Bow valleys Crazy warehouse.
 

Well i just went to bow valley aquariums, and that place is nuts. I got a tour of the place, they have a grand caymen crocodile and another huge crocodile in a nother enclosure. That place is awsome really nice people. And they have everything i could ever want for my tank. My glass should be ready next friday so we will see how that goes, and my 18x18x18 cube for only 40 bucks.

"Ready next Friday..." :rofl:

Maybe he means a different Bow Valley? :razz:

reply
 

Hate to rain on your parade but it isn't unusual for them to be way behind on their orders. My friend's custom 90 gallon took an extra week after they had to redo the screw ups. Then after we got it home we noticed a scratch on the front starfire. :mad:

Well you see there not making the tank just supplying all the glass for me and bukaneer to make in my house. The guy i talked to neil was a real nice guy and he said it woul only take 3 to 4 days but i told him i wont even be ready till next friday. Still the place is awsome. They have everything there, they are even a wholesaler for AGA. Just always remeber cash gets you the best deal, my tank is 66x24x30 with starfire front smoked overflows and returns drilled and a 18x18x18 cube for 700 taxes paid.

Yeah the facility is quite impressive...

Too bad Mitch runs it :lol:

i got my 18x18x18 cube from them, took them under 2 weeks if you can believe it! Maybe locals get preferential treatment?

I never even saw mitch, i talk to a guy named neil and he said he would be the one doing my order, we had a talk about all the people who dont like them, he said If mitch wasnt such a lier then there wouldnt be a problem :lol: also he said some people caugh americans caugh are way to anal about things calling ever 2 days to check up on things. And if you saw how many tanks they build you would see why it takes a while.

I wouldn't doubt there is some amount of preferential treatment for locals or Canadians as a whole.

You didn't happen to notice large stacks of completed smaller sized aquariums, did you? 10, 15, etc. gal sizes...

Yeah there were huge stacks of smaller aquariums. Loads of them.

teevee why do you ask? I noticed the same thing when I was there.

When I had my nano built it took about a month longer than Mitch told me it would take. I wasn't anal and bothering anyone - each time I called, I waited until the day it was supposed to be ready and then called before going in. Each time Mitch would tell me something like "we've got it built but the glue is drying" or "we just have to glue the overflow box on". One day I stopped by and told them I would just pick the tank up and glue the overflow box on myself. I was told that my tank wasn't even started and they did not even know what it was I wanted. This probably represents the worst customer service and treatment I have ever recieved anywhere.
Fortunately Rob took down the specs, and in only a couple days built my tank. He really did a bang up job and I am so pleased with his work that I will go back to Bow Valley for my next tank. Just make sure you deal with the right person. JME

- Chad

I've been keeping quiet about my theory for a while, but I'm convinced IA actually manufactures tanks for a larger company, say, Oceanic. Perhaps they handle all the manufacturing for Oceanic in Canada or something to that effect. This would explain why they're always late, and so hard to get ahold of - they do their private contract work in the evenings/weekends and it's only to get a bit of extra cash. This also explains why they sometimes indicate that they've stopped doing private work (but promptly start up again afterwards).

That's probably a good call. When I was there I saw a stack of a whole bunch of mass-produced cheap looking 5 or 10gal tanks. They looked so out of place that I asked if they supplied the LFS's in town. They said no but didn't say where they were for.

HAHA so did no one see the back back room. I got a huge tour the guy said i wasnt suppose to see this stuff but he didnt care. They supply tanks to almost all pet stores in canada and lots of usa. They supple for golds, PETLAND, petcetera petsmart, and they may even make AGA tanks since i saw loads of tanks in AGA boxes. He says one of the only stores they dont supple is BIg Als which they used to supply. Oh yeah and riverfront.

bow valley is good........when they do their work! I have been waiting for my 37 gallon for 3 weeks now when it was supposed to be done in two days. But it is expected, everytime I call Mitch, I get som BS excuse. haha

Does anyone have a phone number for bow valley aquarium??? i need a bigger tank

They are in the white pages, although I don't remember if I've seen them advertise in the yellow pages though.

Anyhow the listing in the white pages says:
6423 35 St SE,
272-4960

cheers

thanks tony
i tried looking the the whitepages.ca nothing was there.
These guys do good work right? but there slow..... is that correct?

That's normal for Mitch. :biggrin:

I've never got anything on time form him yet. You'll get it, just not at all when you planned to.

I find what you have to do is call him a few days before your tank is suppose to be ready, then call him the next day to confirm and call him the morning you are going to pick up your tank, so that he can build the tank in the morning before you go. Thats what i had to do but it got done.

has anyone got starfire tanks from these guys? Because werent they Interamerican before? i conclued this because on RC there monster threads on IA selling fake starfire? also the name mitch has come up on the IA forms?

Starfire or Starphire or Low iron glass are all pretty much the same thing ... it is like when someone comes into my showhome asking about whether we build with a silent floor cause they saw the ads with the elephants walking on the floors in a magazine or on TV :eek:

silent floor = engineered floor joist

starfire = low iron glass

Mitch = painfully slow to build tanks

:mrgreen:

FWIW, not this Mitch....

:arrow:(Carpentersreef)

I buy my tanks from Wai's.
Always happy with them.

:smile:

Silent floor = glued and screwed...+ engineered lumber (emphasis on the glued and screwed....) :mrgreen:

Mitch

They still go by the name Interamerican - especially in the US market. Us local yocals are the only ones that still know them as Bow Valley.

And Mitch,
Thanks for clearing that up - I know that the guys at Bow Valley check out this forum because they have mentioned it to me before. I always wondered if you were that Mitch. :razz:

Are you all sure its not true PPG starphire when i was there i asked and they said it was from PPG and it is true starphire. And are you sure that wais doesnt get there tank from them because im pretty sure they supple every pet store in calgary exept big als.

Danny gets the glass cut to spec and builds it himself.
He's got a pretty cool 1100g corner tank in the works right now. :cool:

Mitch

I dont go to wais that often but real nice store and nice corals, with a not so nice price tag from what i remember. And wasnt really a customer servicekinda guy. Although i think i might need to stop by again and check things out.

Sounds like you know the place well.

I finally got my tank! I ended dealing with a guy named Rob. He was super nice and helpful, he told me that it will be done the next day, and sure enough, i call him the next day and the tank is all ready for me to pick up.

Let's stamp this one out right now. If you go back to the original thread on this topic on RC you'll see that this myth was thoroughly debunked. Without a doubt IA is using real PPG Starphire. It should also be noted that the post that originally started the rumour was the first and only by that particular user...

actually silent floor is a trade name for Truss joist and has nothing to do with glued and screwed ( our company glues and screws the subfloor to the joists in our houses but cant use the term " silent floor " because they are not made by Truss Joist )... they were one of the first to manufacture engineered joists and coined the term " silent floor " ... do a google for silent floor and you will see :razz: :rolleyes: :mrgreen:

Yeah, I'm aware of the "Silent Floor" name.. but the main thing that makes it silent are the glue and screws.. :razz::rolleyes: :mrgreen:
How 'bout those aquariums, eh?

Mitch

Hey Quinn, don't you have a 150 for sale, made with real PPG Starphire glass? Mmmmmm.... Starrrrrrphiiiiiirrrre....

:mrgreen:

I think I prefer acrylic, after seeing Jim Barry's tank. :eek:

I think the clarity of acrylic has glass beat in the thicker sizes. I think low-iron glass comes close but acrylic is still on top.

Of course, it scratches way easier.

But then the flip side of that is that you can buff scratches out of acrylic, whereas not so much in glass (I forget where I saw it, I did once see a glass polishing kit that could buff out surface blemishes on car windsheilds. I can't imagine the amount of work it would be though, and polishing compounds and etc. etc.).

The only thing that sort of doesn't turn me completely onto acrylic tanks, at least the larger ones, is the fact that the tops tend to be enclosed with only small access ports cut out. At least on the ones I've seen, have seemed to be like this. I can't imagine having to reach in and do something, espescially on a tall tank. I already can't reach the bottom of my 90. :rolleyes: I suppose you have no idea what I'm talking about, Mr. 7'4" :razz:

Other than for the softness of acrylic, I think it's a better material. Jim's tank also impressed me a great deal.

To bad i would have to sell both of my kidneys to pay for acrylic. One sheet of 1/2 6 feet long acrylic costs over 400 dollers

Thx Guys :biggrin:

Wouldn't you know it... I'm going to a Starfire tank in March in my new house.

I will have my 120 acrylic with rounded corners for sale in April if anyone is interested.

Jim