cheap oceanic stands

[kinghokus420]

I know that the stands are made with the cheapest and easiest material but.. due to evap. and condensation combined with the tank having an oceanic hood and top on it.the evap/cond. constantly drips on the stand. my stand is totally shot.. the doors will not close . and all of the cheap particleboard is swelling and all of the paint is chipped off. oceanic basically said that they do not warranty beyond the date of manufacture. this doesnt make sense to me. why not spend a few extra pennies and at least try to seal the wood parts? btw the tank is a 72 bf rr with stand, hood sump, etc. all of it is oceanic.only 9 mos old. (package deal at lfs) for as much $$ as i paid for it im very unhappy the tank is great just the stand sucks. sorry about my rambling but i had to vent to someone who might benefit from this info. oh and i did spend lots of time trying to keep the dripping down without removing the top but to no avail. its only africans now but im glad i found this before i set up my reef and really piled the weight on.

thanks for the venting space
josh

[Rougiem]

Hey Josh: I think that is what RS is for. Thanks for the information. I do not know how handy you are but why not make it yourself? I have done it and it works much better. Not to mention it can be cheaper. I understand you getting it as a package deal. If I was ever to get a stand, I would modify it to make it better many of them are not well made.

Good information that some us may not think about.

Cheers!

[kinghokus420]

i wasnt going to modify it just incase there was a warranty now that i know.... oh look here comes tim the tool man
josh

[KimPossible]

my stand is totally shot.. the doors will not close . and all of the cheap particleboard is swelling and all of the paint is chipped .....only 9 mos old.

Ouch!

Good luck with that, I see a hammer, 2x2's and laminated plywood in your future

[mps9506]

Sorry to hear about that man.
I don't like to bad mouth products online, but I have to say that within the last 4 years or so, the quality of the mass produced Oceanic products has gone down.
All the display tanks at our stores are Oceanic, and there is a noticable difference in quality in the products over the years. The latest tank we received from them was the 72 Stainless Bowfront. The Stand already show some areas of swelling after 10 months, the tank itself appears to be exactly the same as the All Glass 72 Bow.
We also have a 3 or 4 year old 110 gallon Reef Ready with the Cherry stand and Canopy. We got that one to replace another Oceanic under warranty that split a seam about 3 inches from the top and leaked about 30 gallons of SW on the floor. The replacement tank has held up fine, but the stand looks like poop after 3 or 4 years, the stain is flaking off, parts of the stand trim have pulled away and parts are swelling up. We also have an older 58 gallon and 75 that are holding up fine after 6 years or so. The older tanks were noticeably better than the All Glass tanks, thicker glass, nicer trim, felt much more solid, the new ones just appear to be rebadged AGA tanks
I can't speak for the custom tanks however.

[DaveK]

I can't think of a much worse material, particleboard, to use on an aquarium stand, especially if it's SW.

Even if you sealed it well, it's going to get moisture in it and weaken.

This looks like a case for building your own stant out of decent materials. I'd opt for using a frame of standard lumber, with a thick plywood top, and then building a replacable set of panels to go around the outside of it.

In any case, thanks to everyone that informed us about the use of particleboard, in some stands.

[cheeks69]

I have the Oceanic 42 Hex and it's doing exactly the same thing after about 3 years although I have been very careful it's still swelling in some areas. I'm glad I had the stand in my new tank custom made and built very well.