Odyssea brand aquariums?? Buy or Beware? Question

Okay here is the deal... I was looking over craigslist last night and ran up on this tank that I am interested in. No pictures, brand names were on the ad only that its a 50 gal bow front tank and must sell do due having to move to another city and they did not want to move it. I called today and talked the guy. He said the brand is Jebo and its made in China.. hmmm okay I have never heard of that brand. So we continue to talk and he explains that it comes with the marineland LED night/day light bar (which I know is good because I have one on my 75 gallon and it was expensive) it also comes with the stand charcoal grey in color. It comes with a 200w heater (I forget the brand of it) and a Aquaclear back pack filter. Okay, the top for the tank was whack when he got it. Meaning it was in bad shape so he threw it out. Thats when he added the bar I mentioned above and he has just a piece of plexiglass as a top but it only overs the square part of the tank and not the bow section in the front. In a nutshell its open in the front on top with no lid or cover. He also told me the tank is acrylic and not glass.

I called my LFS and asked about the brand and if they could order me a top. She told me the brand was also known as Odyssea brand aquariums and they were made in china and had experienced lots of problems in the US for faulty wiring in the hoods. So from what I understand they sold them as a combo type deal. A hood with the filter, light and all made inside of it. This would explain to me why the top was in bad shape and gone. I have a buddy who owns a glass company who may be able to cut me a top for it - I am not sure. The question is - what do you guys think of this brand and is it worth the hassle of getting a glass top made etc.. He wants $150.00 for the whole thing. He sent me pictures on my cell phone and it looks nice but the brand worries me. I asked him what his bottom dollar was and he thought about it only to say that he felt it was well worth the $150. (in all reality the light bar alone cost more than that so he has a point) I am still thinking if I see it and like it, lay down $125 cash he would take it but hey I could be wrong.

What do you guys think because I need your advice.

 

Bowfront tanks are made with acrylic, Ryan, which is much much stronger than glass, as well as lighter.

 

Not all bowfronts are acrylic. My Aqueon 36g bowfront is glass.

 

I've never heard of a bowfront being all glass I know they can be acrylic in the front, and glass on the sides and bottom.... Really weird.... Not something I'd trust!

 

So.... you guys are saying that you would not do the deal??

Is there a possibility that Jebo could make a acrylic line as well as a glass line in these bow tanks??

 

IIRC, I think Mike (the site owner/admin) has or had a Jebo glass bowfront like this. It may have been a bigger tank but you might try asking what his experiences have been.

 

Well I went against the grain on this so we shall see how it goes. I went to see the tank today and its a pretty nice bow front. It needs some cleaning and tidying up here and there. He still swears its acrylic but I do not know how to tell the difference. I have never owned a acrylic tank before but the its very thick acrylic or glass. The tank is black trimmed and he has a black sand type substrate in it which I plan to keep. This guy is a final year Pharmacist student at one of the local universities and he didn't put a lot of love into the tank. I plan to call a buddy of mine who owns a glass company and see if he can cut me a top so I can hinge it and be able to open the lid to feed, access the inside. It came with the Marineland LED night/day light that I will keep in tact. The filter is made by Aqueon and it holds 2 cartridges in it and its fairly large as well as appears to be a strong running filter. I am not sure that I will use it or not. I just got in a brand new Fluval 406 canister filter yesterday that I ordered off of amazon that I may use on this new tank. I took one of my employees with me and she is a real people person so she hit him up right away and said okay $100 and its sold. (he had it listed for $150) and he said okay done. So hey I figure for a $100 dollar investment I cant beat it for what I got out of the deal. He also threw in all of his chemicals, net, air pump and I dont know what all is in there to be honest but its quite a bit of stuff.

Once I get it cleaned and up and running I will load up some pictures of it. The decision now is if I want to make a spot some where at home for it or bring it here in my office and use it at my business. That's a tough one....

:;toast

 

Congratulations on your bowfront! I have a 16-gallon Aqueon bowfront and I like the look of it.

That's great that you got some extras thrown in.

I hope this tank works out for you.

 

Ryan, thanks for your help. I have looked and looked on that tank last night and can not see any edges or writing of any sort on it. I would love to determine whether its glass or acrylic. I tapped the the sides and the whole nine but I just cant tell. If you can think of anything else I could do to tell the difference I would appreciate it. Where the glass is endless and doesn't have the edges like a common square tank has I can not see the edges of it at all.

 

If the tank is seamless it's most likely acrylic. You could test it on the bottom where it won't show. Try to scratch it with something, if it doesn't scratch it's glass. Acrylic scratches very easily so you have to be VERY careful cleaning it!

 

Okay - will do! Personally I think its glass and either way I am good with it. Curiosity killed the cat sort of things.

Thanks for the info!

:;toast

 

If its acrylic the sand on the bottom should have ruffed the bottom up anyway.