Aqua One Eurostyle Vs Fluval Roma

[ladymaverick]

Hi all,

I'm currently trying to decide on the kit for my new set-up. I have a space which will take a tank and cabinet of up to 4 foot length, planted and with external filtration. It will be a community tank but with a broadly South American theme.

I had initially considered going for something around 180 litres. However, when I went to check out the LFSs in my area, one of them introduced me to the Aqua One Eurostyle (they had a 100 model on show). I love the look of this tank, it seems to have everything I need, has some extra volume (240 litres) due to the extra height and it comes in at a price I am happy to save for.

However, I am unsure about the value of the extra depth. This tank comes in slightly short of my 4 foot space, so I have room for manoeuvre in sizing. Reading round the threads here and having a look at SeaPets etc. I am now also considering the Fluval Roma 240, which is similar in price. So, my questions are:

a) How do the Fluval Roma and Aqua One Eurostyle tanks size up against each other in terms of quality, both of the tanks themselves and the included equipment?
b) Am I better to go for length over height?
c) Do I do some extra saving to make up the difference to get to the Aqua One 120, which would also get me the extra length as well as the height?

Alternatively, if I gave you my money to spend on buying all the components separately, what would your shopping list look like?

(I am keeping an eye on Gumtree, AQ and eBay, as I am not averse to buying second-hand but I think I need the benefit of the board's wisdom to tailor my searching and watching)

Thanks in advance,

L_M. x

 

[DrRob]

How about this

http/www.ndaquatics.co.uk/?pg=details&ii=26

with the heater, filter and lights of your choice?

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there LM, you have made a beautiful post with lots of thought and lots of questions. I hope the members will have some good discussions helping you. I have to run at the moment so am only going to make a quick comment: The exercise I like to do when thinking about tank height is to find some cardboard or whatever or have some friends hold a yardstick and then put my elbow and upper arm over that height and simulate working in the gravel. As an aquarist you spend a great deal of time planting, pruning and generally adjusting your gravel or sand and a tall tank that is hard to reach over can become something you curse. It also can be hard it some cases to have plants reach these upper areas in quite the manner you want. There is also a basic thing that as you add height, you are adding water volume without adding surface area and more surface area per volume is nothing but good in our world of water boxes (nature has us beat by an astounding amount when one considers what a marsh area can do for water!) Anyway, just take this as a starting comment, not a careful consideration of your volumes and measurements - it's not to say things can't be done and probably it just represents my own bias but hopefully it will add some thoughts for you.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ladymaverick]

Hi there LM, you have made a beautiful post with lots of thought and lots of questions. I hope the members will have some good discussions helping you. I have to run at the moment so am only going to make a quick comment: The exercise I like to do when thinking about tank height is to find some cardboard or whatever or have some friends hold a yardstick and then put my elbow and upper arm over that height and simulate working in the gravel. As an aquarist you spend a great deal of time planting, pruning and generally adjusting your gravel or sand and a tall tank that is hard to reach over can become something you curse. It also can be hard it some cases to have plants reach these upper areas in quite the manner you want. There is also a basic thing that as you add height, you are adding water volume without adding surface area and more surface area per volume is nothing but good in our world of water boxes (nature has us beat by an astounding amount when one considers what a marsh area can do for water!) Anyway, just take this as a starting comment, not a careful consideration of your volumes and measurements - it's not to say things can't be done and probably it just represents my own bias but hopefully it will add some thoughts for you.

~~waterdrop~~

Thank you waterdrop. Knowing I would be better spending my money on surface area rather than height is helpful in itself.

I also tried your height test this afternoon (I'd forgotten the joy of numb shoulders!) and would need to think about a small step for reaching the bottom of the Aqua One.

It also got me to thinking about the balance of the room - the tank will be in the opposite corner to the TV etc so I want to think about something which has comparable dimensions to the whole AV unit so the room doesn't feel unbalanced.

More food for thought and very much appreciated.

L_M.

 

[ladymaverick]

How about this

http/www.ndaquatics.co.uk/?pg=details&ii=26

with the heater, filter and lights of your choice?

Now, this is a cat amongst the pigeons...another very strong contender - better choice of sizes, competitive prices, high quality in the opinion of the forum and the freedom to mix and match other components.

The choice of balancing sizing and cost it's very attractive...

Thanks DrRob.

L_M.x

 

[XAli1971]

Hi there LM, you have made a beautiful post with lots of thought and lots of questions. I hope the members will have some good discussions helping you. I have to run at the moment so am only going to make a quick comment: The exercise I like to do when thinking about tank height is to find some cardboard or whatever or have some friends hold a yardstick and then put my elbow and upper arm over that height and simulate working in the gravel. As an aquarist you spend a great deal of time planting, pruning and generally adjusting your gravel or sand and a tall tank that is hard to reach over can become something you curse. It also can be hard it some cases to have plants reach these upper areas in quite the manner you want. There is also a basic thing that as you add height, you are adding water volume without adding surface area and more surface area per volume is nothing but good in our world of water boxes (nature has us beat by an astounding amount when one considers what a marsh area can do for water!) Anyway, just take this as a starting comment, not a careful consideration of your volumes and measurements - it's not to say things can't be done and probably it just represents my own bias but hopefully it will add some thoughts for you.

~~waterdrop~~

Thank you waterdrop. Knowing I would be better spending my money on surface area rather than height is helpful in itself.

I also tried your height test this afternoon (I'd forgotten the joy of numb shoulders!) and would need to think about a small step for reaching the bottom of the Aqua One.

It also got me to thinking about the balance of the room - the tank will be in the opposite corner to the TV etc so I want to think about something which has comparable dimensions to the whole AV unit so the room doesn't feel unbalanced.

More food for thought and very much appreciated.

L_M.

I just got tha aqua-one in this saturday and am setting it up / cycling.

my experience so far:

the build quality of the tank is as good as the Roma I'm upgrading from. The cabinet has two large and easy accessible compartments to house all the bits and bobs you need (in my case 2 external filters, inline heater, air pumps and all the multiplugs needed.)

the height of it is an issue. reaching down trying to plant something is a bit of a challenge (and I'm 5'11). I need to invest in a collapsible stool and aquascaping tongs.

Also the top center is reinforced, which can be a problem if you're looking to put large items of decorations as I found out .

I did look at the Roma 240 as well but my choice was guided by constraints in floorspace (120 cm was possible but impractal)and the direction of the floorjoists, so I plumped for the 100cm and some room to work around with.

From what a gather the Roma tanks come predrilled for a sump setup or passing the tubing of the canister filter straight through the top of the cabinet/bottom of the tank. Something that could prove handy

The lighting provided is adequate by the looks of it but the cutouts shapes at the back of the cover are quite large and project two shapes on the wall that remind me of some sci-fi movie robot eyes from the fifties . Duct tape needed as it's driving me bonkers .

re filter and heater I cannot comment as I'm went for different filters/heater than the kit provided (no reflection of my opinion just wanted to keep my external filter from my current tank and add a second filter of the same brand. for the heater I took an inline heater as I do not like equipment in the tank so I try to avoid it where possible