Red Coral built my tank last year, and I drove 16 hours round trip to pick it up :lol: If I had done a little more research, I might have had it done in Edmonton where it would have been a little closer, but honestly the tank I had built is beautiful...Starphire glass, polished and bevelled edges, eurobraced. The custom work coming out of RC is second to none, and like they say, you get what you pay for...and if paying a little extra means the build is done right the first time, it's worth it...and I don't loose sleep at night thinking about a tank failure, shaddy building techniques, or materials that were designed for something else...say...shower doors?

Holy smokes that sounds awesome! Do you have any monster tank references? Pictures? :D

was this referring to me? as i didn't reminder talking to you or giving you a quote on a tank. If i did, i will apologize for confusing you, normally i am a very easy going guy to deal with:lol: Why didn't you post some details of what you are looking for and i will see what i can help you out with, as i am give a giving mood this month lol

[quote=Magma;574105]heard mixed price ranges from them, so im on the fence with ordering a tank right now.

Gang, let's please keep any advertising type posts out of this thread, ok? If you're a builder and would like to sign up for advertising space, please contact us privately.
Thanks

no no just looking through build threads I have seen the prices ranges, I was talking about elite that I got the crap service from.

It's sad that your experience at Elite was so bad as the tank I got there from Jay is beyond anything I could have hoped for. The sump is awesome! Now I just got to get it all going...lol.

Im pretty picky when it comes to customer service and when I get a bad experience right away it shows to me there not worth my time no matter how good his tanks might look.

Jay != Colby.

I'm pretty sure you can deal directly with him if you want to these days. Jay's a good guy and does care.

+1, Colby is out of the picture now anyways. I would give Jay a chance.

I myself would never deal with Colby again, even if he was in the biz still. But I would diffinately try to deal with Jay again. He does build an awesome tank, and mine is from him.

I would suggest trying to see tanks. I myself would offer my tank so you can see Jay's work, maybe others can offer theirs to view also. Then you can make an educated choice.

Happy Holiday's Everyone!!!

I have seen some work from bow valley, I have seen a tank built from jay and I have seen a bunch that red coral has made, also saw a tank that Wai's built and they look great..

I have to admit Wai's quality on the edges wasnt as great as others and he mentioned that himself that buffing the edges costs more and takes more time i understand that. I actually have a 35gal tank that bow valley built and I noticed the glass is a little over kill on it, in fact my power heads magnets dont have a lot of strength through it..guess thats what happens on 1/2" thick glass, the edges though look fine sure theres a few burs on the edge but nothing major.

I just got had a custom built tank from Golds....not sure but I think BowValley builds theirs......and I would recommend staying away from them, I was very disappointed in the finishing.


I have been dealing with Denis for 10 years.....and I don't think I will ever go back there.


Horrible edges......caulking smudges all over the glass, returns in the wrong place.....and an almost unworkable over flow....but I guess you get what you pay for.

90 gal 48x22wx20h $425 and didn't even include the bulk heads

I bought a tank used that was supposedly made by Bow Valley. No problems as far as I'm concerned. Granted I am not that particular, it was my first tank of its kind. No leaks, two returns one in each top corner, and a working external herbie overflow. There was a soap dish attached to the side but I was easily able to pull it off.....:biggrin:

I have seen one or two custom tanks at red coral and at least at a distance they looked really good.

Ok that was awesome haha.

It's tough to compare tanks by this LFS vs tanks by that LFS. Maybe they don't all play builder swap but I know there is a lot of crossover in the industry. You basically find out that almost every tank is built by either Mitch, Gary or Jay. Better comparisons would be builder vs builder. I don't think any of them (Mitch included) build a bad tank. Some are cleaner than others and some can provide finishes that the others can't. Recently it seems that that splits the camp into Mitch on one side and Gary and Jay on the other. I would always ask my LFS who's working on my tank. If they wouldn't say I'd go elsewhere as that matters to me.

I am rolling on the floor, just too hilarious :lol:

Very well put, and I agree.

I have to agree with the above comments.... I personally have many tanks built by Mitch/Bob at Bow Valley, all of them are well built servicable tanks. They may not be the epitome of quality finishing but they are on par with the likes of Hagen/Oceanic/Allglass/etc. Sure they may not be as nice as the ones Jay builds with the fancy edges and one piece eurobraces but they are a heck of alot more affordable.

Just my $0.02.

Thats an old myth.... Mitch does use some textured glass but only in terrariums on the back to add visual interest. Also all his glass is new, he just gets a good deal on off-cuts from the glass manufacturing biz.

not true......I have personally seen with mine own two eyes a tank from there with frosting on the bottom pane

the sump I have from bow valley has a textured bottom pain almost like shower door glass...

:pop2:

Too early to crack open a beer, coke zero will have to do.

Nvm, my question was answered

IMO if you want a cheap tank and don't care about the finish, then by all means go ahead and use him.

But if you have spent months planning a tank, 3 weeks building a stand and want everything perfect......spend the extra bucks.

Especially if you live out of province and can't even check out the tank before it is delivered to your house....don't do it. I just think that they thought since it was being shipped to B.C. they could just slap it together get caulking smears all over the glass (inside and out) and it didn't matter because I wasn't going to re-crate it and spend another $150 to ship it back.

Sorry for ranting on your thread here....this is still a touchy subject with me....as you can probably tell.....lol

You can use a flat blade and scrape silicone off glass, I own a window, door, and siding company and we have scrape chaulking(glazing) smears all the time with a flat razor blade.


Corey

As far as BV goes, there are threads here that go back 5 years commenting on the quality and service. All anyone has to do is use the search button and type in Bow Valley. Most aquarium boards have similar threads, search on BV or Inter-American.
As stated, please convey your experiences without any name calling, and hope that people in the market for tanks use the search function and do their homework.

Thats why I apologized for ranting http://smileys.on-my-web.com/reposit.../beer-wink.gif

Even after reading everyones comments on which company does it best or which looks nicer it all comes down to the simple question, how much am I willing to spend on 5 pieces of glass and some silicon? maybe some holes drilled as well?

prices ranges from $500-$1200 maybe even more as I havent called everywhere yet so how much am I willing to spend on the tank, thats not including pumps, skimmers, heaters, power heads, ATO, plumbing....

Welcome to SW reefing. I havent been in the SW hobby long but even if you get a tank for free plan on spending a fair amount of money in this hobby even after initial set up.

Oh i know I have 2 tanks setup right now :D

Dude just give conceptaquariums a pm. I myself along with a handful of others are getting our tanks built by him. You can keep on posting and what not but if you were to go out to a handful of places and give each on the dimensions of a tank and sump and get a qoute, then you would see which place is the cheapest. I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago, so I went to 5 places in calgary and got quotes. Then I just chose the best price and looked at the quality in the tanks they built. That's how I ended up getting conceptsaquariums to build my tank.

what size did you get built?

Check out my tank build. 82.7gal three sides starfire and one piece starfire eurobrace. 3'x2'x22"

I'll second the huge thumbs up for Concept Aquariums!

They're building my tank right now (you can click through the link below, its called Tibet). They have spectacular communication, really fair prices, you get to see before hand exactly what you're getting via drawings and sketch ups. They show up when they say they will, and its always a really easy going process. They're well worth the few minutes to send out a PM.

we will see who can offer me the best package for the best price, it wont be till the new year but its good to have a idea of where to go.

I understand you don't want to spend a fortune on a tank -no one does. This is a hobby after all and hobbies take discretionary income.

HOWEVER.....this thing is going to hold over ONE HUNDERD GALLONS of salt water in your house. Try this....take a ONE gallon milk jug, fill it with tap water and randomly toss it somewhere in the room you plan to put that tank -that is literally a drop in the bucket of what the scene will be if your tank fails.

Does this mean that if you pay less the tank will fail with water all over ? Certainly not -but would you take the chance ? The tank is like a crash helmet for a race driver; it's the ONE thing you don't cheap on !!

If the tank fails it fails, let face it that could happen to any builder, I think all the ones mentioned would be pretty good and I dont think your paying for that in a tank, your paying for the name a lot of time....

fish tanks
 

I was wondering where concept aquariums is? A contact number would also be better thanks.