Whats With The Uk

[SamUK]

I would never switch to the cheaper option. With the larger makes you pay extra for the guarentee, and the fact that any replacement equipment needed for the tank is widely available. More money in tank terms, is better quality, and more choice.

well for say £400 (your branded tank price, and not a very big one) i could get my 180 gallon tank + stand, 10 x 300 watt heaters and 10 x Filters for it and still have about £50 pound change.


ebay is great!


and i bet even with a guarantee you couldnt replace the stuff 10 times without them voiding it.

 

[chameleongeekgrl]

And let's be fair it's not just in the UK that they try to rip you off. it's everywhere!!!

Also I bought a 20 gallon set up for a present for my dad because he wanted to keep a number of fish. i would of never made my own for him because it would look crappy and he didn't want everthing to be high tech he just wanted to keep the fish. It was also about 20.00 more to buy everything seperatly.

Although everything in this blasted hobby is over priced. You can buy an aquarium light for 30 and buy one at the hardware store for 10. of course the one at the hardware store doesn't look as nice and one made speciffically for aquarium.

 

[ox5477]

And let's be fair it's not just in the UK that they try to rip you off. it's everywhere!!!

Also I bought a 20 gallon set up for a present for my dad because he wanted to keep a number of fish. i would of never made my own for him because it would look crappy and he didn't want everthing to be high tech he just wanted to keep the fish. It was also about 20.00 more to buy everything seperatly.

Although everything in this blasted hobby is over priced. You can buy an aquarium light for 30 and buy one at the hardware store for 10. of course the one at the hardware store doesn't look as nice and one made speciffically for aquarium.

It does come down to the basic choice..... Yes, almost all premade setups will keep your fish alive, and surely with a little knowledge, you can make a suitable environment for the fish.

It is just basically whether your showing it off when people come over or it is just there to sustain aquaria life. Personally, I think the fact that your sutaining life is amazing enough, so the factor of the tank doesnt come into play, but it's almost like buying automobiles. A chevy prism can get you around town to do your errands, but an Aston Martin will let you do it in style. For that extra style, you pay alot more....

 

[voo]

I think if i was buying a tank that wasnt going to be on display then i would most likely get one built.
If it was a centre piece in my living room then i'd want it to look nice, with the cabinet and hood etc. This is the only part of a branded tank i think is better. However if i was going to get one, i would never buy brand new, it would be from ebay.

 

[Fella]

I've had no problem with my Juwel tanks, any of them. I got a lot of them second hand, and I've removed the filters from all of them (they are awful), and added external filtration.

I use a juwel tank as a marine tank also, but I've refitted T5 lighting into it. And taken out the old lights.

I don't think Juwel tanks are that bad, but, I paid not a lot for a 5x2x2 and I'll be getting them custom made in future.

 

[zedonepilot]

i personally think most of the off the shelf tanks and stands
look mass produced and cheap
i have a custom made pine stand and hood for my 4x2x2 wich was orderd off the same guy
it has 3 cupboards and three drawers makeing full use of the space
the tank has bracers and glass sliders and the tank glass is 10 ml thick
he charged only £25 delivery from the north east to west cumbria

i have included the link for the web site
and my cabinet is the first one on the aquarium examples page
cost? well i dont mind telling you all in £655.
of course i then had to by equipment and decor but the comments i have on my tank are very pleasing and the end result has made it worth while.

external filter hydor prime 30
2 300wtt heaters
2 t5 light tubes
blue leds for night time
bogwood, plants, coarse sand,

5 leopard danios
5 rummy nosed tetras
5 penguine tetras
6 silvertip tetras
5 koolie loaches
2 panda corys
3 female guppies still producing young
2 wag tale platties
1 yellow plattie
1 dalmation mollie
1 blue,
1 golden,
1caramel,
and 1 purple striped apple snails
and about 100 baby ones

http/mnsdesigns.co.uk/

 

[MHunt]

I ended up getting everything separately and with the stand included it cost me more than a similar Jewel tank from an LFS. And I still haven't got a decent hood with lights in it.

My next tank is almost certainly going to be a package deal unless i findsomewhere really cheap to get the bits separately.

 

[scubadoo]

The bottom line in all of this is ........ horses for courses.

Some people like and want more stylish aquaria to fit in their living room.
Some people want glass boxes on top of pine boxes, cos that's what they like.
Some people just want glass boxes to keep fish in and dont care about the aesthetics.
Some people want out of this world custom tanks built into their walls etc.
Some people want loads of the above but choose to buy them 2nd hand.

And there's nothing wrong with any of the above approaches to the hobby.

The bottom line is there's a fairly healthy amount of choice in the hobby, if the thing you want is too expensive then try fleabay, if you're happy with it and willing to pay, then go for your life!

You pays your money and takes your choice - just like everything else in life!

 

[Pheonix]

The bottom line in all of this is ........ horses for courses.

Some people like and want more stylish aquaria to fit in their living room.
Some people want glass boxes on top of pine boxes, cos that's what they like.
Some people just want glass boxes to keep fish in and dont care about the aesthetics.
Some people want out of this world custom tanks built into their walls etc.
Some people want loads of the above but choose to buy them 2nd hand.

And there's nothing wrong with any of the above approaches to the hobby.

The bottom line is there's a fairly healthy amount of choice in the hobby, if the thing you want is too expensive then try fleabay, if you're happy with it and willing to pay, then go for your life!

You pays your money and takes your choice - just like everything else in life!

well said!!
what ever is good for you is good for you!

 

[MoMa]

IMHO (in my humorous opinion) I believe the reason Brits get the better quality stuff, not to mention a far better selection of species (fish/plant) is because of the weather. You need an indoor hobby over there.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

The bottom line in all of this is ........ horses for courses.

Some people like and want more stylish aquaria to fit in their living room.
Some people want glass boxes on top of pine boxes, cos that's what they like.
Some people just want glass boxes to keep fish in and dont care about the aesthetics.
Some people want out of this world custom tanks built into their walls etc.
Some people want loads of the above but choose to buy them 2nd hand.

And there's nothing wrong with any of the above approaches to the hobby.

The bottom line is there's a fairly healthy amount of choice in the hobby, if the thing you want is too expensive then try fleabay, if you're happy with it and willing to pay, then go for your life!

You pays your money and takes your choice - just like everything else in life!

yup,

we've a nice mix I think, the tanks in the living room are all fairly 'showy' the one's upstairs, not quite as nice (although one of the little one's is being upgraded to a lovely little aquacube in aprox 27days )

 

[zedonepilot]

I ended up getting everything separately and with the stand included it cost me more than a similar Jewel tank from an LFS. And I still haven't got a decent hood with lights in it.

My next tank is almost certainly going to be a package deal unless i findsomewhere really cheap to get the bits separately.

a lfs is a buisness so needs to make money and also a profit
this means it has to have a healthy markup on items.

theres nothing wrong with that and of course i support my lfs as this is were i source my fish from and if i didnt have one, it would be difficult/expensive to source them.

but, if you want to save money, source hardware tank and such off of the internet
you will save youreself a packet
i know i did.
all the info can be found on here and other sites thats were i got all my info from

 

[OohFeeshy]

Amongst other things, pre-packaged tanks have utterly pants dimensions. They're normally either weird dimensions (like 16" width or something) so you have to stick with specially made stuff for those dimensions, or ridiculously tall (who wants and 18" high, 12" wide tank?), or really narrow (most only go up to 16" width) or you have to buy a really long, really tall model to get the width you want.

 

[dgwebster]

I paid:

£20 for my 4 foot glass tank
£14 for a sheet of 4mm perspex
£3 for a sheet of 5mm board
£25 for a 60W lighting system (bulbs and ballast)
£20 for the Eheim 2212 filter
£8 for a 200W heater
98p for another sheet of wood
Polystyrene: free from packing on washing machine
£23.97 for 3 18"x18" tables

All told: £114.95 for a full setup.

I could have also bought a smaller 4 foot tank, with hood, drip trays and stand for £128 from pets at home. Or about twice the amount on a rio etc. but where would the fun in that have been. I feel a great sense of satisfaction in the building of the tank setup and the hood development etc that makes me proud to show my tank.

 

[George Farmer]

All-in-one aquarium kits that are popular in the UK i.e. Juwel, Rena, Hagen etc. do serve a purpose IMO.

For the beginner to the hobby, like I was four years ago, the overwhelming choice of filters, heaters, lighting etc. made seem setting up an aquarium a very daunting task. So to have the equipment altogether and (generally speaking) compatible makes the introduction to the hobby that bit easier.

Pricing issues is another story but I was happy to part with my £200 for my Juwel Rio 125 and have no regrets whatsoever. A quality piece of kit IME that hasn't let me down once. See my sig if you need proof.