I've been really looking into purchasing a Tenecor custom aquarium. After emailing back and forth with an employee, they stated that I am required to purchase through them directly, as in, I must provide my payment information over email directly to them. I'm a little skeptical about this as I have never had to purchase something in this manner. Does anyone know if this is legit how it's done? Thank you!
Question about Tenecor Custom Tanks
- Thread starter DJS
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a.t.t.r
Well-Known Member
I bought from them years ago. I was not happy with the tank at all. Bubbled in the glue job of the seams and the acrylic was so thin for the size that the tank bubbled out when full and created a visual distortion.
the stand however was very well made.
I think i paid by credit card over the phone
Timfish
Crusty Old Salt
Boy that's a blast from the past. Somebody must have bought the name, I tried to find info them in 2009 when one of their tanks busted and couldn't find anything on line. FWIW as insecure as email can be I'd be very hesitant to send any of my financial info by email.
Wyvern
Active Member
? I thought Tenecor went out of business years ago.
I bought one used 3 years ago, its from 1997.
Edit*
Just checked the site, yep, looks like a reboot, they used to be known for quality at a premium price, but their prices are really low for tanks themselves.
dang, now you got me wanting an AIO.
I bought one used 3 years ago, its from 1997.
Edit*
Just checked the site, yep, looks like a reboot, they used to be known for quality at a premium price, but their prices are really low for tanks themselves.
dang, now you got me wanting an AIO.
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DJS
New Member
Yeah, they do look nice, but it did make me raise an eyebrow when the I was told that I had to make the purchase through email when the custom tank I had requested is available on the site. . .I'm not sure why it is that way.
Wyvern
Active Member
If I put a random tank in the cart and checkout it will take me to paypal.
If that tank is standard item, why not just do it that way?
Custom jobs may be different, but I would be hesitant with anything other than paypal.
a.t.t.r
Well-Known Member
They didn’t really give a hoot. Asked for pictures but nothing came of it. I was worried about the bubble since only a thin line actually prevented water from leaking and if I put a drop of water up to it it would wick right in.
Easy fix with some acrylic glue but not something I should be dealing with with the amount I spent on the tank (think it was over 2500 for tank and stand and tank was a simple 150 gallon ). They never addressed the bowing issue beyond saying well that’s what acrylic does.
I am pretty sure they are not the same company anymore and the name was bought.
Wyvern
Active Member
Horrible to ride on the history of a name... cough...Gibson..cough!
My tank does bow out a bit... I mean it's a bow front, but the back and side is slightly puffed up, when empty it's perfectly flat.
I would probably avoid tenecor for now.
Malcontent
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I bought one used and it's also way too thin walled so the front bulges out like a beer gut. It's in the basement being used for water storage.
The acrylic stand sags a bit too and could use reinforcement.
Malcontent
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Sounds about right. If I recall correctly, mine uses 3/16" acrylic on a 20" tall tank. Should be something like 3/8". Even my budget brand SeaClear tanks are 3/8" for 20" tall.
DJS
New Member
I was looking at an AIO tank that is 60" L x 24" W x 12" H. . .I thinks it's about 70-ish gallons. I have thought about glass. To be quite honest, I would prefer glass over acrylic, but the price for the size of the tank on Tenecor's website is what really attracted me to them.
trmnl5
Well-Known Member
That's going to be a really cool sized tank. I was thinking you were after something that couldn't be made from glass etc. I had acrylic tanks over the years (including a 375G) and they just scratch so easily. I know acrylic has gone up in price recently too. Keep us posted on what you get.
DJS
New Member
Yeah, I think I'm going to try and find a different place to purchase my aquarium. The idea of acrylic scratching and the overall sketchy feeling I'm getting from Tenecor are discouraging me from buying from them. I'll probably be a whilr before I find what I'm looking for, for a decent price. . .I will try and keep posted!
Hello everyone. I am the original founder of Tenecor Aquariums. From way back in 1979. I want to share with all of you some of the background of Tenecor and what is happening today. If anyone has any questions, please write me directly. Here is a summary of the Tenecor story.
I established Tenecor back in the late 70's and wanted to diversify. We figured fish tanks would be a pretty good market. How hard could it be to make a fish tank out of plexiglas? Well, it turned out it was a bit harder than we thought. But off we went. The first tanks were comically tragic. We started out with superglue (bad, bad idea) and needless to say, those did not turn out so well. We got wet very often. Eventually we figured out our processes and started turning out some nice aquariums. The turning point was when we figured out how to build a wet dry filter into the back of the tank itself. Back then the phrase "AIO" did not exist. This was not easy since acrylic aquariums have tops and bottoms. It was like building a ship in a bottle. After about a year of trial and error, we got things worked out pretty well and business took off.
Remember, it is 1980. No internet. All of our growth was from word of mouth. Soon we added a second shift and then a third shift. Business was growing by leaps and bounds. Our top seller was a small AIO we called the "Model 8" It was, as the name implied, a small approx. 8 gallon tabletop saltwater tank. We were selling about 200 per day. On the other end of the spectrum were the big tanks, 500 gallons and up. We got really good at those also. Every Friday, two to three semi trucks of aquariums would ship to stores from coast to coast.
I sold Tenecor in the mid 90's and started several companies in the medical device field. The second owner had extensive industry background in composites and he took Tenecor to even higher levels of success. He ran the company from around 1994 to about 2008 when it was sold again.
Just before COVID, I was unpacking some boxes in our new home and came across some Tenecor pictures. Curious to see how they were doing, I found out they went out of business under the third ownership. I always enjoyed the business and decided to resurrect it.
By now, I had sold two of my medical device businesses and living very comfortably. Three things had changed since I ran the company: 1) this thing called the internet. 2) LED lighting and 3) ecommerce. I spent the lockdown year sourcing and building new equipment ( almost all of our production equipment is designed and built in house) and designing our new web site.
After 14 months, we are operational and building fish tanks. I have personally hired the initial staff and am very pleased with how they have taken to the business. I also realize there were quality issues under the last ownership. I am sorry for that. Going forward, it is a different game. Attached are pictures from back in the day. Please ask me anything.
I established Tenecor back in the late 70's and wanted to diversify. We figured fish tanks would be a pretty good market. How hard could it be to make a fish tank out of plexiglas? Well, it turned out it was a bit harder than we thought. But off we went. The first tanks were comically tragic. We started out with superglue (bad, bad idea) and needless to say, those did not turn out so well. We got wet very often. Eventually we figured out our processes and started turning out some nice aquariums. The turning point was when we figured out how to build a wet dry filter into the back of the tank itself. Back then the phrase "AIO" did not exist. This was not easy since acrylic aquariums have tops and bottoms. It was like building a ship in a bottle. After about a year of trial and error, we got things worked out pretty well and business took off.
Remember, it is 1980. No internet. All of our growth was from word of mouth. Soon we added a second shift and then a third shift. Business was growing by leaps and bounds. Our top seller was a small AIO we called the "Model 8" It was, as the name implied, a small approx. 8 gallon tabletop saltwater tank. We were selling about 200 per day. On the other end of the spectrum were the big tanks, 500 gallons and up. We got really good at those also. Every Friday, two to three semi trucks of aquariums would ship to stores from coast to coast.
I sold Tenecor in the mid 90's and started several companies in the medical device field. The second owner had extensive industry background in composites and he took Tenecor to even higher levels of success. He ran the company from around 1994 to about 2008 when it was sold again.
Just before COVID, I was unpacking some boxes in our new home and came across some Tenecor pictures. Curious to see how they were doing, I found out they went out of business under the third ownership. I always enjoyed the business and decided to resurrect it.
By now, I had sold two of my medical device businesses and living very comfortably. Three things had changed since I ran the company: 1) this thing called the internet. 2) LED lighting and 3) ecommerce. I spent the lockdown year sourcing and building new equipment ( almost all of our production equipment is designed and built in house) and designing our new web site.
After 14 months, we are operational and building fish tanks. I have personally hired the initial staff and am very pleased with how they have taken to the business. I also realize there were quality issues under the last ownership. I am sorry for that. Going forward, it is a different game. Attached are pictures from back in the day. Please ask me anything.
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REEFTIDE
2500 Club Member
They could just be terribly disconnected from it being 2021. This happens a lot with older people running a company.
One of my wholesalers refuses to put any type of online payment platform because it will cost them 3% in fees and they only pay 1% punching it in themselves. BUT its takes like 2 days, some prayers and just short of lottery winning numbers to get a hold of them. IMO they would sell so much more but they refuse because, and I try to say this as nicely as possible(and zero disrespect to the older generations, these people worked HARD to get to where they are) the youngest person in any type of leadership position there is 64 and doesn't want to hear it from more tech savvy people around them.
I would voice your opinion and discuss with the sales person/ manager they might update things if it means a significant enough dollar amount
