The Tank Size Scam .....

ca1ore · Feb 16, 2018

.... OK, perhaps scam is too strong a word, but I do find it interesting that most tank manufacturers 'size' their tanks based on external dimensions. Not all, but most. I imagine most experienced reefers know this, but I wonder how many novices do .... or take the time to do the math. It's not that big of a deal at the smaller end, but once you start dealing with larger tanks with 3/4 or even 1" sides, it makes a difference. My current tank for example, a 450 holds nominally 400 gallons of water with the remaining 50 gallons being acrylic

. My last tank, a Marineland 265 actually only held 230 gallons .... and that's before rock and sand displacement. Maybe it's a distinction without a difference, but interesting nonetheless.

dragon99 · Feb 16, 2018

How big is a gigabyte? Ask a computer engineer and a hard disk mfg and you get two different answers.

It's deceptive marketing, pure and simple.

Servillius · Feb 16, 2018

They should probably market for real volume. That said, let’s play devils advocate.

Did you really buy because you wanted X real gallons? Or was the “size” in length, width and height what mattered? If they’re all using the same metric, isn’t the one using the metric that makes their tank sound larger relative to the others the one actually misrepresenting their tank?

andrewkw · Feb 16, 2018

200 gallons of salt mix is way worse. I know many people using "reef" salts in low salinity fowlrs. In fact in my own fowlr I still run it at 1.026 like my reef anyway.

NY_Caveman · Feb 16, 2018

AIOs also have baffles and such. My JBJ 30 is actually 26.6 gallons when accounting for glass, acrylic and actual water level. And that is before rock and equipment. I actually wanted a 20 gallon tank which is why I went with a 30 gallon.

I documented the tank dimensions and water volume for just this reason for future searchers because I could not find the actual information before purchasing. You can see that here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i-received-a-box-of-rocks-today.335926/page-2#post-4346025

redfishbluefish · Feb 16, 2018

And I'm also sure that volume is if the tank was filled all the way up to the tippy top edge!

Let's get Ralph Nader on it right away....he'll straighten it out. I use to work for a large adhesive bandage company and at the time we included bandage size on our products....as an example 3/4 by 3 inch. During production, it was cut to that exact dimension.....and then sterilized. Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, accused us of false labeling on our product. Once sterilized, it oh-so-slightly shrunk about 1/64 of an inch. He claimed it was no longer 3 inches and therefore false labeling. Our solution, take that size labeling off the product! Go ahead, take a look at that box in your medicine cabinet.

So let's stick him on this aquarium conundrum.

NY_Caveman · Feb 16, 2018

I am not knocking the companies with my post nor do I think it is a scam. They do not know how much rock I will use or my water level. They can only say the actual tank volume

brandon429 · Feb 16, 2018

My fruity pebbles

large bag

3/4 air, literally 1/4 pebbles I knew of the ripoff since 83. It's getting worse, pan industrial fraud

ca1ore · Feb 16, 2018

Like I said in my initial post, it's likely a distinction without a difference, but it's just one of those things that I find irritating. I bought my current tank based on the external dimensions; essentially what I could fit in the room space .... the actual gallons was less important; except I needed to make up a bunch of new water. I did the math, but I bet a lot of people wouldn't.

Cory · Feb 19, 2018

Yep. Fully agree. Everyones trying to steal from you or fool you in one way or another. Even places that profit are fooling you into thinking its a great price, when the reality is they profit a lot from your purchase.

Broadfield · Feb 19, 2018

Yeah, it does get some people though.... especially when shopping for a tank and trying to justify the cost from one brand to the next. Red Sea is a good example of this. They factor in glass thickness, the overflow box and the actual waterline when calculating gallons. So if you are only looking at the gallons, then their tanks appear to be smaller than competing brands.

Compare the these two for example:

Waterbox 135.4 - 47.24” x 23.62” x 20.47” rated as a 99 gallon tank.
Red Sea Reefer 425 XL - 47" x 22.6" x 22" rated as a 88 gallon tank.

Not only is the Red Sea not 11 gallons smaller, it actually has a slightly larger volume than the Waterbox... it's 101 gallons when calculated like the Waterbox. Even though Red Sea is being completely honest, they are the ones that may be losing sales because of it.

hart24601 · Feb 19, 2018

I like smaller tanks myself. Always makes me chuckle when someone is "upgrading" to a.larget tank so it's a disservice to sales, from my perspective, for manufacturers to exaggerate size.

Dodgersfan · Feb 19, 2018

Broadfield said:
Yeah, it does get some people though.... especially when shopping for a tank and trying to justify the cost from one brand to the next. Red Sea is a good example of this. They factor in glass thickness, the overflow box and the actual waterline when calculating gallons. So if you are only looking at the gallons, then their tanks appear to be smaller than competing brands.

Compare the these two for example:

Waterbox 135.4 - 47.24” x 23.62” x 20.47” rated as a 99 gallon tank.

Red Sea Reefer 425 XL - 47" x 22.6" x 22" rated as a 88 gallon tank.

Not only is the Red Sea not 11 gallons smaller, it actually has a slightly larger volume than the Waterbox... it's 101 gallons when calculated like the Waterbox. Even though Red Sea is being completely honest, they are the ones that may be losing sales because of it.