I have been looking for a new fish tank lately and was considering going with a round tank. Of course, when we think of round tanks the first thing that comes to mind is probably a fishbowl. It’s not what I was thinking, but it did come to mind! I used to have a nice hexagon tank I enjoyed and am now thinking of going with a cylinder (round) style fish tank.
Round fish tanks are not bad for fish. An undersized fish tank is bad for fish. Most round tanks will have small water volume levels therefore, small fish are the best choice for these tanks. Tetras, guppies, and dwarf cories, are a few good choices for a smaller water volume tank.
Some fish prefer to swim quite a bit on a horizontal plain. It is these types of fish you want to keep away from a round fish tank. Some types of fish like to swim up and down almost in a hovering motion. Clown fish come to mind when I think of a fish that like to hover. A freshwater choice would be something like a betta, as they don’t typically swim great distances.
Now, let’s talk a bit about fishbowls as well as cylinder fish tanks.
Why are Round Bowls Bad for Fish?
Round fishbowls are not bad for fish. I have not found any evidence to support this statement.
What is ultimately bad for your fish is housing them in a fish tank that is too small to thrive in. Most people have seen how betta fish are usually sold in very small containers. Unfortunately, people who don’t know any better purchase them and think that they can keep surviving in a very tiny fishbowl.
They will survive for a while, however, over time their health will deteriorate and they will die eventually. They will die sooner than if they were properly cared for.
Not only is the size of the bowl an issue but keeping cycled water in the bowl is an issue. Unless you are keeping a cold, water fish and changing the water a couple times a week you will run into water without having cycled water on hand. If you have a larger tank that you can take cycled water from, then you have solved the problem.
You will still need to change the water out a couple times a week to have success. Then there is heat and aeration. How do you do these things in such a small container? Sure, you can purchase small heaters and air stones for fishbowls but it’s just not enough.
Keeping the water temperature consistent is very challenging for such a small tank/bowl. Because of such a small container the environment outside of the bowl will cause fluctuations in temperature quite often, unless the temperature in the room is consistent.
Lastly on this one, I don’t care how small the fish is, trying to keep any sized fish in a fishbowl is just cruel.
Are Round Tanks Bad for Betta Fish?
I am going to touch on this question again because of how misinformed the general public is when it comes to betta fish.
If a round tank means a fishbowl then no, a betta will not like being kept in it. There just isn’t enough room and in my opinion, it is just cruel to do so.
A betta should be in a 10-gallon minimum. If you don’t know, I’ll tell you now. The bigger than tank the more majestic your betta will look. When given enough room to swim and thrive betta fish are a joy to observe.
Okay, let’s move onto cylinder fish tanks now.
Are Cylinder Fish Tanks Bad for Fish?
It’s valid that this question would be floating around (no pun intended). If a round fishbowl isn’t good enough then how could these acrylic cylinder fish tanks be okay?
They are okay because the water volume is leaps and bounds more than a tiny little fishbowl. Instead of liters, you’re now talking about having a fish in gallons of water instead.
That being said, some fish, won’t do well in a cylinder-shaped fish tank. You can’t expect a fish that typically swims laps around the tank to be happy in a tank that it couldn’t do that in.
You need to stock the fish tank with fish that stay small and like to move up and down more than doing any distance swimming.
If the cylinder tank you have is quite large, you can strategically purchase fish that like to stay on the bottom, in the middle and fish that like being near the surface. This ensures you have no dead spaces and lots of entertainment for you.
Cylinder tanks come with lighting, heating, and filtration just like traditional styled rectangular tanks.
Cylinder styled fish tanks are also not as big and clunky as a rectangular tank so it’s easy to fit them in many more places in your home. You can place a cylinder tank like a piece of living art in your home.
** If you are looking to purchase a cylinder aquarium check this one out over on Amazon. **
Fish That Do Well in a Cylinder (Round) Fish Tank
Saying a round or cylinder styled tank is okay to use without giving some fish suggestions just doesn’t seem right. So here are some fish you might consider.
First off, if you can avoid it, you don’t want to purchase fish that prefer to be in schools. While some smaller fish like neon tetras, for example, can be kept in smaller schools, I would normally say to never have less than 5 to 6 together. However, in my experience, as long as you have 3 they look to be happy and content.
So, my first choice would be neon tetra’s. You could keep 3 tetras in this 3 gallon cylinder tank.
Other fish I would consider putting in a smaller cylinder tank would be guppies and kuhli loaches as well as cherry or other types of smaller shrimp.
I have a good article on what fish to put in a small tank and other things you should consider. It can be found here.
What Round Fish Tanks are Okay for Fish?
If you just have a fishbowl on your mind and I can’t talk you into buying something a bit larger like a cylinder aquarium, then consider getting as large a fishbowl as possible
I found this 2-gallon round fish tank on Amazon and it would be better than the ones I see being sold in my local fish store that are probably only a couple of liters.
Some small shrimp or one very small fish would be okay in there, but I wouldn’t put more than that in it. Place the bowl in a location that does not have much breeze from windows doors or a forced air furnace. This way you will hopefully be able to keep the water temperature consistent.
Conclusion
Just a quick conclusion for you. The most important thing in this article to take away is that a round fish tank is not bad for fish.
What is bad is the size of the tank used for the fish. So many times, people are misinformed and end up keeping a fish that is too large or too many fish in a tank that is just too small.
I think cylinder tanks are great. They replace the older styled hexagon tanks. Now with manufacturers building tanks out of acrylic, the skies the limit on what they can create for aquarium hobbyists.
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