Tank Decision

[Ali-Jack]

Hi all, Hope you're all well?
This tropical fish lark is very addictive isn't it
Right, i have a 10G tank at the mo and am seriously considering a tank upgarde. Narrowed it down to 3 tanks:

1. Juwel Rekord 700
2. Fluval Roma 90
3. Clearseal 30"+15"+12"

The Fluval and Juwel are very similar as far as i can tell. But the Juwel has a built in filter & heater housing on the rear right.
The clearseal is a basic tank and lid. Nothining else comes with it and you have to fit your own light in the lid. The clearseal has an extra half foot in length on the other two, but obviously isn't as tall.

Any suggestions on which tank i should choose? I'm terrible at making decisions!
Thanks in advance for any advice or reports from people who own any one of these.
Cheers

 

[Salam]

It all depends on what you want to stock it with and whether you prefer external filters or stick to internals. If you want internals, Juwel would probably be the best as it obviously comes with the filter included.

 

[Ali-Jack]

I intend to keep Gouramis, tetras and corys - im think community tank. I'll definitely stick with an internal filter whichever one i go for. The fluval comes with an internal filter too, plus also a heater.
It's only the clearseal that doesn't come with anything.
I just really want to choose the best of the 3. I don't mind having to buy the extra stuff for the clearseal if it's the best tank to go for. The length of the clearseal is 30" while the length of the other 2 is 24". They all hold roughly 90 litres of water. Is height better than length? (no jokes please)

 

[Salam]

With gouramis, tetras and cories the bigger height might be better. The gouramis will be roaming around the top, the cories at the bottom and the tetras in the middle so the length is not important in that case. So yes, go for the Fluval or Juwel. I got three Juwel tanks and one Fluval and like them all, so whatever you prefer style wise with the cabinet. Much easier than piecing it all together if you went for the Clearseal.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm going to disagree with Salam, just this once! (Sorry, Salam!)

I think you should go for the longer tank, rather than the taller one.

Each species will still be able to inhabit top/middle/bottom, but within each species, the more area the better, so I'd always go for longer, shallower tank, myself, unless it was for something specific, like angels or discus.

 

[Salam]

Lol, no worries fluttermoth The problem is that Ali-Jack is even more confused now

 

[Ali-Jack]

Yep, i'm really confused now
Originally, i had my heart set on the clearseal as quite liked the idea of building up all the bits myself and liked the longer tank, but was put off when my local LFS told me the quality of their tanks wasn't great! He stocks cleasrseal, fluval and juwel products so doesn't really have a reason to lie.
Anyone rate clearseal stuff? Is it easy to fit a light into their consort hood and make it look neat and tidy?
Or.....should i go fluval or juwell? Decisions...decisions!!!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

I've got quite a few very old Clearseal tanks that I bought second hand about 15 years ago, and they're still going strong.

The Consort hoods are good too; you can even bodge in a second fluorescent tube, if you want to.

 

[Ali-Jack]

Sweet, so I guess as i'm fitting the lighting rig myself i could definitely fit something better than the light rig in both the fluval and juwel? While reserching, people are saying the rigs in these aren't the best apparently! I want to have a decented planted display.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, probably, though I'm not familiar with Juwels or Fluvals, never had either!

 

[Ali-Jack]

What lighting rig would you recommend fitting on the consort out of interest? So in your opinion Fluttermoth, a longer tank with less height and depth is better than a taller tank,with less length but slightly more depth?....if that makes sense!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

I just buy starter units and T5/T8 tubes.

Yes, depth is less important for nearly all fish than length; they all swim lengthways, rather than up and down, if you think about it!

 

[Ali-Jack]

Yep, it makes perfect sense and i thought the same too. It was just my LFS trying to suggest i go for a juwel or fluval as he thought they were better.
So will any starter unit do? Can you hide the power unit inside the consort hood too?

 

[Ali-Jack]

Thanks for the advice fluttermoth. It's really apprteciated