Which Tank To Go For?

[alexiooc]

So I've already got a 30litre/6 gallon tank which houses my betta in but I am wanting to upgrade and have a community tank based around him.

There are two tanks that I am very intrested in, one is the Juwel Rekord 800 (110 litre/25 gallon tank) and the other is the Fluval Roma 125 (125 litre/27 gallon tank).

Which tank would be the best one to go for, considering that there is only a £15 difference in my lfs? And what fish could I stock in the tank with my male betta?

 

[The Duke]

Juwel for me every time! Those Germans make a good aquarium!!

 

[Xraymark]

Both tanks are nice. I hate the juwel internals. Just a big black ugly box. I'd rather they sold without a filter, sell it cheaper and get a decent external.
I've noticed Eheim tanks starting to come into LFS which look quite nice.

 

[sadguppy]

I love my Fluval Roma 125.. And my Fluval Roma 200! Depends which one would go best with your decor. I don't like the colours of the cabinets on the juwels whereas the new style Roma cabinets fit in very well with my front room!

If you're worried about the price, check out ebay, gumtree, friday-ad etc and see if you can get a second hand one. Should be fine and you often get more stuff with it.

 

[Tizer]

I'd go for the Roma, i have the 90 litre version, i'd also owned a Juwel 240. The finish on the Roma is a lot nicer as is the wood effect finish. Roma wins every time in my book.

 

[alexiooc]

After many discussions with various "experts" in my lfs, i today went to another store which is a little bit further away but has a good rep. They said for the ammount of money I want to spend they can get me a Juwel Lido 120 (120 litre tank) for £220 (the cheapest I can find online is £260 and RRP is £300+)

So what I want to know is how good is this tank and is the heater and filter which is built in a good enough standard to have crystal clear water?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I don't like the Lido, the cube shape is limiting on fish you can stock and how you can scape it IMO.

The Roma does win out on "look" for me but according to my "reasearch" the Juwel is manufactured to a higher standard.

Oh..and yes the Juwel filter is ugly, but you can whip it out at any point to swap for an external.

 

[alexiooc]

I don't like the Lido, the cube shape is limiting on fish you can stock and how you can scape it IMO.

The Roma does win out on "look" for me but according to my "reasearch" the Juwel is manufactured to a higher standard.

Oh..and yes the Juwel filter is ugly, but you can whip it out at any point to swap for an external.

What do you mean limited? What fish can you stock in them?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

"Fast fish" really. Fish that are shaped like a torpedo lol. Tetras/danios things like that. They like a long swimming space to dart back and forth. In a cube tank your volume is given through depth and height instead of length.

Also some people feel that fish that breathe air (e.g. corys, bettas, gouramis) don't like the depth of a cube shaped tank, I'm not sure I totally buy into that one though.

 

[Saltcod]

Hi, I've owned both makes and would go for the juwel every time. Quality is so much better where as bits keep falling off my fluval which is actually a lot newer. Agree that you'll be better off removing the internal filter from the juwel but to be honest, you'd probably want to upgrade the external that comes with the fluval anyway as it's barely adequate. Agree that square tanks might look more stylish but surface and swimming area will mean you can keep less fish than the equivalent volume rectangular tank!

 

[alexiooc]

Ok so how many fish about could I get in a Lido. At the moment I have 5 platies, a betta and an upside down catfish. Was thinking of a few more platies or some rasboras/tetras and some bottom feeders such as corydoras or small plecos, if there are any?

 

[The Duke]

You can get small plecos, have a look at the rubber nose pleco. Corys are great, I have sterbai corys in mine and they are so entertaining to watch!! I suppose I made the mistake of overstocking in the beginning. Just make sure you keep a nice even amount and 6 plus if you are keeping smaller fish in groups.