who makes the best aquariums (name brands, manufacturers)??

I've owned a lot of aquariums, and have worked with even more distributing them in schools. I had two bad ones from a local store once, and other than that, they have been relmarkably equal in quality.

It's often the look you pay for rather than it actually being better. I'm in Europe so I'm not sure the brands I see locally would be the same as you. I did have one 15 gallon with curved corners that I bought cheep that cracked, it got knocked but I think the glass was too thin for it's size.

In general look at the thickness of the glass, the finishing on the edges of the glass and the silicone. Some tanks just look a lot cheaper than others. Are you looking for a small tank, or a large one? Do you want to get one on the cheep or go all out with price? Have you looked at any aquariums? If you tell us what you've looked at people can tell you what they think of them.

1>>> 50 gallon to 100 gallon. i have to decide.

2>>> i don't want a cheap tank, what sense would that
make buying a cheap tank (as in quality)? i want a well
made tank so i'm willing to pay for well made. i've
looked at aquariums on line and in stores.

3>>> when i shopping i didn't think about name brands.
the next time i shop i'll write down the manufacturers name.
thanks for the idea.

All glass is pretty standard brand and Ive had many used and new by that brand,all have done very well.ADA is another brand but they are very expensive and im thinking they dont go up to a size that big.Aqueon is another fairly common brand and ive heard they are good as well.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

If you want a large tank but don't want to spend too much, you can get some very nice tanks second hand and can get much more quality for your money that way if you look around.

There are some cheep knock off Chinese brands, I own one and actually think it's pretty good but you might need to watch out for the quality, other than that I think most of the main stream brands are decent. After that it's in the details and design. More expensive brands tend to have better finishing on the details, for example nicely finished edges on the glass, but that is more a case of looks than durability. There are all sorts of styles to choose from and they vary in price. You will pay more for the most modern chic design than your typical black plastic rimmed tank, but again it's not really about quality just personal taste and fashion. I LOVE the very expensive ADA tanks but like majerah says not sure if they even do big.

If you are going to splurge in only one place I say get a really good filter. Also think about lighting before you buy the tank, if you want a planted tank lighting is important.

Agreed,filters and other equipment should be where you focus your money,because these are the aspects that fail more often.

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"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

ADA and Glasscages are two of the top brands, but be prepared to pay the price. You can also order starfire glass to have one special made.

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I have owned a couple tanks in my time. Never really had any issues. As stated glasscages are great. I have also owned oh about 20 or so aqueon brand. Never had an issue with any.. except self stupidity with hood cutting... and again as stated the hardware is more important then the holder... if your looking for a typical rectangular/square aquarium that is... I would look into hagan products filterwise. I use aquaclear and fluval pretty often. More recently fluval canister. And have been olesantly surprised at the amount of extra media room and flow rates of hagan filters.

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When you pay that cash or swipe that card you are making a bond with that animal that you will treat it with love and respect, and its needs will be met, first and foremost (unless you have kids...) I don't care if you have to eat ramen noodles or nothing at all to feed your cat dog fish rat whatever. That's the bond you made! Life is precious!

For me you just can't beat Ehiem for filters. They are expensive but great quality. My Eheim Pro 3 canister filter is just wonderful, very easy to use and efficient.

i think quality matters.

i'm thinking everything involved should be high quality.

I think quality matters too, my point is that you can be paying for the design of it's tank more than it's quality. Any main stream brand should have decent quality in terms of working and lasting well but often the more expensive ones look better.


Yeh, but if you have a budget and are more interested in quality than looks save on the tank and spend on the filter.

I prefer Aqueon tanks, but if buying brand new it's just going to be the one that is what I need and less expensive. Most tanks are built pretty solid and brand new tanks present very little worry, IMO. So it doesn't really matter which brand you choose. Used is a whole other ball game.