Another Oceanic Failure!

[d4a2n0k]

Should the bottom have been tempered? I know they always do it after drilling glass but for a 40 gallon, do they always temper these days?

[8BALL_99]

Most every tank I've ever seen in recent years have tempered bottems. Doesn't matter if its a 20 or a 40 Gallon.. Most all of them have lil stickers that say bottem is tempered do not drill.. Like I said I've got a 35 AGA Hex tank that is about a year old.. The bottem of it is Tempered glass.. I would think if a 35 is tempered then why wouldn't a 40 Hex be tempered?

For a tank to have a few hundred pounds of rock sand and water setting on them I would think it needs to be tempered glass.. I've seen tempered glass break and it doesn't crack its shatters into a million squares..

[d4a2n0k]

Theres no doubt that my glass wasnt tempered, Im not sure if it is supposed to be though. There was no sticker like on my AGA tanks that says do not drill. I have a call into the warranty department at Oceanic. I will ask them when/if they call me back.

What a disaster....

My wife is now having second thoughts on getting any replacement tank. She is very nervous but I cant blame her.

[d4a2n0k]

Ok, I just got off the phone with the warranty department. They will either give me a new tank or I can get my money back. They will not cut me a deal on a different model, they said that is up to my LFS. They will not pay for any property damage either but I kind of figured they would say that.

On another note, he said Oceanic does not temper their tanks anymore. Only AGA gets tempered bottoms, Oceanic uses "thicker, better quality glass" that does not need to be tempered. This is from the warranty department though so take that with a grain of salt.

I really dont know what I want to do right now. I dont particularly want another 40 stretch hex but there is such a big jump in price to the next model that I cant swing the difference. I might just get my money back and take my business elsewhere....

Im not expecting them to give me a tank that costs three times the price I paid but it would have been nice if they said they would meet me halfway.

[JeffDubya]

What did I tell you about corporate customer service?

[DgenR8]

I know you can't hold the store responsible for what happened, but you have nothing to lose by talking to them. To make a customer happy, they might do something for you.

[d4a2n0k]

JeffDubya-Yes, it went as far as I thought it would. Truthfully, they didnt seem to care at all. He was very ho hum.

Larry-You are right. I spoke with Bob at Pets Warehouse and he said theres really no profit margin for him or Oceanic to do anything. I wasnt going to push him because I really dont feel he owed me anything. It was Oceanic that I pushed but they wouldnt budge as expected.

Now Im waiting for Oceanic to contact Pets Warehouse to authorize my credit. Im not getting another one of these tanks and will take my business elsewhere.

[owsi]

I was going to order a custom 110 from oceanic a few moths back. But after the miscomunications and long waits for call backs went with Lee-Mar. From what I noticed after Oceanics move, one person took care of customs, QC and warranty, cutting corners will get you every time!

[purza_00]

Make sure they credit you for the stand as well. It is probably water damaged and you don't need it without the tank.

I have a very old oceanic 58g. Had to reseal it once, but it sat dry for a couple of years while I was out of the country. I've been very happy with it. I am looking to upgrade to a 120g +, but will really have to find a different manufacturer. Not sure I could trust the AGA brand either.

[8BALL_99]

yeah thats crazy.. I wouldn't get another one.. My 180 is custom made and it has a very thick bottem 5/8.. But its still Tempered.

I've seen older Oceanic tanks.. I even still have one of their 60 Gallon Cubes. Its night and day compared to what they make now..IMO you dont get what you pay for from them anymore.

[Paulairduck]

a lot of the good builders are not using tempered glass. They just use thicker and better quality. Lee mar for example does not use tempered glass and there tanks are beautiful. I would say the more logic reason for the tank crack was the poor craftmenship in the stand, these mass produced stands are of very poor quality. This is when your DIY skills come into play. A good level stand is as important as a well built aquarium.

I would deffinitely want a new stand and a tank for free, because now it is water damged and I bet it was made out of particle board, that soaks up water like a sponge.

[d4a2n0k]

Im not getting the same tank so Im returning the tank and stand for a full refund. I dont have the money right now and its useless asking my wife if I can spend more money after what just happened. Im gonna have to sit on my equipment for a month or so until I can pickup the tank I wanted originally. I want to go with the new Tech Tank line. Ill probably go with the 45 gallon which used 1/2" starphire glass on 3 sides.

Oceanic called my LFS and told them to credit me or get me a new tank. When I return the tank, I think it goes back to Oceanic for them to inspect before they will issue the LFS a credit who will in turn credit me. So Im not getting my money back for a few weeks Im sure.

[d4a2n0k]

Just a little update. After a few weeks of calling Oceanic I finally got a full refund for the tank and stand. They credited the LFS for the wrong tank at first so I had to wait an extra few weeks for them to fix it. Of course the one they originally credited for was half the price of my tank.....

It wasnt the most pleasant experience but at least I got refunded. I was not going to take another one of the same tank. The glass needs to be a little thicker IMO.

I ended up with the 45 Tech Tank which is built MUCH better. Its been up and running for twice as long as the stretch hex so maybe this one will last a little longer.

[Cookykrill]

I got word that Oceanic is changing their lineup and is going to use Starfire glass on most of their tanks now to differenciate themselves from the AGA line ......

[celano]

Glad to hear d4a2nok. Good luck with the new tech tank, I hear their pretty nice.

[Matt Rise]

Originally posted by Nanook
I hate it when good companies go bad...I had an older Oceanic 58g tank that had at least 1/2" or 5/8" glass...nowadays that same tank uses 1/4" or 3/8" and costs more than the tanks of old

I went with a tank manufacturer that I could trust to build a solid tank for a much, much better price.

I have a 58 RR from Oceanic that I bought 6 months ago. The glass is 1/2 inch and the craftsmanship is top notch.

[sndwave80]

Thats too bad. I would contact Oceanic directly and express your concerns.

[GuySmilie]

Originally posted by Matt Rise
I have a 58 RR from Oceanic that I bought 6 months ago. The glass is 1/2 inch and the craftsmanship is top notch.

Sounds like they are getting better.
My 58g Oceanic (not a RR) is 11 years old and it's built with 3/8" glass.
Guy

[earlnewt]

Quality AND customer service flew out the door after the merger. Ask any dealer who has had to deeal with them recently that knew the company before the merger.
Sorry to hear of such a thing.
As a xmas gift to myself I bought a 14g BioCube and the lights were defects, right out of the box. I returned it to my "not so local 56 mile round trip" pet store. Two weeks into that one the fan starts getting very noisy? I was sent two new but wrong size fans not knowing this until I took the old one out. Oh yeh, only one fan out of the two in that one was ever working... I thought their was only one fan inside the unit. Brought it back for a full refund. Never again. I ordered the RedSea Max a couple days ago.
Also, I recently built a custom canopy for my Oceanic 58 reef and ended up calling Oceanic, after two no response emails , to get some info on witch black paint they use to make the canopy and stand match and I was told they get thier paints in bulk, I paused for a moment thinking further info was cumming, NOPE. I said "thats it", she said "yep", I said "never again will I buy another Oceanic product, buy".
How's that for poor quality and bad customer service. And I know I am NOT the "one in a million" One in 1,000 is more like it these days with Oceanic. Too bad, they were the ones the industry set their standards too for many, many years.

[lightdir]

When I went to upgrade with the quality issues with Oceanic I went with a 90gal rr from deep sea aquatics. From what I was told they are a company that was started by some of the guys that built tanks for oceanic that left after the buyout. The quality is top notch it is built like a tank.... ( no pun intended )

[seacapt]

I have an Oceanic 58 gal RR tank that is a copple of years old. But it is not the one I bought originally. The first one when filled with water leaked water under the seal from the main part of the tank along the bottom pane of glass into the overflow area. (i.e., if the electric went off and I was not home, all the water in the display area would flow into the overflow and then into the sump and onto my lr floor). I took it back to the "LFS" (for me a 200 mile RT drive) and they said I should have bought an Oceanic stand. Instead I had a custom made canopy and stand that was better than the mass produced stands made by Oceanic. After many phone calls and emails to/from Ocean Customer Service, I got nowhere until I threatened to lambast them on Reef Central. Only then did they tell me they would replace my tank. And then it took 2 waisted trips to the LFS and then I demanded that they deliver it. I could go on, but I too will nbever deal with Oceanic again. It was months of squaring off and threats for a fairly basic expectation: that a brand new tank not leak!

That's my 2 cents on Oceanic.

[McCrary]

I saw an Oceanic 90 gallon with Starphire front pane glass, the thing was junk. The guy at the LFS said that they called Oceanic and told them to come pick up the tank as they won't sell that to anyone nor will they be selling AGA/Oceanic tanks anymore.

[nynex]

The warranty dept told you they wouldnt handle property damage..just like it says on
the labels from all my AGA tanks. But that label also says "Some States do not allow
the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above
limitation may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you
may have other rights that vary from state to state."

I would call a lawyer and find out what New York State laws are. You might be
covered for property damage or can file a small claim in court.

Also I had a AGA 10 gallon tank that I was using for my quarantine tank and it did
the exact same think. I had no rock or substrate in it at all. Just a royal pleco out of
my freshwater tank that I was medicating, a heater and an air stone. The tank
cracked exactly like yours and water started dripping down the stand. Thank god I
was standing there when it happened. I have no clue why it happened.

Nothing got ruined and AGA gave me a new tank. Still dont know why it cracked like
that????

[Medaka]

I had one tank I ordered come with a 1 inch gap between the frame and the glass..

How that gets by anyone, I dont know.

[GlobalEvan]

because of the merger, they are moving the Oceanic factory. My bet is that all the workers who are getting laid off just don't care anymore. Oceanic sump kits never have all the parts these days, and it drives me nuts.

those tech tanks are pretty amazing though.