Hagen Plus Water

Fish Tank Reviews – Juwel Rio 125 vs Fluval Roma 125 by Leandro Gunnar Fortin

Today we are about to check out 2 popular starter aquariums, the Juwel Rio 125 and also the Fluval Roma 125. Both of these are decent first tanks and great value for the money but which will emerge on top??
They’ll be judged head to head in 4 categories :- Looks & Style, Level Of Equipment, Ease Of Maintenance & Value For Money.

First, a bit about each company:-

Juwel -

Juwel are a German company, established in 1969 and they are one of the main manufacturers of tropical fish tanks and marine fish tanks in Europe. They’ve got a track record of good build quality (well they’re German eh!!) and excellent customer service

Fluval -

Part of the Hagen Group who’re among the largest privately operated suppliers and distributors of pet supplies on the globe. The business was established in 1995 by Rolf C Hagen. Fluval aquariums possess a style of Italian origin and are also many of the most popular and well known aquariums available.

Looks & Style

The Juwel Rio 125 looks great as a aquarium on it’s own. It has clean simple lines plus the internal gubbings (by which I mean the heater, filter media and pump) are nicely hidden inside the filter housing. This makes it nice and simple to camouflage behind some strategically place foliage! It needs to be said though that if combined with the cabinet, which isn’t the total width of the tank, the unit looks a bit top heavy and loses at lot of it’s good looks. The cabinet is available in 4 colours, Black, Beech, Dark Wood & White.

3/5

The Fluval Roma 125 like it’s competitor is really a fine looking tank. The same clean lines it benefits from the Italian design and much better attention to detail. Incorporating the cabinet (of which there are 4 options – Oak & Wenge, Black with Silver inserts, Oak with black inserts and, my personal favourite, Black with Titanium and Zebrano) actually enhances the overall style. The cabinet is the full width of the tank and the whole ensemble will be a great, stylish addition to any room.

4/5

Level Of Equipment

The Juwel Rio has the following as standard:-
Juwel High Lite Light Unit,
Juwel High Lite Day (T5 28 watt)
Juwel High Lite Nature (T5 28 watt),
Juwel Bioflow 3.0 Compact Filter,
Juwel Bioflow 600 Pump,
Juwel 100 watt Heater,
Selection of filter media
Mentioned previously, the pump, filter and heater are discreetly housed inside the filter housing which is a great touch. The hood has 2 removable flaps for straightforward access and is produced from easy clean pvc.

The level of kit is good and with Juwel’s track record of solid and reliable build quality you shouldn’t really need to change anything (unless you have the wish to do so) for quite a while.

4/5

The Fluval Roma has the following as standard:-

Fluval GLO lighting unit,
1 x Power-Glo fluorescent aquarium tube (T8 20 watt),
1 x Aqua-Glo fluorescent aquarium tube (T8 20 watt),
Fluval U3 Internal Filter,
Fluval Mirrored M-series Heater (150 watt),
Filter Media

Again, high-quality equipment that ought to perform the job just fine however the hood lets it down a little bit – the lighting unit runs through the middle and there are 2 access flaps. If you remove one there’s not enough room to insert your arm and access the tank properly (it’s suitable for feeding but that’s about it). For full access you will need to remove both flaps and slide the lighting unit out of the way which is a little fiddly. No disaster though not design utopia either!

3.5/5

Maintenance

Both tanks score well here.

The Fluval has quite a thin lid, which looks great, but as a result the lights sit slightly nearer to the water so just be conscious that should the bubbles from your air pump burst onto the lights you could have to wash off crispy algae each week or two. This could be avoided by carefully placing the pump to be sure the bubbles miss the lights. Not a real issue but something to keep in mind if you choose the Fluval.

Both score 4/5

Value For Money

The Juwel Rio 125 carries a RRP of Â£255.27 however you ought to be aiming to pay around the Â£200 mark.

4/5

The Fluval Roma 125 carries a RRP of Â£328.84 however you should really be aiming to pay around the Â£230 mark.

3.5/5

Overall

Juwel Rio 125 – 15/20

Fluval Roma 125 – 15/20

It’s tricky to split them but it really will depend on what you’re interested in – the Juwel edges it on practicality and good value although the Fluval wins on attractive looking style. Both have solid construction although don’t expect perfection at this price. Either will make an excellent first tropical fish tank.
A really good place to visit is aquatic comparison website http://www.aquariumhouse.co.uk – here you can view a big selection of tropical fish tanks, marine fish tanks, cheap fish tanks as well as quality aquatic supplies from a range of suppliers and manufacturers and do a price comparison and specification before buying.

About the Author

Review the Juwel Rio 125 Aquarium & the Fluval Roma 125 Aquarium at aquatic supply comparison website Aquarium House. Also compare Tropical Fish Tanks, Marine Fish Tanks, Cheap Fish Tanks, Fish Tanks For Sale and quality aquatic supplies from http://www.aquariumhouse.co.uk
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