Buying a new tank from glass cages

maintman02

maintman02

New Member
I am very new to the saltwater hobby and was told that bigger tanks are better, so I am buying a 180 gal. tank from glass cages. I am having them install overflows in the rear corners. My questions are:
1. Do I need an overflow in the rear center?
2. Where is the best place to have the return holes drilled?
3. Should I have any other holes drilled for closed system flow or can I use power heads and which provides better flow?
What I want is to have my tank all set up for a reef tank and not have to say that I should have done that when I was having my tank made. I want to set up my tank for corals, fish and any other critters I want without having to come up with a solution because I didn't do it now. Am I over thinking this? Any help would be great. :notsure: :help: P.S. how big should the holes be.What Do I Do
 
Y

yeffre kix

Guest
180 is a nice sized tank, it'll give you decent room for fish and landscaping. I would not recomend glass however, and no way use a glass cages product. Look into an acrylic tank. It's more durable in the long run and give a clearer view than glass. The only drawback is you'll have to be more carefull when cleaning the tank to prevent scratching.
 
Y

yeffre kix

Guest
A closed loop system is a great way to go because you can have all the flow without the powerheads in the tank. I'd say use two pumps at least 1000 gph each, one for a closed loop and the other through a sump.
 
mandarin w

mandarin w

Member
There are pro's and con's with both glass and acrylic.
Acrylic doesn't have the tinted look that glass has. It is a lighter, and a lot stronger than glass. But acrylic also scratches a lot easier that glass, but the plus is the scratches can be removed from acrylic, never from glass.
Glass is heavier, and lot heavier! and when drilled you can get very small hair line cracks in the glass, (not always, but it is possible.) I only mention this because of the closed loop question. With that many holes drilled into the tank it raises the possibility. Over time the hairline crack could grow and give way.
One of the guys in our local reef club had drilled his tank for close loop. About a year and ahalf later the whole back side of his tank blew out. We found out later about the hairline cracks in the glass.
If you are wanting the do a close loop setup, Then I would strongly suggest getting an acrylic tank.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
One of the guys in our local reef club had drilled his tank for close loop. About a year and ahalf later the whole back side of his tank blew out. We found out later about the hairline cracks in the glass.
No what is being said is one of the problems with drilling glass products for a closed loop system. when drilling the holes micri fractures can be produced weaking the glass. eventually it can cause the tank to give way. The actual tank may have been alright before the drilling though. its a risk when drilling so many holes all over for the closed loop.
Mike
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
there are several threads on here about the glass cages products, i would read through them then make your desicion, personally i wouldnt buy from them after the horror stories i have read on here.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
GlassCages is perfectly fine IMO.....Again we all start with horror stories.....Any company out there you'll hear stories just the same......Alot can be attributed to the user at times some not.......I've used GlassCages on several occassions and have been perfectly pleased with their work....You might have to take a razor to clean up some silicone from some spots, but no big deal......Check out my thread in the reef forum under 240 project......People shouldn't really comment unless they have specifically used a certain product IMO and stop going by what they've heard or horror stories.....I can tell you about a horror story I suffered from an Oceanic tank......My friend could tell you about another horror story with an AGA.....And again both instances I was personally there it wasn't 2nd hand info alot of people talk about........
Positioning of overflows is a personal choice, but I would opt to have it built to obtain the max linear skimming area as possible.....Be it from 1 center unit or 2 corner units....I don't recommend their acrylic overflow covers though.....
Pros and cons of acrylic over glass can be debated till the cows come home, and IMO acrylic isn't the best option by the least when it comes to reef tanks.....Just to easy to scratch, and if your worried about clarity go with Starphire glass if that is your choice......You also have to worry about crazing which happens just as well with acrylic.....There's a super nice tank in a thread here, that developed major crazing on one side.....Possibly bad acrylic or undue stress at some point.....hard to tell......
As far as drilling anything you run a chance.....I would say you have no greater or less of a chance of drilling the back of a tank.....Again it just boils down to the quality of the work.....Again I invite you to check out my thread in the Reef forum under 240 project, and check out the tank.....I spent a ton of money and didn't skimp and speak from personal use on my own and my customers custom setups as well.....Again some people are speaking from heresay, Call Tom and talk to him!!!!!!!!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
there are several threads on here about the glass cages products, i would read through them then make your desicion, personally i wouldnt buy from them after the horror stories i have read on here.
Have you personally dealt or seen their work in person??? I had an Oceanic break loose on me so we can all talk about horror stories about any company out there......it happens......
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Funny thing is they've been in business a long time, you'd be suprised how many tanks they have out there.....Matter a fact RobChuck had bought 1 and Kip who's tank made Tank Of the Month on ReefCentral boasts a GlassCage setup and such.......So again all this heresay is pointless unless you've actually dealt first hand with them....
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
point taken acrylic, agreed that i should not really say much when i have not used their products, however, i have heard a lot more negatives than positives about that company in particular. Good to hear a positive experience about them, as i will be looking into a reef ready 180 around tax time so maybe i could give them a shot. How is their customer service, do they list any references anywhere that i could contact? I just want to make sure i dont get the wrong end of the stick if you know what i mean. i was just going to go with a classic oceanic or all glass, one of the well known manufacturers, but i think if i want custom work done i may have to use a company like glass cages. are there any others that you would recommend?
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
point taken acrylic, agreed that i should not really say much when i have not used their products, however, i have heard a lot more negatives than positives about that company in particular. Good to hear a positive experience about them, as i will be looking into a reef ready 180 around tax time so maybe i could give them a shot. How is their customer service, do they list any references anywhere that i could contact? I just want to make sure i dont get the wrong end of the stick if you know what i mean. i was just going to go with a classic oceanic or all glass, one of the well known manufacturers, but i think if i want custom work done i may have to use a company like glass cages. are there any others that you would recommend?
That's my point....horror stories and not actually seeing anything proof wise in person.....I've dealt with Tom on Custom tanks just this past summer 8 times, with the smallest being 190 gallon.......You will always hear horror stories.....again some are due to just poor install on consumer end.......poor planning as well......I can give you first hand horror of an Oceanic of my own while I'd never purchase again, and before my last tank purchase I had looked at an Oceanic custom and it was so sloppy and the corners weren't even square...... :scared: For such a huge company.....Thats horrible and sloppy, so you see it can and does happen to all companies....
 
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