Fish Tank Recommendations

[james.ritch]

Hello,

Struggling to decide which tank to get! I like the Juwel Primo 110 as it has LED's and I hear that Juwel tanks are very good. Is there anything that the Rio 125 has that would make it better than the Primo?

Would anybody recommend any other tanks around this size/price. I'm looking to spend less than £250 and I don't need a cabinet.

I like the idea of LED lights as I hear they are the best source of light. Is this the case?

Any help would be appreciated!


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[Akasha72]

I've just had a look on the Juwel web-site as I'm familiar with the Primo line (in fact I'd not heard of it until I read this thread).
 
From what I can see the Primo is very similar in design to the Rekord line. I have a Rekord 800 myself and I am familiar with that line. The Primo has the same design lid as the Rekord and I can point out two problems with the design of this lid. Firstly the lid sits on top of the glass and the problem I found was that water (most likely from condensation) would get between the glass and my background sheet. This would eventually leave an ugly water filled air bubble right in the middle where you couldn't miss it. I was for ever peeling the background away and trying to push a sheet of kitchen paper in with a ruler to try and dry it off. It drove me to distraction. The other problem was that the lid would vibrate ... often loudly... in time with the filter and I spent half the time getting up off the sofa, walking over to the tank and adjusting the lid to stop it vibrating. It would stop just long enough for me to sit back down and get comfy again ... 

 
Now the Rio line has a completely different lid design. I've had a Rio 180 and I've currently got a Rio 240. Because the lid has two removable 'flaps' that sit in some notches either side of the light unit it means that water/condensation can't get between the background and the glass and it doesn't vibrate loudly either.
 
The other thing I can see .... and something I'd want to research before buying is ... what happens if the LED's break? Can you replace them cheaply or are you looking at a complete new lid? If your looking at a complete new lid you may aswell buy a brand new tank as the lids are nearly as expensive.
 
If you were to get a Rio you'd get a T5 light unit and T5 bulbs cost very little.
 
If it were me I'd choose the Rio line every time

 

[Brilly91]

Personally id go custom built every time since owning one.

The price of one from somewhere like ND is actually really affordable especially for the quality you would be getting. You can also make use of as much space as possible as dimensions wont be an issue.

I would then stick any left over money into buying a decent set of lights as no doubt the ones supplied in a bundle will be pretty poor if you want to do anything other than see the fish.

 

[StevenF]

 
 
I like the idea of LED lights as I hear they are the best source of light. Is this the case?

LED lights are the best in terms of efficiency.  They may or may not be the best in term of durability.  If they are poorly made they may fail as often as regular bulbs. In contrast a  good quality LED lamp could however last years.  In terms of spectrum some LEDs are not good while others willl be very good.In general you get what you pay for.  A cheep LED may be a very bad choice.