Oceanic Glass Canopy
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Andy
Mar 20, 2011, 10:57:29 PM3/20/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
So I actually have the TV mounted on the wall now, and the old Oceanic
55 gallon underneath it, but the seller did not have the original
glass canopies that came with the tank. From some quick googling I
learned that generic canopies don't fit quite as snug as the genuine
Oceanic ones do.
Does anyone have a good source for older Oceanic canopies?
For anyone interestes in my stupid adventure, I have a picture of the
TV mounted to the wall with the empty tank beneath it here:
http://yfrog.com/h0v9dmcj. Sorry for the poor camera phone quality.
Still need to buy gravel for it and heaters. Someone gave me a Fluval
303 to use with it, so I think I am OK with the filter.
Andy
55 gallon underneath it, but the seller did not have the original
glass canopies that came with the tank. From some quick googling I
learned that generic canopies don't fit quite as snug as the genuine
Oceanic ones do.
Does anyone have a good source for older Oceanic canopies?
For anyone interestes in my stupid adventure, I have a picture of the
TV mounted to the wall with the empty tank beneath it here:
http://yfrog.com/h0v9dmcj. Sorry for the poor camera phone quality.
Still need to buy gravel for it and heaters. Someone gave me a Fluval
303 to use with it, so I think I am OK with the filter.
Andy
Altum
Mar 21, 2011, 12:24:59 AM3/21/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
done, and would solve my personal problem of wanting to watch both TV
and aquarium. I would be inclined to try Aquabid or eBay for the
canopy.
--Altum
NetMax
Mar 21, 2011, 8:29:05 AM3/21/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
Oceanic canopy... does this mean the (polo?) light assembly and the
two glass tops (4 panes and 2 hinges)? iirc, the Oceanic top trim has
a centre section, but I don't think I've seen a 55g Oceanic.
Glass can be obtained at any hardware store, though Oceanic uses a
slightly thicker glass than normal. This is important if you are
using the Oceanic plastic hinges. Hagen hinges would probably be too
tight, so you need to match glass to hinge (iirc, there are 3
commercial thickness grades used). If you do have the centre trim,
another option is the sliding glass (no hinge). The front pieces
slide under the back (uses a 2 track trim on the sides to keep the
panes at different heights). These can be very convenient, but watch
that the light canopy does not interfere with the sliding operation.
For lighting, there are lighting units which have a side piece which
wraps around the tank, and others float along the top. Then there are
the aftermarket lighting upgrades which typically float so they don't
need to worry about the exact tank length. As long as you can get the
48" T6s or T8s in there, it doesn't matter too much.
Oceanic sells their standard and upgraded light canopies alone. I
once installed an upgraded Oceanic canopy and the heat cracked the
glass top, which is how I remember their glass being very thick. Your
local fish club is another resource. Also if the tank is old, you
might be able to find a dusty canopy in some pet shop. We would
sometimes order canopies and customers didn't pick them up (or we
would order an upgrade and shelf the standard light which came with
the tank kit). Every store has an oddball collection. Be sure to
negotiate based on how thick the dust is ;~) but unless you keep a
poker face, they'll probably know they'll be able to get full price
from you (which unfortunately is a small ransom when it comes to
Oceanic).
As for the tank under the TV look, I'd mount the TV about 12" off the
wall to keep the front surface closed to the front of the tank, but
still behind the front hinged glass top. I'd also consider chopping
the tank stand down. A couch sightline is going to be around 38-40"
so you don't want to arch your neck upwards to watch TV. It also
provides more gap between the light canopy and the TV (for heat).
Ideally, the light canopy should be opened at the back, so it is well
ventilated and the heat travels up the back of the TV (not into the
bottom of the TV). The escaping light reflects off the wall giving a
backlight which is sometimes desirable for TV viewing. You might want
to experiemnt with this yourself to see what your preferences are.
Look for a TV wall mount which will let you pivot the screen out of
the way for tank maintenance. This can be very important for corner
installations and HOB filters. Canister filters are the best choice
for under-TV installs (because of the lower noise, better maintenance
access and no water loss (humidity created) as TVs don't like a
humidity source underneath them (especially marine tanks ;~)
have fun!
NetMax
two glass tops (4 panes and 2 hinges)? iirc, the Oceanic top trim has
a centre section, but I don't think I've seen a 55g Oceanic.
Glass can be obtained at any hardware store, though Oceanic uses a
slightly thicker glass than normal. This is important if you are
using the Oceanic plastic hinges. Hagen hinges would probably be too
tight, so you need to match glass to hinge (iirc, there are 3
commercial thickness grades used). If you do have the centre trim,
another option is the sliding glass (no hinge). The front pieces
slide under the back (uses a 2 track trim on the sides to keep the
panes at different heights). These can be very convenient, but watch
that the light canopy does not interfere with the sliding operation.
For lighting, there are lighting units which have a side piece which
wraps around the tank, and others float along the top. Then there are
the aftermarket lighting upgrades which typically float so they don't
need to worry about the exact tank length. As long as you can get the
48" T6s or T8s in there, it doesn't matter too much.
Oceanic sells their standard and upgraded light canopies alone. I
once installed an upgraded Oceanic canopy and the heat cracked the
glass top, which is how I remember their glass being very thick. Your
local fish club is another resource. Also if the tank is old, you
might be able to find a dusty canopy in some pet shop. We would
sometimes order canopies and customers didn't pick them up (or we
would order an upgrade and shelf the standard light which came with
the tank kit). Every store has an oddball collection. Be sure to
negotiate based on how thick the dust is ;~) but unless you keep a
poker face, they'll probably know they'll be able to get full price
from you (which unfortunately is a small ransom when it comes to
Oceanic).
As for the tank under the TV look, I'd mount the TV about 12" off the
wall to keep the front surface closed to the front of the tank, but
still behind the front hinged glass top. I'd also consider chopping
the tank stand down. A couch sightline is going to be around 38-40"
so you don't want to arch your neck upwards to watch TV. It also
provides more gap between the light canopy and the TV (for heat).
Ideally, the light canopy should be opened at the back, so it is well
ventilated and the heat travels up the back of the TV (not into the
bottom of the TV). The escaping light reflects off the wall giving a
backlight which is sometimes desirable for TV viewing. You might want
to experiemnt with this yourself to see what your preferences are.
Look for a TV wall mount which will let you pivot the screen out of
the way for tank maintenance. This can be very important for corner
installations and HOB filters. Canister filters are the best choice
for under-TV installs (because of the lower noise, better maintenance
access and no water loss (humidity created) as TVs don't like a
humidity source underneath them (especially marine tanks ;~)
have fun!
NetMax
Andy
Mar 21, 2011, 12:48:09 PM3/21/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
No luck on either site. I sent an email to Oceanic. We'll see what
they say.
Andy
they say.
Andy
Andy
Mar 21, 2011, 2:31:17 PM3/21/11
to the-freshwa...@googlegroups.com
I have had the TV at that height since Christmas. I actually mounted it to the wall on Christmas day. The height hasn't bothered me any up till now. I not sure what canopy was on there. He gave me a 48" twin tube strip light with the tank. Just no glass canopies. I'm not sure what the original canopies looked like. I have an email off to Oceanic to see if they have anything.
tr...@io.com
Mar 22, 2011, 11:23:59 AM3/22/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
On Mar 20, 9:57 pm, Andy <apastus...@gmail.com> wrote:
> For anyone interestes in my stupid adventure, I have a picture of the
> TV mounted to the wall with the empty tank beneath it here:http://yfrog.com/h0v9dmcj.
> Sorry for the poor camera phone quality.
sensor under the middle of the TV?
BTW, I've found this wall mount to be a good deal for televisions 40"
and under:
<http://www.amazon.com/Peerless-PA740-Articulating-Mount-Displays/dp/
B00155V210>
$50 is pretty affordable for an articulated wall mount. I have a 37"
Panasonic and a 40" Samsung hung on two of those. The worst thing I
can say about them is that the tilt adjustment is a little dodgy.
Meaning, that to keep it in place, one must tighten the screws enough
that they'll need loosening before it can be adjust again. There's a
thumb screw and three regular screws/bolts, and maybe with some
careful fiddling, the perfect balance of tightening could be found,
such that one could just loosen the thumb screw, tilt the thing and
then hand tighten it again, but I don't tilt them enough for it to be
worth the fiddling.
Sorry, I don't have any advice about the canopy...except, could you
use the hardware from another brand of canopy and have the glass cut
to your specifications at a local glass shop? The plastic hinge
material, plastic rear cut-out material and the little handles are all
available (or were last time I checked) for sale as separate items. I
know I've bought them in (IIRC) 3' lengths at thatfishplace.com.
Jeff Walther
Andy
Mar 22, 2011, 11:46:27 PM3/22/11
to the-freshwa...@googlegroups.com, tr...@io.com
Yep, that's a wii sensor. And I have an Xbox 360 with Kinect there. A whole lot of electronics there. There is a small shelf off to the left with the xbox and wii. To the left of the aquarium I have a TiVo mounted to a peg board.
Andy
Andy
Mar 28, 2011, 3:51:43 PM3/28/11
to the-freshwa...@googlegroups.com
I tried all the LFSs in my area, and no one has 55 gallon canopies for a Oceanic. 75 gallon canopies I can get, just not 55.
Altum
Mar 28, 2011, 7:17:22 PM3/28/11
to The Freshwater Aquarium
On Mar 28, 12:51 pm, Andy <apastus...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I tried all the LFSs in my area, and no one has 55 gallon canopies for a
> Oceanic. 75 gallon canopies I can get, just not 55.
think a generic 55g canopy would let too much moisture rise.
Remember, you've got to make openings for the filter and decent oxygen
exchange anyway.
--Altum
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