Glass tank/Fish tank

[WinnieTheHam]

My Syrian, Winston, is currently in a Glass tank what measures: 122cm x 40cm x 50cm (LxDxH)

You can find second hand tanks for cheap, i got mine for £60 on Gumtree which is an amazing price! It even came with loads of fish supplies too!

Pros:
- Allows lots of floor space
- Unable to chew on bars (because there is non)
- Allows for deep substrate
- Allows for a good view
- Allows a lot of enrichment
- Allows appropriate wheel size for a Syrian (and any other hamster)
- Easily cleaned
- Promotes natural behaviors (Due to the size)
- Promotes good health (Due to the size. E.g. strong muscles, good flexibility etc..)
- Appearance is simple and modern.
- Clean out less often (Due to size)

Cons:
- You need to buy a lot of substrate.
- Hamster can chew off silicon.
- You have to make a lid with ventilation.
- Can be tricky moving the tank around. (You need 2+ people)
- Can be tricky placing it somewhere!

If anyone else wants to add their reviews on glass tanks feel free to share them with everyone. Personally i love glass tanks and i think everyone should get one! They're not as expensive as you think! :D although i do want a taller one for my ham so i can put more substrate in, but that's just me being picky and spoiling my baby :D

[Miss kiwi]

I have a 20 gallon long aquarium for my dwarf hamster and she absolutely loves it! Lots of room to play and run around. The first cage I had for her was a 3 level cage and she hated climbing up and down the tiny ramps. Ended up just sitting in the bottom. Not going to her food, water, and wheel very often. She loves being able to run around freely in the aquarium!

[Artisans_uk]

I often have a look at Gumtree for aquariums and would grab one if it was a real bargain, just so that I had a spare cage for those unexpected situations...you just never know. ;)

[racinghamster]

I had enough of glass tanks when I kept my gerbils! They are great visually, but can`t be moved easily unless they are on a wheeled unit. I cleaned mine using a plastic tray shovel to remove the shavings and then wiped around the glass with water and kitchen towels. x

[Gibbs&JackBlack]

I'm not using a tank at the moment but I love them too! They are easy to clean, you can see everything clearly, and they are a blank slate as far as decorating them and setting them up.
I know some say they are heavy to move but I never moved mine. To clean it out I just used a small broom and dustpan from the $1 store and it cleaned up fast and easy.
No worries about bar chewing or climbing either which is a big deal for some.
I also found mine used for a fraction of the price of new.

[Mortiana]

Well I've had a glass tank for 2 days now. Not sure on the size as not actually measured it, but at a guess it's over a metre long and quite deep. I prefer this over every other cage I've had or seen as Hetty is a prolific bar chewer no matter what you do! Since she's been in the tank been the best nights sleep in 3 months!

Do have to say that I think Hetty prefers the tank too. Put nearly a whole bag of shavings in the tank so she's had a whale of a time burrowing under the substrate and popping her nose up unexpectedly! Only downside is that because I've made it so deep in some areas she's buried her toys! I'm sure she'll find them again!

[Cinnamon Bear]

I have 3 of my dwarves in 20 gal long tanks. I prefer the plexiglass critter cages as they are lighter and you can still have a clear view and are much lighter in weight (the mesh top slides out). The glass tanks are heavier but not that bad (If the hamsters eat the silicone it will not harm them). I wouldn't put a Syrian hamster in a 20 gal long tank as this seems find for dwarves only in my opinion. The 40 gal breeders tank would be better for Syrians.

I don't like the levels for the dwarves as I feel they can fall and break a leg possibly or get injured some other way? This is most likely not true whatsoever, but just a fear of mine. The tanks for my dwarves are big enough to have a stand up wheel and a flying saucer if I wanted. Right now I just have the robo with 2 wheels, but the tank fits 8 in Wodent Wheels and 9 in Silent Runner wheels.

If you go for a 40 gal tank it will of course fit the larger wheels. I love my tanks, although I would like to have them each of my dwarves in 40 gal tanks if I could move it myself, the cost of bedding would be more and it takes up more space. For now the 20 gal tanks work for me. Plus I have a 110 qt bin cage for my 4th dwarf hamster.

I like the idea of having bars for better ventilation but most of my hamsters have been bar chewers and that drives me crazy. If I could find a hamster who doesn't chew and climb the bars then I'd like the bar cages better. Not the critter trail cages but some of the cages I've seem pictures of in the UK. They seem real nice filled with lots of stimulating toys and tunnels.

[AmityvilleHams]

20 gallon tanks are now completely out of the question in the US.We now have a minimum of 450 square inches,which isn't one specific size,but personally for a tank I would suggest a 40 gallon.This might be a bit of a late post,but it really is important to make sure members across the world do know that sizes have changed and it is very important to also keep in mind that the UK minimum and the US minimum are still very different while the 40 gallon breeder is just a tiny bit over the UK minimum and honestly hamsters do far better with the UK minimum than the US minimum.

[flowerfairy]

I like the look of the German minimum cage sizes.

http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/housing/58271-german-minimum-cage-size.html

[Fluffagrams]

I am currently using a glass tank as a starter cage for Jessie and whilst I like it and she's happy enough in it at the present, she is a fairly lively hamster and will need upgrading in the future. I was lucky enough to get mine free from another member of the Hamster Club but if you're buying new and are buying something specifically designed for rodents it could work out to be a bit pricey.

The tank I'm using has a mesh lid although the mesh does not have particularly large gaps so hanging things would need a bit of thought. It also has an inbuilt glass shelf which can make things a little awkward for cleaning. As others have pointed out, tanks can be quite heavy and whilst mine is easy enough for me to lift, anything too big could present a problem. Owners would also have to think about how they're going to add a water bottle to a tank style cage but there are plenty of options out there that could work.

The pros of a cage like this is that it reduces the risk of escape as there's less chewing points and this was one of the reasons that I decided to put Jessie in it rather than my usual bin cage. I also like the fact that it looks tasteful in room rather than being the bright colours that you'd usually see on commercial caging.

A small tank cage seems to suit the purpose of a starter cage for my hamsters but I don't think I'd buy a larger one as a permanent home.

[AmityvilleHams]

The German minimum sizes are great,and then you still have people protesting over in America over the change to 450 square inches when they still have a Critter Trail.Hopefully one day the whole world views German sized cages as the minimum,but until then aside from the German minimum the UK minimum is the best current minimum.That being said,I feel like German hamster care is held to a higher standard than it is in any other place so logically cage size minimums would be different.

[Elliiy]

Tanks are great, so easy to decorate the outside. I personally put ribbon around the edges and got suction cup things to hang lights and you can decorate them with either expo markers or gel clings (on outside) for a nice touch and that's always fun. Plus they come in an assortment of sizes and sometimes even shapes. Only problem is some are fairly narrow so it can be difficult when you have a syrian to put in bigger toys or even wheels. But overall they are great cages

[AmityvilleHams]

As long as you get the right size they're very good,but personally I prefer for a cage to have better ventilation.

[Almi]

I pretty much only use tanks for my animals. There are lot of things I like about them, but mostly I choose them for practicality.

This post pretty much sums it up.

http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/cage-reviews/24358-30-40-gallon-aquarium-hamster-habitat.html (Aquarium Review)

[Fluffagrams]

I'd posted earlier in this thread how I was using a tank for Jessie,a lively Chinese Hamster and not long after writing that post I'd had to move Jessie, primarily because she'd be monkey barring on the roof and I was concerned about her falling and hurting herself on the edge of the glass shelf and I wasn't able to hang a hammock to help break her fall however I have managed to remove the glass shelf from that particular tank and it has since been used as a maternity tank for Victoria when she was pregnant. It was ideal for the job really as she or her pups couldn't climb up any sides and risk falling and getting hurt and with no bars to worry about, the pups were able to explore a safe area.

If I were to have a Roborovski, I might consider using a tank as a permanent home but for now, the best use for us would be as a maternity home.

[Drago]

I personally am not a huge fan of tanks/glass cages. For one, screen lids can be nearly the same or even exceed the cost of the tank itself! Second being that they're so heavy which makes them really tough to move around, and if you were to drop them, they could shatter upon hitting the ground. Bins and actual cages on the other hand would not. Tanks also don't have the best ventilation being that the only screened area is the lid, and this allows for ammonia to build up in the tank. This isn't a problem with bins because they can easily be modified to have screens so ventilation is good. One pro of the tank however, is that they don't have bars to be climbed or chewed on which makes them a little safer. This is just my opinion, I still do use tanks though and think they can work fairly well

[AmityvilleHams]

Expanded bins would be very easy to move,while expanded tanks are pretty much impossible to separate and would at the very least be difficult to move.They're also much heavier,far more expensive,and have more limitations in regards to if you need a certain shape of cage for a certain area such as an L shaped cage or anything like that.

For around $30 you could get several bins and make them into an expanded bin setup,using very simple tools.Considering the tools used could be reused for a very long time even when the bins are built,it is more than worth the investment of about $13 for a wood burning knife and a few dollars for zip ties as well as about $16 for a good sized roll of 1/2 inch mesh,and you'd also most likely find wire cutters for under $5.