The tank builders have been mentioned, so I have no names to add. I did, however, stop by Elite a few days back. I had a few minutes and was driving by- so I thought I would look at the livestock. Instead I spent the whole visit drooling over the tanks that were sitting on the floor. The attention to detail, the beveling of the surfaces and yes, the one piece euro braces were amazing. The other shops mentioned do fine work as well and I would not hesitate to buy a tank from most small shops as the owners will do what is necessary to make you happy. Having said that, some of the features that I saw on those tanks are not (as far as I know) available from other builders and it is actually worth stopping in just to see them and look at the features.

LOL we have some terrariums that are 1 way glass all the way around or dark tint. We didnt order them like that either.

Geez.....for a couple shops that dont wanna pay to advertise here they sure dont mind when they get it free. :wink:

removed

You're right, no more shower doors. Just a hugh headache and lots of frustration. I got Mitch to build me a 300g, what a mistake. I thought since Rahim had joined the team that things would improve, but not the case. Every few days I would call and Mitch he would give me a different excuse as to why it's delayed. When I finally got my tank, the overflow dimension was incorrect and there was an 1" chip in one pane. Other than that the tank was build fine. The price was the main attration to using Bow Valley,

I've learned the hard way a few times... You get what you pay for 99.9% of the time.

I had my 1st tank built by golds, I considered the nice shop and the amount of business that went thru the shop. I made that mistake. I requested starphire front, but didnt get it. Too many air bubbles within the seams. Also the edges of the glass are rough not polished. The glass it self is very thick. I met a person who had thier tank made by gary, the person who builds for red coral and ocean city. Its better than bow valley, but also there are some imperfetions such as bubbles within the seams. The next time i have a tank built, i would go to elite, Its nice they can display the product on the floor so you can see what you are getting. The tanks there are very nice. smooth lines and edges, seams are nice and clean. If price is not an issue!

You will always get some bubbles, in the seams. My tank, from Elite, has some... As long as the seams are strong, no worries. When they delivered mine, there was also some damage (can't say it was there in the store or from delivery), but it was the back corner. It was chipped away, not enough to be a structural problem. I just put some crazy glue on it to clean it up some. It has been almost 2 years with no issues.

I think all tank builders have their pros and cons, and everyone can probably say something negative about all. Best bet is to do your research see some examples and make your selection from there.

As most know, I majorly dislike Colby @ elite, as he ripped me off too many times before I started to smartin up and so many other things. But I will commend him and more Jayson for the quality of tanks they produce. I will eventually want another tank, would love to have another from him, but of course refuse to give him anymore money. So I don't know what I will do, maybe build my own?

I agree that Elite's tanks have very nice details, but there is a HUGE cost for the CNC machining. I priced out my new tank through Elite and it was 3-4 times the cost of Golds. With the way my tank is set up I wanted 2 of the edges to be beveled and polished, I got what I asked for.

Sitting on the shop floor Elite's tanks look great, but IMO once the tank is set up I doesn't justifiy the extra cost.

FYI - gary build the tanks for Golds. When/if I am looking for another tank I wouldn't even shop anywhere else.

Wow I think we have a mystery on our hands! Who builds tanks for Golds?? Does anybody really know?! :lol: