Equipment Review and Discussion :: tank brand advice

[LOBO]

hey everybody its been a while but i need some opinions on tanks and i know of no better place.

so i have a 55 gal tank right now. gaian is lovin it but i think its too small, specially now that i wanna add stuff to it. it was fine bare but i wanna give him a hiding place and such.

so anyway on to my question, i was/am nervous just having 55 gals of water around lol so now i wanna upgrade to something in the 110 gal family and before i do i wanna know what u guys think r good tank brands i can trust not to flood my apartment.

so what tanks r good, sturdy, and i wont have to worry about breaking when gaian slams his shell against the sides as he tends to do? lol

btw new gaian and his new tree root playhouse pics will be posted soon.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I have an All-Glass brand tank, it's only a 40 gallon breeder. When we were out looking, we looked at PetSmart, they had a Top Fin brand 40 gallon breeder there. I shook the Top Fin one and it wiggled, which made me really nervous. So I talked the hubby into going to this little aquarium store down the road, they had the All-Glass brand tank, I shook it and it didn't move at all. I told him, I know it's more expensive, but it feels thicker and sturdier. So we got that brand.

That's a lot of rambling to say that I trust the All-Glass brand so far and when I need to upgrade (assuming I don't go with a stock tank), I'll be looking for another All-Glass tank.

[SpotsMama]

All-glass has a good reputation. Also, you can find very nice custom built aquariums at stores that specialize in fish, especially salt water setups. Custom built tanks aren't necessarily more expensive that the name brands you find at places like Petsmart.

[BullDog]

You know, aquarium brand isn't something I've ever thought about!
My 75 gal is Marineland. My 90 gal might be Marineland, or it could be from a local tank shop. I'm not sure because the shop I bought it from can custom order for you from their tank supplier, and I can't remember if it had a sticker on it

They both have the same thickness glass, and I've never had a worry about either of them.

EDIT: I just looked at the 90 gal's glass lid, and it says Marineland, so there's a good chance the tankis Marineland too

[steve]

Well, in the 100+ gallon range, I would check out glasscages.com and look into an extra wide tank, preferably one that is 24" wide.

[LOBO]

thanks guys. I knew there was a site for aquiriums i had heard of on here but i totally forgot the name. thanks steve.

[LOBO]

oh and what is the difference between glass an acrylic? besides the material obviously. is one better then the other? i am lookin at the 120 gal on there that is 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot. is etheir one better at that size?

[BullDog]

One big difference is price. Just browsing glasscages.com, acrylic is about 2x the price of glass.

Another thing, acrylic scratches easily. Not only can it scratch with cleaning, but your turt is sure to scratch it with his/her nails + shell. This will give the acrylic a cloudy look.

However, the big advantages with acrylic is that, of course, it's unbreakable.

I would say to save some $$ and keep the clear look of your turtle tank, go for glass, unless you have fears that for some reason the tank has a high chance of cracking.

[steve]

Glass is also very heavy. Here is a bit of info: http://redearslider.com/tanks.html

[imderanged]

OMG! We just brought the 75 gallon GLASS tank a few days ago. Heavy! Your not kidding! It took two men to get it in, and it was not easy! I thought they were gonna drop it a few times! When they decided the best way to get it down the stairs was to "slide" it, I just couldn't watch!!! Seriously...I think if a glass tank is any bigger then 75 gallons, you probably have to hire professional movers to get it in the house!!!

[octpusgirl8]

When i got my 75 gallon, it was a little bit of an impulse buy. I had just had a profitable day at work and stopped at petsmart for a couple little things, when i walked by the big beautiful 75 gallon tank i'd been wanting for ages. I just couldn't help myself, and bought it right then. The petsmart employees were able to get it into my back seat for me (a miracle in and of itself) but when i got home, it was just me and the tank. So...by way of pure adrenaline, i got the tank out of the car and into my house all by myself! Haha i guess it shows that i'm still a little proud of that one! It sure would have been easier to wait for my boyfriend to come down, or my roomates to get home, but i was just so pumped about the new tank! So...long story short, big tanks are heavy and hard to move!

[Bascomb]

LOBO -- Acrylic scratches easy. I would suggest that you stay with glass. They are heavy but so is the water you put in it. Water weigh about 8.5 lbs per gallon. That makes just the water in the proposed tank at 850lbs. I am building a new house and I am haveing them engineer around a 125 gallon with a ceramic tile basin with a drain. I am planning on having a hot and cold water at the basin. Ain't that cool. .

[LOBO]

yes very cool.

i accually saw a really nice 125gal tank at petsmart today for only like 360 bucks. now im gonna wait til we move (we're buying a house soon) to get a new tank for i think im gonna go for something in the 100-125 gal range cause i want a big one and since we will be in the house for a while i dont have to worry about moving it much. i'll definately have friends come and help with installing it.

thanks for all the info guys.