How Many M&Ms Fill a 30x12x18 Fish Tank?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter tribdog
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around estimating how many bags of M&Ms would be needed to fill a 30x12x18 fish tank. Participants explore various approaches to the problem, including filling the tank entirely versus using M&Ms decoratively, and they engage in humorous exchanges about the feasibility and cost of such a project.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests filling the tank entirely with M&Ms, while another proposes using them decoratively along with other candies.
  • Several participants calculate the volume of the tank and the volume of M&Ms, leading to varying estimates of the number of bags needed, with one claiming around 8,294,400 bags based on their calculations.
  • Another participant challenges the calculations, suggesting that the number of bags required would be significantly lower, estimating closer to 800 bags based on their recollection of bag sizes and M&M quantities.
  • Discussions include the size of M&Ms and the volume they occupy, with some participants arguing about the accuracy of the estimates and the assumptions made regarding the packing of M&Ms.
  • Humorous remarks about personal hygiene and cooking habits are interspersed throughout the discussion, adding a light-hearted tone to the exchanges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the number of bags required to fill the tank, with multiple competing views and calculations presented. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the accuracy of the estimates and the feasibility of filling the tank with M&Ms.

Contextual Notes

Participants rely on various assumptions about the size and packing of M&Ms, as well as the dimensions of the tank. There are unresolved discrepancies in the calculations presented, and the discussion includes a mix of serious estimates and humorous banter.

  • #31
I hope your fish tank springs leak all over your floor. (make sure you fill it with grape juice first) see how many of those u can pour into it.
 
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  • #32
according to your math I should be able to fit 600 1 gallon jugs of grape juice into a 20 gallon tank. right?
 
  • #33
Im not wrong about the m&m's though. its 8k bags. You stink, bathe yourself.
 
  • #34
What a waste of M&Ms. :rolleyes: It's going to take a lot more than 8000 bags if you invite the sisterhood over...you'd be surprised at how quickly M&Ms in a fishtank evaporate. :biggrin:

My guess is it would take closer to 800 than 8000 bags. I don't have any M&Ms on hand, but my best recollection is that a 1 lb bag is about 6" L x 4" W x 1/2" D, give or take a bit. So, that would mean about 20 bags for every 1/2" layer of M&Ms.
 
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  • #35
I think the time it would take for me to invite the sisterhood into my house is about the same as the time it would take for m and ms to evaporate.
 
  • #36
"My guess is it would take closer to 800 than 8000 bags. I don't have any M&Ms on hand, but my best recollection is that a 1 lb bag is about 6" L x 4" W x 1/2" D, give or take a bit. So, that would mean about 20 bags for every 1/2" layer of M&Ms."

where did you get that number from? Your not filling it with bags, your filling it with the m&m's
 
  • #37
cyrusabdollahi said:
where did you get that number from? Your not filling it with bags, your filling it with the m&m's
What do you think the bags are filled with?
 
  • #38
This is entertaining. Gale, tribdog, and cyrus arguing about how many thousand bags of M&Ms to put in a fishtank.
 
  • #39
'What do you think the bags are filled with?'

but the size of the volume of the box is not the same as the volume of the m&m's.
 
  • #40
Aha! I found more M&M information.

There are about 500 Plain M&M's per pound.
http://www.candywarehouse.com/mms.html

:biggrin: That would cut Cyrus' estimate down to 1600 bags (1/5 of his guess based on a pathetic 100 M&Ms per bag...he obviously is not an M&M connoisseur :-p).
 
  • #41
cyrusabdollahi said:
but the size of the volume of the box is not the same as the volume of the m&m's.
Box? M&Ms come in bags. The bag is about the same shape and size as the M&Ms in it. This isn't like cereal where you get 10 corn flakes in a box that's 1 foot on every side.
 
  • #42
It says each bag is 52oz, that's 3.25lbs per bag, and 500 m&m per lb, that means each bag has a total of 1625 m&m per bag. Thats about 510 bags. At 15 bucks a bag, your looking at 7.6 grand.

Damn you smell bad.


(For the record, I was talking about the small bags you get at the store for a buck)
 
  • #43
you people are all nuts. I figure about 4 cases of m and ms would just about fill this tank. there is no way a case of m and m's could cost a couple thousand. Oh unless you are talking about the new flavor platinum centers with ruby coating.
 
  • #44
i was talking about the big bags. why would you buy the small overly priced bags id you're filling up an entire fishtank?
 
  • #45
lol, why would i fill up a fish tank with m and m's? Do I sound rational? Can you buy individual ms?
 
  • #46
Go buy a few cases and see what happens. Then when you report back on how it filled up only about an inch I will laugh at your face while pointing at you.
 
  • #47
Gale said:
i was talking about the big bags. why would you buy the small overly priced bags id you're filling up an entire fishtank?
I agree. I was thinking the 1 lb bags, since that's the most common "big" size sold. I wouldn't spend $15 for 3.25 lbs! I still thing Cyrus' math is off a bit...I have to go back and look...is he taking the physicists approach, "assume every M&M is a cube?" There's of course lots of space between M&Ms.

I kind of like Gale's suggestion though, get gummy fish and make a candy aquarium. That would be fun at Christmastime as an easier alternative to making gingerbread houses. :approve:
 
  • #48
hmmmm, if you're going to waste your money, i could use some afterall. send some m&m's as well
 
  • #49
pblackt, you can't nix gingerbread houses at christmastime! the candy aquarium is how you can pass the time until gingerbread season.

man, i can't wait to have kids so i can make candy projects all the time. that or find a guy who really likes candy and buys me enough to make stuff out of.
 
  • #50
"assume every M & M is a cube" How about we don't assume that and deal with reality. Sorry to disillusion anyone here.

And by the way, thank you! This thread's the best laugh I've had today.
 
  • #51
No one is disillusioned here GeorginaS. If you want to model it using spheroids, then show us your work, or be quiet.
 
  • #52
I don't want cubes or sphereoids. I want M&Ms you weirdos
 
  • #53
I just went and bought a bag of M&Ms to see how many were in each bag. I only got 17 M&Ms. the rest were Ws
 
  • #54
I can't believe I just read this whole thread.


Oh and I think I've found you the http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00173/Willy_Wonka_stor_173323c.jpg Gale.
 
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  • #55
http://www.gumball-machine.com/bulk-candy-3.html

38 pounds of M&Ms for $130

That would make it 19000 m&ms


BTW, moonbear, each one of those bags in your link was 3.25 pounds.

I say you pay about a thousand dollars for m&ms and see how much of the tank will be full...
 
  • #56
The smart thing to do would be to fill most of the interior of the aquarium with something like cardboard boxes or styrofoam and then pour the m&m's around and over the top of them, giving the impression that the entire aquarium is filled. m&ms will go stale, you know. Not to mention attracting bugs and vermin.
 
  • #57
Evo said:
The smart thing to do would be to fill most of the interior of the aquarium with something like cardboard boxes or styrofoam and then pour the m&m's around and over the top of them, giving the impression that the entire aquarium is filled. m&ms will go stale, you know. Not to mention attracting bugs and vermin.

It took three pages for smeone to think of this :bugeye:

That's brilliant! It's what they sometimes do in those "guess how many there are in here" things...

If you were to fill up the entire tank, I wonder if the M&Ms on the bottom would be squished...
 
  • #58
moose said:
BTW, moonbear, each one of those bags in your link was 3.25 pounds.
Yes, I know, but the information they provided was the number of M&Ms per pound, not per bag. I don't really know why anyone, other than tribdog when he's been drinking and thinks the aquarium should be filled with candy, would want 3.25 lbs of M&Ms all at once! That's a lot of M&Ms to eat! :eek:
 
  • #59
Evo said:
The smart thing to do would be to fill most of the interior of the aquarium with something like cardboard boxes or styrofoam and then pour the m&m's around and over the top of them, giving the impression that the entire aquarium is filled. m&ms will go stale, you know. Not to mention attracting bugs and vermin.
Well, that just means that the next time tribdog is telling us he has nothing to eat in the apartment, doesn't know how to fill a pot with water and turn a stove on, and needs something to eat, he'll have the stale M&Ms along with any additional protein they attract. It still can't be any worse than that Mexican place he keeps going to even though he's convinced they spit in his food.
 
  • #60
It still can't be any worse than that Mexican place he keeps going to even though he's convinced they spit in his food.
The last picture I saw... it was worse than saliva. He said it was at the bottom of his coke—he placed it next to a penny for size, and it looked like.. well, a miniature turd. I mean stool! The medical term.
 

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