Getting tank built?

[Eb0la11]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

Personally i would stay away from bow valley, it may be cheap but the materials used are cheap as well. if you trust some of your tank made out of a glass shower door, go for it cause it really comes down to you get what you pay for.

Have you even seen his shop? He has tons of 12x12 (or so) sheets of glass standard on a rack against the wall.

If the tanks at Big Al's are cheap then you have a case, but they're not.

[lorenz0]

I have seen his work and personally you get what you pay for from him. If your buying a 180 gal from him for cheaper than everyone elses qoutes, there is a reason. I was given enough reasons not to go to him. I hope you enjoy your tank and you never face what i fear about his work.

[kien]

Originally Posted by lorenz0

Personally i would stay away from bow valley, it may be cheap but the materials used are cheap as well. if you trust some of your tank made out of a glass shower door, go for it cause it really comes down to you get what you pay for.

Do you know this for a fact or is this what you hear? I'm just curious because I'm in the same boat and looking at quotes. From what I hear he does build lots of tanks for commercial use in Canada and the US. Seems like if he cheaped out on materials all the time that his business would get a lot more complaints than I've heard. In fact you are the first person to say anything bad about them. I don't know.. Just seems like he is offering near wholsale prices to any average Joe who comes into his shop.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Elite does top-notch work. If you want ground and polished edges they do that. A must I think.

FWIW Gary can polish and bevel edges too. Its just an expensive option that not many people decide to go with.

If you really wanna get a feel for who does the best tanks...ask some of the peeps here with big tanks(like 300g+) who did theirs like Snappy, Yeeg etc.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by kien

In fact you are the first person to say anything bad about them. .

Mute point....anything bad said would be deleted.

[Jamieh]

I am the owner of a retail pet store and have been buying tanks from Bow Valley for about 10 years. I have never seen a big tank of Mitch's leak in all this time. The notion that Mitch uses shower doors is not exactly fact as he does use recycled glass for smaller tanks which are used for reptiles and are not meant to hold water. I actually have a 210 gallon rimless tank in my living room that has a center overflow which was built by Bow Valley. In my dealings over the years they have been extremely slow.

[Doug]

http://216.187.96.54/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=44214

Thanks

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Doug

http://216.187.96.54/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=44214

Thanks

Here we go.....

[kien]

Originally Posted by fishytime

Mute point....anything bad said would be deleted.

Very good point! But with all due respect, my life does not revolve around this forum :-) I was actually referring to first hand accounts of the various tank builders from calling around town and talking to people face to face where their opinions can't be silenced :-). Now, having said that, some people have PM'ed me with some more opinions good and bad of all the vendors (thanks for that). Bottom line is I recommend calling around and talking to people and get their experiences.

[lastlight]

I'm not trying to start a war but I've been inside Bow Valley recently. My sump does in fact have a shower door on it's bottom and there are indeed massive sheets of glass on racks in the shop. Many of these massive panes of glass were still in wooden WINDOW FRAMES.

There's already enough information out there imo to make an informed decision regarding BVA. I only wanted him to cut me glass and that was a nightmare on its own.