Quality Tank Manufactures
 

Hey all,

Been out of the hobby for a few years but thinking about getting back into it with a new custom build. Just wondering now who are the reputable tank builders with a focus on quality and craftsmanship. I know about Miracles in TO but was hoping for someone closer to the west coast. Before I got out of the hobby Concept in Calgary were highly recommended. Are they still?

yes Concept is still highly regarded

+1 I love my concept tank.

+2 , my Concepts tank is great.

I've seen some nice clean tanks from them, but I just had my sump repaired there recently and it was a pretty lousy and lazy job. Silicone not smoothed out; sheets of paper towel siliconed to the bottom etc
Might possibly have to do with who repairs or builds the tank. Wasn't exactly that cheap either

Looks like Concept is scaling down the livestock aspect of their store and re-focusing on the tank building end of things, so that should be good news. I will say that a couple things got overlooked on my sump, though that was partially my fault from forgetting to highlight them after beating my head against the wall trying to deal with Jay. I ultimately went directly through Dave and things got back on track.

Overall they did a great job on my two tanks, especially the one with laminated black glass on the rear panel. Just be sure to stay on top of things, it seems that since Denny has been gone it's quite a challenge to get communication going.

Overall I am happy with my concepts display...

I do concur about keeping on-top of things as they build.

I have yet to get the tank wet, while I am overall pleased with the quality of the tank... It is missing one major thing for me... The tank is to be bare bottom and I had requested to have a white bottom.

Problem is, they forgot about the white bottom.
And me being in Burnaby, and the tank being 8' long, I'm waiting to see what their solution is. I cant think of one. So we shall see.

That's dirty.
Well I hope you get a quick and satisfactory solution man. By the way, just curious...why did you wanna white bottom?

I just did a tank with white acrylic back panel and white vinyl wrapped bottom , I went white due to detritus is a lot less noticeable . My current tank was done in black and I cant keep it looking good , you see every spec of detritus . Also illuminates better with led lighting imo .

I see. I would imagine it would reflect back light like crazy

Yes, I'm glad to see this is finally happening, and Dave can focus on the tank building.

Vinyl is easy to install, but difficult if you've never seen it done before. You can get the vinyl from a sign company, or a company that installs vinyl advertising on vehicles. You may be able to hire someone from on of those companies to install the vinyl on your tank bottom. Hopefully you don't have to pay for that yourself.

Highly recommended Ocean by Design in Bellingham WA. Their quality in the silicone, polishing and the way the glass panels all lined up were up to what you would expect from a "custom" tank builder. Prices were comparable with concept even with the dollar exchange. I had a Concept tank, not the quality you would expect from a "custom" builder, honestly the quality was a bit sloppy in every area.

I have to concur

Yeah never seen it done, can't imagine i'd do a decent job.

But in all honesty I don't think white vinyl on top of the bottom panel is a good idea. I'm thinking, scratches, cleaning, corals growing on it, not a way to ever clean it without wrecking it.

The vinyl would need to go between the glass and bottom plywood, which can't be done now.

So we shall see what we come up with as a solution.

No, you definitely don't want the vinyl on the inside of the tank. The glue on the vinyl is probably not reef safe. And the vinyl will break down over a fairly short period of time. You'll see some people refer to a "starboard" or HDPE bottom. This is the material used for commercial cutting boards. You can buy it at most places that carry acrylic. Starboard is a brand of HDPE plastic. Half-inch thick is a good size if you can get that, too thin and it will wrinkle. Make sure you cut it a little bit loose because it will expand in the water a bit. It floats though... And silicone won't stick to it so when you put it in there you have to use the rocks to hold it down. I think it looks better in tanks that have black trim or sit down into trim on the stand because it blocks the detritus that falls down in between the glass and the HDPE board.

Removing the plywood off the bottom of the tank is actually quite easy. Just use an exacto knife.

Thats a shame the plywood bottom looks terrible BB . You could silicone acrylic to the bottom similar to how its put on the back of the tank ?

Looking at Concept right now for my new 225-300g custom tank build. The tanks I have saw on canreef which were built by concept look great! Hopefully all works out and I am able to get them started on the new build.

Again, stay on top of them. People who had things built a few years ago seem to have a completely different experience than how it is running now as Denny is gone. That and get updates as the build goes, don't just let them go silent.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I was hoping to have more of a unanimous high praise/recommendation with them though. I'll have to consider my next move now.