Best Rated Tanks On The Market

[festo]

Hi all
some views wanted on some of the best tank and stand setups available,
i feel it is important to get your views as i only want to buy once,
particulary 180 litre plus tanks,
itching to buy but dont know what one.

 

[bulldogsimon]

ive had several juwell tanks and always found them very good

 

[Carlovel1]

Yep, I think Jewel Rio series are the best

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Are we talking best quality with no money objective here, or "best bang for the buck?" If the latter, I would put the Juwel Rio 240 with cabinet up there, they were available with extras (gravel, net, conditioner, backing etc) for £350 just a couple of months ago from seapets. My local maidenhead aquatics price matched the offer (as they will with any online deal, as long as you take in a printout of the website offer). However, Juwel did an annual increase in their tank range recently, so the going rate for this deal is ~£380, still pretty good. I've yet to see this side of Juwel yet, but they are supposed to have a great reputation if things go wrong... You can simply take the faulty bit to your supplier and they will swap it for you on the same visit.

The Fluval Roma 240 deal at seapets might be worth a look for ~£350.

I'm sure others will add posts as time goes by, but it really might help if you either specified a maximum budget and/or maximum dimensions for the tank and whether you need a cabinet/stand.

 

[festo]

Thanks for your replies guys,
i do have a budget £300-£400
i have been told before the juwe are a good tank,but i dont like the big internal filter,
i know i can remove it but that seems a waste of money,i like the look of the aqua one 850
and 980 but dont know what quality they are,
as for tank dimensions not particular,minimum 3ft upto 4ft
look forward to your suggestions
thanks.

 

[waterdrop]

To me, a big part of the entertainment of any hobby is custom choosing every little piece of equipment. Why let someone else take away my fun by putting multiple choices into a kit? Of course, to some this is not fun, I'm just speaking for me.

I spent a long time learning from the members on the hardware forum before choosing a filter and some on the heater too. Tanks themselves, I admit, get much easier if you choose a tank/stand combo that's made to go together and for my son's tank I had in fact already done that before I found this forum. There are, however, even discussions of different qualities of glass to be had! I do agree about though, and even envy, some of those nice UK kits I see the members posting pictures of.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[festo]

To me, a big part of the entertainment of any hobby is custom choosing every little piece of equipment. Why let someone else take away my fun by putting multiple choices into a kit? Of course, to some this is not fun, I'm just speaking for me.

I spent a long time learning from the members on the hardware forum before choosing a filter and some on the heater too. Tanks themselves, I admit, get much easier if you choose a tank/stand combo that's made to go together and for my son's tank I had in fact already done that before I found this forum. There are, however, even discussions of different qualities of glass to be had! I do agree about though, and even envy, some of those nice UK kits I see the members posting pictures of.

~~waterdrop~~

thanks for reply,can you give me an idea of what tank you envy and why,
as you can see i am new and need lots of advice,i just want to get it right,
i will need a lot of advice when i start my fishless cycle,
hope people on the forum have patience,
thanks

 

[onebto]

Well I have always used Juwel tanks they look good and I have never had any problems with them

The internal filters are okay I kept them in for my my first two tanks but removed it from my latest must admit I am glad I did.

The cabinets are okay nothing special just practical.

Regards onebto

 

[arobinson1984]

Why not have a look at a custom build tank from www.ndaquatics.co.uk

you will be able to choose specific design aspects to get it looking how you want


Andy

 

[waterdrop]

One important advantage of going with a standard type of rectangle is that it can make it much easier to find choices in tops and lights. As long as you understand to have thought about this aspect then its fine to go custom, just paying attention to those other pieces of equipment. Lights, for instance can be had that don't touch the tank, eliminating the tank width as a factor. Tops, on the other hand, usually need to hang on the rim in some way, meaning they should be in the planning.

Remember, this all depends on what's fun for you and what your needs are in terms of expense and timing. There's no big right or wrong here, just reminders to the basic things to pay attention to. In many, many cases there will be a kit of stand, tank and lid (at least) that will be just fine, especially for a beginner. I admit though that the aspect of them throwing in a filter gets to me a little. Filters are such a big deal (at least in my mind, but I tend to exaggerate a bit so you might not want to listen to me too much ) that I really get in to the advantages of the big cannister ones. I also really like being able to splice my heater into the return hose, thus getting it out of the tank and making the aquascape hopefully more natural in appearance.

~~waterdrop~~