93 Cube alternatives?

[Artisan]

So after reading some of the issues with the Marineland 93 cube, I decided it might not be a good fit for me. Primarily because I'm about to get married and we live on the 3rd floor. She'd kill me if things went wrong. The question is what alternatives are available? What price? Overflow and stand options? Google doesn't seem to return a whole lot of options and I'm guessing the price point on a custom tank will be quite a lot more. So, any other brand experiences out there?

 

[mikellini]

For every person that has had an issue, there are certainly many more who haven't. People don't make posts to say their Marineland 93g cube didn't leak... although I guess I just did haha. Mine has been fine, silicone was well done, no issues.

 

[Artisan]

That's true. I think most of my anxiety is because we live on the 3rd floor, but the reality is that these tanks aren't popping like water balloons. At least not from what I've heard. A leak really isn't going to be the end of the world. Thanks for getting my head back in the game, man.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone have inside stand dimensions for the Marineland stand?

 

[mikellini]

Can't help you there, I custom built my stand. I would say that if you're going to get a marineland cube, go to a good lfs that will let you fill it with fresh water to leak test. Measure all sides empty and full, and take pictures of the seams to check the difference. Then you'll be 100% satisfied.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

I have a buddy (tbdh20 ) whose build thread is at a halt due to a poor silicone job on a Marineland 93 cube. A phone call was made to marineland and the rep stated they were aware of the issue and no tanks with said issues are supposed to on the market . I recently saw a 25 cube by Marineland in the LFS in NC . The seams were mismatched and there were bubbles . I should have looked for the build date but did not . The two tanks mentioned came into 2 different LFS's via Royal . Not sure where the delivery schedule is for Glass cages atm but another friend got a 34 x 35 x 17 85 gallon cube from them on clearance . It had perfect seams/silicone and the build was very good which was quite a surprise. Here is his build thread .Good luck .

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/112418-nwas-icecube85.htm

 

[Artisan]

Welp, I went ahead and ordered the tank and stand. I asked my LFS to ask his distributor for the newest stock they had. However, the sale may just be getting rid of the bad tanks. lol

I work a lot with silicone and a while ago most of the silicone manufacturers were forced to source their materials from different suppliers due to the higher demand for materials in China. That slightly changed the properties of the silicones available in the USA, which is probably why these tanks are having problems.

Whatever the case, I won't be filling this tank until we return from the honeymoon. I was hoping to partially cycle the tank during that time, but oh well. :/

 

[vanz]

My first 93 was extremely poorly made.
Here are pics of the crappy seam job. The replacement tank however was great. Only a few tiny bubbles in the seam.

http://s653.photobucket.com/user/vanzdesign/library/Marineland 93g Seam Work

 

[tbdh20]

My first 93 was extremely poorly made.
Here are pics of the crappy seam job. The replacement tank however was great. Only a few tiny bubbles in the seam.

http://s653.photobucket.com/user/vanzdesign/library/Marineland 93g Seam Work

vanz,

Do you have any pics of the replacement tank? Thanks!

 

[tbdh20]

Welp, I went ahead and ordered the tank and stand. I asked my LFS to ask his distributor for the newest stock they had. However, the sale may just be getting rid of the bad tanks. lol

I work a lot with silicone and a while ago most of the silicone manufacturers were forced to source their materials from different suppliers due to the higher demand for materials in China. That slightly changed the properties of the silicones available in the USA, which is probably why these tanks are having problems.

Whatever the case, I won't be filling this tank until we return from the honeymoon. I was hoping to partially cycle the tank during that time, but oh well. :/

Looking forward to any updates when you receive the tank.

 

[Artisan]

Will do! My LFS just texted me saying that it should arrive tomorrow. They're actually on the other side of town from me so it may take a few days for me to pick it up, but I'll definitely let you guys know.

 

[vanz]

vanz,

Do you have any pics of the replacement tank? Thanks!

I just took these.

Night and day difference.

 

[Artisan]

The tank is here! I decided to pay extra for the LFS to deliver it, which was entirely worth it. On to the details.

The tank was manufactured September 2014 by MG/CL. Most of the seams look pretty good, but there is some bubbling in the upper corners.

That being said, I won't get to fill this tank until we get back from the honeymoon in May when I can monitor it on a daily basis. I do feel somewhat more confident that it will hold now that I've seen it in person, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

I'll try to post some pics when I have better lighting.

 

[Artisan]

So this is interesting. I still have yet to fill the tank, but I've noticed that the bubbles in the upper corner seams have almost entirely disappeared. I've done nothing to the tank so I can only assume it has something to do with temperature. Since my tank was made in September of 2014 and I'm a Florida resident, I'm assuming that it spent the winter in a Florida/South East based warehouse and may not have had to endure long periods of exposure to temperature extremes. Just a theory so we'll see how things pan out when I fill it next month.

 

[Bad Company]

I got a 30X30X16" high tank from glasscages.com And they made it with 0.5" starphire glass. The bottom was eurobraced as well. Overkill maybe, but that thing is a tank! (Oh, sorry)

 

[SloppyJ]

I have had no problems with my 93 cube.