The Best Fish Tank, Heater, Light, and Accessories - The New York Times

Our pick

Marina 20G LED Aquarium Kit

Marina 20G LED Aquarium Kit

This is the best kit we've found for beginners because it includes the highest-quality filter, light, and lid—but it lacks a heater.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $97.

Even though it lacks a heater, the Marina 20G LED Aquarium Kit is hands down the most impressive tank kit we tested. Of all the kits we considered, the Marina has the brightest light and the most elegant design, and it has a stable, customizable filter that will keep beneficial bacterial colonies alive much better than any other kit filter. The Marina kit's only drawback is its omission of a heater, but no kit comes with absolutely everything you need to get started, and if you add our heater pick, for only a little more money you end up with a substantially better setup than other kits we tested.

Advertisement

Our pick

Eheim Jäger Thermostatic Aquarium Heater (100 Watts)

If you buy the Marina kit for use with tropical fish, you'll need a heater. The 100-watt Eheim Jäger Thermostatic Aquarium Heater is the best we found for a 20-gallon tropical tank after researching more than a dozen and testing seven. It has the largest temperature range of any heater we tested—from 65 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, in two-degree increments—and its temperature-control ring is easy to see and adjust without putting your hands in the tank.

Runner-up

Aqueon LED 20 Aquarium Kit

Aqueon LED 20 Aquarium Kit

This kit has all the essentials, as well as a heater. The overall quality of its equipment is inferior to that of our main pick, but compatible equipment is easy to find at any fish store.

Buying Options

*At the time of publishing, the price was $103.

If our main pick sells out, or if you want a kit that includes a heater, the 20-gallon Aqueon LED 20 Aquarium Kit is a good alternative. Compared with the Marina kit, it has a dimmer light and a less powerful filter, though both are still decent. Its preset heater isn't as good as our adjustable stand-alone recommendation, either. But it's available at a great price for a kit that contains all the basics for a tropical tank, from a company with reliable customer service and a huge range of compatible accessories that are available at most fish shops. It's the second-best tank kit we found after the Marina offering.

An aquarium kit comes with a tank, a light, a filter, and (usually) a heater. But you'll also need substrate, water conditioner, a water test kit, a gravel vacuum, food, an algae sponge, and fish. We have recommendations for all of those components (except the fish), and you can buy most of them online, though you should plan a trip to your friendly local fish store for the fish and for advice on the best way to set up your tank.

While either the Marina or Aqueon starter kit will give you a good basic setup for a great price, you can get significantly better equipment by buying components individually, which will likely improve the conditions for your fish. Buying our individual picks for tanks, filters, heaters, and lights will cost between $30 and $70 more than going with a kit, but you'll end up with a more powerful and versatile filter, an adjustable heater, and a significantly brighter, customizable light, which is important if you plan to grow live plants.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu...
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year...
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re...
Read more