Silicone on Marineland Tanks

[ca1ore]

..... and look at what happened to oceanic .

People who don’t work in manufacturing usually don’t understand how even a few dollars of extra cost translate to big amounts when you sell a lot of something. You don’t think it’s occurred to ML to spend more on the cost of their tanks? If the prior post about failure rates is correct and it’s nominally around 1% (of which a majority are likely to be owner stupidity) then there’s no ‘problem’ to solve.

It’s mostly a function of internet ‘hand wringing’. A couple of people post about a major tank failure and all of a sudden there’s something significantly wrong with the product line. Dollars to donuts many of those failures are stand or floor problems. No amount of extra bracing or better silicone is going to save a tank torquing on a non coplanar stand.

I’ve had one catastrophic tank failure in 30 plus years in this hobby, and it was entirely my fault by putting a tank on a night stand. Note to self - don’t do that again LOL. Now I overbuild all my stands and brace the crap out of my floor (and I put rigid foam under all my tanks). My tank holds 400 gallons. That would make quite a mess.

 

[BestMomEver]

Running a ML 60 cube. So far, solid as a rock (knock on wood!). Every company has issues at some point. If they fix them, they stay in business.

 

[italquam]

..... and look at what happened to oceanic .

People who don’t work in manufacturing usually don’t understand how even a few dollars of extra cost translate to big amounts when you sell a lot of something. You don’t think it’s occurred to ML to spend more on the cost of their tanks? If the prior post about failure rates is correct and it’s nominally around 1% (of which a majority are likely to be owner stupidity) then there’s no ‘problem’ to solve.

Do you know how their plastic bracing holds up on top of tank, I read somewhere it needs to be replaced periodically

 

[ca1ore]

I had a 10 year old 180 and the brace was fine. My 265 went 4 years before I sold it and no problems there either. Buddy of mine had a brace crack after about 6 years but my suspicion was that it accelerated by being baked with metal halide lights. Not sure what plastic they use, but UV will degrade many kinds. A little common sense and you’ll be fine. On the big ML tanks the top rim and braces are separate pieces anyhow, so probably pretty easy to replace.

 

[Pntbll687]

Do the deep dimensions tanks still have issues?

Why doesn't Marineland make a premium quality tank with glass bracing, just produce them in small batches, they would attract a lot of hobbyists

I don't know if any issues with the current DD tanks. To be honest those sales are special order and are few and far between. I have sold 1 DD tank in the last 3 years.

To be honest, we on this forum have a very skewed view of what is actually going on in the aquatic world. We see reefer after reefer setting up a red Sea 750 or a water box peninsula tank, but those tanks probably make up .01% of what's our there. Most people are setting up 125g or smaller. And the 125g are a small percentage. I would say 65-75% of tanks are 75g or under.

 

[italquam]

I don't know if any issues with the current DD tanks. To be honest those sales are special order and are few and far between. I have sold 1 DD tank in the last 3 years.

To be honest, we on this forum have a very skewed view of what is actually going on in the aquatic world. We see reefer after reefer setting up a red Sea 750 or a water box peninsula tank, but those tanks probably make up .01% of what's our there. Most people are setting up 125g or smaller. And the 125g are a small percentage. I would say 65-75% of tanks are 75g or under.

Makes sense, I was looking at either a ML 180 or ML265

 

[Pntbll687]

Makes sense, I was looking at either a ML 180 or ML265

I would buy a ML 180 easy.

They all come with black silicone now, just an FYI.

The only brace I have seen needing replaced was on a DD 300, and only because the metal halide lights had caused the brace to loosen because of the heat.

 

[Pntbll687]

I had a 10 year old 180 and the brace was fine. My 265 went 4 years before I sold it and no problems there either. Buddy of mine had a brace crack after about 6 years but my suspicion was that it accelerated by being baked with metal halide lights. Not sure what plastic they use, but UV will degrade many kinds. A little common sense and you’ll be fine. On the big ML tanks the top rim and braces are separate pieces anyhow, so probably pretty easy to replace.

Now the brace and frame are one piece and the whole top gets replaced at the same time. At least it was on a DD 300

 

[italquam]

I would buy a ML 180 easy.

They all come with black silicone now, just an FYI.

The only brace I have seen needing replaced was on a DD 300, and only because the metal halide lights had caused the brace to loosen because of the heat.

Which do you personally use?

 

[Pntbll687]

I

Which do you personally use?

I have a deep sea aquatics 190. The company I work for sold them before they went out of business.

I got a great deal on it.

I'm looking to replace it with a 180. I got a quote from aqueon on a custom drilled 180 without the overflow peninsula style. If I go with corner overflows I'll go with the marineland

Just too that 1min ago

 

[ca1ore]

Now the brace and frame are one piece and the whole top gets replaced at the same time. At least it was on a DD 300

Perhaps they’ve changed the design. My ML265, bought in late 2013 had separate pieces

 

[Pntbll687]

Perhaps they’ve changed the design. My ML265, bought in late 2013 had separate pieces

Could be.

I had to get a customer a quote on a frame for a 300DD, so I know that's one piece, I'm not positive on others

 

[italquam]

I

I have a deep sea aquatics 190. The company I work for sold them before they went out of business.

I got a great deal on it.

I'm looking to replace it with a 180. I got a quote from aqueon on a custom drilled 180 without the overflow peninsula style. If I go with corner overflows I'll go with the marineland

Just too that 1min ago

Nice tank, I didn't know Aqueon does custom tanks.

Issue I have is I can't find a good fish store in Massachusetts. One that offers tanks custom ordered or ML

 

[Mastiffsrule]

It’s stunningly simple - people like and want cheap. Just look at Jebao if you doubt that. ML is in the mass-market business.

I’m gonna have to go the other way . Some do cheap wether forced to or not. But to say something is no good is a blanket statement.

I had an all glass 55 way back, then a 90 Ml, also way back, and now a current ML in service for 10 years. Not an issue with any, and the 55 went thru at least 3 moves.

It’s been said before in many ways, the more tanks built the more out there that can fail. Yes, there are better builder and also worse. The only true result would be #of tans sold/# of failures. I build 3 tanks and 1 fails than people say I had 1 tank fail, but really it is 33 percent. I built 100 and 3 fail I am at 3%. It is all how you look at it.

 

[Pntbll687]

Nice tank, I didn't know Aqueon does custom tanks.

Issue I have is I can't find a good fish store in Massachusetts. One that offers tanks custom ordered or ML

Where are you at in Mass? I'll see if I can find a dealer near you.

And aqueon has a custom drilling program, you gotta ask the right questions to the right people to get it done. It's allot of hope to jump through. The downside is there is no negotiation on cost. They give the price, take it or leave it.

 

[italquam]

Where are you at in Mass? I'll see if I can find a dealer near you.

And aqueon has a custom drilling program, you gotta ask the right questions to the right people to get it done. It's allot of hope to jump through. The downside is there is no negotiation on cost. They give the price, take it or leave it.

I am in Revere, MA 02151

 

[italquam]

Where are you at in Mass? I'll see if I can find a dealer near you.

And aqueon has a custom drilling program, you gotta ask the right questions to the right people to get it done. It's allot of hope to jump through. The downside is there is no negotiation on cost. They give the price, take it or leave it.

How is the build quality on Aqueon tanks from your experience ?

 

[ca1ore]

I’m gonna have to go the other way . Some do cheap wether forced to or not. But to say something is no good is a blanket statement.

What?

 

[Pntbll687]

How is the build quality on Aqueon tanks from your experience ?

The quality is very similar to marineland.

With aqueon they do not put labels on tanks that use tempered glass. So you could get a tank at the dollar per gallon sale and have it shatter if drilled.

And similar to marineland, they too have switched to black silicone on all tanks, even 10g tanks.

I wouldn't hesitate between buying a marineland or aqueon tank. I think we hear about the failures because they are not the norm and stand out. But no one is posting on the forms about how their tank is fine.

 

[Forsaken77]

..... and look at what happened to oceanic .

People who don’t work in manufacturing usually don’t understand how even a few dollars of extra cost translate to big amounts when you sell a lot of something. You don’t think it’s occurred to ML to spend more on the cost of their tanks? If the prior post about failure rates is correct and it’s nominally around 1% (of which a majority are likely to be owner stupidity) then there’s no ‘problem’ to solve.

It’s mostly a function of internet ‘hand wringing’. A couple of people post about a major tank failure and all of a sudden there’s something significantly wrong with the product line. Dollars to donuts many of those failures are stand or floor problems. No amount of extra bracing or better silicone is going to save a tank torquing on a non coplanar stand.

I’ve had one catastrophic tank failure in 30 plus years in this hobby, and it was entirely my fault by putting a tank on a night stand. Note to self - don’t do that again LOL. Now I overbuild all my stands and brace the crap out of my floor (and I put rigid foam under all my tanks). My tank holds 400 gallons. That would make quite a mess.

They sell a MUCH higher end stand and canopy... The Monterey version. The stand alone is more than double the cost of the "standard" stand.

I bought the Monterey stand for their 180 tank simply because I don't want a 1,500 pound tank resting on fiber board. And they only warranty the tank if you use their stand, more than a year anyway.

If they made a better tank, I would've gotten it as well. I think Aqueon makes a better tank, but for the RR models, they use small holes on large tanks.

I just missed out on DSA tanks when they were massively discounted. I wish they were able to stick around.