What Tank Brand Would You Recommend?

[leighton_87]

I picked a second hand Juwel on eBay and it's stunning - its a piece of furniture as much as its a fish tank.

 

[Electric Warrior]

I got a second hand Fluval Roma 200 off gumtree and I am quite happy with it.

 

[dbanner]

Juwel gets my vote every time. Iv had a juwel rio 125 and 180, iv also had a juwel vision 180 and vision 260. Now I have a Rio 400. Each 1 i never had a single problem with and they are excellent looking as well as very good quality. Iv said time and time again, if juwel made a tank bigger than the rio 400 (5ft 450 litres) that I have now then I'd definitely buy it. For this reason my next tank is going to be custom made by ND Aquatics.

Juwel tanks can be expensive if bought new. Although I bought mine 2nd hand. It came with the stand,
a fluval fx5 external filter (which I sold straight away), a fluval 405 filter (sold that too), 2 x 300 watt internal heaters (sold them), sand, bogwood and a few other bits, all with receipts of purchase for £200

delivered as well. So, there are definitely bargain to be found out there.

I love the look of the juwels as well and they are definitely pricey brand new. This would be one of the brands then that's worth buying second hand due to it's good quality then. Where did you sell the extra bits that you didn't need, ebay? Did you end up replacing them with new stuff?

2nd hand juwel tanks are definitely worth looking into. Like I said, iv had 5 juwel tanks which have all been purchased 2nd hand. Excellent tanks. I sold the fx5 and the heaters on preloved. I sold the fx5 because I simple can't stand the look of them, they look like giant dustbins. I then bought 2 brand new tetra ex1200 filters. Having owned an fx5 as well as a 406, 405, 306, 205 and an all pond solutions ef2000+ I would definitely say the tetra ex's are by far the best overall. I sold the internal heaters and got a 300watt external heater instead which connects straight onto the ex1200 external pipe so warm water gets pumped around the tank meaning no cold spots, more reliability, less unsightly clutter in the tank and more room for fish. 300watt is more than enough for my 450 litre although when using the internals i needed to use 2 x 300 watts just ensure the water was kept at the temp needed. Externals are also a lot safer as I keep big cichlids and my oscars once broke 2 internal heaters by bumping into them. I also changed the background that came with the tank and changed the normal sand to black Limpopo sand

 

[NewBea]

By the sounds of it loads of you got good brands second hand - I'm very tempted to go down this route, I think - I just need to wait for a good deal to come up close to where I live.
And those of you who bought large tanks second hand - how did you sort out the transport? I assume lifting a 4 feet tank is a 2 men job? I've noticed some ads on ebay that said that the tank would need 3-4 strong men to lift it. Did you pick it up with vans or you managed to fit it into smaller vehicles as well? The tank + the cabinet must take up quite a bit of space.
We have a xsara picasso where all the back seats can be laid flat.

 

[dbanner]

Yeah i would definitely wait for a good deal on a 2nd hand jewel over buying a cheaply made all pond solutions tank. the tanks themselves are ok but the stands are another story. iv read a few reviews where people have bought them and basically said they were not up to being used as a main show/display tank. you get what you pay for.

My rio 400 took 3 of us to lift out of the back of the guys van. He delivered it to me, all we had to do was take it out of the van and into the house. My friend later bought a rio 300 which is 4 feet long he got that in the back of his 55 plate ford fiesta with the seats down. We had to do a 2nd trip to get the stand. The stands can also be taken down to pack flat. Don't think you will have too many problems with the car you have

 

[NewBea]

Yeah i would definitely wait for a good deal on a 2nd hand jewel over buying a cheaply made all pond solutions tank. the tanks themselves are ok but the stands are another story. iv read a few reviews where people have bought them and basically said they were not up to being used as a main show/display tank. you get what you pay for.

My rio 400 took 3 of us to lift out of the back of the guys van. He delivered it to me, all we had to do was take it out of the van and into the house. My friend later bought a rio 300 which is 4 feet long he got that in the back of his 55 plate ford fiesta with the seats down. We had to do a 2nd trip to get the stand. The stands can also be taken down to pack flat. Don't think you will have too many problems with the car you have

Thanks for the info, dbanner! Very useful!
I had a feeling that the stand would need to be picked up separately.

 

[dbanner]

You won't be disappointed with a juwel tank. Iv always said they tend to look bigger than what they actually are. Sounds a bit strange but their very deceiving.

This is mine...

 

[Tizer]

i think they look tatty and cheap sold mine for a tatty and cheap price too

 

[MBOU]

Yeah... im certainly not a fan of Juwel tanks... and such a pain that the filter is so poor it creates more work and money to rip it out and buy an external.

 

[dbanner]

Yeah... im certainly not a fan of Juwel tanks... and such a pain that the filter is so poor it creates more work and money to rip it out and buy an external.

Iv never come across this problem (or in fact any problems) with the 5 juwel tanks iv had. As iv purchased them all 2nd hand they have all already had the internal filters taken out which is fine by me. I did have a fluval Roma 200 for a while but it started leaking after only a few weeks so they replaced it and I soon sold it for the juwel vision 260 I had before my rio 400.

It's unfortunate that some people have had bad experience with juwel tanks... I on the other hand love them lol like I said if they built something bigger than the rio 400 and vision 450 then I'd buy it unfortunately they don't so a tank from ND Aquatics is next

 

[yfaris67]

TOPFIN BOWFRONT!!!! lovem'... good quality and good warrenty with a very good price at that!