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Who to contact for QUICK price estimates for some custom aquaria? (1 Viewer)

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capman

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I need to get some price estimates for some custom aquaria really fast (next two days). The price estimates just have to be sort of ballpark figures, don't need to be super precise. I'd like to see if I can get the estimates by phone for fast turnaround time.

Who would you folks suggest I contact?

I'm considering sizes such as 6' x 3' x 2' (lxwxh), and, say, 2' x 30" x 2' or so (and maybe also the same as the latter but a bit less tall). Probably need a quote on a stand (metal?) for the big tank too.

When we had custom tanks built nearly 20 years ago they were built by Oceanic, but it seems there are other players out there today maybe.

Thanks!
 
A few I have received quotes from in the last 2yrs, I was looking for 400g plus size: Midwest Custom Aquariums(acrylic only), Starbuck MN no shipping charge if you have the ability to pickup. Fish Tanks Direct, custom and standard sizes, N Venice FL. Custom Aquariums, I believe in Eastern WI once again you could probably do pick up although not a 100% on that. Miracles which I don't have experience with but have heard lots of good things about them. Also there is someone in the Dayton, Rogers area that does custom build, I don't remember his name and also want to say that there's someone in Hopkins, once again not sure. Hope it helps
 
If you would consider used, Ryan turner has a 300dd for sale for very cheap.
Coast2 coast will get back to you quickly, but in my opinion, the prices are a little high.
AGE got back to me quickly as well.
 
Thanks for the leads.

Glass is the only reasonable option for classroom/lab aquaria being partially maintained by students. Even with glass, a magnetic glass cleaner somehow picked up some small bits of metal some years back and a student helper ended up putting some big scratches in the front glass of one of our custom-built tanks some years back.
 
capman said:
Thanks for the leads.

Glass is the only reasonable option for classroom/lab aquaria being partially maintained by students. Even with glass, a magnetic glass cleaner somehow picked up some small bits of metal some years back and a student helper ended up putting some big scratches in the front glass of one of our custom-built tanks some years back.
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Since you can easily buff the scratches out of acrylic, I would think that acrylic would be better for a big tank that you know is going to eventually get scratched up no matter what it is made of.
 
Good point.

But coraline algae can be really difficult to remove from acrylic. If one has really active coraline algae growth you need to keep up with it - lapses in cleaning it off promptly result in terrible messes. I have a big acrylic tank at home that had previously been a reef tank, and had had lots of coraline algae to deal with - it was horrible. With glass a razor blade would have been all that would have been necessary.

In nearly 20 years, our glass tanks only got scratched once, and only two scratches on one tank. I think I'd rather gamble (and take some precautions regarding magnetic scrapers) than to have the constant burden to keep all surfaces of the tank super immaculate at all times (e.g. even over holidays, when student workers are away, etc).
 
BEAV9900 said:
If you are just looking for estimates.

http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=2

If heard hit or miss about the company but I would assume prices would be in the ballpark
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Thanks so much for this lead. Their website is very helpful, and they were very helpful on the phone. I now have the basic ballpark figure information I need for the proposal I'm putting together for a potential donor.

Regarding custom tanks, there is not an upcharge from Glasscages for customization per se. Basically, what I was told, was to find one of their standard sizes with all dimensions at least as big as what is needed, and any of those dimensions can be reduced for no extra charge. My recollection (vague now after all these years) is that with Oceanic there was an upcharge for anything non-standard (but I'm not certain of that). And they deliver (on their own truck) to Minneapolis for large orders for a pretty modest price.

Can you tell me more (maybe in an e-mail so as to not be trashing a company publicly) about the hit or miss nature of this company that you mentioned? My first reactions from talking to them are good.
 
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Glass cages has the reputation for being the bottom tier in tanks - both quality and price. That said, they've likely sold 10's of thousands and I'm sure 99.9% of the tanks are fine.

For personal use, since it's in our homes and an extra one time 20-40% increase in cost for better aesthetics and quality is justified in my view, I personally stayed away from them. For your application, commercial in a sense, big/thick/built like a brick crap house might be a good approach.
 
Marty,

Thanks for the info.

What would be your preferred source for tanks?
 
cheezybuda said:
If you would consider used, Ryan turner has a 300dd for sale for very cheap.
Coast2 coast will get back to you quickly, but in my opinion, the prices are a little high.
AGE got back to me quickly as well.
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Thanks for the tip, but estimated move in date (last I heard) for our new building where the tanks will go is close to 2 years from now. In principle, groundbreaking this spring or summer, and then a long complicated construction process (its going to be big building, and science buildings with labs are particularly complicated buildings).
 
capman said:
Thanks so much for this lead. Their website is very helpful, and they were very helpful on the phone. I now have the basic ballpark figure information I need for the proposal I'm putting together for a potential donor.

Can you tell me more (maybe in an e-mail so as to not be trashing a company publicly) about the hit or miss nature of this company that you mentioned? My first reactions from talking to them are good.
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I found the same thing, great customer service and willing to answer all my questions. Just do a quick google search of glasscages review. You will see both sides. My conciseness is they make a good product at a discount price. Silicone work might not be the cleanest you have seen but tanks don't have issues holding water. (if you choose black silicone supposedly they do a better job). I think for what you are doing, if the price is that much cheaper then its probably a good fit.
 
capman said:
Marty,

Thanks for the info.

What would be your preferred source for tanks?
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Not doing custom would be my first thought. Try and stick with stock designs where ever possible (even if Glasscages, their commercial section looks good)
 
capman said:
Why? Because of increased risk of quality issues?

Do you have a preferred or favorite source for tanks?
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Cost solely. Custom always will cost a disproportionately amount more for what you actually get.
 
Indeed. The thing is lab space costs much much more, and there are sometimes big intractable constraints on the use of the space (things I could work around in a home situation, but that I'm locked in on in the lab setup). In some cases custom tanks maximize the use of the space, or improve functionality in non-trivial ways. Start up costs are a little higher, but over the next 20 years that will be a moot point.

Our original two-tank system in the lab was set up using custom built tanks to make maximum use of the very limited and constrained space we had available. I think each tank might have been a few hundred dollars more at the time, but I think it was money well spent, and a trivial expense at this point in time.

And from Glasscages, there is no added cost of shaving off a few inches to improve how a tank will fit into a given space, and the higher cost per gallon is sort of a trivial thing.

____________

And again, if Glasscages would not be your choice, do you have a different tank builder/supplier that you prefer?
 
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If your looking for a 6x3x2 you are much better off getting a DD 300 gallon tank. You will save a ton of money and is the footprint your looking for. Reef Savy makes amazing tanks also but expensive.
 
The problem with the standard 300 gallon tank is the height. I don't think I want to be having to deal with the added difficulty of reaching into a 27" tall tank. A few inches can make a difference.

(Incidentally, the recommendation (a strong recommendation) to pay more if necessary to reduce the height of the tank to have a more manageable tank came from a potential donor who knows reef aquaria well.)

Glasscages has a standard tank that is 72 x 36 x 25 Tall with a base price of $1455, with some additional options added (reef ready, etc) it comes out closer to $2000. And if I wanted to obsess over a few inches of height (e.g. take off an inch or two, which I realize might be silly) they would do so for no extra cost.

If there are reasons to avoid Glasscages then maybe this is not such a good deal. But if their tanks are OK, then this doesn't seem bad to me.

Edit: I've just been reading some reviews....need to think some I guess.
 
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