L/F custom tank builder

Crusty Old Shellback

Crusty Old Shellback

MASVC OG
Premium Member
I'm looking at replacing my 400G acrylic tank with a bigger 500G glass tank. Does anyone know of any good builders of glass tanks? Either local to So Cal or somewhere in the US that can ship?

I've gotten a quote from Glass cages and from The Fish Tank Factory/Charlie. But even with the shipping from glass cages, there is still a 1K price difference between the two for the same tank.

So do you guys know of any other tank builders around? Looking for a 108" x 36" X 30" tall. Low Iron Glass on front and one end. I could drop down to a 96" if it would make that much of a difference in price. Or go up to a 120" if it's not much difference.
 
Atlastankworks.com

They're in Canada but build amazing tanks at great prices. They built my 315g tank.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2
 
So Charlie uses Leemar?
He was 1K higher than Glass cages even with the $800 shipping for Glass cages which I know is a lot less for shipping from Vista up to Charlies.
 
As far as price, Glass Cages is nearly impossible to beat because you are getting the tank 'factory direct'. You get what you pay for though as their quality is considered to be the lowest out there.

Typically, Glass Cages does not polish the edges of their tanks. The edged are swiped which is basically just sanding the razor-sharp edge off. LeeMar's tanks are all quoted with a polished edge. This does add to the cost of the tank and, in my opinion, polished edged tanks are much more attractive.

You should also check out AGE tanks. For a tank your size they should be very competitive with price. They had a bad reputation because of their dreadfully slow build time but since being under new management they are nearly as quick as any other manufacturer out there. They are probably the most innovative aquarium builder in the US.

One last thing. It is very difficult to compare quotes to one another. You need to make sure you're getting comparable products. You need to make sure both manufacturers are going to use the same glass thickness, glass quality and silicone quality. You also need to take their workmenship into consideration. It takes a lot more time to build a clean tank than it does to build a sloppy one.
 
Thanks for the input. I guess I need to drop a picture so maybe you can get a better Idea of where I'm coming from. As for A.G.E., does anyone have any contact infor for them? Do they sell to the pubilc? The quote from Charlie and Glass cages were for the same spec tank. Charlie even said to use black silicone as it was cheapier. The addition for the Low Iron Glass on the display panes, glass cages was even cheapier on that as well. So I'm not sure where $1K plus is aqceptable just for the extra craftsmenship. I don't think polishing an edge is worth 1K.

Here's a couple of older pictures of the 400g tank when I was doing the woodwork on it. As you can see, I don't care about seams/ edges other than that they hold up as you can't see them. The cabinet on the right I am going to take out and that is where the extra 2 feet in length of the new tank will go.

Fish08021.jpg


Fish08022.jpg
 
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oscar.millan said:
Tired of Acrylic? I always thought the bigger you went the more sense it made to go acrylic.

Any thoughts? Feedback?
Click to expand...

Acrylic may be nice for some, but it's not for me. The tank is about 10 years old now. It has very fine scratches in it that are a pain to clean and even harder to polish out. I did polish out a lot of them when I got the tank about 7 years ago and set it up. Also the tank is 36" tall which also makes it hard to clean. So rather than trying to cut this one down to 30", install a new top, polish out the scratches, and build a new overflow, I'd rather just go with a new glass tank built to my specs with Low Iron Glass in the viewing pane.
 
I agree completely, if you're covering the ends you don't needed polished edges. You can ask LeeMar for a quote without polished edges, I know they used to offer that.

Amazing Aquariums and Reefs can order the AGE tanks. You can also get another quote for a LeeMar through Ali just to compare.

I also agree with you about glass vs acrylic. In my opinion, glass is better for reef tanks and acrylic is better fit fish only.
 
When I was planning my tank I almost go with Charlie
He gave me the best quote, customer service and great vibes for glass including home delivery.
I look in glass cage too but with curve side delivery, bad reputation on communication and Quality I never consider it.

I hate the scratches on acrylic but it's earthquake state and it's a lot cheaper.
 
I think the price point is about the same between acrylic and glass. Unless you know something I don't.

As for the earthquake, I've had some big glass tanks survive several earthquakes so I'm not too worried about that either.

I know glass cages will not deliver to my house, but they will deliver to a local transport dock and I can pick it up from there. I've done it before and the trucking company is just down the road from me so no big deal.
 
Crusty Old Shellback said:
I think the price point is about the same between acrylic and glass. Unless you know something I don't.

As for the earthquake, I've had some big glass tanks survive several earthquakes so I'm not too worried about that either.

I know glass cages will not deliver to my house, but they will deliver to a local transport dock and I can pick it up from there. I've done it before and the trucking company is just down the road from me so no big deal.
Click to expand...

Well...
Let's say my acrylic tank is about half of starfire glass ( that I thought was really cheap already.
Regarding Glasscage if it's scratch or the bonding are bad?
how will you bring it back?
My friend David ( on large reef tank ) have some bubbles on the tank after few months age pick it up and replaced it! I doubt that glass cage will do that.

With Charlie ( sounds like a really stand up guy) he will deliver it you personally
So if you notice scratch , bubble, bad silicon job you can talk to him face to face.
 
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I have a tank from charlie. Its great! Great guy to deal with. The best thing is go with him or someone local. That way you have face to face contact with the seller and not a computer screen.
 
I agree that dealing with someone local is a better option. Leemar will not sell to me but I can go thru my LFS to order it. I know the owner fairly well as I've been dealing with him for years. I'm not sure who local deals in AGE.

If acrylic is really that much cheapier, then it might be an option. But for the size tank I'm looking at, I'm not sure it would be. Glass would be 3/4" thick. Acrylic on the other had will be at least 1" thick. And at 9 or 10 feet long, they would have to glue two peices together and then hide the seam. Lot's of manpower which relates to cost involved in that process.

Any local acrylic tank builders?
 
Pm me because I don't want to get it trouble advertising their business here.


1" acrylic is not that expensive although my tank is only 3/4"
But I have Sfvr friends that have 1" thick acrylic on 260 and 150 gallons
 
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