All-in-ones vs individual components

[Sunbird73]

Just been doing some reading, thinking and daydreaming about a larger tank in the future than DD's AR380

There seems to be opinions that the all-in-ones (aquaone etc - I read the thread on 620T's cracking ) are not the greatest quality. The attraction of these types for me is that they come with a hood, and look great. I have a fluoro light already from when we had a tank years ago, so don't need to buy that....

What is the best option - all in ones or buying separately?

What is the best quality tank to get ideally (looking at a 70L-90L maybe).

If you experienced peoples were going to set up a new tank of this size, what would you go for (incl filter type)

Thanks!

[SamH]

For new people, I'd recommend buying an all-in-one. In saying that, my first tank was a 3ft plain glass tank and I purchased all the equipment separately.

Which size are we talking here? 620T size? It's an unusual size for a plain glass tank so I'd rather have a 60 wide x 45 deep x 45 high or similar, 100w Jager, Ehiem 2213, 2x 6500k CFLs, etc. Of course it'd be heavily planted and all, you might not want to do that. Good to get other peoples opinions too.

HTH

[DennisP]

All-in-ones and branded tanks are definitely more expensive. My juwel 4ft, cost $1.2k. Where as (depending on who you use) a professionally(?) made tank at the same size would cost about 150-300. I guess anything with a high price is going to be good quality(if you do your research around different shops), as if it breaks, they are going to be liable for it. (If it's under warranty), Not to mention that brands making bad tanks risk ruining carpets and killing the poor fish.

I'm no expert on the types of tanks, just my 2c.

HTH

[Caryl]

I have never bought an all in one so can't comment but I do not like the look of them. They are very expensive but to me they look cheap :-?

My tanks have all been custom built by a glazier at a fraction of the cost. They have then sat on existing furniture or, in the case of the lounge tank, had a unit built for them. Some have just sat on blocks :roll:

[Moya]

Ive always done very well on Trademe, picking up tank + stand and sometimes + other bits for VERY good prices. Ie, 3 foot, 180L, plus the solid wooden stand and hood, plus the Eheim classic 2213 plus 6 buckets of black gravel + nets +driftwood + 3 heaters (2 of them Jager) + fish mate fish feeder and air pumps and just a variety of random bits cost me all up $180. That's $180 for me to be able to setup the tank with everything i need as soon as i got home. Minus the lights of course, but you can get a 90cm light new for $150 or much cheaper if you DIY. My most recent was again, a 3 foot tank, with a solid wood stand and hood, Aquaclear 70, 2 heaters, air pump and - here's the good bit - a 3 foot hagenT5 hood plus bulbs, 6 months old. $150. Ive also picked up what was advertised as a '2 foot tank with light' for $50. Cool, that's pretty reasonable, tank looked quite nice. Upon closer inspection, the light hood was, again, a Hagen t5. Brilliant.

My advice is if you have the patience, take advantage of the great deals that crop up on Trademe. Some people just don't know the value of what their selling.

If your wanting something new, then i reckon buying bits separately is the way to go. This way you will be able to get the best quality of EVERYTHING, as opposed to buying a branded tank that generally has reasonable say, lighting, but a not so good filter, or vice versa.

So, 3 foot tank= $90

Eheim 2213 = $190

Jager heater 150w = $90

Hagen t5 hood with bulbs = $400

So that brings us to $770, without a stand or hood, which you could either make yourself cheaply if you have the capabilites, buy a suitable wooden cabinet off trademe for under $100, or get one constructed for you. Either way, you should be able to achieve this for under 1K, for a very nice, very good quality setup.

As to size, i went from a sixty litre tank to a 180L, and 6 months later was craving something bigger. On that note ill say what probably most other people will. Go as big as you can!

[Sunbird73]

Thanks, never thought about getting a tank made at a glazier. Will keep my eye out over the next few months for a good filter (eheim & fluval are ok??). Perhaps I can DIY myself a lid/hood from ply and paint it. My husband made the last tank stand but it is now a tv stand (tho he wants to upgrade to LCD ... maybe I can do some bargaining )

If I collect things quietly on TM etc over the next couple months before I get the actual tank part then maybe the husband won't notice the cost so much :lol:

That 620 thread really gave me the willies :-?

[phoenix44]

The 620s are safe.

There will be several hundred if not more people who have bought the tanks and not have any thing bad happen to them for the one person that did have something go wrong.

[Matto]

i have had two and the one i have now is great.

[Carlos & Siran]

We have a Ar380 and a Ar850, both were purchased on trade me, the 850 only cost us $150, the only problem was at some stage the tank had over flowed and the Cabinet top was swelled beyond recognition, which cost us half again what we paid for the tank to have replaced.

As for the all in ones breaking, when we first joined this site we saw a very similar thread about one cracking and we vowed we'd never get one but somewhere along the line we forgot about that.

So far so good, we're quite happy with them as they're stylish, though we're getting the ich (pun intended) to get a biiiiig tank in which case we'll have it made.

[JarrenB]

2nd hand tanks on Trade Me are great even if you find one that needs re-sealing, a tube of silicone only costs about $20 or so. But glass is very expensive so new tanks cost a lot. Also it depends on what you want to keep; if you buy every thing separately you can customise it for the species of fish.

eg. for $50 you could... Get a 30L at the petshop or a 200L on TM.

I have 6 tanks thanks to Trade Me .... and counting! :lol:

[Adrienne]

Having never owned one of more than 23 litres the only comment I can make is that I have read many times of owners having to add an extra cannister filter of some sort to increase the filtration.

If its a little tank I would think about what you are putting in it as I know some fish with larger fins and tails struggle with the current that overhead trickle filters can put out and end up sucked into the powerhead pumping the water up to the filter.

[breakaway]

The all in one units are plenty adequate for a beginner I'd say. The best thing about all in one units is you can simply go to the shop and pick them up, and they come with matching lids and integrated light hoods. You can also buy purpose made cabinets that look great right off the shelf. The curved glass aquaria look better than siliconed 90 degree ones I reckon.

That said you definitely pay a premium for them. Aqua One is good, but I don't like the look of their bigger bow front curved tanks. Juwel looks great, but they're stupidly expensive.

It's all down to your personal preference, and then your budget

[Sunbird73]

LOL - it seems the husband who only last week told me that getting a bigger tank was a ridiculous idea ... just bid on an AR510 on TM and won it for me

So looks like an all-in-one it is for me

yay!

[Carlos & Siran]

Oh dear, looks like he may be coming down with a case of MTS, typical symptoms are standing in front of the tank with one eye closed with a disappointed look on his face, aimlessly wandering the house and saying' a tank would look good there', putting a favorite "search" for tanks on TM and accidentally coming home with too many fish so you have to buy another tank for them.

[Aquila]

You've got yourself an AMAZING man there!

Don't ever let him go :lol:

LOL - it seems the husband who only last week told me that getting a bigger tank was a ridiculous idea ... just bid on an AR510 on TM and won it for me

So looks like an all-in-one it is for me

yay!

[Sunbird73]

Yes, well I was vy surprised to say the least!

He is more of an enabler of my MTS than at risk of contracting for himself - but he only has himself to blame now, he can't harrass me! I think his crafty brain has worked out if he keeps me occupied with fish things he can buy all the computer gear he wants Smart man!

We have gone from one tank to three in the space of three weeks :oops: I blame the guppies....

Now I get to plan the new tank.... been looking at the aquascaping website - very inspiring!