Which to choose?!? [emoji30]

[Manuelnvrz]

I'm torn between an innovative marine 40gal fusion or a Jbj 45 gal rimless, both look awesome but not sure which to choose. Does anyone have any experience with this tanks that could give me a little more insight and help me out?

 

[Kershaw]

I would take the 5 extra gallons. And I think jbj has a better price.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

I would take the 5 extra gallons. And I think jbj has a better price.

There's nothing specs wise or feature wise that gives one a bit more over the other?

 

[michellejy]

Since I have been looking into both as options for a small predator tank, I will share what I have found. Just keep in mind that I have no actual experience with either. :)

The JBJ includes a glass lid and return pumps. The glass lids do tend to retain a lot more heat though. The biggest negative I came across regarding bent glass aquariums (although NOT specifically this one) was potential issues with structural integrity long term.

The Innovative Marine option includes a mesh lid and a return pump. It has siliconed corners rather than bent glass. It also has the option of a black or white stand, while the JBJ only has a black option.

There were some complaints about the structural integrity of older/different size Innovative Marine tanks, but I did not find any similar complaints about this specific model.

Basically, it seems to be a matter of if you prefer the extra 5 gallons and bent glass or lean towards the black silicone corners.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

Since I have been looking into both as options for a small predator tank, I will share what I have found. Just keep in mind that I have no actual experience with either. :)

The JBJ includes a glass lid and return pumps. The glass lids do tend to retain a lot more heat though. The biggest negative I came across regarding bent glass aquariums (although NOT specifically this one) was potential issues with structural integrity long term.

The Innovative Marine option includes a mesh lid and a return pump. It has siliconed corners rather than bent glass. It also has the option of a black or white stand, while the JBJ only has a black option.

There were some complaints about the structural integrity of older/different size Innovative Marine tanks, but I did not find any similar complaints about this specific model.

Basically, it seems to be a matter of if you prefer the extra 5 gallons and bent glass or lean towards the black silicone corners.

Appreciate all your input, I did see that IM came with a 476gph pump and JBJ with 2 266gph. Does that necessarily mean more water flow? And the structural integrity of bent glass is low in general?

 

[michellejy]

Appreciate all your input, I did see that IM came with a 476gph pump and JBJ with 2 266gph. Does that necessarily mean more water flow? And the structural integrity of bent glass is low in general?

Honestly, pumps are so inexpensive for a tank that size that I wouldn't let the pump size sway me one way or the other if I had a strong preference for a specific tank.

I came across various forum posts/anecdotes about bent glass structural integrity. I would imagine that the reason I came across the number that I did is because there are so many biocubes out there. (Basically, you will see a lot more complaints about Hondas than Ferraris, just because there are a larger volume of people who own the former.) I may be rolling the dice, so to speak, but I bought a JBJ Nano Cube with bent glass despite the handful of complaints I came across. Although I can't recall even one issue with the JBJ Nano's structural integrity being mentioned.

Like I said, there were definitely many issues mentioned with an earlier/smaller version of the IM tank, but I couldn't find anything about this specific size/model in my research.

I don't think you can go too far wrong with either. Although I would like the extra 5 gallons, I will likely go with the IM, just because I would prefer a white stand, but that is a fairly minor cosmetic concern.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

Honestly, pumps are so inexpensive for a tank that size that I wouldn't let the pump size sway me one way or the other if I had a strong preference for a specific tank.

I came across various forum posts/anecdotes about bent glass structural integrity. I would imagine that the reason I came across the number that I did is because there are so many biocubes out there. (Basically, you will see a lot more complaints about Hondas than Ferraris, just because there are a larger volume of people who own the former.) I may be rolling the dice, so to speak, but I bought a JBJ Nano Cube with bent glass despite the handful of complaints I came across. Although I can't recall even one issue with the JBJ Nano's structural integrity being mentioned.

Like I said, there were definitely many issues mentioned with an earlier/smaller version of the IM tank, but I couldn't find anything about this specific size/model in my research.

I don't think you can go too far wrong with either. Although I would like the extra 5 gallons, I will likely go with the IM, just because I would prefer a white stand, but that is a fairly minor cosmetic concern.

So they're pretty much evenly matched except the 5 gallons and cosmetic differences?

 

[michellejy]

I forgot to mention that the JBJ Nano Club section of this forum actually has A TON of 45 gallon build threads.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

I forgot to mention that the JBJ Nano Club section of this forum actually has A TON of 45 gallon build threads.

Will definitely check that out! Thanks!

 

[michellejy]

So they're pretty much evenly matched except the 5 gallons and cosmetic differences?

Yes, it really seems to be a matter of cosmetic differences.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

Yes, it really seems to be a matter of cosmetic differences.

Awesome, thank you so much for your input! [emoji3]

 

[LetItReef]

I am also deciding between these two tanks.
What did you end up buying?