# 33 Gallon Panoramic Aquariums



## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Nice tanks 33 long and easy to illuminate, not ideal for a stem plant collector.
Too much trimming for stems but a 40L @ 16" depth helps a lot.

These are a favorite of LFS's for some reason, display length etc...
There is also a 5' tank of same depth(12") it's like a 40 extra long.

What do you want to grow???


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

I have used a 40 long like you are talking about. It was the same base as a 55 but shorter.

The tank looks nice, but it's far from ideal. Since the tank is only 12 inches front to back and it's not that tall, it makes it very difficult to aquascape. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's really hard to end up with something that looks decent. Most of this also applies to a standard 55, but since you have some additional height, you have some additional latitude. 

Since you want the "ultimate open space schooling tank" I suggest you look in to a couple of tanks that I think are much better options. Consider a 70 gal tank. It's got the same frontal area as a 55, but is 18 inches front to back. You'll get a lot better aquascape out of that. Think large rocks, driftwood and so on. Another possible tank is a 90 gal tank. It's got the same base as the 70 but a couple of inches taller. This may be more height than you want. Also be sure you can easily reach the the bottom and back of the tank, it can be quite a stretch. 

Of course if space is not a problem and money is no object, something like a 125 would look fantastic, but I think you'd be far beyond your budget at that point. 

One advantage you have with taller tanks like this is that you can put fish in and see them in distinct zones. For example, you can use hatchet fish, and the will stay close to the surface, then red tail rasbora and they will tend to stay in the top third of the tank. Then rummy nose tetras, and they will tend to stay in the middle third of the tank, and you have your usual catfish at the bottom. Of course at feeding time, juat about anything will go where the food is.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Nice tanks 33 long and easy to illuminate, not ideal for a stem plant collector.
> Too much trimming for stems but a 40L @ 16" depth helps a lot.
> 
> These are a favorite of LFS's for some reason, display length etc...
> ...


*Certainly I agree with the stem plants, my plan is to grow things such as dwarf baby tears, hair grass, pygmy chain sword, carpeting plants and maybe some small crypts. Here are just a few general examples:*




















DaveK said:


> I have used a 40 long like you are talking about. It was the same base as a 55 but shorter.
> 
> The tank looks nice, but it's far from ideal. Since the tank is only 12 inches front to back and it's not that tall, it makes it very difficult to aquascape. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's really hard to end up with something that looks decent. Most of this also applies to a standard 55, but since you have some additional height, you have some additional latitude.
> 
> ...


*I think it really all comes down to your skill, I have a wonderfully scaped 5 gallon tank, I even have a 0.5G (1/2 gallon) tank! I have some background with planting nano and as you can see pico tanks. *


























*I only have 4 feet in length to work with at my current location, the low height not only forces lateral schooling it allows my hardscape to emerge from the tank so that I can use terrestrial plants too which I am a huge fan of bringing them together. This is not really a community tank, I will have Ember Tetra and a Dwarf Gourami, the Embers will be forced to swim past the Gourami which will bring them into a tight school.*


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Teebo said:


> Has anyone played around with these aquariums? I am waiting to hear back from Aqueon about a local retailer.


I've had all three of those 48x12" tanks over the years (and a 65 tall) and I loved my 33L. It all depends on what you want to keep in it. I used mine for a Tanganikan shell dweller tank, grow out tank, then a saltwater mini reef. At one point I built a custom headboard for my bed with the 33L just above pillow height. Ahhh, the bachelor pad days... I made it detached from the bed so it wasn't affected by moving around. It was so peaceful falling asleep watching the tank every night. 

The 33L was one of my favorites, but consider what your overall plans are. If you're putting it on a store bought stand, it's very low. Not a problem if viewed from across the room, or next to the couch, but may be a backache if you have to hunch down to view it. If you're into small plants and small fish, it's one of the best sizes IMO. Mine were pretty old, they were either Perfecto or All Glass Aquarium brand. A simple rack setup can be made with 2x4s to have a 55, etc over the 33 also. More tanks for the same footprint


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## RWaters (Nov 12, 2003)

I had a 33 tank years ago but traded it to someone who wanted it for his bearded lizards. I was just getting into planted tanks at the time. He gave me a 55 with eco-complete. In hind sight, that's the worst trade I ever made.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

Teebo said:


> ...I think it really all comes down to your skill, I have a wonderfully scaped 5 gallon tank, I even have a 0.5G (1/2 gallon) tank! I have some background with planting nano and as you can see pico tanks. ...


You totally missed my point. 

I am not talking about 5 gal tanks or other tanks being limited by their size. I'm talking about the lentgh to width raito. The small tanks you mention have a comparatively high ratio of length verses width. A standard 5 1/2 gal tank is 16 inches long and 8 and 8 1/2 inches wide. In other words the tank is about twice as long as it is wide. This makes it very easy to aquascape, using smaller rocks and plants. A 40 long is 48 inches long and only 12 inches wide. It's only about 1/4 the length to width ratio. This is what makes it a difficult tank to work with. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's a lot harder to get a decent aquascape our of the 40 long compared to the 5 1/2 tank.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

I just had to reply again, been trying to keep my mouth shut due to other threads I am avoiding.

My next move is a frag tank, maybe you would consider this too?
Deep Blue has a 60 gallon, 48x24x12" deep around $179, same depth as a 33 long.
Deep Blue has an 80 gallon, 48x24x16" deep around $219, same depth as a 40 long.
Prices are from a nearby retailer, who knows.

IMHO either tank is a win with 8 square feet of substrate/growing area.
I am a plant collector for sure so more surface = more plants.
Depth would be a personal preference mostly regarding one's desire for stem plants.

I only mess with 48" length tanks, I want the planting area.
A 55 gallon I completely despise yet a 75 with same depth I am okay with.
The science project continues!


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

I had a 55 setup and decided to go down to a 40 Long. If your looking for that tank in Aqueon, good luck because they are virtually unavailable except for at certain times of the year from what I gathered. I know, I tried to order one from my LFS and had no luck at all. I was able to get a 40 Long in Marineland though easily.

What state do you live in? Because unfortunately, once I had the 40L setup I didn't really care for it much and tore it down. It now collects dust in my shed. I didn't care for the depth to height ratio. At least with a 55, even though it's a PITA to clean and such, you get the height that makes the tank look somewhat bigger and spacious for fish. I decided to go with a 40B from petsmart recently for 40 dollars. You get more room. Oddly enough like someone else stated I believe, the LFS that I ordered the tank from uses a lot of 40L tanks for selling and displaying fish.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

I love the length, but I am not sure I would utilize a deeper tank to be honest so the 40 long may not even be worth it. I wouldn't mind a few inches taller such as the 40L but the 33 will do....even though I despise the number 33, that is a personal story. 

Aqueon reached back out to me with information on local dealers that will order any tank for me, so if you really want the 40L it is possible. The 33 is almost even rarer...I wonder if I could safely derim a 33? Likely not because the factory put a cross brace on the top support ring for a reason. I am too far I am in MA. 

I realize if you want room in the front of the tank for fish when you have stem plants along the back you need that depth. Here is my idea and please chime in on all of your thoughts, I mess with a lot of nano tanks and that is getting to be stressful on me that I have so many separate bodies of water. This entire hobby is split in two for me: Open Clean School & Jungle Style

OPEN CLEAN SCHOOL
-No wood only stone
-No stem plants
-Crypts, carpets & very thin vals
-Schooling fish

JUNGLE STYLE
-Wood & stone
-Background all stem plants
-Foreground crypt carpet
-Centerpiece fish

If I could combine these two tank styles in one, I would enjoy the hobby even more. I have thought about linking two tanks before and just focusing all my attention on those two, opposite light cycles so that they stabilized each other with constant photosynthesis. I had considered direct closed loop between the two, as well as combining them at the sump sharing all the same equipment. This 33 could share that concept by having a jungle on each side with an open clean area in the center. Question now is will the schoolers stay in the open or hide in the plants, it would be all Embers with a Dwarf Gourami. I saw a similar setup at an aquarium with all Rummynose, what they would do is dart from one side to the other. As they all collected into the stem plants on one side they turned around and darted to the stem plants on the other side, but never seemed to stay out in the open in the center of the tank. As if they all wanted to be together in the stem plants but there was not enough room on either side so they had to constantly keep switching sides lol. I think a Dwarf Gourami would keep them schooled as tight as possible while being a perfect centerpiece fish. I don't know....maybe a 40L would be better. The tank I saw at the aquarium had stem plants all the way to the front of the tank on either side with a little space behind them for them all to turn around. Created the appearance of fish darting out of a jungle into another like crossing the road.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Took quite a break from this project, like several years!




KayakJimW said:


> I've had all three of those 48x12" tanks over the years (and a 65 tall) and I loved my 33L. It all depends on what you want to keep in it. I used mine for a Tanganikan shell dweller tank, grow out tank, then a saltwater mini reef. At one point I built a custom headboard for my bed with the 33L just above pillow height. Ahhh, the bachelor pad days... I made it detached from the bed so it wasn't affected by moving around. It was so peaceful falling asleep watching the tank every night.
> 
> The 33L was one of my favorites, but consider what your overall plans are. If you're putting it on a store bought stand, it's very low. Not a problem if viewed from across the room, or next to the couch, but may be a backache if you have to hunch down to view it. If you're into small plants and small fish, it's one of the best sizes IMO. Mine were pretty old, they were either Perfecto or All Glass Aquarium brand. A simple rack setup can be made with 2x4s to have a 55, etc over the 33 also. More tanks for the same footprint


I am kind of setting mine up the same way, it will be going behind a pull-out conversion couch. Just above the back rest but I am not sure if a store bought stand will be the right height because I do not have the couch yet...but the black rectangle resembles where it will be. I decided to go with the 40 long because the 55 will be too tall as you can see its going under a loft bed, if the back of the couch is too high I may be forced to go with a 33 gallon. 












Blackheart said:


> I had a 55 setup and decided to go down to a 40 Long. If your looking for that tank in Aqueon, good luck because they are virtually unavailable except for at certain times of the year from what I gathered. I know, I tried to order one from my LFS and had no luck at all. I was able to get a 40 Long in Marineland though easily.


I am currently looking into this, I think I would rather go with a Marineland over an Aqueon anyway they seem like they make higher quality tanks. Right?


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

That'll be awesome. Just a thought, I'd rig up something so you can't bump the tank if somebody plops down on the couch. Or accidentally slide it back while getting up... Something to think about when integrating aquariums and furniture. Like a wood block double-side taped to the floor behind the back legs or something...

Cool project!


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

I will make sure the back of the tank is against the wall so it cant move, but once full it will weigh in excess of 400lbs so its not going to move easily if bumped. I will make sure the couch has a fixed gap though like you mentioned, good idea! I will either run dual HOBs on the sides flowing in toward the center of the tank if against the wall or use a canister.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Yeah, I prefer Marineland. IMO, anything with better quality and black seams. Unless it's DPG, I don't care for Aqueon tanks. I ran into this issue myself recently between a 40/33 Long. A LFS by me had a ML 40 long for a ridiculous price of 150 before tax. They also had a Seapora branded 33 Long for 100. I went with the 33 and haven't been disappointed. Probably the best quality built tank I have ever seen, beautiful black seams and loving the dimensions. I would have preferred the 40, but not at that price.

Snap shot of it... sadly I haven't been able to anything else besides set it up due to the COVID19 pandemic... :frown2:


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Blackheart said:


> Yeah, I prefer Marineland. IMO, anything with better quality and black seams. Unless it's DPG, I don't care for Aqueon tanks. I ran into this issue myself recently between a 40/33 Long. A LFS by me had a ML 40 long for a ridiculous price of 150 before tax. They also had a Seapora branded 33 Long for 100. I went with the 33 and haven't been disappointed. Probably the best quality built tank I have ever seen, beautiful black seams and loving the dimensions. I would have preferred the 40, but not at that price.
> 
> Snap shot of it... sadly I haven't been able to anything else besides set it up due to the COVID19 pandemic... :frown2:


I think you are right concerning Marineland's quality, however you cannot think of 33s and 40 longs in terms of dollars per gallon in the same radio to other standard size tanks. If you wanted the 40 long over the 33 than you should have bought it, because you are not going to find a better price on it. I have called around to several shops in a major city and have gotten about the same price as that if not more, they manufacture far less of these tanks in smaller batches which drives the cost up from the manufacturer themselves. 40 long Marineland for $150....send it my way all day long. As a minor of fact your paying less per gallon for the 40 than you would have for the 33!


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

I dont agree with that logic. DPG comparison is only for tanks that you could actually get for dpg. You cant buy 40 and 33 longs for DPG. And technically, I could have found a 40 long for a better price. There is a LFS near me that that carries Aqueon 40 Longs for around 100 dollars. But I like black seams in my tanks. So given that, sorry, 150 dollars for a 40 gallon tank is outrageous. Besides, I wasnt too broken up about it. With tax it would have come out close to 170 dollars. You are talking about almost 70 dollars extra for 7 gallons of water. I dont think so. You could go to Petsmart or a LFS and buy a 75 gallon at regular price for that. Unless you've got hole to burn in your pocket, 150+ dollars for a tank that is in the 40 gallon range is ridiculous. Now looking back on it, I actually prefer the choice I made now. I like the 33 more. More of a unique size tank and easier to care for.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

If its not DPG, than I am still confused on your grounds for "outrageous" sure you can get an Aqueon cheaper but you also do not like the seam color so you are getting what you pay for.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

150 dollars not including tax for a tank that is in the medium sized tank range of 30-55 gallons is what is outrageous? Tanks in that size range shouldnt be anymore than around 100 dollars. 120 at the most. For the price after tax of that, you could get almost two 55 gallon tanks at certain places. Or in my case, I was able to get my Finnex Stingray for that extra money I would have paid for just that tank. Its your choices though. I'm just expressing how expensive that is when you think about it. I don't have hundreds to blow on this hobby due to budget concerns, so finding a better deal is more important IMO. I wasnt dead set on buying a 40 long anyways and like I said, the 33 is only 7 gallons less of water so pretty much almost the same per volume.


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## Teebo (Jul 15, 2015)

Again, your comparing tank value in DPG (not $1 - I mean whatever the math works out to in that class range). This is why I tried explaining the small batch production cost. I understand your reasoning though, with tank "volume value" and you are happy with your choice. For me its not so much about the 7G volume difference as much as it is about the extra headroom. After the addition of substrate and hardscape the "open space" left in a 40 long is about the proportion/ratio of a 33G before the addition of substrate and hardscape. I am not ready to settle for a 40 long made by Aqueon yet though, still pursuing a Marineland!


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Well I guess I can see that then. I was really worried when I purchased the 33 long that it would look terrible due to it's low height, but it's not bad at all. Especially when sitting on the floor with my son and it's at eye level.


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