Walmart Tanks?

Unfortunately for me, I'm an hour away from the border to Maine, and well I have a feeling that there won't be any good deals in any of the border towns. Probably a 3hr drive to Bangor, and with gas prices and having to pay 15% duty at the border on top of the exhange, it doesn't come out to be a good deal. I think I'll be either :

1. Getting a stand built (should be under $100CAD) and buying a 72gal tank ($270CAD) and a 48x18 hood + lights (~ $150CAD) - both from a LFS.

2. Getting the Walmart 55gal + hood/lights + stand for $300CAD.

Both choices have their merits. Either way, I'll be adding a Fluval 304 and probably a prefiltered AC300 and an Ebo heater (or 2).


GT3050,

If you are near a Petcetera store, the Fluval 304 is on sale for $99CAD. I'm getting a friend in Calgary to buy and ship one to me.
 
Yes, Gutterguppy, I'm supprised nobody else noticed my mistake....Regent is subsidiary of Marineland, not Hagen! I have the Nutrafin (Hagen) CO2 system on my brain right now.....my mistake. That is why I said they are the same as Penguin (also Marineland) cause they are almost exactly the same housing and propellers! I have a 10 gallong Regent tank "kit" which came with the Regent "Mini" HOB filter. I also bought a Penguin 125 HOB filter and the only difference is the bio-wheel and modified hood to fit the bio-wheel (and size of coarse!) I'm sure the Penguin "Mini" is identical!

Anyways for sylicone experiences with these Walmart tanks, I have a leak between the top plastic trim and the left side glass. It only leakes when I have the water level touching the rim, or when I used to use a Air Stone on that side of the tank. I only noticed it when the calcium deposits started showing, and now I cannot completely clean it off! I rarely have problems with it leaking now, but it still should have been made better!
 
I have a 29g from wmart. I 've had it 1 1/2 years and paid $93.00 for tank ,filter, hood , light and heater. They have had 55's with stands for $199.00. A 55, is normally $159.00 with same goodies as my 29g.
 
Well its a lude point after all the replies,

But I get alot from Walmart. My original 29g, my gf's 10g and alot of supplies come from Walmart. Its all good stuff as long as you stay away from the actual fish :)
 
Well Tanks very much for all of the replies! I am aware that Petcetera has Fluval 304's on for $100 cdn, but I haven't bought one because I'm still not sure if I should buy the 55g walmart tank, or just save up for the hagen one. My other option is the 33 gallon hagen kit which costs a little bit less than the 55 gallon walmart kit. Thanks again.
 
Go for the Walmart 55, but get good quality tanks if you go any higher. 55's just aren't that big of an investment (I know this is all relative, but they are pretty cheap and tanks any larger start getting pretty pricey!
 
where in Canada are you from? I'm from edmonton and I got my new 90gal w/glass top for 325$.I built a stand for 70$(my dad built it out of metal at work), built my lights for 30$ and got the filters on sale(AC500&AC300 for 100$ after the coupon).

If i were you i wouldn't go with the walmart, I don't trust there tanks that are bigger(55gal). Check around your area for a fish club. I know our club jsut had an auction and there were lots of tanks.They are also selling some tanks now that they bought jsut for the club.Check it out in your area.
 
Experienced Walmart User

Just some info -
I've been using Walmart tanks for over 12 years now. I always get the kit, because you can't beat the price! Right now I have a 29 Gallon that's about 10 years old (and still going strong with original filter - you just need to do the maintenance on it). I also have a 55 gallon that's 5+ years and 2 Ten gallons from Walmart. All have been just fine. No leaks, no flaws, etc.
The only thing that I have noticed with some of the tanks I've had is the size of the filter they include. Like someone said - it isn't a very good brand. I did have to add a small additional filter to my 10 gallons and I did buy a 29 gallon starter for a friend of mine recently that had a smaller filter then what I had originally gotten in my 29gallon. All I did was call the filter company and told them that the filter included in the 29 gallon kit was not powerful enough to do the job, told them my tank was cloudy and it just would not clean up and they simply sent me a new, more powerful filter at no cost. That might not work for everyone, but it's worth the try. All the filter manufacturing info is in with the kit.
If that doesn't work - even buying a second filter or a more powerful one to replace the one in the kit I think still is going to be cheaper then your local pet store. The only thing you can't get at Walmart are the odd shaped tanks - bowfront, hex, etc.
Hope this info helps!
Lisa
 
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