Aqueon vs Top Fin aquariums

[HeyItsAmanda]

Hi everyone,

I’ve heard some mermers about the quality of Top Fin tanks not being as good as Aqueon. However, I love the black silicone look. From your experience, have you had any major defects in Top Fin that would make you steer clear of them? (Not interested in re-sealing a tank with black silicone)

 I have one 29 Top Fin that is currently soaking driftwood/cycling (not pictured) and it has been fine for the last couple months. My 29 Aqueon (pictured) was bought on Craigslist from a guy that had it up for a while, and even that was 3 years ago. This tank has been a boss with no leaks or anything to worry about. 
Any experience is much appreciated! 

[Guppysnail]

I have had both. I have not had issues with either. 
The only quality issue I ever had was the glass not being lined up right on one aqueon but it causes no problems and does not leak. 
I do prefer the aqueon 5.5 gallon over the topfin 5 gallon though. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Speaking only from my own personal armchair. I don't think there's anything wrong with a TopFin aquarium. I think for most people is TopFin is only sold really through Petsmart, while Aqueon is an industry-wide brand- this would matter to some people with availability and maybe they don't want to support or even have Petsmart. While you can get some Topfin items on sites like Amazon (accessories only) you can get Aqueon generally anywhere, including Petsmart. I have Aqueon tanks, and other than my low iron glass Aquatops I prefer Aqueon because there are several manufactured options when it comes to lids and tank items specifically made in the Aqueon line- also a lot of aftermarket stuff is geared towards a standard Aqueon rimmed tank. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[FLFishChik]

I own both and I haven’t had any issues. My 29g and 2 x 5g are Topfin. 75g and 10g are Aqueon

[nabokovfan87]

The main thing is if you get a topfin tank, make sure you get a top fin lid and stand that fits those dimensions.  Aqueon and TF have different dimensions, similar sizes, but this is common between all of the major tank manufacturers.  If you like black silicone, be sure to check out the OG black silicone tank, marineland!

I had a bowfront marineland, best quality tank I've owned.  Not saying much, but it was very well constructed!

[Phoenixfishroom]

Honestly I hate aqueon filters, they just randomly stop running sometimes and you come home to find them burning out the impeller while they fail to self prime (they definitely fell at self priming pretty much all the time).

I like the topfin filters a lot I have couple of 110s, and two smaller ones as well. The media compartment is huge, they move a lot of water, and they are easy to clean. They also self prime, much better as long as your water level is high enough. The only thing I don’t like about them is that they don’t sell replacement parts. They will however give you a new one if you call corporate and complain about the impeller burning out and it being ridiculous that you can’t just buy this part somewhere like you can for every other filter…. They have done it for me twice. Since then, though, I have been replacing the ceramic center pole of the impellers with pieces of metal the same size and it has been working really well and having them burn out prematurely is no longer a problem.