Aquarium Masters Illuminata...anyone own?

[galoot]

I stumbled across this tank at a LFS. 57 or 75g, rimless, starfire glass, center overflow, and stand. Sold as a kit

Anyone have experience with this or any other Aquarium Masters tanks?

BTW, this is Aquarium Masters Located in So Cal.

THX!!

[Guacamole]

Hi Galoot,

I have had the 57g for 2 weeks, no comlaints so far =)

[galoot]

Where are you located? Bay Area by any chance? What lighting and sump setup did you go with?

Thanks in advance

[crsaz]

I have the 57, its not starfire though
is this the tank your talking about?
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/crsaz/PB160311.jpg
and just for fun one of the two reflectors that will be use on this tank
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/crsaz/PB160310.jpg

[galoot]

Similar, yes. I want to go starfire with the beveled edges and black silicone. Looks awesome. Never thought I'd go rimless untill I saw it. How much room is in the overflow? What else is your setup going to consist of?

[Guacamole]

Right now i am useing a 150w 10k current usa pendant, and a 20 gal sump that i baffled out myself. It is the starfire with black silicon and it looks awsome if i say so myself. and the Price was way more reasonable than the illuminata. I live east of the bay in the valley

here is some set up stuff that i posted the other day, i am going to add some more of my sump in a day or two

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16361492#post16361492

[crsaz]

the overflow has like a 4"x6" footprint(maybe bigger) as for equipment I will be using either a sro 6000-ext or the xp-5000 ext for a skimmer, I have an attached 48"x24"x12" rimless frag tank its got diamond edge glass to match the display tank, I will be running a total of 4 250w mh in lumenbright mini reflectors, I will also be running 2x39w t5's and 2x54wt5's each running a giesmann pure actinic a kz fiji purple. for calcium I will be running BRS 2-part using the bubble magus doser for dispensing it. along with 2xmp40's for the dt and an mp40 and a tunze for the frag tank, in the future I will be adding another frag tank exactly the same as the current frag tank but I will be running the 8 bulb tek fixture over the frag tank.

[crsaz]

sweet tank, if you dont mind me asking what did it run?

[galoot]

sweet tank, if you dont mind me asking what did it run?

I you're asking me, I haven't bought yet. I think the lfs wanted 800 for the tank and stand. Can't remember if they had the 57 or 75 though.

Maybe Guac would have a better idea.


My only concern with this set up is, I DON"T WANT TO SEE WIRES!!! With no canopy it is hard to envision a way to minimize the intrusion of wires and plumbing.

Thoughts?

[Guacamole]

Hi again sorry for the delayed response, umm I was able to get the tank and stand for $599. It is the 57g and seemed like a really good deal, so i didnt pass it up

[cpllongjk]

Personally I dont care for the Aquarium Masters version of the Illuminata. The glass looks sub-par to the oceanic version. The front pane is said to be low-iron glass but honestly the oceanic tank looks a lot better. Also if you look at the AM tanks, there are a lot of flaws with the silicon jobs. The glass doesnt line up a lot of the time. There is excess silicon. I would rather pay a bit more money and get a better looking tank than a quick job.

[crsaz]

wow, the original illuminata is only $150 more for much higher quality and a cleaner look

[Johnny C]

Personally I dont care for the Aquarium Masters version of the Illuminata. The glass looks sub-par to the oceanic version. The front pane is said to be low-iron glass but honestly the oceanic tank looks a lot better. Also if you look at the AM tanks, there are a lot of flaws with the silicon jobs. The glass doesnt line up a lot of the time. There is excess silicon. I would rather pay a bit more money and get a better looking tank than a quick job.
+1... I own the Oceanic version and the difference between the two is night/day. Plus, the overflow on the AM version is half the size of the tank! :fun5:

[Jix]

Personally I dont care for the Aquarium Masters version of the Illuminata. The glass looks sub-par to the oceanic version. The front pane is said to be low-iron glass but honestly the oceanic tank looks a lot better. Also if you look at the AM tanks, there are a lot of flaws with the silicon jobs. The glass doesnt line up a lot of the time. There is excess silicon. I would rather pay a bit more money and get a better looking tank than a quick job.

+1... I own the Oceanic version and the difference between the two is night/day. Plus, the overflow on the AM version is half the size of the tank! :fun5:

I cannot agree with the both of you. The AM tank does not fall too far behind oceanic in terms of quality. The AM tank offers 1/2" tempered starfire glass front and sides, whereas the oceanic tank does not (based on the picture in the second post). Also, I believe the AM tank includes a semi complete reef kit, does oceanic? In today's economy, $150.00 goes a long way for most people. A setup that is almost complete for less is a big plus in my book.

[rfd515]

You can get the 57g oceanic illuminata non-rr for like $250 retail, the reef ready overflow is awful anyways

[cpllongjk]

I cannot agree with the both of you. The AM tank does not fall too far behind oceanic in terms of quality. The AM tank offers 1/2" tempered starfire glass front and sides, whereas the oceanic tank does not (based on the picture in the second post). Also, I believe the AM tank includes a semi complete reef kit, does oceanic? In today's economy, $150.00 goes a long way for most people. A setup that is almost complete for less is a big plus in my book.

Jix,
The post you saw with the tank picture is the Oceanic tank. Ive seen both tanks side by side in person. I can verify that even though AM uses "LOW IRON" glass (Starphire Knock-Off), the quality of the AM tank leaves something to be desired. I was able to look at 5 different Illuminata AM tanks and each one had major discrepencies with its silicon job. The glass was noticably more green than the Oceanic tank even though it was Low Iron. You would have to see them side by side to notice. But you will see that the quality of the AM tank is far less than that of the Oceanic.