Please see my pics of apt. for speaker placement advice. Seriously, I need help.

whelp, thats quite a pickle you have there. Having the mains at 5' isn't that bad, its good that you have them about the same height. It is hard to gather much from the pics you have provided, if you don't have places for 7 speakers, use 5. I would offer recommendations but I can't see just how your theater comes together from those pics, it looks like you have tiny surrounds, why not just stand mount them?

You certainly like water & fish.

As army mentioned, it's almost impossible from those three pictures to figure out how the room is laid out. I don't really see anything in any of the pictures that would lead me to believe they're even of the same room, even if they are. You don't even mention the room dimensions.

A better move would be to take measurements and make a scale drawing of the space from overhead, being sure to mark doors, windows, open walls, etc. With an overhead drawing, it would be easier to figure out where certain things could go.

That, and liks someone else mentioned, 5.1 might be just fine given a) lack of space b) lack of mounting space, and c) it's an apartment.

I only have 5.1 in my house, in a 10x10 room. While it would be nice to have 7.1, I have no room for it, and I have few, if any, 7.1 sources. Unless you have the room for it, I don't think 7.1 is necessarily worth it in too many things in such a non-permanent, acoustically difficult environment such as that.

That room looks like what happens when you try to put 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack!

Jared,

It looks like you need to make some room for your audio gear. First suggestion is drop the 7.1 idea. I'd go with 5.1.

Can you condense the tanks into one? It appears you have room for rear speakers. The front would be a challenge unless you can create space underneath your display for equipment storage. The photos do make it difficult to get an idea of your room.

Then there is the door. With a room that size, you will not need large speakers. Floor standers due to all the stuff you have in there would be a challenge. You might want to use small monitors at the corners and a small center channel.

My comment would be get rid of the big stuff if possible, design from there and forget the 7.1 idea. That's my .02.

WE all need help. You are not alone!!

Good luck....

I like the fish tanks, I have a 80 gal myself. Im wanting to buy a 180 gal here soon

I am going to be another 5.1 supporter here. You need room behind your listening position to really appreciate 7.1(the back two speakers in a 7.1 system should be mounted at least a few feet behind the listening position). I would mount the surrounds higher on the side walls and aim them each towards the center of the couch and slightly above the center listeners ear level. This worked out best for me and my 5.1 system. It is hard to get a feel for your room layout though but this seems the best layout from what i can gather from your photos.