My experience with All-Glass(Oceanic) Aquariums
Written: Jun 06 '05 (Updated Dec 29 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very sturdy, excellent customer service and warranty, good overflow design
Cons: HORRIBLE overflow placement
The Bottom Line: A great beginner tank for reef aquarium keepers, except for the overflow placement. If it changes to corner overflow, this is an excellent buy.
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| colstudent69's Full Review: AllGlass Large Size Aquariums |
Update 12/29/2006:
This continues to be an excellent aquarium for me. The glass has taken a lot of abuse and is not scratched at all. The one little bubble in the silicone is slowly degrading, so if you get a tank with a few bubbles in the silicone and can get it replaced for free, I would recommend doing that under warranty.
After 2 years my only complaint is still the terrible overflow placement. Unfortunately the company appears to be sticking to the new overflow placement. Apparently not all horrible ideas are quickly fixed.
Original Review:
In my aquarium "career" I have used All-Glass aquariums exclusively. I have used 10, 20, 29 and 55 gallon All-Glass aquarium tanks. I never had a problem with any of these tanks, despite some clumsy moves on my part. However, my review is going to focus on my recently purchased 75 gallon Oceanic Reef Ready tank.
What? But this category is All-Glass aquariums right? Why are you reviewing an Oceanic tank? Well, Oceanic was bought a few years ago by All-Glass and are therefore subdivisions of the same company. Right now it looks like Oceanic will remain a separate company by name, but that could change in the future. But I've heard that Oceanic and All-Glass are still dedicated to excellent quality.
The Tank:
My 75 gallon reef ready tank has dimensions of:
48.5 long x 18.5 wide x 21 tall. The megaflow (overflow) takes up approximately 12" of the back wall and is pushes out about 4" into the aquarium at the widest part.
Both the overflow drain and return holes are predrilled in the tank. I highly recommend getting a reef ready tank as it avoids the problems of having an overflow hanging on the side of your tank and the risk of losing siphon. The megaflow is limited to 600 gallons per hour(gph), which limits your choices for a return pump, but it is decent.
The 75 gallon, and the entire line from All-Glass and Oceanic (from 2.5 gallon to 200+ gallons), are available in a wide variety of trims to appeal to the many color tastes of aquarium keepers. There are a wide variety of shapes available as well. I personally would stay away from the bow-front aquariums as I've heard from several people they've had multiple ones fail until they stopped using them. Who wants to worry about that?
The tanks come with a good 5 year limited warranty. Basically if the tank fails for any reason, other than you smashing it with a sledgehammer, then they will replace your tank free of charge. I believe they will even pay the shipping. There is one CATCH to this deal though, you need to have the tank sitting on one of their stands. So if you want the peace of mind of their warranty, you need to purchase their stands which I think aren't as good quality as their tanks.
The Company:
Oceanic and All-Glass are basically the default fishtank companies out there. They have been around for years and their customer service and warranties are among the best in the business. Even with the bow-front tanks failing more frequently, I've heard they are always very good at replacing the tanks and even substituting with another shape of tank if the owner wants to get out of a bow-front tank.
Oceanic's website is a flash based website that does not seem to have an alternative low-tech version, which bothers me:
http://www.oceanicsystems.com/
All-Glass aquarium's website is much more low-tech and easier and faster to use:
http://www.all-glass.com/
You won't actually buy directly from the company, but instead will buy from a local dealer. You can find a dealer very easily on the all-glass homepage. Most local pet stores carry all-glass or oceanic tanks.
The Good:
Solidly constructed and the glass is very thick. I am very happy with the color of the trim and the packaging used to protect the tank. The workmanship of my tank was excellent except for one small bubble I found in the sealant. I didn't notice it until after my tank was up and running so I decided not to mess with it.
The overflow is designed well and is stylish, but see my comments on the position.
This size tank can easily hold 5-7 medium sized fish and is generally considered the smallest size tank to hold tangs(but only 1 or 2). The 75 gallon tank is excellent for trying to learn how to control aquarium chemistry as the large size lets you make mistakes without them always being fatal to your inhabitants.
The Bad:
It is HEAVY, it took two people to lift and position this tank when it was empty. When full this thing weighs well over 1000 lbs, so make sure you realize once it is in place and full, it won't be moved. It is a REALLY bad idea to try to adjust it when full anyway, that leads to torque and breakage.
It is made of glass, so too much pressure on one spot can break it and all of a sudden you have 75 gallons of water on your floor. Make sure your aquarium stand is LEVEL and strong, or you'll be crying. If you have kids that love to play baseball inside, this might not be a good purchase for you.
A couple of years ago the overflow on the 75 gallon tank was in the left rear corner. I think it should have stayed there! They moved it to the left 1/4 of the tank with about 4-5 inches of space between the overflow and the left rear corner of the tank. I think this is a HORRIBLE design as it makes it very difficult to get good flow in that corner and throughout the tank. You can't really put much in that corner with that limited space, and if you do it reduces flow there even more, so the left 1/3 of the tank is wasted in the back left corner. Really low flow causes many problems in reef tanks and I'm surprised Oceanic did this. This tank was designed to be used as a reef tank with the overflow and it just boggles my mind that this change made it to production.
I just wish I had thought about this before purchasing the tank, or I would have bought a different one that had a corner overflow.
Summary:
This is a well built and stylish tank with many color choices for the trim that will look nice in any room. However, I regretfully have to not recommend this tank because of the HORRIBLE placement of the overflow.
If you are really set on a 75 gallon tank and you are planning to add additional water flow with a closed loop, then you can plumb the closed loop output to be in the small left corner and you solve the low flow problem there and use the space wisely. If this is your plan, then this tank is great. Otherwise I would not recommend it.
If you can still find one of these tanks with a corner overflow, or they change the design back to a corner overflow in the future, then this is great company and I would recommend them highly!
I still am happy with my tank, but someday it will be replaced or modified to have a closed loop in the low flow left corner.
My Other Aquarium Related Reviews:
Testing Equipment:
Salifert pH test kit (3 stars)
Salifert KH/Alkalinity Test Kit (5 stars)
Salifert Calcium Test Kit (5 stars)
Salifert Magnesium Test Kit (5 stars)
Salifert Phosphate Test Kit (4 stars)
Salifert Iodine Test Kit (4 stars)
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FasTesT pH Test Kit (4 stars)
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FasTesT Ammonia-Nitrogen Test Kit (5 stars)
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FasTesT Nitrite-Nitrogen Test Kit (4 stars)
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FasTesT Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH Test Kit (4 stars) also called the Multi-Master Test Kit now.
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FasTesT Nitrate-Nitrogen Test Kit (4 stars)
Aquarium Systems SeaTesT Hydrometer (2 stars avoid)
Additives:
Kent Marine Essential Elements (3 stars avoid for beginners)
Pumps:
Hagen AquaClear Power Head 201 (5 stars)
MAG-DRIVE PUMPS (5 stars)
Rena Air Aquarium Air Pumps (5 stars)
Heaters:
Hagen Tronic Submersible Electronic Heater (4 stars)
Skimmers:
CPR Aquatic Cyclone Bak-Pak 2R (4 stars)
Aquarium Systems SeaClone Protein Skimmer SCPS-100 (1 star AVOID AT ALL COSTS)
Aquarium Supply Stores:
Marine Depot Aquarium Supplies (4 stars)
Drs. Foster & Smith Online Store (4 stars)
Aquariums:
All-Glass Standard Size Aquariums (5 stars)
My Aquarium Advice:
The top 10 things you NEED to start a saltwater aquarium (5 stars of course!)
Going saltwater vs freshwater and common pitfalls to avoid
Misc. Equipment:
Coralife Power Center for day/night lights and wavemaker functions(4 stars)
Intermatic Random Pattern Security Timer TN711C (4 stars)
Recommended:
No
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colstudent69
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Member: Brian
Location: Houston, TX
Reviews written: 127
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Instructional Technology Educator
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