nzquiet1 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Hi All, am looking to upgrade my current tank to a nice new one, and have been trying to find info on the AR850 which looks like quite good, ie 165 ltrs, with built in hood and filter plus lights. What are your opinions on this unit, or can you maybe suggest alternatives?? Thanx in adv. NzQuiet1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 I love the Aqua One tanks and have an AR380, AR620 and AR980 - unfortunately don't have room for anymore I couldn't make up my mind between the AR850 or 980 and in the end decided on the 980, it was only another $200 and I knew I'd be wanting another one as soon as it arrived anyway! Everything except for a heater and bubblers are included with them - they're a no brainer really. The AR980 does have one bad design feature though, it doesn't have anywhere for the light lead to go except UNDER the filter holder which meant it was trailing in the water which I didn't think was a good idea. I had DH cut me out a small piece on either side of the filter house so that I could fit the lead through that and it works perfectly! Can take photos of what we did if anyone is interested. I have just posted a photo of the AR980 on the Freshwater Picture Forum, hopefully it will be approved soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 I have an AR850. While I found it good for getting started, most of what you need works right out of the box, but the integrated design gives me some hassles. Access is difficult. To reach the back you have to remove the lighting hood and even then it is a little awkward (and you can't see what you are doing without another light). The inlet for the filter is too low and touches the gravel. Although you could cut the tube down as at least one other person around here has done (can't remember who it was right now). You need to have the water level at least half-way up the pump or it doesn't work properly. Filling the tank right to the top avoid any problems and looks good to. I haven't struck Dawn's cable problem, I feed the cable out between the two sections of the hood. There are some good points: The filters are really easy to deal with. It has a good, strong, current (which may not be a good thing depending on your fish) and the water gets plenty of aeration without the need for air stones or the like. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Access is difficult. To reach the back you have to remove the lighting hood and even then it is a little awkward (and you can't see what you are doing without another light). Agreed. When I'm cleaning I lift the lighting hood up to sit on top of the filter hood - I have a light on a stand that I put on so I can see what I'm doing. I use it when I'm cleaning all my tanks, it's one of those modern type lamps that you can bend in different directions, been a boon really. The inlet for the filter is too low and touches the gravel. Although you could cut the tube down as at least one other person around here has done (can't remember who it was right now). Is there a problem with the filter touching the gravel? I didn't realise they shouldn't touch the gravel. You need to have the water level at least half-way up the pump or it doesn't work properly. Filling the tank right to the top avoid any problems and looks good to. As I mentioned in another forum recently, I had the motor of my AR380 burn out on me TWICE before I realised you MUST keep an eye on the water level and make sure it doesn't go too low. In fact no-one had ever told me the ARs are designed so that the water level shouldn't be seen, fill them right up to the plastic lip on the top of the tank. Now it's so much easier - when you can see the water level you know it's time to add more water. I haven't struck Dawn's cable problem, I feed the cable out between the two sections of the hood. But then you would have a big gap between the two hoods wouldn't you? One of them wouldn't sit properly if that happened surely. Anyway, I like to have all my leads hidden, I think I'm too fussy, I don't like seeing all the paraphenalia that hangs out of tanks, very untidy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KM Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 The AR850 seems to be a very good tank. I have one as well as an AR620. The 850 is a good size. I have an older one that does not have a built in overhead filter, but instead it came with an external canister filter, which was very hard to prime. The only problem I have had with the 850 is trying to change the lights, which is a bit tricky and seems to be a design fault - but it isn't impossible to do - it just requires some patience. I would say that if you are thinking about keeping fish that are a bit fussy about their water conditions, such as discus, an external filter along with the overhead filter seems to be a good idea. I just didn't find that that the overhead was doing a good enough job, but the newer models may be a bit better than the older ones in this respect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 If this is the one with the filter running along the top of the back of the tank, a couple of people complained that if you didn't keep the filter clean it tended to bank up the water and flow down the outside of the back of the tank. Has anyone found this? Perhaps it is a different brand of tank. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Dawn: The inlet touching the gravel isn't a problem, but it does mean that you can't have the gravel too high around it or else you block it. So you can't slope the gravel up to the back of the tank. As for the cable, it seems to work fine with mine and the two halves of the hood sit as they should. It is snug, an air hose (which is slightly wider than the power cable) get crimped very slightly so that should give you an idea of the size. It may just be a matter of manufacturing variation. Caryl: The filters in the 850 are in little trays that sit below a spray bar. So they can overflow, but then they overflow into a bigger tray (which is the bit that sits on the tank) and that has some large holes down into the tank. I have had the individual trays back up a bit, once to overflowing, but the water all went straight back into the tank. KM: I have found the filters to work quite well with respect to water conditions. Even when I didn't have a lot of plants in it there were very few problems. But I suppose it all depends on what fish you have, how many plants, and how picky you (or the fish) are about these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_guy Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 I have a aqua one light its really good have had no problems with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Dawn: The inlet touching the gravel isn't a problem, but it does mean that you can't have the gravel too high around it or else you block it. So you can't slope the gravel up to the back of the tank. As for the cable, it seems to work fine with mine and the two halves of the hood sit as they should. It is snug, an air hose (which is slightly wider than the power cable) get crimped very slightly so that should give you an idea of the size. It may just be a matter of manufacturing variation. I see, thanks Spooky. I just make a sort of well around my filter inlet but I don't have the gravel that much higher at the back than the front. I keep telling myself I should get some more gravel! I tried putting the light cable like you said today and the two hoods did sit properly without any problems - don' t know why I didn't think of it really although as I said I don't really like seeing the cable hanging out/down anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzquiet1 Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hi All, have been watching as the updates came in, and I'm please there hasn't been any absolute negatives, and some good hints to avoid problems that have been found. Will look into this one a bit closer as it seems a very good unit. Once again thanks to all for your feedback on the AR units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 One other good point about Aqua One tanks: they don't skimp on the lighting. This is good, because adding more would be difficult. The light levels are more than good enough for most plants (the limiting factors in my tank are CO2 and nutrients) and there aren't any dark corners in the tank. I might as well balance the good point with a bad one; the rounded corners on the tank are awful to try cleaning with a conventional magnetic algae scraper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.