Which brand of 125g standard is the most reliable?

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knifegill

knifegill

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
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Oscar Tummy
I'm on the verge of buying a bigger tank for my Oscar (currently in 75/80g). I'm looking at the standard 125g 72x24x24 that I see in most pet shops. But which brand is worth the money in terms of joint strength and longevity? Aqueon, Oceanic, All-glass and (Marineland? Not sure.) are the most common names I see. Out of these, which would be the least likely to explode? Are there other brands I can request? Did Tetra buy out one of them and do we know when production changed gears to the lesser quality craftsmanship and materials?
 
That's weird. Google lied to me. Well, I'm going for the 125 that's six feet long, regardless of height and width. It's for one Oscar so the surface area is only marginally critical.
 
I did the same comparison when I bought my 150g. I compared Aqueon (aka Allglass) and Marineland (aka Perfecto).

the Aqueon was much better built. thicker glass (slightly), two cross braces instead of one (although I believe the Marineland 180 does in fact use two), the cross braces on the Aqueon tank are much thicker/beefier than the Marineland ones, most of which have a sag in them while the tank is empty (at least all the ones at my LFS do).

the silicone work on the Aqueon tank was much thicker than the Perfecto tank.

for me, the choice was easy: Aqueon.

Oceanic tanks have the same thick glass and great silicone work as Aqueon tanks - which is no surprise as they are both owned by the same company - Central Pet, but they use a glass brace which is nice.

one advantage Perfecto has is that many of its tanks are available with black silicone, which stays looking brand new years later. I had Aqueon make my 150g with black silicone, but I had to pay extra for it:

IMG_0251.JPG
 
i have an OCEANIC. i intentionally bought it based on reputation. one thing i noticed is that my OCEANIC 125 Gallon has a plastic center post going from front to back for support. this support post has a thick piece of glass on both sides of it. the pieces of glass run the width of the tank, from front to back. i was told buy a lfs employee that the other manufacturers don't have that extra glass. that extra glass also allows for the OCEANIC hood to sit onto. i don't know if this is true, but you might want to look at cross supports on various tanks.

NOTE the ABOVE post by 12 volt man. He makes reference to OCEANIC's glass bracing that I am describing.
 
So I got the Aqueon 125 for just over three hundred dollars on sale. Now to get the stand. My wife won't let me make one, but the LFS owner says he might make me one in a month or so.
 
knifegill;3549669; said:
So I got the Aqueon 125 for just over three hundred dollars on sale. Now to get the stand. My wife won't let me make one, but the LFS owner says he might make me one in a month or so.
Click to expand...

Tell your wife you're building a stand, cuz that's what men do. Then tell her you're going to home depot, and she better have a sandwich waiting for you when you get back.

If you can make a square cut on a 2x4 and use a cordless drill, you can build a stand.
 
I just got my 200g AGA brand and I likes it a lot!!!
 
just make sure that you dont get tempered glass if you plan to drill it
 
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