JBJ vs Aquapod vs.. others

[nc2tarheels]

I'm looking at buying about a 10-15g nano (depending on make). Which company would you recommend??? I know the JBJ's are known for cracking but that was the 24g. I'd rather have the 12. I'd like to go with a DX if I do a JBJ. What about the others? I don't know much about the other makes because I've never done a nano. I currently have a 55g. Thanks in advance for all help.

[Lakeside518]

We have a 12 gal aquapod. No problems at all. Has been up an running 2 months. We ordered through www.petsolutions.com

As with any glass tank--shipping is a concern we got lucky. No cracks/ leaks. Was packaged pretty well for the most part.

[d_icemand]

I have a jbj 24 and have had no problems. first tank and i love it. the cracking thing was blown out of proportion ima. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a small tank.

[nc2tarheels]

so i guess a better comparison would be a JBJ 12g DX vs Aquapod 12g since they are the same price basically. Which is better and why? Pros and cons to both please. Thanks
btw, wheres the cheapest place to buy one?

[supernareg]

the 12 gal aquapod LOOKS much bigger than the nancube.. i have the aquapod.

[auntievan]

I have the Aquapod 12 gallon. I don't have any experience with the JBJ or any else. The tank has been running for a little over a month. To me it is well put together. Come's with dual lights...dual moon lights and a fan. It has 4 chambers in the rear and a pump that seems a little bit weak. I'll be changing to a maxi 900. Other than that I would purchase again without reservation.
Mary K.

[danielwatson]

though I have never seen an aquapod. The nano cubes are excellant tanks, I own two of them (12 and 6), never had any problems.

[snarkes]

I love my JBJ 12 dx, I've replaced the pump with a maxijet 600, and everything seems fine. Customer service is awesome with them too. I havent really had to much to do with the aquapod.

[All Delight]

I have the jbj 24 gallon. My experiences with it:

1. My friends pump was doa.

2. My other friends pump died after 1 month.

3. My moonlights went out after 1 week.

All three of us have jbj's, they have 12 gallons I have 24.

I would recommend trying the aquapod.

Plus JBJ sucks with warranty.

The cracking was primarily with 24 gallons but they fixed that now with thicker glass.

[Hattie B]

I have a JBJ nano 12 g dx. And I love it. I have never had any problems.

Been up and running for about 5 months. My Zo's are doing great.

I can barly hear the two fans.

I would purchase/rec.

Amber

[DarthBaiter]

I have the aquapod 12 also. I got it because it looked bigger than the JBJ 12. I was kinda dissapointed that it only held 11 gallons of water while it was empty of substrate and LR. Oh, and also, my first one was cracked att he top on the right side and had to be exchanged. The second one had no problems, but kinda made me wonder why Current packs em with out any styrofoam, as the box rubs on the top of the pod and blemishes the plastic top.

[snarkes]

I think that many have had issues with the JBJ pump, however, I have spoken with their customer service many times as my pump was in bad shape when I got my cube. Each time they were very helpful. They have put a new pump in the 2006 models which for me helped with the heat issues, so anyone purchasing one of the newer models should be happy. Again, without having actually dealt with an aquapod, I like the JBJ canopy better too. I also like that nanocustoms, while it works with the aquapod, works more with it seems like the JBJ cube. So there are more options there too. I dont know... I'm a newbie anyways.

[motoman]

As an Engineer I have looked at the Aqua pod and it is neglibly different unless you buy the version with the Metal Halide option which is mega bucks IMO. They are all non-tempered glass cubes and I would bet they are both made (glass) in the very same Chinese Factory. yeah, I said it, Chinese.

The JBJ's of which I have owned (4) now, upgraded as time went on paying for JBJ's R&D through new purchases essentially are decent. I had one of the old ones with a bad Ballast but they replaced it no problem. Now, with the 48 Watt 12G and the 72 Watt 24G I have been able to house a variety of soft and hard corals in them with no problem.

The JBJs have som hoaky at best designs for their hinges which makes removal with badly molded and poorly painted hoods a PITA to remove at times. If you are afraid of breaking your tank to remove the hood (won't happen but "feels" like it) you should avoid this tank as you will never have the guts to replace the lights.

What I do not recall, from the last time I looked at the Aquapod is how their hinges were made so I cannnot comment on that.

I would like to say that I was told by a local fish store that the Aquapod glass is "cast" and not formed like the JBJ which is BS, they both are formed glass which is why the weakest points on either brand are the front corners and the back corners as with pretty much any tank. Given these are shipped overseas, packing is of the utmost importance. I have never seend the Aquapod packing but the JBJs seemed to be pretty good. If the Aquapod is packed as mentioned without foam or any protection on the top, my concern would not be with scratches on the hood but rather induced stresses due to impacts in transit which weakens the integrity of the glass.

My two cents worth.

[motoman]

One more thing I forgot to elaborate on. EACH AND EVERY Nanocube I have seen come into a store is of a slightly different style, they (JBJ) appear to be in a non-stop R&D mode throwing design after design out the door so no two "batches" I have seen at a particular store are the same. The tell tale signs are usually in the hood and the plastic molded top rim (usually the same mold used for the bottom rim as well). You will see goofey things at times like projections that appear to serve no function. This is due to the previous design having a "feature" there such as a plastic pin used as the hinge for the supports that hold the hood up for example. You can also typically see witness lines on the insides of the hoods where old designs were.

One thing I noticed in one variant was the first nanos came with two intakes, one on the bottom left and the other at the top left of the tank as you view it from the front. In a later version they figured out that the bottom port pretty much negated the effectiveness of the top intake due to the water finding the path of least resistance to flow into the back and second chamber of the filter. Soooo, the next design included a black oval piece of plastic that was siliconed with black silicone in place from the inside to shut it off. What a POS that was.

Again, as an engineer with over two decades of experience I see the thought process as they design "evolves" and to me it is kind of silly. Good for marketing though, they can, like Sony put out multiple products, negligibly different and market each variant as "improved". To me the only real improvements were their doubling of the lighting and the additional cooling.

BTW, before they marketed the add-on skimmer attachment I created my own by blocking main intake with foam and then using a drill bit at 90 degrees in a cordless drill cut "u" channels from the top of the divider down equally spaced and it worked like a charm. The main intake still brings in water but at a reduced flow due to the restriction of the filter material I used, scum from the water surface is skimmed and sucked in.

[AttackDonut]

I recently bought an Aquapod. I like the design very much. The 4 chambers in the back are just the right size, and the pump seems very powerful. Not to mention quiet.

The 3 individual light switches are a nice touch, 1 for the two moonlights, 1 for the 03s and 1 for the daylights (which also activates the fan)

The silicone used is black, and a little sloppy (on mine at least) but they used a good amount of it.

Glass (it's the 12 gallon one) seems thin, but no defects anywhere that I could see, and I looked very carefully.

Hood hinges are solid, almost overbuilt, and offer no wiggling, so that's good.

Overall, I'd say a great deal.

[EDIT]

The overflow on the 1st chamber, is open ended, allowing for very good surface skimming, unlike the original JBJ ones where it is sub-surface.

Also comes with two directional, 100% adjustable nozzles for the pump, again, very handy.

[outrigger]

my aquapod is running well so far.