home made vs premade.

[vindy500]

thinking about getting a bigger tank, probabally about 4 foot, is it better value to buy things seperate, i.e filter lights tank and build a stand/hood or buy something like the sunsuns on trademe?

[Slightly Blue Dalmation]

from what i have found they work out similar cost depending on what components you want. im a canister filter fan so have custom on my tanks plus can get any size made.

all depends on what you want it for

[Ant N]

Decide if you want acrylic(SunSun type) or glass, rounded corners or square with joins.Depending on the type of fish you wish to keep, the volume of water and height of the tank and stand may be an issue. Extra filtration may be required with the SunSun type. Hope this helps.

[bedazzled]

I have a sunsun tank and it is glass not acrylic

I have only had it for a couple of weeks but I am very happy with it so far, looks great and is easy to maintain

[whetu]

My personal preference is to put the bits together myself to suit my own requirements. Check whether the pre-made tank has the flexibility to be changed if you decide you want to (for example) add extra lights or a different kind of filter.

Also don't just consider new stuff. Look on on-line auction sites to see if there's stuff there going for a good price.

[Silvia-15]

yeah, like whetu said, often u can find good working or near new parts at a fraction of the price. I also prefer to pieces together, because as things change, i like 2 b flexible, more lights if i want a plant tank, or more filtration if i want a monster fish tank. I also find that canisters and sumps provides far more media and overall flow than hood mounted filters.

[smidey]

only downside to building a customone could be the stand & hood. I have the premade tanks as they come with stands but they are generally limited to around 4 foot maximum length. no limit to size of custom tanks.