Reef Savvy

boyer.michael.s · Feb 10, 2023

Wasn't sure where to post this. But just as a general question, does anyone know if Reef Savvy is still in operation? I have visited their website a couple times months apart to ask about an aquarium through their contact page and never received a response back. Not sure if maybe they are no longer in operation, busy, or the contact form isn't working. I'm guessing they may just be overloaded with requests regularly as I hear great things about their tanks as I see they still have tanks for sale on BRS but just wanted to check before I move on to other options.

jsker · Feb 12, 2023

Ask for a quote, that will get there attention

boyer.michael.s · Feb 12, 2023

Haha that’s what I want to do. I like the look of the Minneapolis, MN 100 they have featured in their gallery on their website and wanted to see what specs it was built at so I could maybe replicate it. Haven’t heard back from them in many months so wasn’t sure what was going on.

robertjules1981 · Feb 16, 2023

boyer.michael.s said:
Wasn't sure where to post this. But just as a general question, does anyone know if Reef Savvy is still in operation? I have visited their website a couple times months apart to ask about an aquarium through their contact page and never received a response back. Not sure if maybe they are no longer in operation, busy, or the contact form isn't working. I'm guessing they may just be overloaded with requests regularly as I hear great things about their tanks as I see they still have tanks for sale on BRS but just wanted to check before I move on to other options.

I just got a response today. I was talking to Chris Benner who does custom stands and works with Reef Savvy a lot, he said they just moved their operation. They’re about 10 months out once you put down a deposit.

boyer.michael.s · Feb 16, 2023

Awesome. I’ll have to just put in for a quote and wait for a call to make any changes just to get their attention. 10 months out would work out great for me.

piranhaman00 · Feb 16, 2023

I would do more research, people recently waiting 2-3 years for the tank

boyer.michael.s · Feb 16, 2023

Of course. I am not going to hand them a deposit without speaking with someone. Especially since I haven’t heard from them on my multiple attempts via their contact page.

salty150 · Feb 16, 2023

Seriously...?

Who the h*ll pays those prices they charge...?

$15,000 for just a 180 gallon tank and stand...?!

Sure, they are "nice"... but $15,000...?!

Not to mention their terrible customer service...

air_run · Feb 16, 2023

piranhaman00 said:
I would do more research, people recently waiting 2-3 years for the tank

Three years here. Almost to the day. Ordered/deposit Nov 2017, moved into my home in early Dec 2020.

air_run · Feb 16, 2023

robertjules1981 said:
I just got a response today. I was talking to Chris Benner who does custom stands and works with Reef Savvy a lot, he said they just moved their operation. They’re about 10 months out once you put down a deposit.

Not true, (on the move) as Felix moved his operations years ago. He was moving his business during my build and I received my aquarium in Dec 2020. Hence the fact it was a 3 year wait. With that being said he has gone/went through a lot in that time period, things I cannot mention here but, in the meantime he has also converted his business to do more "in house" manufacturing such as acquiring large industrial glass equipment, etc. I imagine that also has impacted his workflow.

robertjules1981 · Feb 17, 2023

air_run said:
Not true, (on the move) as Felix moved his operations years ago. He was moving his business during my build and I received my aquarium in Dec 2020. Hence the fact it was a 3 year wait. With that being said he has gone/went through a lot in that time period, things I cannot mention here but, in the meantime he has also converted his business to do more "in house" manufacturing such as acquiring large industrial glass equipment, etc. I imagine that also has impacted his workflow.

I stand corrected. Was it worth the wait? I got the itch real bad

rtparty · Feb 17, 2023

Go with Glasscages and be done. Joe and the team are the best in the business

crusso1993 · Feb 17, 2023

There are no less than 3 different members on this forum that have been waiting for 2.5 years. The worst part is that they have consistently been given deadlines by Reef Savvy only to have those deadlines not met and then receive some story. Personally, based on what I've seen on their threads, the Reef Savvy tanks that I've seen, the cost of a Reef Savvy tank, Reef Savvy's complete lack of customer service, etc. I'd not use them. There are other tank builders out there that make just as good a product, if not better, for far less and without all the bs.

air_run · Feb 17, 2023

robertjules1981 said:
I stand corrected. Was it worth the wait? I got the itch real bad

Hey Robert, just to be transparent (because words are hard for me without social cues, lol) I was correcting Chris Benner, not you.

It was worth the wait in "this" case as things worked out for the better for me in the end. I have no regrets but, would I do it again? No way. Absolutely not, for many reasons. And cost was not one of the reasons. With that being said, the aquarium is everything everyone says they are, flawless. My wife and I are very happy with it but, in the future I would go Glass Cages, Miracles or Planet.

Edit: a word

robertjules1981 · Feb 17, 2023

air_run said:
Hey Robert, just to be transparent (because words are hard for me without social cues, lol) I was correcting Chris Benner, not you.

It was worth the wait in "this" case as things worked out for the better for me in the end. I have no regrets but, would I do it again? No way. Absolutely not, for many reasons. And cost was not one of the reasons. With that being said, the aquarium is everything everyone says they are, flawless. My wife and I are very happy with it but, in the future I would go Glass Cages, Miracles or Planet.

Edit: a word

No offense taken at all! I just talked with Joe at Glass Cages today! 90 % made up my mind to go with them on a 256 gallon.

Fishgeek88 · Feb 17, 2023

Thats ridiculous. I can build a house ground up and be moved in before they build a fishtank? Its 5 pieces of glass and some silicone

helmsreef · Feb 17, 2023

I just can not see the value in waiting that long for a custom tank. I get the quality is great but there are also many tank manufactures out there that provide the same options, very good quality nd can bring that build to the plate rather quickly. He has been doing this long enough to be able to expand on his business and reduce wait times but it seems like it has gone the opposite way.

drtechno · Mar 20, 2023

piranhaman00 said:
I would do more research, people recently waiting 2-3 years for the tank

Yup.

See my build thread below. Just got my Reef Savvy tank couple weeks ago, still setting it up. Order was placed ~June 2020.. I can't even remember anymore TBH, lol. So that's a 2.5 year wait.

It is amazing quality and glass clarity.. not sure if his low iron glass is anything different, but its incredible. Plus my build was very much custom, with some unusual things that needed to be done. In any case, would I do it again ? I am not sure. I absolutely love my tank (honeymoon phase I guess) but it has been a very long journey.

Lets not forget the caveat to all these crazy wait times was Covid, which contributed significantly to the delays. During the pandemic, there was a glass shortage for the first year. Then after that, Felix's glass polisher went out of business. So he bought his own machines which had to go by ship from Italy, then he had to setup, train and debug/learn on them. Then there was the nuclear material spill down the road from him. Etc. etc. There were literally a year or more of crazy things that happened. So in reality, a 1.5 year wait was probably more what to expect in the future.

So going back to my question - would I do it again? At ~3 years of wait, NO. I would not. Was it worth it, YES it was. Would I wait 1.5 years for a RS tank? YES, but that is my time limit.

Unlike some other people have mentioned, my experience with communicating with Felix has been awesome (once the build actively started). Sometimes it took some time to reach him, but when we did talk he was always honest about what is going on. Admittedly, communication was lacking going up to the construction phase.. came in waves. But once the tank got started, he was great and his suggestions and ideas were likewise great.

All I have to say is that he is absolutely rammed with business and has a massive backlog of people like us from before Covid. I can understand why he is a bit tough to reach or respond.