Perfecto/Marineland Tank Warranty

M

mmaisonneuve

New member
I'm Currious to hear about other people experience with Perfecto/Marineland Warranty....

Back in Sept I acquired a brand new 200 Gallon DD Tank, the Stand and Canopy from Marineland.

Got new Circulation pump, new Skimmer, new Return pump, new media reactors.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks I moved all livestock from my 2 other Tanks in the new tank.....lots of fishes, lots of corals, lots of inverts. Finally I was at the summum of Marinetank.....that was until dec 4th.......The silicon seam in the bottom of the tank (front) gave up......tank emptied itself and we lost everysingle thing....all my fishes....all my precious coral ct olony's all the inverts everything.......I feel like all hell broke loose on that day. So much time, passion and money gone in the drain.

If anyone else has gone this path please let me know....because honestly I can't start all this all over......

Yes there is the Marineland Warranty yes they are replacing the tank but what good will that make me if I need to start from scratch and by 2000$ of fish again, 2000$ of corals ?

Please send your comments I seak your guidance, your opinion.
 
Sorry to hear about this. It has to be the worst possible event for an aquariast.

If you are a homeowner perhaps your insurance policy can provide some relief. But I don't know if standard policies cover damage or clean up services for this type of disaster. Did you get an early warning or did it fail all at once?
 
It seems whenever I read about a failure, it's Marineland. Makes me a little nervous about my 120 :-/.

I'm not sure if they'll do anything about your livestock or damage to your residence. I'd suggest talking to an attorney knowledge about warranty law in your state.
 
Hopefully you have a good home insurance policy. The water damage to floors/ walls/ceiling (if it was on an upper floor) can be substantial. Good luck!

- Ian
 
Well couple of things....

1) I was home when it started to leak....no warning just the bottom seam that gave up....I was able to unplug all and collect the water has it came down..So I save the floor and the House Damange......

2) Home insure would pay Tank and Stand...that is it....no Livestock....

3) Livestock just fish and inverts my lost is at 2350$

4) Corals I've not estimated yet......

5) I've save the Sand but no place to keep that live rock....the house stunk like hell so all the Liverock and corals are outside in the garbage.

6) Spoke with Marineland......they are replacing the Tank and the Stand.....It's covered underwarranty....

7) Over the phone the employee at Marineland has told me they would cover Livestock lost (needed picture or receipt)....and floor damage (I saved their *** on that one....but lost 2 days of work)

We will see how good is their Lifetime Warranty on Tank when you get their stand....If they are covering everything, then this is hell of a good publicity. This coverage thing was quite clear and I had 2 witness....we were on the speaker phone.
 
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First off i am so sry for the lose and the lose of the animals. I seem to read about this more and more, and everytime i start to think about mine. I dont know what i would do if i was to ever stumble upon that, or if it was to happen and i lost everything. All the time and money invested into my little world, i dont think i could ever start over. I am saying this but i hope you find a way to recreate what you had.
 
Looks like there is a good chance you will come out ok from this. If there are some gaps in what will be covered for you I'm sure fellow reefers close to you will be more than happy to spare some frags and get you back on track. A chance for faith in humanity to be restored! Huzzah! :)

- Ian
 
Wow. I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine how devastating this would be.

Hang in there. Hopefully Marineland will make good on their promise to replace all your livestock, tank and stand.
 
Well I'll believe it when I see it....the worst part is my Heartbroken Daughter, started all this with her and it all happen the day we turned 10......Life can be a *****......
 
Good Service or Bad Service....

Good Service or Bad Service....

Well things are not as smooth as it seems like.....Marineland have started to play the little insurance company game.....perhaps yes perhaps not......here is what I just told them to help them realize the effort we just putted in all this:

One last little thing, just so that everyone understands how complex all this was"¦"¦Last week for the cleanup following my 200DD Tank failure"¦a 2 months old tank"¦..

Wednesday Night starting a 10pm (4-5 December) we were 3 people (2 members of the local reef club came and help) up all night to pickup the water leaking and try to save everything we could
Thursday all day (5th December) it was Julia Birthday I was not able to be there yep on her birthday she learned that all her fish were gone, she had each one of then named"¦.wow what a great birthday it was"¦.still was picking up and documenting all that mess until 8 pm we were 2 people (3 other member of the club came on and off to help (one of them was the CADlights Sales Rep)), I ended up getting someone to babysit the kids all 4 at their place overnight"¦I was exhausted I had to go sleep at this point"¦.I was up since Wednesday 6AM"¦..we were Thursday 8pm.
Friday from 1pm until 6pm still cleaning and ditching last corals and cleaning/bleaching the house"¦.2 people (1 local club member came over (CadLights Sales Rep))

That's 51 hours of cleaning and picking up stuff because of a faulty tank, cannot prevent myself from thinking if that Tank had been built properly all this would not have happened.

Since then I've putted a good 10-12 hrs. in answering Marineland requests, getting quotes, pictures, list, prices etc etc"¦"¦all this is truly a nightmare. Perhaps all this can help everyone understand why I've lost faith"¦.and don't trust anyone anymore.
 
Its too late now, but when the tank was leaking 'IF' water was to ruin some drywall and flooring, you could offset the quote of those repairs to cover the costs of the fish and corals. The insurance company will most likely tell you that they will only cover the tank or damaged items and not the living stuff. I can tell you right now, if you argue enough, they will cover everything.

You have to argue that the fish, invertebrates, corals, and live rock were pets (and this really is not a lie as they are all 'alive'). It took me 6 months to get my settlement from the insurance company, but I will say that they covered absolutely everything. I can tell you right now that they will play games. Yes its time consuming and yes its frustrating. My advice to you is be patient, don't just agree to settle because you are fed up. Hold your ground, plead your case and chances are they will compensate you for all your loss.

I would advise that after this gets taken care of, you have a special clause placed in your policy that specifically covers your tank, livestock and any equipment. Down the road, if anything was to happen again, you know you will be covered for sure.
 
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Just had a similar experience with my 120 gallon Perfecto. Woke up at 2:00 in the morning to the sound of the filter spraying water on a less than full tank, knew it was a problem because I had done a water change the day before and both spray bars were submerged. Spent the next four hours trying to save my fish, and siphon out as much water as possible. The tank was leaking profusely from the bottom.
My tank was purchased new 2 1/2 years ago. I have contacted Perfecto, they are supposed to email what they need, but said it is only a one year warranty.
I lost a bunch of fish-some I had for four/five years, from when they were small. What a disaster.

I do not have the nerve now to go back to 120g. I can only keep thinking, what if it happens again.
I donated most of my fish to LFS, did not want them all to die.
 
Just happened to me for a second time! First time was a 150 Marineland that the glass cracked about 30" from the base of the over flow to the middle of the back section of glass. They paid for the replacement of the tank, stand, some equipment, some livestock, the damages to the wall and cleanup, and 85 gallons of water. Sent me a check to cover the 75% of what was lost after I signed a release not to sue them. Since the glass cracked I decided to upgrade to the 300DD Marineland Starfire..... Well, one week ago my wife woke me up in the morning and said the tank was leaking. Could this be possible? Yup! The bottom silicone seams failed and I had 250 gallons of water on the floor already and it was still leaking.... I tried to save everything but could not. Everything.....7k worth of coral...3k worth of fish...not to include 15k in tank, stand, canopy, equipment.....everything total loss. Oh and 40k worth of damages to my house. Kitchen needs to be replaced, drywall, baseboards, cabinet in 2nd bathroom, floor in den... Luckily my insurance company is paying for the damages but will not cover anything that was part of the fish tank to include the livestock. So, right now I'm out more than 20k unless United Pet Group decides to step up. I strongly doubt they're going to agree to pay 25k... I might have to hire a Product Liability Attorney bc this is not right. Did I mention that it was professionally installed 10 months ago and perfectly level?! My home is in shambles. It honestly looks like a hurricane is to blame. So, that's 2 Marineland tanks in less than a year.
 
Wow. If they don't pony up, I'd lawyer up. These posts make me even more confident in my decision to go with a good custom builder for my new tank.
 
My stress level is so high that I'm going to see the doctor for a prescription for xanex. I really don't want to get lawyers involved but I might have to. My wife and I sent them an email last night with the estimates for the damage, emergency water/waste extraction, and damages to the tank, equipment, livestock, etc... Total is around 75k. We told them that we would rather settle with them instead of going through our ins. which will seek subrogation. It would be better for all of us if they do the right thing but....you never know.
The Fish Tank Kings are literally about 30 min away from me. I'm going to see them today for a consult on a new tank. We have to see if we can get a strong custom made tank for a decent price or this hobby is over.
 
Hey don't let my experiences keep you from getting one. All I can tell you is that if you do make sure that they use more than just one silicone seal at all sections where glass meets glass! Have them use angled glass in all corners and eurobracing. The glass didn't break in the starfire it was the silicone that failed. I was a little skeptical when it was first installed and I was right. I'd re-enforce the crap out of any and every glass tank I get from now on. I'd rather lose the warranty by making them super strong than let them hang by a thread.
 
toothybugs said:
And I'm highly re-evaluating my plans for a 300DD...
Click to expand...

These threads definitely make the extra $3 - $4k for a Reef Savvy tank seem worth it, especially the size tank I'm considering (180g - 240g).

As an FYI, I patronize a very high-functioning saltwater-only LFS in my area. The owner's been doing custom set-ups for clientele for the last 15 years, and he's stopped supplying Marineland tanks above 120g, and DD tanks in general to customers for precisely this issue - catastrophic tank failures. His opinion is that the 300g DD Marineland tank specifically is a train wreck that's just waiting to happen.

It's pretty telling to compare the glass thickness and reinforcing scheme of a Reef Savvy, Miracles or other custom shop to a Marineland in the same size. It's hard to know, but I've a feeling Reef Savvy and other high-safety-factor builders have never had a catastrophic "spontaneous" tank failure.
 
I do think the larger Marineland tanks are a bit underbuilt. FFS, the custom builders I've talked to want to use thicker glass on my 15" tall 85g build than Marineland uses on 100+g 24" tall tanks.
 
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