Hagen's 66 gal tank questions

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Hydro

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Oct 31, 2003
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Manitoba, Canada
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Hagen makes a 66 gal, with a footprint of 4 ft by 16 in and 16 in high. It is the dimension I'm looking for, but I would like to get feedback on a couple of things.

First, does anyone have any concerns about the quality of Hagen's tanks of that size in general? All Glass seems to be more popular and probably better made than Hagen's, but All Glass doesn't seem to have tanks in the same size. All Glass has a 4 ft by 12 in, but not 4ft by 16 in.

Second, the Hagen's tank comes with a black plastic hood with two fluorescent lights. There is no glass between the hood and the tank, so the lights are exposed to the water. The sales person said that the glass cover is not needed because the two ends of the lights (where the electrical connection is) are protected. It looks like the ends of the lights are inserted into a holder of some kind and are not exposed. Does this make sense? Is this common? Is this sufficiently safe?

Comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

JesseJ

You should be dancin'
Jan 22, 2004
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Vancouver, Canada
Hey Hydro,

Where in Man. are you?

I've looked at both manufacturers and the only difference that I can see is the name. I've found no real difference in price (going by the MSRP, not the store price) or in quality.

There should be a layer of glass between the lights and the tank because if there isn't the bulb will grow scale (mineral deposits left by evaporating water) and that will start to block out the light. Also if you get jumping fish like balas or hatchets they could really cause some damage if they jumped into the bulb. All of the lids I've ever seen have had the glass partition and that one should to. It may be that just the floor model was missing the glass. Ask to see one from the box. If you can't or if the boxed one doesn't have it then find another store.
 

Hydro

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Oct 31, 2003
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Manitoba, Canada
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Hi there. I'm in Winnipeg. It's not so much the pricing I'm concerned about, it's the dimension. I like the 48" x 16" footprint (by the way, I meant 20" for height, not 16"). All Glass doesn't seem to have one with those dimensions. Hagen makes a 75 or 77 gal with the same footprint but taller, and I am not keen on its height.

Thanks for your explanation about the glass cover. I thought it should have one too. I have seen similar Hagen tanks in different LFS and none of them has the glass, so I don't think it was just missing from the floor model.

Any suggestions on other brands with a 48 x 16 footprint, preferrably 20" height?

Thanks.
 
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