GlassCages or Oceanic??

[MikeyBoy]

I am aabout to buy a new tank and was very impressed with Don's new 240 GlassCages tank.

If you were going to buy a tank over 200 gallon, which one would you buy?

Thanks for the vote!

[GaryP]

I guess Aquatrends is out huh? :)

Gary

[wkopplin]

I like my Oceanic 215.

[prof]

I would buy Oceanic in a heartbeat if I have the money.

[GaryP]

Glass Cages basically build the tank to whatever spec you want as far as the type of glass and thickness. I'm sure that Oceanic is the same with the larger tanks.

Gary

[GaryP]

I think GlassCages is Nashville.

Aquatrends is local (SA) but one of our members just had a bad experience with one of their tanks.

Gary

[::pete::]

Aquatrenda is on Basse and Glasscages is in Tenn.

[alexwolf]

I like my Oceanic. I also prefer the acrylic overflows, and a level bottom. The glass cages has glass bracing on the bottom. That being said, I much prefer the low iron glass on Don's tank. Looks gorgeous. So, its a toss up! lol

[GaryP]

My next tank is going to be a glasscages 180 but without their glass overflows. I plan on having Dan build me a Calfo overflow.

Gary

[don-n-sa]

Let me say this about the glass overflows...I was very sceptical about them at first, but after learning about how silicone BONDS to glass and only sticks to acrylic I quickly understood why Tom @ glasscages only does glass overflows. Tom builds his tank to last a lifetime not 10, 20 , or 30 years. I have heard about acylic overflows having to be redone after time. I had dan make me some acrylic oveflows that snapped into place over the glasss overflows and my return plumbling hold them into place. Between the way dan made them and the return plumbing combined with sand, rock and water pressure, I didn't even have to use any type of sealant they hold into place on there own. After putting them on they look just like normal overflows!!! Great work Dan!

So far I am very happy with the quality of the tank but it is still early to tell for sure, but the tank is built like a TANK...pun intended. Just asked everyone who helped me move it! The silicone is not as clean looking as Oceanic but I can clean it up myself. And I have to say the low iron glass is awessome!

The total bill was only $1440 shipped!!! that is including a beautiful oak stand to...the quote I got from oceanic was over $2400 and that was not including low iron which would of tripled the price!

[alexwolf]

yeah his is true, Oceanic is not the most reasonable on tanks! Still gotta love that glass though.....canr wait to see the reef in it!!!

[don-n-sa]

Ok....now that I have talked about glasscages enough, let me say this:
when I first started shopping for a large tank oceanic was my first choice for several reasons. quality and looks being the most important. I really wanted an 8'x2'x2' tank (240g) but the prices that I was quoted were ridiculous IMO. The price for a 215 7'x2x29" was reasonable, started at $700, but the price for the oceanic 240 started at $1100! how do you justify paying $400 for 25g?

Another thing that I liked was their newer overflows that draw water from the lower part of the tank also.

After much thought I went for quality and price over quality and looks!

[Richard]

OceanView makes nice tanks at a reasonable price and they will do custom sizes without charging an arm and a leg. If I were getting a 240 that's what I would get. Oceanic is still considered the best glass tank but with constant price hikes they are getting too expensive IMO. FYI they just raised prices again 5% - 7%. If you have to get a brick style (no centerbraces) then I would pay the $ and go with oceanic.

[::pete::]

Richard isnt oceanview owned by oceanic?

[Ed]

Ocean View is made in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

[Richard]

Nature's View was the one owned by oceanic. They dropped that line.

OceanView is not affiliated with oceanic.

[Richard]

Perfecto also makes a 265 gallon tank which is much cheaper than Oceanic. I was looking at getting one but decided on an oceanic 215 instead because I only had 6 feet of wall space. It was 1/2" glass, 2 narrower top braces instead of one wide center brace, 84"L x 24"W x 30"H, they also use glass overflows. I don't remember the price exactly but I think it was around $1500 or so for tank and stand.

[CD]

Just a FYI in case you were leaning towards Oceanic...River City Aquatics is selling Oceanics at dealers list for the month of November.

Wendy

[astrong]

And All Glass ownes Oceanic...

I prefer Oceanview over Perfecto, they look a lot nicer and are pretty cheap. Of course Oceanic is still my favorite. And if you think Oceanic is expensive, try asking them to do something custom. Thats a real eye opener.

The 215 braceless is really nice. I wish I would have gone with that over my 180. Oh well.

[Richard]

Actually it is Central Garden & Pet company (CENT on NASDAQ) which owns Oceanic, All Glass, Island Aquarium, Kent Marine and more. Not sure if they have bought Marineland yet which owns Perfecto, Aquarium Systems and more....ever wonder why there are so many similiar products?

[captexas]

Got an email from GlassCages.com today. If you pick it up at the Dallas show on December 4th, they will only charge you $50 for delivering it there from there office. The quote I got for shipping a 120g tank to S.A. was $215 so it is a pretty good savings, even with gas money to Dallas.

[captexas]

LOL, I can't make up my mind what I want to do. Going crazy here trying to decide. I was going to make the 240g a fish dominant tank and keep the 75g as my reef tank. Then figured if I have to move the 75, might as well upgrade to like a 120g. Another issue is I was thinking about having the 240g visible on both sides and have the front room be my fish room, but that is difficult to do unless I had someone build some custom cabinets/removable panels to enclose the sides and the stand. All of this cost more money, that on top of what I already have to spend on tiling the front of the house! So on top of all this, I am debating on just making the 240g a reef tank and getting rid of the 75g. But that will take some work as well, need more lighting and a real chiller mostly. I don't know, anyone have a Magic 8 Ball I can use ? lol :-)

[captexas]

oh sure, add another idea to the mix! Now if I can only figure out how to get a 75g tank high enough to gravity feed into the 240g, LOL :confused:

[matt]

Any pictures of the glass overflows? It is true that silicone does not bond to acrylic, and as such, acrylic overflows will never be as solidly attached as glass ones would be. But, with a typical corner overflow, the water pressure actually strengthens the joint, so there's little chance of the acrylic coming loose. What I think would be ideal would be a glass calfo overflow shelf.

Except, I'm almost certain my next tank will be acrylic; they're much more beautiful to look through than standard glass. How does the starfire glass compare to acrylic as far as clarity goes?

[GaryP]

Matt,

The Starfire will have a lot more clarity after you scratch up the acrylic trying to remove coraline algae.

Gary

[NaCl_H2O]

oh sure, add another idea to the mix! Now if I can only figure out how to get a 75g tank high enough to gravity feed into the 240g, LOL :confused:

Think BIGGER :-D And while you are thinking, go rob a bank ;)