Why is it so difficult to buy a tank these days?

[VFX]

Does nobody want business any more?

Having sold my tank in anticipation of a new one... my tank builder decided to ignore me. I haven't heard from him in months once we'd specced up the tank. He never replies to messages or email & also he's taken no money from me, so I guess there's no tank coming.

After coming to that conclusion, i contact one of our sponsors to inquire about getting one made up & sent over. Months later & no response.

So, I guess I should shop locally then...

I go to a cheap but filthy local LFS, to ask about what they have and was completely ignored by everyone downstairs. Eventually, my wife flagged down a sales person from the fresh water side & directed him my way. When I asked told him what I was looking for, he said they only have what I can see here... so i ask him the price of one of the tanks they had sitting right there. His response? "How would I know, I'm not the fish guy" and then he promptly turned his back on me & walked away whilst I was mid sentence.

I go upstairs to speak with the owners & they just said "well you asked the wrong person, what did you expect?". No apologies, no offer to help me, just carried on his conversation with his wife(?).

After that I go to another sponsor, where I'm a known regular. I tell them what I want, they tell me to email them as it'd be easier... well, no response.

So I email a handful of local places who deal with custom tanks, all from their website contact pages. A week later no response.

All the while, my fish & corals are looking uncomfortable in a tiny 75 gallon tank on the floor of my living room, instead of being in a shiny new 120+ gallon tank

Is business so good that they can't be bothered?

Or is it really difficult to build a nice 60L"x24W"x20H"?

I even gave the option of a standard 48"x24"x24" if my custom dimensions were too awkward... oh well, I'll scour the used market I guess.

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