Aqua One Or Juwel

[alphabetic]

Perhaps two of the popular "all-in-one" (for the most part) aquariums, commony available. Which do you feel is the favoured brand (overall) for the avid aquarist, whether beginner or advanced.

I currently have an Aqua One AR510. While it's a good-looking tank, for the couple of months I've had it, I've started to dislike certain aspects of it. Maintenance is annoying! For the partiuclar AR series, one has to remove the entire hood to successfully maintain it. Then there are the lights; it fits non-standard tubes. Although, I can't speak for subsequent models. And the quality; while it is a very lovely tank, and the curved glass (acrylic) is ever so welcoming, the hoods have noticeable flaws, particularly with molding and irregular gaps and shutlines. Mind you, perhaps it's merely my tank, and those I've seen elsewhere, so please don't dicount these tanks regarding build quality simply from my observation.

For my next tank, I'm contemplating purchasing either a Juwel (Rekord 160 or Rio 180/240) or an Aqua One R2-120. The latter, from firsthand perusal, seems a better built tank, compared to its smaller variants. A little cumbersome, but good-looking at the same time. Despite numerous comments regarding the Juwel Rekord's build comments, those I've seen in store do look lovely. Although I do acknowledge the fact one has to remove the hood for maintenance. I've never seen a Rio in person.

While the filters in the Juwels may seem unsightly and cumbersome, the filters (wet/dry trickle) in the Aqua Ones are overwhelming, since it runs across the length of the tank. I have no idea which has the better filtration system, so someone experienced may be able to enlighten me/us.

Anyway, appreciate your answers and any suggestions regarding them

EDIT: I intended for this to be a poll, but nothing's working!

 

[MermaidMel]

I have 2 Aqua One's and I LOVE them!

 

[tbright]

I started with a small juwel(forgotten the number) then upgraded to their Rio 125 which I think is a lovely tank. Though, now I'm not a complete beginner at fishkeeping the internal filter which comes with it can be a hassle, especially after having it for 6months+ due to the mess that builds up underneath all the sponges in my experience.

So, for the beginner, though I haven't tried the aqua one's I recommend the Rio highly and then when you have more experience you will prefer the tanks which include external filters which is what I'm moving on to next with Rena unless you love the juwel's so much you're willing to cut out the internal filters!

 

[Maxta]

Both nice, but im a fan of Juwel tanks myself.

 

[timmystood]

I deal with both in my shop and perhaps as a surprise the AquaOne tanks tend to outsell the Juwel tanks at least 3 to 1. From a personal point of view, I am not a massive fan of 'plastic, beginner' tanks. I prefer the more subtle and attractive look of a nice wood finish to match the furiniture of a room and make the tank a 'centre-piece'. The problems come with AquaOne by the fact they are Austalian and still finding their feet in the UK market. This, like you say, causes a few problems with equipment, the non-standard bulbs being the most frustrating and common.
Reliability wise, Juwel tend to cause us more problems than AquaOne but there isn't much difference and the replacement parts are easily avaliable. I've summed them both up below going on my professional and personal experience (I have kept both at home).

Looks - Juwel
Cost - AquaOne
Reliability - AquaOne
Practical - Juwel
Value - Juwel
Spare Parts - Juwel
Customisation ability - Juwel
Tropical Setup - Juwel
Marine Setup - Juwel
Design - Juwel
Filtration - Juwel
Avaliability - Juwel
Professional Recommendation - Either, depends on customer
Personal Recommendation - Juwel

Juwel wins 11-2

However, there is a better tank still, in my view. Have a look at the new Fluval Roma collection - brilliant price, superb design and build and incredible reliability.

 

[alphabetic]

Given Juwel Rio's hoods are made of plastic, can anyone determine whether it soon becomes tainted and blemished from cleaning the exterior itself, or from handling it on occasion (water changes for instance) including whether it warps or discolours even moderately over time. Also, I've heard that the centre interior brace has the habit of snapping?

What are the cabinets like - are they well made? Oh, and are the canister filters loud? From what I've read they are a good filtration system, depending on model, and that perhaps the biggest drawback for owners is their overwhelming presence in the tank.

Apologies for being so inquisitive!

It's perhaps confirmed; I have my eyes on either a Rio 180 or 240 (black with matching cabinet) to house a small group of Angels and smaller fish. I've found some great deals on the internet. I just want to get the aforementioned things out of the way before I commit, or at least to console me and consider something else.

timmystood, is it possible to elaborate where Juwel fails with reliability? I assume this is regarding the internals, which may fail prematurely. Regarding the Fluval range, unfortunately I can't find a dealer/retailer, online or otherwise, here in Melbourne. After some perusal on the net, they sure do look like a lovely tank - and the included accessories seem top-notch to boot.

Thanks for the replies

 

[Rhea]

I've had a Juwel Vision 260 for 7 years and a Rio 125 for about 3 and I've not had any problems with discolouration or warping (I've got the black version). Can't really comment on the centre brace, I've had no problems with it but the design of it has changed since I bought them.

The cabinet is up to the job, but as all of them are fairly basic.

I used to have the 125 in my bedroom and didn't get bothered by the noise, I have now removed the internal filter from the 260 as I wanted to use it as a planted tank and didn't want the filter to get in the way - this to me is the only drawback but at least you don't have the heater and an internal filter held on by suckers that slip down the glass......

 

[merry78]

I have 2 Aqua One's and I LOVE them!

exactly the same for me, but i have no experience with Jewel.

 

[annka5]

I've a Juwel vision 260, and when I bought it was undecided between than and a similar sized AquaOne model (I can't remember the exact model now though). The things that swayed me to the Juwel were:

a) The depth - I'm pretty tall and have long arms, but the AquaOne was still too deep for me to reach the bottom of without standing on a chair.
B) I didn't like the AquaOne filter as much
c) The tank is part of shelves that we built to stretch the length of our living room, so I painted the cabinet part and changed the doors at the front so it blends in with them. I think the AquaOne stands are nicer but really I wanted to change the look of the stand anyway, so that was irreleant for me.
d) I though the lids of the AquaOne tank were too heavy and chunky-looking /awkward.

I like my Juwel tank, I think for the price it's good, and maintenance is easy.

 

[CFC]

I have no experience of Aqua one tanks and i'm not a fan of fill and go set ups anyway but i can say that i found the Juwel Rio 300 i bought a few years ago to be an utter load of rubbish, just about every part of the tank with the exception of the glass itself has failed at some point, the center brace snapped, the light unit failed, the pump failed and the heater failed all within the first 2 years, in fact the tank is now on its 3rd lighting unit which is the only remaining piece of Juwel equipment on the tank. I wouldnt recomend a Juwel to my worst enemy.

If you must have a off the shelf aquarium then the ones i recomend are the Rena tanks, i have the 500 litre model as my front room tank and have been perfectly happy with it, ok theyre not as cheap as other brands but in the aquatics hobby you get what you pay for and the quality of the Rena kits shows.

 

[timmystood]

timmystood, is it possible to elaborate where Juwel fails with reliability? I assume this is regarding the internals, which may fail prematurely. Regarding the Fluval range, unfortunately I can't find a dealer/retailer, online or otherwise, here in Melbourne. After some perusal on the net, they sure do look like a lovely tank - and the included accessories seem top-notch to boot.

Sorry, I didn't relise you were in Australia! This will make sourcing Aqua One spare a lot easier for you.

When I say the Juwel is poor in reliability I am refering to the Pump, Heater and Light Unit. Generally the pump is the first to go but like CFC says all 3 can go eventually. However, this sounds worse than it is because 1) the replacements are easy to get hold of and 2) it only happens on a small number of tanks and very few people are unlucky enough to have all three breakdowns happen to them!