While opting to buy your first tank, it is always advised to go with the 20 gal long fish tank. As it is your first time to keep fishes, 20 gallons is the perfect size to stuff fishes and decorations. But the shape of the tank also matters a lot.
I am not against the other shapes of the tanks available in the market rather I am suggesting on, going with the long tank for the first time.
Here we will discuss the benefits of having a 20 gallon long fish tank rather than going for square, hexagon or pentagons.
Except for the feeding time, you will seldom see a fish swim upwards. Fishes mostly swim straight towards the length of the 20 gal long fish tank, so if you are buying a tank which is taller in height but the length and breadth do not provide enough space, it will be very hard for a fish to swim comfortably.
Also, when you are keeping a fish in a tank, it is your duty to give it the as best underwater environment as possible, so going for a 20 gal long fish tank will be a better choice.
While keeping a bigger tank, aquarists usually have fishes of several dwelling levels of water, like there are some fishes who love to swim in the upper portion of the water, on the other hand, there are some fishes which are mid-dwellers and other types of fishes love to stay near the substrate.
So, suppose you are buying a hexagon tank, and have three fish schools of three different levels of water. But as the upper and lower portions of the tank will be less wide than the middle portion, your fishes will have space crisis and hence will not thrive well.
Rather, if you keep them in a rectangular or 20 gallons long fish tank it will be easier for them to swim freely as all of the schools will get enough space.
I know how beautiful it looks to have a unique shaped tank in the house, but if you give it a careful thought, you really don’t have enough chances to decorate it properly. Also because of the shape, you cannot have many fishes, else they will have space crisis while swimming and additionally you need to limit the decorations also.
But the most crucial part is, having a good quality filter and heater in the tank, as it may also seem difficult if the opening of the tank is not wide enough. On the other hand, 20 gal long fish tank will be the perfect.
If you want you can surely have unique shaped tanks, but above are the benefits that you can have from a 20 gal long fish tank.