Right, sorry for the delay posting my review... I got a bit carried away getting it setup and completely forgot! lol
So.. as you wuld probably imagine from the price, its not the best tank i've seen, but its also far form the worst! Initially I was a bit disaponted with the build quality of it, the sealant was very messy in places, and there were little bits of it all over the glass that i had to clean off with some good ol' vinegar! The worst looking bit is where they have siliconed the black plastic strip along the bottom of the tank, because the front corners are rounded, it would appear there was quite a gap between the glass, and the plastic after bending it round the corners... so they shoved a load of silicone in to fill the gap - its clear, but also clearly visible!
the front
the back
inside
it hasn't bothered me too much, i've got sand in it which comes to about 5mm above the black strip, it pretty much hides the mess unless you look closely! The good thing is.. it's has 330L of water in it for about a month I think now... and its still in 1 piece!! lol.
I'm not using the built in filter, as I've bought the tank for saltwater - so using live rock for filtration. I did plumb it all in tho just to test it. It seems quite good, but not really sure it would be sufficient if the tank was fully stocked. the hod had 6 compartments, but the water doesn't pass through all of them in turn, theres a spray bar that runs over the top of the compartments, so some water goes in each compartment, through whatever media you have got in there, then theres an outlet on each compartment! I'd have liked to see the water run through each compartment, so you could have different media in each section iykwim? I was impressed with the lack of noise it made tho!
The lights are ok as long as you're using the tank for tropical! I filled the tank with 24c water, and with no heater in there at all, the temp rose to 27c in a couple of hours, and it has stayed there ever since! I'm hoping they will be god enough to keep a few corals! they also have 2 seperate power switches, handy for lighting different colours seperately.
the cabinet.. well, it seems to be holding the weight, which i was a bit worried about!! once we finally got it together that is, same with the filter, if you're the kind of person who relies on clear instructions to assemble things.... I wish you luck lol! A bit of guess work and improvisation is needed here! Over all tho, the cabinet seems to be well made, and fits together nicely. The inside is also covered in a sheet of 'stuff' to stop water seeping into the wood, which i didn't expect for the price tbh! (I did have to paint the door handles tho, they were a lovely fake brass and silver effect - which isn't my kinda thing! lol)
Over all, for the money, I'm pleased with it and am already considering buying one of their biger tanks! It's not comparable to some of the tanks i've seen for sale in my LFS, but.. then you have to consider that the price is also nowhere near comparable either!
/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cabinet-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Tropical-120cm-4ft-330L-New-/310214285871?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&var=&hash=item8e070ba105#ht_3718wt_911
thanks
) but i'm wondering if you have any thoughts on your new aquarium compared to say makes like juwel? i have a rio 180 and will be upgrading this year to something around 400 litres so was thinking about the rio 400 (basically a scaled up version of the 180) but it doesn't come cheap especially when married to the matching stand.
