New tank quotes?!

[RJKain-777]

How long does a tank quote usually take?! Looking to have a 96x30x30 tank built, and been waiting a week for a quote from miracles. Any other builders out there along the same quality as them?

Reef savvy and TankMeUSA is outta the question, since I know there going to be crazy expensive compared to others.

 

[Gablami]

My advice is to get used to being patient when it comes to custom builds. Whether it's from reef savvy, tankme, miracles, CDA, planet aquariums, everything takes awhile. And not only that, but you might have to bug them more than once. Maybe there's one or two exceptions, but everything that I've experienced that past 8 months or so, getting quotes from a bunch of places, actually ordering from two different custom builders (one for tank and one for sump), is that time seems exist on a different dimension with custom reef equipment. One month = three months; 5 weeks = ??. Having never really made any large custom purchases before, it required a different mindset than the customer service and instant gratification mindset that we are so used to receiving these days.

I will say that I've been seeing @Joe Glass Cages pop up quite a bit on the forums, and he seems super active, responsive, and his customers seem to be happy. Your work is being noticed!

You can check out my build for a CDA tank to be delivered on Wednesday. I'll be doing a more in depth review once I can check it out in person, but from what I can see, they got it all right. And I had a lot of detailed/specific requests.

 

[RJKain-777]

My advice is to get used to being patient when it comes to custom builds. Whether it's from reef savvy, tankme, miracles, CDA, planet aquariums, everything takes awhile. And not only that, but you might have to bug them more than once. Maybe there's one or two exceptions, but everything that I've experienced that past 8 months or so, getting quotes from a bunch of places, actually ordering from two different custom builders (one for tank and one for sump), is that time seems exist on a different dimension with custom reef equipment. One month = three months; 5 weeks = ??. Having never really made any large custom purchases before, it required a different mindset than the customer service and instant gratification mindset that we are so used to receiving these days.

I will say that I've been seeing @Joe Glass Cages pop up quite a bit on the forums, and he seems super active, responsive, and his customers seem to be happy. Your work is being noticed!

You can check out my build for a CDA tank to be delivered on Wednesday. I'll be doing a more in depth review once I can check it out in person, but from what I can see, they got it all right. And I had a lot of detailed/specific requests.

thanks for the reply, maybe I am expecting to much, my last large tank was built by concept aquariums, I had a quote within 20 minutes and they stuck to there 6 week deadline. Quality was good, but miracles just stands out, if that makes sense

 

[dadnjesse]

I got my tank from Miracles, I don't remember taking long for an estimate, but they took about 6 months to build my 120 gallon before Covid.

 

[cmaxwell39]

I just got a tank from Custom Aquariums and the quality was good. Ended up taking way longer than the 8-9 weeks I was originally told, but that is a long story. Check out my build thread if you want to read about it, otherwise I won't bore you with it.

I have been happy with the quality of the tank and stand that I got from them. The holes were drilled in the right place and it was done very well.

Keep in mind that a lot of these custom builders are small operations sometimes only having one or two people in them. This is how they can keep their quality up, but it is also why the build sometimes takes so long to get. I have heard nothing but good things about Miracles, it might be worth shooting him another message just to make sure that he got your first correspondence.

 

[RJKain-777]

Thanks for the responses guys, I’m perfectly fine with waiting, as our house won’t be built until October. I just want a quality tank.

 

[JoshH]

Thanks for the responses guys, I’m perfectly fine with waiting, as our house won’t be built until October. I just want a quality tank.

Miracles is kindof all over with there quotes, sometimes it seems it's a day or two, other times it's weeks. Might be worth giving Derek a call and see where things are at

 

[RJKain-777]

Miracles is kindof all over with there quotes, sometimes it seems it's a day or two, other times it's weeks. Might be worth giving Derek a call and see where things are at

Just the guy I wanted to hear from haha

 

[RobB'z Reef]

thanks for the reply, maybe I am expecting to much, my last large tank was built by concept aquariums, I had a quote within 20 minutes and they stuck to there 6 week deadline. Quality was good, but miracles just stands out, if that makes sense

I just went through this process, it takes a while. These custom tank builders are not huge companies with an army of people who quote stuff all day long. While I found it frustrating,I also kinda get it to an extent. Some will answer faster some won't. Places like planet aquariums were the worst because they force in a middle person so that just adds that much more. There were some really responsive and good to deal with ones out there. Even got a quote from reef saavy in a couple weeks (tho some you need to gently nudge a bit). Miracles was awesome to work with and once I got Derek's attention he's been great. My tank from him should be here in a couple weeks. Good luck finding the right tank for you!

 

[JoshH]

Just the guy I wanted to hear from haha

Oh really? Lol well I'm glad I chimed in, I spoke with Derek a couple months ago and it seems this covid thing has hit them hard so they might be busy playing catch up

 

[RobB'z Reef]

How long does a tank quote usually take?! Looking to have a 96x30x30 tank built, and been waiting a week for a quote from miracles. Any other builders out there along the same quality as them?

Reef savvy and TankMeUSA is outta the question, since I know there going to be crazy expensive compared to others.

Also...fwiw, reef saavy prices aren't that crazy at all. In face, they weren't my highest quote at all. I would have went with them if it weren't for the 8 month lead time they quoted. Their pricing however I thought was decent for the class of tank.

 

[Ocelaris]

I've had my miracles tank running 18 months now and it was probably almost a year between talking to them and having it installed by movers. But it's been great and they were spot on with everything. I imagine with all this quarantine stuff going on they may be a bit backed up, but it doesn't hurt to get quotes from everyone. The tank is probably 30 percent of your cost on a big tank (guessing here). When you scale up, lighting, flow and everything else goes way up. So don't make a decade long decision on some thing temporary like a slow quote. Bad service is another thing, but the miracles people were great throughout the process and wouldn't hesitate to ask for them to make me another one.

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

How long does a tank quote usually take?! Looking to have a 96x30x30 tank built, and been waiting a week for a quote from miracles. Any other builders out there along the same quality as them?

Reef savvy and TankMeUSA is outta the question, since I know there going to be crazy expensive compared to others.

We would love to give you one in 10 minutes or less @RJKain-777 . We are passionate about serving. You have many options. Hope you have your expectations exceeded at every step in your journey. Don't expect anything less. Happy Reefing!

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

My advice is to get used to being patient when it comes to custom builds. Whether it's from reef savvy, tankme, miracles, CDA, planet aquariums, everything takes awhile. And not only that, but you might have to bug them more than once. Maybe there's one or two exceptions, but everything that I've experienced that past 8 months or so, getting quotes from a bunch of places, actually ordering from two different custom builders (one for tank and one for sump), is that time seems exist on a different dimension with custom reef equipment. One month = three months; 5 weeks = ??. Having never really made any large custom purchases before, it required a different mindset than the customer service and instant gratification mindset that we are so used to receiving these days.

I will say that I've been seeing @Joe Glass Cages pop up quite a bit on the forums, and he seems super active, responsive, and his customers seem to be happy. Your work is being noticed!

You can check out my build for a CDA tank to be delivered on Wednesday. I'll be doing a more in depth review once I can check it out in person, but from what I can see, they got it all right. And I had a lot of detailed/specific requests.

Thanks so much for noticing. Appreciate the mention @Gablami . collecting quotes can be tedious. Fun part is designing, planning, thinking, innovating, solving and so on. Totally agree with you, patience. You will need a lot of patience in this journey. That mindset will really allow you to enjoy the process and learn. So much to learn and this forum is by far the best for that. I love the constructive and friendly support.

 

[ZoWhat]

Problem is with all these CDC Pandemic Guidelines restricting businesses and shipping. Many tank builders DONT have all their Suppliers onboarding doing biz. Especially if some supplies are from CHINA

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

question to the reefing community........

What is an acceptable time for a builder to generate a quote upon request?

 

[Tumey]

question to the reefing community........

What is an acceptable time for a builder to generate a quote upon request?

That’s kind of a loaded question dependent upon the complexity of the build and whether or not all of the details are brought to the table by the customer requesting a quote.

With respect for the builder I would hope any customer could understand there’s time involved in the sourcing and pricing of materials/accessories for the build.

After everything is finalized and worked out between the builder and customer I think two weeks is fair for both to have a quote in place for a build.

 

[AdamD76]

Two weeks is fair.

 

[RJKain-777]

question to the reefing community........

What is an acceptable time for a builder to generate a quote upon request?

Depends on the build complexity. and depends if the customer knows what they want. Initial response, no more then a week. A quote after, Aslong as it takes to get all the details worked out.

 

[hart24601]

For those wondering why miracles can take a while. I have two custom built tanks from them, one of them the overflow was cut too tight and it leaked on the external overflow. Mistakes happen, it’s how a place handles them. Derek was willing to pay a shop to fix it, but there are none in Iowa that would touch it. So he flew down to Iowa and stayed a couple days to fix my 120g tank himself! Didn’t ask how old it was or what type of stand, he just wanted to make it right.

Is there any other tank builder that will fly to fix a customers 120g tank?? The service is on another level and shows how rare issues are if the owner will leave the shop for several days to fix a tank that is pretty small by custom standards.

With that level of support it’s understandable quotes might take a bit longer.