long as you respect the laws of physics, and the limitations of your tooling!
 
For my next upgrade, I want a mobius strip tank. :)

1786642725249.png
It could actually theoretically be done, in acrylic….

I can only imagine how infuriating it would be to keep clean, though!
 
It could actually theoretically be done, in acrylic….

I can only imagine how infuriating it would be to keep clean, though!

Maybe a perfect use of those robot cleaners that would never stop or hit a wall. lol
 
hexagons are the bestagons

my wife has a 30 gallon pond on our back deck, I made a hexagonal surround out of wood for it which we dubbed PONDHENGE during construction

inside the house though? rectangle is more space efficient due to the fact that the rooms in most homes are also rectangles. rectangles in general offer the most horizontal swimming space of any shape for any given gallonage too

I kinda like weird shaped aquariums in theory but in practice they're usually substantially more expensive than a similar volume rectangular one so rectangle wins again
I want to see photos of the pond!
 

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