Please bear with me, I need to vent and really would appreciate as much help as I can get in here.
So after being in the hobby now for just about 2 years, we decided recently that we'd outgrown our Red Sea Max 130 and the time was ripe to upgrade to something bigger. After dealing with the max, we had a basic idea as to what we wanted. Long story made short, we settled on an Oceanic 90 Gallon Bow Front we saw advertised on craigslist, just like this one: http://www.oceanicsystems.com/assets/006/12569_400wh.jpg
Although it was a 3 hour drive from Naples north to Tampa where it was located, the gentleman...er... jerk... that was selling assured me that it was in like new condition and wouldn't waste my time. I made it very clear to him that I'm a poor law student and the tank is mostly for my fiancee, I just do all the work on it, and she would be livid if I brought something home that turned out to be crap. Long story made short, when I got there, of course the tank was not in like new condition. Mostly small dents and dings on the canopy and stand. The owner had let it fall into disrepair and it generally looked like crap but looked like it would be possible to clean it up nicely. It was advertised as having a 48" Coralife Aqualight Pro, but in actuality had a Coralife 36" Aqualight Pro, 1x250W HQI Lamp + 2x65W CF Lamps Sq. Pin + 2x1W LED. It was jerry rigged into the canopy with rope and sticks but he ASSURED me that there were expandable feet that could be attached to the 36" to make it fit on the 48" bowfront.
He also included an Aquatic Life Systems Sump very similar, if not identical to this: http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=34383
The return pump is external and I believe is this: http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=41373
And the protein skimmer, is likely this (and he included 2): http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=86.
I was also disappointed by the fact that he told me that he had all the fittings and plumbing to setup a 10 gallon refugium that would work concurrently with the sump inside the stand. Well, there was no plumbing and no way it was going to fit inside the stand either.
Anyway, even in disappointment, I bought the tank along with a fair amount of live rock... maybe 125 lbs. I paid $750. It was a bear moving, especially since it is drilled and I live on the second floor and it was 1 am by the time we got back from Tampa, but we did it and got it in.
On day two I started cleaning things, and thats when things hit the fan. While we were moving the tank out of his house I noticed a small dip in the center brace of the top rim. The dip was about 3 inches long, but totally uniform and looked like the design of the center brace. WELL... WAS I WRONG! Upon cleaning, I noticed a crack at the front end of the dip that was cracked all the way thru. It appears as tho the 'dip' in the center brace was actually caused by the metal halide being too close to the plastic and melting it, which weakened the integrity of the tank and obviously caused the crack. I became concerned, but not as nearly as concerned as I was when I found out that the tank in its condition is unusable:angryfire: Now over the last two days he has continuously avoided my texts and phone calls. I've resigned myself to the fact that he is not going to take the tank back or return my money. So right now I'm essentially left with a massive paper weight in my living room and a very...very angry girlfriend and I need some help figuring out where to go next with this project.
Rim/Frame: I called Oceanic, which just so happens to be owned by aga, which headquartered about 2 miles from where I grew up and where my parents still live. The don't do any direct shipping, but I called a local dealer and they can get it for about $50 for me, but my parents would have to ship. The closest dealer to me is in Tampa, I don't have a price from them yet. I guess I'd like to know how crucial it is to replace the rim, instead of cutting the dip in the center brace out and epoxying a third piece of plastic to the two remaining pieces?
Lighting: So, I have this 36" Coralife Light. Does anyone have any idea how I could get this on top of the tank, without hanging it. I really don't care whether or not the canopy would fit or not, because I dont think we will be using it anyway. As long as I can figure out some sort of mount that looks nice, I will go that route. HOWEVER... the 36" Coralife Aqualight only has 1 250 watt Metal Halide (along with the two 65 W PCs and the 2 Moonlights). Does one 250 watt Metal Halide positioned in the center of a 36" fixture provide enough coverage for the 48" long bow front tank? Or am I basically screwed with this light? If I am screwed, I could go to the 48" Coralife Aqualight, but I cannot find out anywhere if it is possible to mount it to the bow front... anyone have a clue on that? If we are just barking up the wrong tree, does anyone have any other suggestions for a better lighting option that is reasonable in cost? My fiancee is very concerned about having a great moonlight option, and I obviously want to have the option of having SPS.
Sump: This is an area I dont know a whole lot about because I didnt have one in my red sea max. How is this setup? What I really want is a refugium, and I've read that the bio balls aren't always a great situation, so I've considered just dumping the whole things and either building or buying a new one. Is the 560 gph return on the slow side... because it didnt seem like it was coming out the returns very fast. If I decided to sell everything in the sump including the pump, what could I expect to receive? Also, are the two skimmers included crap, or are they worth keeping for whatever it is that I end up running? There is also a uv sterilizer that I know even less about and dont even know if i plan on using.
Last Question... Does anyone have any good ideas for how to clean on the inside of the plastic that houses the drilled portion of the plumbing inside the tank?
Again, I appreciate any and all responses. I am in quite a bind here, especially with the woman. We don't mind spending some money if things are going to look and operate right, and probably should have just bought new in the first place. Thank You!!
So after being in the hobby now for just about 2 years, we decided recently that we'd outgrown our Red Sea Max 130 and the time was ripe to upgrade to something bigger. After dealing with the max, we had a basic idea as to what we wanted. Long story made short, we settled on an Oceanic 90 Gallon Bow Front we saw advertised on craigslist, just like this one: http://www.oceanicsystems.com/assets/006/12569_400wh.jpg
Although it was a 3 hour drive from Naples north to Tampa where it was located, the gentleman...er... jerk... that was selling assured me that it was in like new condition and wouldn't waste my time. I made it very clear to him that I'm a poor law student and the tank is mostly for my fiancee, I just do all the work on it, and she would be livid if I brought something home that turned out to be crap. Long story made short, when I got there, of course the tank was not in like new condition. Mostly small dents and dings on the canopy and stand. The owner had let it fall into disrepair and it generally looked like crap but looked like it would be possible to clean it up nicely. It was advertised as having a 48" Coralife Aqualight Pro, but in actuality had a Coralife 36" Aqualight Pro, 1x250W HQI Lamp + 2x65W CF Lamps Sq. Pin + 2x1W LED. It was jerry rigged into the canopy with rope and sticks but he ASSURED me that there were expandable feet that could be attached to the 36" to make it fit on the 48" bowfront.
He also included an Aquatic Life Systems Sump very similar, if not identical to this: http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=34383
The return pump is external and I believe is this: http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=41373
And the protein skimmer, is likely this (and he included 2): http://www.aqualifesupport.com/detail.php?ID=86.
I was also disappointed by the fact that he told me that he had all the fittings and plumbing to setup a 10 gallon refugium that would work concurrently with the sump inside the stand. Well, there was no plumbing and no way it was going to fit inside the stand either.
Anyway, even in disappointment, I bought the tank along with a fair amount of live rock... maybe 125 lbs. I paid $750. It was a bear moving, especially since it is drilled and I live on the second floor and it was 1 am by the time we got back from Tampa, but we did it and got it in.
On day two I started cleaning things, and thats when things hit the fan. While we were moving the tank out of his house I noticed a small dip in the center brace of the top rim. The dip was about 3 inches long, but totally uniform and looked like the design of the center brace. WELL... WAS I WRONG! Upon cleaning, I noticed a crack at the front end of the dip that was cracked all the way thru. It appears as tho the 'dip' in the center brace was actually caused by the metal halide being too close to the plastic and melting it, which weakened the integrity of the tank and obviously caused the crack. I became concerned, but not as nearly as concerned as I was when I found out that the tank in its condition is unusable:angryfire: Now over the last two days he has continuously avoided my texts and phone calls. I've resigned myself to the fact that he is not going to take the tank back or return my money. So right now I'm essentially left with a massive paper weight in my living room and a very...very angry girlfriend and I need some help figuring out where to go next with this project.
Rim/Frame: I called Oceanic, which just so happens to be owned by aga, which headquartered about 2 miles from where I grew up and where my parents still live. The don't do any direct shipping, but I called a local dealer and they can get it for about $50 for me, but my parents would have to ship. The closest dealer to me is in Tampa, I don't have a price from them yet. I guess I'd like to know how crucial it is to replace the rim, instead of cutting the dip in the center brace out and epoxying a third piece of plastic to the two remaining pieces?
Lighting: So, I have this 36" Coralife Light. Does anyone have any idea how I could get this on top of the tank, without hanging it. I really don't care whether or not the canopy would fit or not, because I dont think we will be using it anyway. As long as I can figure out some sort of mount that looks nice, I will go that route. HOWEVER... the 36" Coralife Aqualight only has 1 250 watt Metal Halide (along with the two 65 W PCs and the 2 Moonlights). Does one 250 watt Metal Halide positioned in the center of a 36" fixture provide enough coverage for the 48" long bow front tank? Or am I basically screwed with this light? If I am screwed, I could go to the 48" Coralife Aqualight, but I cannot find out anywhere if it is possible to mount it to the bow front... anyone have a clue on that? If we are just barking up the wrong tree, does anyone have any other suggestions for a better lighting option that is reasonable in cost? My fiancee is very concerned about having a great moonlight option, and I obviously want to have the option of having SPS.
Sump: This is an area I dont know a whole lot about because I didnt have one in my red sea max. How is this setup? What I really want is a refugium, and I've read that the bio balls aren't always a great situation, so I've considered just dumping the whole things and either building or buying a new one. Is the 560 gph return on the slow side... because it didnt seem like it was coming out the returns very fast. If I decided to sell everything in the sump including the pump, what could I expect to receive? Also, are the two skimmers included crap, or are they worth keeping for whatever it is that I end up running? There is also a uv sterilizer that I know even less about and dont even know if i plan on using.
Last Question... Does anyone have any good ideas for how to clean on the inside of the plastic that houses the drilled portion of the plumbing inside the tank?
Again, I appreciate any and all responses. I am in quite a bind here, especially with the woman. We don't mind spending some money if things are going to look and operate right, and probably should have just bought new in the first place. Thank You!!
