laurac94 said:
That is exactly the tank I have in silver, it is good quality, not excellent.. But good. I don't use the filtration or the heater they provide with it just because they are controlled by one fuse in the side of the tank and if it blows (which has happened to me) your filter, heater and lights turn off, which is never great. Instead I use an APS 2000lph external filter and it does the job great once you have worked out how to get the lid on again by removing lots of media in the lid. The smaller externals will fit in the cabinet but the 2000 doesn't so its sat at the side of my tank..but it does the job.
They are pretty good with delivery, especially with tanks, my filter took 2 working days instead of one and was missing some of the media, which was promptly sent out by tracked royal mail.
The tank isn't traditional 250l measurements, it has a shorter length but is wider so is good for decoration like big pieces of bogwood.
It is aesthetically pleasing but isn't to the highest quality, which is reflected in the price.
Thanks for the reply Laura!
Would you recommend this as a decent tank then, not perfect, as you say, but for the money, I won't go wrong, kind of thing? That's a bit odd about the filter & heater being connected like that... In that case, I'd be tempted to disconnect the heater and buy a separate one instead of going for the external filter. I have an under 2 year old who would take great pleasure in playing with anything outside the cabinet - when I say playing, I mean breaking
Out of interest, would you buy this same one again or would you have gone for something different if you could do it over?
DrRob said:
I've used APS for several things (filters, pumps, powerheads, heaters etc). I've not bought tanks from them. I've always felt that the one thing that really needs investment is the glassware. You can't help but look at it and a well built tank and stand will not distract from the contents.
Otherwise they have several good items at good prices. There's generally a discount code lying around somewhere, and they deliver well. You do get what you pay for, but they didn't ever actually say that you didn't, and what you do get seems to fit the description very well.
I've heard good things about their equipment and the majority has been very good. What does seem to set APS apart is their customer service, that always seems to be excellent and whenever someone has a problem, they get it sorted pretty quick smart, which is reassuring.
That tank in particular also gets good reviews, which helps, but, can you be more specific about the glassware? Do you mean that you suspect it's perhaps not thick enough, or good enough quality and might be more prone than other types to crack etc?
Colonel Dibble said:
My tank I bought from them leaked from the bottom of the tank. Very shoddy work, crappily made. Would not buy another.
That seems pretty decisive Colonel. May I ask which one you actually went for, Sir?
Shadders said:
I have never had any issues with APS, I have purchased several items from them, all have been delivered within 48 hours of ordering and with free postage, only had one item that was faulty on arrival, after contacting them a replacement was sent the following day, very good service from my experience, not brought a tank from them so cannot comment on those, I do know someone who has one of their tanks and for the money its an OK tank, like laurac94 says I dont like the way everything runs off one switch, but with the money you save on the tank/stand you could buy an external filter and heater and run those instead, all in all I think for equipment they are very good products at a very good prices and good customer service
That seems to be the common consensus, Shadders, some good products, tanks OK and excellent customer service. I'm quite torn...
The other option I thought I might look into was some of the much more expensive tanks and incredibly nice cabinets from my local Maidenhead Aquatics. Some of them have wine racks in them! With most of them, though, they don't come with accessories, which doesn't seem good value, but maybe it's the opportunity to select just exactly the right heater, filter etc that I would be happy with and negate the later need to update the bog standard stuff that comes with a cheaper tank.
They do 0% finance so that sounds good, too!
/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-1/fish-tanks/tropical-fish-tanks/cabinet-fish-tank-aquarium-250-litres-100cm-3-3ft-four-colours.html
