Bowfronts - Like or dislike?

A

afishfanatic

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[I was considering swapping my current tank in for a bowfront tank. For all the people who have them, or have had them, could you post your opinions on them. I would think the glare would be worse than a flat tank. This would probably make it difficult to photograph with a flash. Is the curved glass as strong as the staight? I would hate to have it crack and fill up my living room with water. All input will be appreciated.]
 
[First of all the glass seemed just as strong, but I had a center brace on my oceanic 46 bow (a 36" tank).

I loved the look of mine, but finding a GOOD canopy (Oceanic's "cap" is "crap") is difficult, as was lighting it.

And believe me, I took thousands of shots in front of mine... the bowfront DOES cause a distortion issue with photographing the tank. Flash wasn't really a problem, if you can see the flash in the frame then you're already in trouble. :)

Travis]
 
[One of the main complaints I have heard about bowfronts is that the curviture of the glass can make you a little dizzy if you look at your tank a lot. They usually have more leaks than flat tanks. They do look cool, but they have their cons.]
 
[I liked the curved glass and didn't get dizzy from it at all. I thought the light refraction was better than a standard. My only complaint was the lack of space inside the stand on the 72g tank. Oceanic does make a wood stand/canopy for the bowfront that is gorgeous imo.]
 
[If you love the look of the oceanic matching canopy, you could cut the top out of it and hang or set pendants above it and still have a very finished look.]
 
[I even mounted 2 actinic and 2 x 250W MH"s onto the top doors of their canopy and put those on hinges.]
 
[When looking through the glass, do corals and fish seem distorted? I know they do in acrylic tanks, but not sure in glass tanks.]
 
[I have a 72 Gallon Oceanic bowfront tank and the first one I had leaked after about 4 months. They did replace it free of charge but it was a real pain to tear it down and set it up again. My next tank will definitely NOT be a bowfront and I'm kinda wary of getting another Oceanic tank. The bowfront looks nice, but they're not worth the risk, from my experience.]
 
[I have an Oceanic corner-style tank that is bowed across the front. No leaks.

Not really any strange distortion, but things in the very back corner look a bit bigger than they really are.]
 
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