Choosing the right aquarium for your Fish pets isn’t a piece of cake. Because we understand, an all-in-one aquarium isn’t all that easy to come by. 

So, which aquarium should you go for when it comes to aqueon vs marineland?

Both the aquariums have some differences in the accessories they come with. For instance, Aqueon has better heaters than Marineland. Not only that, but aqueon also offers better resale value in comparison to Marineland. However, the Marineland water pump is relatively quieter than the aqueon. 

Fret not! This is merely a rough sketch of the entire issue. We’ll get into a factual discussion about both the brands in the remaining section. 

Let’s move forward!

Aqueon vs Marineland: Quick Review 

You see, choosing between two floating plants for your fish Tank isn’t easy according to your fish’s convenience. Likewise, when it comes to choosing the fish tank itself, it can get more tricky for anyone new in the market.

Moreover, both of these Aqueon and Marineland aquariums, that we’re discussing here, have a lot of similar features and a few downsides at the same time. 

So to make it easier here’s a brief table to give you a quick summary of each aquarium. Have a look-

Having difficulty comparing all these jargon plays? No issues! We’re gonna bring in some numbers to make things a little easier for you. Take a look at this rating chart below!

Now let’s dig deeper. Shall we?

Capacity 

Both Aqueon and Marineland come in different sizes and shapes. Oh not only that, mostly their materials and design also vary according to their capacity. 

So are you excited to find out how many options these two brands are offering you? 

Sit tight and let’s discover!

These are all the different aquariums by Aqueon and Marineland with varied capacities. You can easily choose one according to your home space and your pet’s convenience. 

However, aqueon actually has an assortment of both aquarium and accessories collections with different features. That being said, you’re having more options here than Marineland if you’re choosing an aqueon product. 

Winner: Aqueon

Build Quality 

Build quality is an important factor for selecting a new fish tank. The best fish tank is the one that is right for you and the one that will last for years to come. 

So let’s find out if the materials and sealant structure of Aqueon and Marineland match your preferences or not.

Source: fishcareguide.com

Glass Or Acrylic

Well, all the aqueon small aquariums, for instance, 0.5-5 gallon aquariums are made of acrylic. On the other hand, the big ones such as 10-40 gallon aquariums are made of high-quality glass.

However, glass aquariums are slumping against acrylic ones for various reasons. One of them is how neat the stuff is. Moreover, the relatively bigger glass aquariums of Aqueon seem to leak easily because of stress cracks.

On the other hand, both the Marineland portrait and contour aquarium are made of glass. Since these aquariums are small in size there aren’t many cases that show leaking issues. Besides, the glass is so neat you’d barely feel it was there at all.

Moreover, there have been occasional cases of the Marineland bigger aquariums appearing shattered at their destinations. Hence, this leads us to assume the sturdiness is also up to par.

In short, both brands are perfect for beginners. Nevertheless, whichever brand you’re choosing, handle it with care while setting it up professionally.  

However, if you’re only looking for durability in AIO’s then you should look for something out of these brands. From our experience with AIO’s, we’ve found coralife and Fluval tanks to be the strongest. 

So, here are some of our suggestions for the strongest AIO’s out there-

P.S. Don’t let Thor (your child with a hammer) have his way with these. At the end of the day, these are aquariums, right?

Silicone Lines

The silicone-based structure of the Aqueon tank isn’t as durable as we would’ve liked it to be. It’s quite prone to cracks and scratches from external physical forces. Hence, you will have to tread lightly when trying to clean the tank.

Similarly, we noticed the black silicone used in Marineland pulls apart from the pressure of water. Also, different users have revealed that the nooks and rims of the 5-gallon tank had extra chunks of adhesive. It failed to properly attach the glass rails together. So this might result in your fish tank leaking shortly.

You see both the Aqueon and Marineland are quite weak on their silicone seam. Therefore, we would suggest you redo the silicone lines before setting them up to avoid leaking.

In this case, you should go with sealants that are both waterproof and non-slump. So, here are some of the strongest waterproof aquarium sealant recommendations for you.

Using a strong sealant you can secure your fish tank from any unwanted cracks or scratches. However, don’t put too much temperature stress or pressure on your tank. Because these adhesives have their limits as well.

Winner: Tie

Quality of Filtration 

The Aqueon comes with a pro-power filtration system that works up a five-stage cleaning process. It completely cleans out the tank and keeps your fish healthy and safe. 

From treating bacteria or microbes, and even medium traces of DOC, Aqueon goes the extra mile. It makes sure that your first ever fish-keeping experience is an amazing one.

However, you might find this filter a bit noisy at times. As it’s big in size (courtesy of the five-step process), it vibrates a lot. Therefore, it makes a loud noise or sound when working. In case you have sensitive ears, then you might find it very irritating.

Nonetheless, when it comes to battery charging, the filter won’t require any form of guesswork from you to figure out when it’s out of juice. It comes with an LED light marker on the surface. It’ll shine and prompt you that its cartridge is running out and will need a charge soon.

However, this feature is absent in the Marineland Penguin 350 Power Filter.

Moreover, this filter doesn’t have enough space for other filter media like the Aqueon LED pro aquarium power filter.

Furthermore, we realize all fish aren’t identical. It means not all fish require the exact sort of tank layout, and that involves water flow.

Fortunately, the Marineland Aquarium comes with a flexible flow on its filter. So you can modify the tank to the requirements of your fish and plants. Unfortunately, this can’t be said for Aqueon filters.

Also, unlike aqueon filters, Marineland filtration operates smoothly and calmly. Thus it can be attractive visually, without any disturbing noise.

Winner: Marineland

Accessories 

Aqueon and Marineland aquarium kits come with some valuable accessories that complement the fish tank so well. However, the quality of these accessories matters a lot.

A fish tank with better accessories is easy to install and it doesn’t even require too much maintenance.

So here’s a short comparison chart for you to find out the convenient ones from this pool of accessories.

Did you get the hang of it? If not, it’s totally fine. We’ll now walk you through the detailed comparison. 

So let’s find out which brand offers the better quality accessories to make your user experience comfortable.

Lid

You’ll notice a lot of fish tanks keep hoods with a hinge. It keeps the lid clasped to the tank even when opened and partly removed for cleaning. But when it came to the aqueon fish tank lid we noticed the full top on this fish tank needed to be taken off and set aside.

A lot of aqueon aquarium reviews revealed having a hard time taking out and resetting the hood. Because it’s loose to fall down as it can be soapy.

However, this can be upgraded or fixed if it becomes an annoying and permanent issue.

Here are some easy to move glass canopy replacement recommendations that you can look into-

However, since these are glass canopies, try not to test your strength on them.

Source: fishcareguide.com

On the other hand, the Marineland hood is a hinged top for easy access and feeding. Also, adaptable for use with heaters, filters, and accessories. But the only drawback is opening the hood too far will allow the LED light strip to fall off the hood straight into the water. 

So if your tank is against a wall or enclosed in a cabinet, you won’t have fun retrieving it. The light is supposed to snap onto the hood, but it’s certainly not tight enough to keep it in place when the hood is in a vertical position.

Winner: Marineland

Lights 

Aqueon has energy-efficient LEDs that are really super bright and effective for plants and fish. The overall lighting system makes the tank look beautiful. Also, it helps to create an ambiance in the area wherever the tank is situated. 

Though the LED lights are enough glossy to brighten the whole tank, they become so heated very quickly. Moreover, they’re likely to expire sooner than would be helpful for some users.

Source: fishcareguide.com

Plus, the lighting is in-built into the aquarium cover and has no splash guard. So, it’s also easy to get the lights wet.

Nonetheless, the lights are sufficiently sharp for human viewing. However, they’re not bright enough for any living plants that a user might like to set in the aquarium with the fish.

There isn’t any “night time” light outlined for the LED lights in this fish tank like the Marineland lights. The lights are either totally on or totally off. Hence it doesn’t give many options to the people who like a more flexible, nighttime fish tank experience.  

On the other hand, the Marineland is also equipped with fantastic LED rail lights. These lights blaze sufficiently onto the fish so that everything can be nicely brightened.

Also, these lights can be fixed on a timer. So you can modify your tank to function without any direction from you. More specifically it’ll be able to simulate the normal day/night cycle.

However, the different layout of the contour aquarium causes a little trouble for some of the more conventional structures. Plants, particularly those that rise sideways rather than vertically will have difficulty adjusting appropriately to this tank’s shape.

That’s why while decorating, it’s a creative game to choose plants that thrive upward. As well as little figures or other ornaments that don’t use plenty of floor space instead of the common aquatic pirate ship.

Another problem is somewhat similar to the aqueon light. The Marineland hood light might not catch up with all your plants suitably. In this case, preferring low-maintenance plants will guarantee a comfortable life for your fish and all of the other inmates.

Winner: Tie

Heater

The Aqueon is made primarily for tropical fish. Hence, instead of a regulator, it has a preset heater that warms the water to 78 degrees. This is basically the ideal temperature for tropical fish.

However, the lack of a temperature adjustment feature here can indeed be very inconvenient. This can take a while to heat up your fish tank water.

So, if you want to give a shot at keeping goldfish, then we would recommend that you don’t opt for Aqueon.

However, compared to an aqueon heater, a Marineland heater gives much more hard time. Because it massively lacks temperature control.

Sometimes, the unit no longer heats up and the temperature cools down dangerously low overnight. Again sometimes the temperature holds strong and steady little to no fluctuation but suddenly climbs up about 2-3 degrees.  

Overall, these uncontrolled temperature fluctuations can harm your fish or even kill them. In this case, we would suggest you upgrade your Marineland heater to a new one. 

For your convenience, we’ve listed some heaters with accurate and steady temperature control . Take a look!

Nonetheless, the aqueon heater is sort of species-specific. If you’re only aiming for tropical fish then this heater should be enough. 

On the other hand, a Marineland heater can be quite risky for your fish pals considering its temperature instability. So an upgrade should be like low hanging fruit here.

Winner: Aqueon 

Pump

Source: cayman.desertcart.com

The Aqueon water pump is slightly quieter than the Marineland maxi-jet 600 pump. The aqueon pump can circulate 1650 Gallons Per Hour (GPH), whereas the Marineland pump can circulate 160/750 max GPH. 

That’s why you can use the aqueon pump with your other 125 to 180-gallon aquarium as well.

However, for relatively smaller fish tanks this pump can be a little too powerful. Also, the suction cup can be slightly difficult to clip but once it’s clipped it stays in place.

The Marineland pump, on the other hand, gets noisy if you try to block or lower the flow rate. Moreover, the suction cups aren’t as strong as the aqueon pump and don’t last long. Apart from that, this pump isn’t bad for beginners.

Winner: Aqueon

Assembling 

Both Aqueon and Marineland Aquarium come with a detailed and easy-going, step-by-step assembling handbook. It’s easy to understand for grown-ups, teens, and kids alike.

However, the Aqouen forge aquarium stand is very sturdy and incredibly convenient in size (30 by 12-inch). That’s why you wouldn’t face any problem installing your 10-gallon or 20-gallons aquariums on it. Both adults and children will be able to fill the tank with water and feed the fish easily from this height point.

On the other hand, the Marineland simple modern stand (30″ x 30″) isn’t appropriate for 3-gallon and 5-gallon aquariums. Moreover, you might face problems setting them up because this can get quite sloppy with insufficient space. 

In this case, you would need to cut some corners. Such as getting an easy to assemble and moisture-resistant stand for secure setup.

So we found out that coralife and aquatic fundamentals have some easy-to-put tank stands. Let’s take a look at the following recommendation list.