Feature Tank

[Jadabean]

I am returning to the hobby after a long absence and have been catching up / doing a lot of research and as usual it has thrown up a lot of questions and I would be grateful for input from members which will help point me in the right direction.
I have a very specific project in mind - I would like to set up a tank which.....

• Is a visual statement which appeals to fishkeeprs and non-fishkeepers alike.
• The aquarium, aquascape and inhabitants must provide pleasure to even the casual viewer
• It must give the impression it is a snapshot of a natural biotope.
• No visable signs of technoligy.

I have a place for a 160cm long tank and I realise that to achieve what I envisage I will need to be prepared to spend a sum of money so my starting point is the tank itself. I have done a lot of looking but keep coming back to the (expensive) Eheim Incpiria pure 530 - although I have not seen it"in the flesh" and first impressions are...

PRO's

• Build quality
• Lighting provided
• No glass between the lights and the water
• The dry built in access shaft and filter suction outlets

CONS

• THe light across the front of the cabinate is an unnecessary bit of bling
• would prefer the dry shaft to be in the middle
• Price !

Does anyone on the forum own one of these tanks ? or does anyone have an opinion !

 

[tam]

Have you looked at bespoke? For that price I'd want something that ticks all the boxes. Pick what you like from it and then change what you don't. I imagine you could pick up the same lights separately if you want them. I've used Aquariums4Life Custom Aquarium Manufactures for tanks before and they do some nice looking systems.

 

[Jadabean]

Hi Tam - thanks for your reply - I have looked at A4L and agree they do nice stuff and I may look into it further - things I need to consider are...

• I have heard some custom manufacturers will not do copies of other makers tanks
• I have also heard that once you start requesting special features the price ramps up - sometimes to the point that for a bit more you can have the origonal product.

but for sure I agree - at that price I need to be sure that there are not other options which will fit the bill...