32.5 fluval flex or 40 breeder...?

[Karen B.]

Greetings!

I bought my first aquarium (20 gallons) on February, my second (10 gallons) in august and planning for my « dream » tank for next year. This one will be planted, I want julii corydoras for sure, probably black or green neon tetra and a couple of centerpiece fish I have yet to decide (something along the lines of aposto or bolivian rams).

I live in a small apartment so I am limited for space. Even now, still wondering where I will put the new addition. 
I would like your opinions/toughts on a 40 breeder vs a 32.5 fluval flex, aside from the obvious size. 
The pro for the fluval is that it’s easy to find here (I live in Québec.) including the stand. The con is I am not so sure about the curved glass. Can you still see the fish very well? Does it weakens the glass?

The con for the 40 breeder is the size (vs my free space available) but most importantly the stand. It seems almost impossible to find a store that carries stand (no petsmart or petco here) and I couldn’t build one even if my life depended on it!

[FrostiesFishes]

Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind on the flex. But 40 breeders are awesome for planted tanks due to the depth of the tank and the lower height. 

[Streetwise]

Do you have any other interesting sizes available, like the 33 long?

Cheers from Vermont!

[Dandy Pearl]

Not to highjack the thread by @Streetwise I'm in the GMS as well, Burlington area. I think there is at least one more person on here from VT as well.

[Dandy Pearl]

Regarding the tanks, in general, the big the more stable. The tanks you have mentioned are roughly the same size when it comes to that.

My main tank is a 72g bow front and I have had few problems with it over the many years I've had it.

I made a 'built in' around it using those 'cubby shapes. The come in 1x1 all the way through 1x5. I put to 1x4s as the verticals and a 1x5 across the top. It's such a space saver in the living room. You can just see the edge of one in the pic.

The challenge I've had are only limited to the tank, hood and stand. Everything else is sized for the tank volume and standard length of 4ft.

Good luck with deciding on your tank and have fun with it once set up!

[Streetwise]

Sweet. I am near exit 10, and @MoRia is in the town with five corners.

To stay on topic, when things get more normal, I would love to check out aquarium stores in Québec.

[Nomnomseoulja]

I haven’t noticed any viewing difference with the curved glass. The major difference between the flex and 40 breeder will be the flex has an integrated filter system. Which takes up some interior space. Another thing to note is that if you plan to have any fry or even smaller shrimp, they might get into the intake of the filter as the slots are pretty large. (I ended up putting some mesh in the upper intake slots)

[Karen B.]

@Nomnomseoulja Thanks, these are very interesting informations!

[Mike]

I have a flex 15 and the curve is actually quite fun for what I have stocked in it (nano stuff). I have ember tetras, pigmy corys, otocinclus, and cherry shrimp. They're all quite small, but the curve has a magnification effect on them when they swim through at the right viewing angle. Kind of fun. If you're into photography, the curve can make reflections particularly difficult, though.