Even though my aquarium exploits are currently limited to the Fluval Spec V, I still dream of one day having a beautiful, big, planted tank, like one of those sleek, rimless jobs made by ADA.

In my dreaming, I was curious to research what sizes they offer.  Not many english sites fully tabulate ADA aquarium sizes for dimensions and volume, so I thought I would have a go.

ADA has standard model names; I have tried to decipher what the code means as far as size.  The first number is always the width of the tank, in centimeters.  Following the number is a letter.  ‘C’ stands for cube, where all three dimensions are the same (width, depth, height). ‘P’ stands for “Pool”, ‘F’ stands for “Flood”, and ‘H’ stands for “High”.   Translated, ‘P’ is generally the standard depth to height ratio while ‘F’ is shallower (shorter) and ‘H’ is taller.

Below is a table I created that shows the various standard ADA aquariums and their respective dimensions and volumes.  Also included is the glass thickness.  Metric units are on the left and I put English units (inches and gallons) on the right – I’m still English unit handicapped so It is easier for me to visualize if I can see those units (click to enlarge):

The dimensions listed are outside dimensions.  The volume inside the tank must take into account space lost by the glass thickness.

If it is helpful, I also created a spreadsheet here that has much of the same information as well as a calculation field to calculate the exact volume. There is some variance between calculated and ADA’s listed volume; not sure why that is, but they are close.

ADA Tank All Stars:

Some of my favorite sizes are:

• ADA 60P:  This is a nice sized aquarium.  The trouble with ADA is that they are expensive and tend to get exponentially more expensive in larger sizes.  The 60P is big enough to have some room to work with; big enough to have enough water volume to start being stable.  It is, however, still small enough to be manageable in cost and size of associated equipment.
• ADA 90P:  Now we’re starting to dream big! It seems this jump in size makes available greater flexibility in aquascaping options.   You can really start to unleash more creativity having plenty of room for rocks and wood for your scene.  This size seems to be very popular with the serious aquascape enthusiast.

• ADA 120P:  Even bigger.  I think the difficulty really jumps up in this size.  The extra 30cm in width gives you more space that you have to carefully construct to make a cohesive aquascape.  I would think the big plus for this size would be the stability gained from the extra water volume.

Alternatives to ADA:

ADA products are high quality, but the disadvantage to that quality is high cost.  There are a few alternatives to ADA for high quality, rimless tanks:

• GLA Aquariums: Still expensive, but lower cost than ADA and at times, better availability to those in the USA.  They use low iron glass that reduces the green tint of regular glass.
• Do! Aqua:  These aquariums are actually made by the same company as the ADA cube line, but they are lower priced. Seem to be only available in the smaller sizes, such as the cubes and up to the 60P.
• Landen:  I don’t know much about this company.  Their aquariums aren’t much less in price, but may end up cheaper than ADA when shipping is taken into account for the larger sizes.  They feature low-iron glass and are offered in 60P and 90P
• Mr Aqua:  This is one of my favorite ADA off-brands.  They are much cheaper than the ADA alternative and are available by mail to the USA.  They have low iron offerings for some of their sizes.  They also have some unique tanks that ADA doesn’t have including rimless, bow front models.  One very popular and unique size is their 12 gallon long – it measures 35.4″ x 8.3″ x 9.4″ for an extreme panoramic layout. The 60P in low iron is one of the best deals out there.

I hope this round up of ADA aquarium sizes and alternatives is helpful.  If you have experiences with any of the tanks mentioned, please drop me a line in the comments.

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