Don't pay for the tank in full with cash. Mitch tends to 'disappear' when you do that. Pay AFTER the tank is been built.

Please do not go Bow Valley, you would regret it.
I know some one who got Mitch to build the 200gal tank. The husband almost got into a fight with Mitch. It was a nightmare for them. Mitch really screwed them big time.

There are many places that you can go here in Calgary.

Red Coral is highly recommended.

Forgot to mention, my brother's sump was built from Bow. Bow used a cheap piece of shower door. Mitch would not refund.

Things to note. Bow will quote a lcheaper than other places but it would hurt you in the end.

Geez, you weren't kidding man! I called BVA today to get an update on my tank and to confront Mitch about some of the things that were discussed here. Well, they have not even started on my tank and now Mitch has flown the coop. Mitch had to abruptly leave town and will be away for a month. I asked when I could expect to have my tank done. "Well, we have a bunch of very large orders right now so I wouldn't expect it for at least two to three weeks maybe", she says. WTF?! Two to three weeks?? Maybe?? So, I decided to pull out. I asked for a refund which she was fine with and I will be taking my money elsewhere. My biggest concern is that now someone else has to take mine and Mitch's plans and interpret them as per my discussions with Mitch. That could potentially be disastrous without Mitch there. Also, I am no longer convinced that they even care about my order from the discussion I had with them.

So, the original poster asked who we would recommend to get our tanks built. Based on my recent experience I would NOT recommend BVA. I will be going with one of the other more expensive quotes that I received (vendor previously listed in this thread).

K.

I spent hours waiting out in front of that shop for meetings i'd setup over the phone. He told me over the phone one time that his guy had cut himself badly at the shop and he was taking him into the ER. Guess he didn't know I'd been parked in front of the empty shop all morning.

Anyone else what to kick BVA while they're already down?? Yes it takes a while to get your one tank, the builds huge orders for retailers all over Canada, I would understand why your one tank isn't his top priority. It takes time to get a tank from him, so if you want it in a few weeks, best go somewhere else. But his construction and quality far exceeds the price tag, he sells tanks for less than I can get the glass for, considerably less.

And yes he goes into old houses and steals old shower doors for his tanks :crazy: What other possible reason would the glass be etched.

Ya i will!! I had a 120g built by him and BOTH the side panels were crooked.

So why did you buy a tank with crooked sides?

price was right, and once it was full your not looking at the glass your looking at whats in the glass. Its just my experience with the "construction and quality far exceeding the price tag" :wink:

Hilarious, obviously you thought it was good for the price so complaining seems pretty silly to me. FYI, a 120 gallon drilled runs for around $700 from concept here in Saskatoon.

I wasn't a complaint just my experience with a tank built by BVA. There is a few posts on here about people who still bought tanks from him and were not fully satisfied with them, but from what i have read the price was right. As per post 5 on here i had RC build my tank and i very happy with it, and judging by the price you just posted.... Im definitely happy with it.

Alright alright alright, I think I got the most relevant information about BVA's current work on single order tanks as I picked my completed tank up today.

First of all, Mitch did leave town for a month or something like that about 7 days ago, like I think it already says in this thread. So, for the last 7 days I've been dealing with Rob, who has been nothing short of a pleasure to work with.

I've called him 3 times in that span, the first was to see if I was on pace for a Thursday pickup of last week. (This call was on Thursday morning) and low and behold the tank hadn't been started since Mitch hadn't even passed on the work order to him yet. So I simply ask if I can at least pickup the 6 glass pains for my sump that I also ordered for weirs. I rehash the numbers over the phone and he says I can pick them up later that day. I get there 45 mins early of the time we agreed and they are cut, bundled together and ready to go. I get them home and they are to spec and fit perfectly in my sump. No communication loss, even over the phone.

So, I call again on Friday because I wanted to discuss the tank build with Rob over the phone too in case he couldn't read Mitch's writing very well. Once again, very accommodating and thorough.

Then, I called Monday to confirm we were still on pace for Tuesday which was the new day Rob gave me when I made my first call last Thursday and he confirmed we were and he said to come get it Tuesday to get it and we agree on 3:00.

So I got it today (I guess yesterday since its now 1:00 am) and he nailed it once again. I gave him very specific dimensions since I have a stand that is 22 3/8" wide and 72 3/8" long. So I asked for the finished diameter, including trim, to be to those dimensions so that it'd be flush and he absolutely nailed it. My tank fits on the stand perfect flush.

The glass all looks brand spanking new. Like some people here warned, I did get frosted glass on my bottom pain, but quite frankly, if this is where they cut cost, which are then passed onto me as savings, then I dont give a rats ass. Its covered in sand anyways. Maaaaaaybe Id care if I went bare bottom but even then, doubtful.

Overflow box is done very nicely with egg crate grill already installed. Silicone jobs are very clean and I am very very very happy with the tank I got for the price I paid.

I've only notice one small hiccup and that is one pain of glass is ever so slightly not flush on one corner, but wont make a difference at all. Hard to explain but its such a minor detail.

So, say what you want, but I am a very strong supporter of BVA and especially Rob. I would much rather deal with him than Mitch as it seems like everything was smooth sailing as soon as Rob took over and my tank looks fricken sweet. Im pumped. I'll be filling it up after next week since Im gone all next week. More reports later in my build thread that I'll start that'll have pictures.

For what it's worth I've always heard good things about Rob but have never been lucky enough to deal with him. Glad things worked out for you.

That's awesome! Glad to hear everything worked out for you. Sounds like if you are going to go with BVA, ask for Rob by name! Good to know for future reference.