Custom Tanks

Glasscages tanks are well built. I always double check thethickness of glass for the particular size you are going for with the safety chart for glass.

What are the dimensions, and what kind of gallonage are you looking at?

 

The thing with custom aquariums is to find someone trustworthy locally because the shipping charges are high if your purchasing from a distance. Acrylic is a lighter tank for shipping. What size tank are you looking to get?

 

While GC and MIG are not really close to Milwaukee, shipping charges from both places to MKE were not bad on 250-300g tanks that people in my club have bought.

 

As if the actual charge for the tank isn't high from most places. I was looking for a 16x16x20 sump, glass or acrylic, whatever they did cheapest, and every place ranged from 350 to 800 without shipping, other than GC, which was by far the cheapest. I just wasn't going to deal with their attitude and give them business when they don't deserve it for their service.

 

Make your own sump from a used tank you can find on CL or reef club forums. I see that is a funky size, but you could use a rubbermaid Tough box that will work just fine for 10-15 dollars.

 

Are you listening to yourself? Your turning down a deal because of someone's beligerent behavior. This country would not be where it is today without running into some tough cookies. Just say to yourself, "I don't have to live with you, all I have to do is make a purchase at a good price and head on down the road.
Sometimes in business a company works on volume to keep a competitive price. Consumers tend to view these companies as "they must be doing something wrong or the materials are shotty" Online companies do have a tremendous advantage over a brick and morter company because of the overhead. You have to weed through the irregularities if you want a deal sometimes. Get some testimonials if available to convince yourself that someone is not doing you wrong. I look at the shipping charge a lot when buying online.
Your looking to purchase an unusual size tank. The thing is is that it's a smaller tank that you should be able to buy for $150 if this item is mass produced all over the country. That is not the case. My suggestion is still to find someone local and save the shipping even if it's $350. Either that or change you criteria and buy one already being produced or build your own.

 

...or I can say "I'm not giving business to anyone with shoddy customer service, as that's what I care about as a customer", and see if anywhere else is decently priced.

I believe that evaluating priorities is just as reasonable as what you're doing, which is exactly the same thing. You're evaluating your priorities, with a lower weight given to service, and a higher weight given to price.

I never had a problem with what I've heard about their quality, that was never a factor for me. I've heard about the sometimes-overdone silicone, but that's really all.

After I got a whole bunch of quotes, and found out nobody is doing the tank for a price reasonable to me, I reevaluated my priorities and decided that a refugium and the benefits it could confer to my tank weren't worth the price I'd have to pay both in materials and time if I made minor modifications (deepen the sand bed, add some macros in the DT and rear overflow portion) to other portions of my tank.

I really liken the attitude of "deal > customer treatment"; it allows companies like Sony to get away with things like "We'll sell you a camera with the same specs for $20 cheaper, but you'll pay a premium on the proprietary memory cards of $20, a proprietary charger of $15, and a proprietary USB cable of $10." Granted, GC doesn't take it to that extreme, but it's the same basic concept.

I do hope you read this, so you understand that I did listen to myself quite well, and I got my message pretty clearly.

Oh, and horkn, I looked at every Rubbermaid container in Lowes, and there wasn't a single one that would fit the size I need. Those are the max dimensions I can fit under the stand; it has a full solid divider through the center, from front to back. Rubbermaids that are 15+ gallons are 20+ inches long.

 

Sometimes you get what you pay for. I paid $1000 for my tank and $375 for the sump/refugium $280 for a protein skimmer. $700 for 2 - 8 wide T5 retrofit fixtures and another $750 for replacing the generic bulbs to good ones. $700 was an awesome deal for a great stand and canopy. I spent $400 for pumps and powerheads. $1000 for the rock and sand yeah I spent some serious money but I'm happy I did. But that's just me and I realize that many people come here to see if someone can get something cheaper but like you said I believe it was cheaper isn't always better. I totally agree! K+

 

Try Living Color Enterprises Inc. Custom Aquariums, custom aquarium, custom made aquariums, aquariums, custom built, custom acrylic aquariums - Living Color Enterprises, Inc. They are the largest manufacturers of Custom Aquariums in the country and very good quality.

 

I have to say that Glasscages is more expensive than the tanks I get from advanced aqua tanks