I hope I remember how to do this

[JumboShrimp]

This is worse than waiting for a jury verdict! But I can’t tell you how closely I am following your Custom Aquariums tank. It might make or break whether I order one from them when I remodel the house. Thanks for the photos so far!

(Will you be renting suction cups to move the tank into place, or just using hands-on neighborhood-buddy strength?)

 

[cmaxwell39]

We were told to accept the shipment and am still working with my KFS owner and CA to figure out the resolution.

since we were keeping the current tank and stand we uncrated it and moved it into the three seasons/sunroom of the house. Really didn’t want it taking up garage space for that long (I wouldn’t be able to park in the garage with the crate in there, and from the spot it’s at it should be relatively easy to move it to its final resting place.

some more pics of the process.

 

[cmaxwell39]

This is worse than waiting for a jury verdict! But I can’t tell you how closely I am following your Custom Aquariums tank. It might make or break whether I order one from them when I remodel the house. Thanks for the photos so far!

(Will you be renting suction cups to move the tank into place, or just using hands-on neighborhood-buddy strength?)

Thanks. For the short trip into the sunroom it was just man-handling/muscling it. Had planned on having a buddy with suction cups come over and help move it to its final position tonight, but since I need to figure this out and it was starting to rain, I had to move pretty quick on it.

I will keep the thread updated with what happens from here.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Like moving the Space Shuttle...

 

[cmaxwell39]

Finally a couple of shots of the tank and stand where it sits for now.

 

[cmaxwell39]

I intended to get my thoughts and further updates on the tank posted tonight, but we ended up having people over this evening, and I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so will update with some more pictures tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Following!

 

[cmaxwell39]

Following!

Thanks. Nice to have you along for the ride. It has been rather bumpy the last couple weeks, but hopefully it will smooth out soon.

 

[manlykady]

lots of effort went into this dont give up yet keep up the hard work and it will pay off

 

[cmaxwell39]

lots of effort went into this dont give up yet keep up the hard work and it will pay off

Thanks for the encouragement. Quick update on the status of the stand that was built incorrectly. First of all, I did not order directly from Custom Aquariums, I ordered through my LFS. From the original quote that was forwarded to me by the LFS owner from CA I wanted 3 changes. I wanted the return bulkheads to be placed as far into the upper corners of the back panel as possible. That was done.

I wanted the stand height to be changed from the standard height to 38”. That was done.

Finally I wanted the stand to be oak with a dark walnut stain instead of Maple painted white. This got lost in translation somewhere.

It sounds like the mixup was between the LFS and CA. Upon speaking with the LFS owner, he cannot find any written documentation that he sent to CA with those changes, but since two of the three were made, it obviously got communicated. He vaguely remembers having a phone conversation with his rep discussing these changes.

So it sounds like what will have to happen now is he is going to order another tank and stand. The stand will be the color/dimensions I want and he is going to order a tank to go on top of the stand I have. I feel bad that he is going to have to do this, but I am impressed that he is stepping up and making things right. I don’t know the timeline on receiving the new stand, but hopefully he can get it somewhat rushed.

Even though what has happened is frustrating, I do want to give a big shout out to Matt at Summit City Corals for stepping up and making it right for me. Since this is not a standard size aquarium I am sure he is taking a financial hit to make this happen. If anyone in the Fort Wayne, IN area wants a tank and stand with these dimensions I think I know where you can get one.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Well, if you are ‘chill’ with it, your R2R buddies will stay chill with it— but this is a real cliff-hanger, now. Lol!

 

[cmaxwell39]

Oh, it is frustrating for sure, but in the big picture it is still just a minor setback in a hobby that I enjoy. I know people going through chemo for cancer and dealing with chronic pain that puts it all in perspective. I try not to let the little stuff become more important than it should be.

 

[cmaxwell39]

I realized that between the stand being wrong and the busy week I have had, I have not done a review of the tank.

I am very pleased with the tank. First of all, the dimensions are awesome. I really liked the idea of 30” depth, but seeing it in person makes you really realize how much flexibility it should give in aquascape and still leave room for fish to swim around.

As far as quality of manufacture, it is excellent. All exposed edges are polished and beveled. Silicone joints are very even. Seams are near perfect with no visible bubbles that I can see. The black background that they applied is done very well and feels fairly thick.

Here are a few pics that try to show some of the details, but getting a phone camera to focus where you want it to is sometimes challenging.

Pic of the

30” Depth:

Beveled glass and silicone seam

Silicone joint

Seams on the inside of the tank:

As I said, hard to get the phone camera to focus on clear glass. Might have to get the good camera out to capture the details better.

 

[JumboShrimp]

The tank does indeed look clean and solid. Make sure you document your bulkheads / drain and return connections for us on the rear ('business end') of the tank when you get that far. No rush, of course.

 

[YankeeTankee]

It looks awesome, can't wait to see the T5s grow some coral in there! Well done

 

[cmaxwell39]

The tank does indeed look clean and solid. Make sure you document your bulkheads / drain and return connections for us on the rear ('business end') of the tank when you get that far. No rush, of course.

Thank you. I will make sure to document it all when I get to that point. Going to be a little longer than anticipated, but I am still excited to have a tank setup again.

It looks awesome, can't wait to see the T5s grow some coral in there! Well done

Thanks. Corals will be a while yet, but I can hardly wait either.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Got an update yesterday on when I would see my stand. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be 6 weeks out.

I am going to set up another QT and get some more fish going through so that I have some life to put into the tank once I can finally set it up. I have three fish that have been in QT for 8 weeks already, but if I set up another QT, I should be able to get another batch ready about by the time the stand gets here. That will be today's project I think.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Good move— make good use of the 6 weeks. If you have anything that needs to go 76-day fallow, I guess now would be the time to do it. Get a ‘sterile ‘ (Ich free) start for your new set-up when it comes online, right?

 

[cmaxwell39]

That is the plan. Made a trip to a buddies house an hour away and helped him move the 5x3x2 tank out if his basement to make room for a monster system that he is planning. While there I “borrowed” a 40 breeder and some other equipment to set up a second QT tank. My plan is to grab some rock out of the sump, fill the tank up with saltwater and move the three fish in the QT to this tank. That way I can continue to QT in the rank that was originally designed for it. First step, leak test the tank, (it has been dry for a while) and clean up equipment. I think it will wait for tomorrow though.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Well, since the new stand will not be here for a while I have started some more fish through QT.

The boring fish are a group of black bar chromis. Then, I am a fairy wrasse but, and found the pintail at the LFS for $85, so scooped him up.

The pintail has been on the wishlist since I started even thinking about setting up a new tank. So excited to have him.

And finally, one of the most overlooked fairy wrasses in my opinion, the exquisite.

Fiji variant. Hope he does well.