I sent him a PM from his username here, look back a few pages for it.

How many stands have 12"x12" legs? Mine has 1"x1" feet on the stand. So if you factor that.... we as people spread out over a more equal and larger space... so comparing a persons weight to a tanks weight does not seem like apples to apples.... now if someone out there has small feet......


Be careful. I agree with other statements... if you can't confirm 100%, its not a good idea. No matter what advice and knowledge people may have, they don't know YOUR house.

Older houses have problems just like new houses. The age does not mean it is more stable. You may have had termites in the house years before (bad example I am sure) but you need to be 100%. A 90 gallon tank water filled is about 720 pounds... not counting glass weight/rock/sump... etc.

Use caution.... make the best choice for you. If you really want to go large... I would recommend talking to your land lord or someone qualified to tell you whether or not you need additional supports.

With salt its over 780 pounds of water.

Just pm him he's on the forum

Mitch will save money by buying unused glass crops left over from projects done by other glass shops. The glass is still new and just as good as anything else, it just saves him money which in turn saves you money. Sometimes the glass crops are frosted which will then be used for the base. They are not old shower doors, the rest of the glass may have been used to make a shower door but that's irrelevant. Pretty much all glass used in residential or commercial applications including shower doors has to be tempered. If you've ever tried to cut tempered glass you would know this myth has no truth to it what so ever.

I understand that your trying to get the best price in town and think that your just paying more for the name , but just think of it this way, would you buy a tank that was 75-100 dollars less from someone that has a bad rep of building a poor tank or getting a tank from someone that is more reputable and can guarantee that the tank won't fail. I myself would be willing to shell out an additional 75-100 for the piece of mind that i won't get 100 or so gallons of saltwater on the floor, and potentially do more damage to my house (plywood and 2x4, 2x10... do not mix well) just a thought.

I agree, but usually it is more than $100 bucks between these 2 types of builders, I think that is the problem. But I still would pay the extra, if that was the case from the better builder.

Many state that why pay so much when it is just glass and silicone? Well if it was that easy, then we would all be building our own tanks, but we don't, so I guess it isn't!

Don't just go on price, base it on the quality of the product. More importantly the qaulity in workmanship in the seals.

I would diffinately recommond Jay, very top end quality and the price wasn't that bad. Seeing the Concept Aquariums work in photos, it seems they offer the same quality... Personally, I would love to see one of their tanks in person, as the photos look nice.

:lol: i will post plenty of pics once i get mine l:lol:

Actually he was setting you up to invite us all over. Here's your second chance lol.

I have to defend BV a little here.. I've had 2 tanks built there, and I have to say I'm happy.Yes, the edges aren't polished or bevelled.But the seals are nice, and the rest of the workmanship was good.He built them just as I wanted, and the price was right.When people look at my tank ,they notice the fish and decor.Not the edges of my glass. :)
I looked around , and the prices vary widely! I got what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay.
The only gripe I had , was it took about a week or 2 longer(than quoted) for tanks to be completed.Other than that the service was good, and Mitch was a good guy to deal with. IMO

I personally have never dealt with Mitch, but can say it isn't the edges that make the tank, it is the seals... So if he does that properly, then great!

But I can say I do have the polished beveled edges on everything. All holes and curves are C&C'd (or something like that) so everything is precise and you do really notice it. Many have commented on the quality finish, that being said I wouldn't think twice about paying extra for that again. More importantly, I would love the one piece Euro, mine isn't that as Jay didn't do one piece at the time I got mine. But the next tank will have it!

Personally, I think it all will come down to what you wish to have as a finished product... If you don't care about the polishing, etc then someone like Bow Valley may be just fine, but if you want that little extra then maybe Jay or Concept. I myself, like the extras, it really makes the tank POP!!! And no that isn't like POP, there goes my tank all over the floor! :lol:

what im getting at is out of the builders who have been mentioned in this thread, red coral, concept, elite, bow valley, they all have good and bad reviews but has anyone here had a tank fail from one of them? Not that anyone has mentioned and yes maybe BV has had a tank fail but look at how many they put out compared to everyone else statistical they are going to have more, hell I bought a premade standard 10gal one time and it leaked so everyone has one or 2 that just dont work.

So has anyone here had a tank fail from any of the builders listed?

Lol I might have to lol. But once I have everything in and settled down. :lol:

BV can also polish edges encase anyone was wondering, you just have to ask for it and be very specific on what edges to polish.

Frankly, it's amazing that this thread his reached 10 pages?! - It's really not that difficult of a choice. For the record, Red Coral and Concept don't build aquariums. They simply broker the deal. The question is who you would prefer to deal with and for me the answer is entirely obvious. Elite used to have an exclusive arrangement with a builder (Jay) but from what I understand this arrangement is no longer in place, so by whatever means contact him directly.

There are only three builders in Calgary - Gary, Jay and Bow Valley.

However, you've completely answered your own question. DON'T buy a custom tank. They can and do fail regardless of the builder. The most common cause of failed custom tanks is the stand not being perfectly flat (planar). Let me tell you how difficult it is to build a perfectly flat stand.

The best advice that anyone could give you is to buy a manufactured tank from a reputable supplier. I would suggest looking at Marine Land. While it's probably bigger than you were thinking, I really like the Marine Land deep dimension tanks!

Case in point - Marineland will not honor the warranty on their tanks if you do not also buy their stand. The stand and the floor it sits on are what generally cause the tank to fail.

I've never seen a custom tank fail because of this reason, I've seen many tanks fail for a number of other reasons but not stand related. I also don't see what is so difficult about building a flat stand, it's pretty simple actually and using foam or rubber will insure the tank is properly supported. I would think that standard tanks fail more often from a result of a poor stand because they are typically used with store bought stands which for the most part are garbage MDF and don't offer adequate, long lasting support. The larger metal stands typically in stores are also uneven on occasion and usually require additional work or materials to provide even support.

Lol this thread is getting really long did magma get a tank yet lol

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-pets-anim...AdIdZ249585194

I came across this add on kijiji, some one bilding tanks in okotoks.
Looks like they are fresh.

Marineland tanks, hagen and whatever are all built by humans just like custom tanks in town. There have been issues with these tanks as well. While I don't think it's hard to build a flat stand I do think that when people have issues for the most part it is due to the stand. I think the biggest issue is people want access to underneath and forgo suitable support in the middle. The stand is flat or flat enough with foam upon initial completion but the thing ends up sagging in the middle under full load.