I'd been thinking about upgrading my Fluval Roma 200 aquarium for a short while, purely because I'd been planning on something a little bigger. I certainly didn't have any troubles with my Roma - it's been a superb tank and looked great in my living room.

Anyway, we moved house around 6 months ago to a larger property which provided me with an excellent opportunity to begin scouring the marketplace for the Roma's replacement!! My new tropical fish tank had to be bigger but would need to fit in with the contemporary décor of the new living room (that was my preferred room for the aquarium). Following a fair amount of trawling online, exploring the local shops and speaking to fish keeping friends and experts, I decided on the Fluval Profile 1200 in stainless-steel. I'd been initially worried it may have the looks though not the muscle!! However, upon further investigation, my initial concerns were proved unfounded.

I've always been a big fan of Fluval. Some of their designs are drop dead gorgeous and the Profile 1200 is a prime example of this. The flush stainless steel front looks very clean and modern and the deep tank allows you to create a really natural looking display.

Standard kit includes:- 1 x Fluval Mirrored M series heater - 300 watt 1 x Fluval 405 External Filter with built in media 2 x Fluval Glo T5 Lighting units 2 x Power Glo T5 High Output Bulbs - 39 watt 2 x Life Glo T5 High Output Bulbs - 39 watt

After shopping around, I bought my Fluval Profile 1200 from Aquarium House (http://www.aquariumhouse.co.uk) and also received the following free items:- 1 x Fluval Aquarium Care Manual 1 x 26 gram Nutrafin Tropical Flake Food 1 x 100ml Nutrafin Cycle 1 x 100ml Nutrafin Aqua Plus Water Conditioner 1 x LCD Thermometer 1 x 29Kg Dorset Natural Gravel 1 x Fish Net (5 inch) 1 x Medium Easy Clean Gravel Cleaner 1 x Aquarium Background (120cm) - Japanese Plant & Driftwood

The tank holds a colossal 323 litres and it is, without doubt, a large unit but Fluval have managed to incorporate the extra size and yet keep it looking stylish. The official dimensions are 120cm long x 47cm deep x 133cm high (including the cabinet!!). As previously mentioned, the tank is deep which comes with the usual difficulties when cleaning but I think that the overall look outweighs this minor inconvenience.

One thing to beware of is the side opening doors. I fully understand why Fluval have opted for these rather than the traditional front openers but you do need to bear this fact in mind when measuring your available space - leave sufficient space for the doors to open!

Overall I am very impressed with my purchase and cannot fault my new set up. Fluval have made every effort to ensure that the aquarium looks clean, sharp and stylish and yet remain functional and user friendly.

The RRP on the Fluval Profile 1200 aquarium is £1,016.97 but you should be looking to pay around the £720 mark.