Rumors about glass substitutions?

[SallyWho]

I'm beginning to despair over finding a used tank to fit my needs and am considering ordering one through my (tiny) LFS. I think she orders from Marineland. Now, I may have dreamed it, but I think I read somewhere that there was some kind of glass shortage issue with certain tank manufacturers, and they were substituting tempered glass where normally there'd be annealed glass. Apparently, there's only a vague guarantee that a tank advertised as only having a tempered bottom panel won't also have other panels tempered, and calling the manufacturer to try to verify exactly which panels are tempered is only partially successful. Has anyone else heard of this, or is my fevered night-shift brain making this up?

I had no idea when I started looking for tanks what a pain it was going to be to find what I wanted. *sigh*

 

[JoshH]

You're not the only one that's heard of it. I believe this issue was limited to a few different sized tanks. I'll try and find the thread that was talking about it all. What size tank and what budget do you have for one?

 

[Smo]

If I were going to buy a tank with the intention of drilling (really grinding) new bulkhead holes I wouldn’t rely on hearsay, whether or not the intended panel was tempered. For piece of mind I would perform the laptop and Polaroid sunglasses test to verify for myself. Easy to do in the store if you were so inclined. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it.

 

[SallyWho]

You're not the only one that's heard of it. I believe this issue was limited to a few different sized tanks. I'll try and find the thread that was talking about it all. What size tank and what budget do you have for one?[/QUOTE
Oh, good, I'm not delusional! I've been looking for a 4x2x2' 120g that I can drill for bean animal- so I don't care if the bottom is tempered so long as that back panel isn't. I haven't yet got a quote from my LFS, but based on various tank manufacturer websites, the average price appears to be in the $600 range.

 

[JoshH]

If I were going to buy a tank with the intention of drilling (really grinding) new bulkhead holes I wouldn’t rely on hearsay, whether or not the intended panel was tempered. For piece of mind I would perform the laptop and Polaroid sunglasses test to verify for myself. Easy to do in the store if you were so inclined. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it.

I think the issue with this is she was saying it would have to be ordered in. More than likely requires a deposit to order and for it to show up and then check and see if it's tempered, IF she refused to purchase the tank she might be on the hook for whatever deposit she had put down.

 

[Smo]

I think the issue with this is she was saying it would have to be ordered in. More than likely requires a deposit to order and for it to show up and then check and see if it's tempered, IF she refused to purchase the tank she might be on the hook for whatever deposit she had put down.

Put the onus on the seller to give you what you want. Trust but verify.

 

[SallyWho]

JoshH has it right. If I order through my LFS, I've got to pay. I can try to stipulate that the back panel must be annealed, but if the manufacturer puts in a tempered panel anyway, I doubt my little LFS would have anywhere to put it, much less anyone else who'd buy it. If there were that many people looking for 120g tanks around here, I'd have found a used one by now!

 

[Dodgersfan]

I'm beginning to despair over finding a used tank to fit my needs and am considering ordering one through my (tiny) LFS. I think she orders from Marineland. Now, I may have dreamed it, but I think I read somewhere that there was some kind of glass shortage issue with certain tank manufacturers, and they were substituting tempered glass where normally there'd be annealed glass. Apparently, there's only a vague guarantee that a tank advertised as only having a tempered bottom panel won't also have other panels tempered, and calling the manufacturer to try to verify exactly which panels are tempered is only partially successful. Has anyone else heard of this, or is my fevered night-shift brain making this up?

I had no idea when I started looking for tanks what a pain it was going to be to find what I wanted. *sigh*

I just went through something similar with my LFS and even contacted Marineland myself to verify. The answer I got was something along the lines of “they usually aren’t tempered but we reserve the right to use tempered panels when we want and don’t mark them in any way”. Basically they were saying that I should be ok, but if it happened that I wasn’t they would be in no way responsible for it. I ended up having glass cages build me a tank, I opted for low iron glass on 3 sides and my tank cost $600 shipped (with their lowest cost shipping option, meet their delivery truck on its route somewhat near me and pick it up at a truck stop). Date and time was their choosing, basically they have a truck that goes from tenassee where they are through Georgia and into Florida once a month, I had to meet them in Atlanta which is about 60 miles from me.). They also had an option to ship it to a shipping hub in the next town over from me for about $125 more. Anyway the tank with low iron glass cost $600 when a stock marineland Would’ve cost $400, if I didn’t get the low iron glass it would’ve cost about $440 iirc. Check them out, they are the most competitive custom tank builder out there and for a few bucks more you will be 100% certain what you’re getting.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

If you’re going to order check out custom aquariums. They can custom drill anything into their tanks, plus have a lifetime warranty! In a few years when I upgrade to my absolute dream tank it will be ordered from them! With a Modular Marine overflow like my 180g has now. [emoji16]

 

[SallyWho]

If you’re going to order check out custom aquariums. They can custom drill anything into their tanks, plus have a lifetime warranty! In a few years when I upgrade to my absolute dream tank it will be ordered from them! With a Modular Marine overflow like my 180g has now. [emoji16]

Yeah, those tanks are awesome! But for my first reef tank? A Custom Aquariums tank would be a leeeeeeeeeeeetle bit expensive! Maybe eventually, though. I DO like those Modular Marine overflows. I'm thinking I may go with that one when I do find a tank I can drill.

And DodgersFan, I think I read a thread not too long ago about Glass Cages and their horrific customer service and questionable tank quality (like sloppy ugly silicone jobs, etc). I take it that you had a good experience with them? I'd have to pay out the wazoo to get it shipped closer to me, though. I drive a sedan and only have so many strong friends or trucks I can borrow, so driving hours to go pick up a tank at a shipping hub would be a smidge inconvenient. If I could get one through my LFS, it's only a few more dollars for them to deliver it to my living room.

 

[Dodgersfan]

Yes, i had a very good experience with them. I saw the same reviews you did and almost didn't buy because of them but i'm glad i did. I kind of rushed them, I finalized my tank and paid 4 days before it was set to ship. ive got one little silicone burr that bugs me a little, but no one else notices it. it was right where one of the straps was around the tank for shipping, its just a little too much silicone that protrudes from the joint a little, so i attribute it as much to me rushing them to get it on the December shipment as anything else. they were half the cost of any other custom tank builder i priced (i got about 8 quotes from different companies) is it a ReefSavvy or a SCA aquarium? no, but those tanks cost 2-3x as much and that's not who they are competing with. they're competing with the mass produced Marineland/Aquaeon tanks, and personally I think they blow those tanks out of the water. plus if you want to add some higher end features that the off the shelf tanks don't offer (like eurobracing, low iron glass, drilling for a ghost overflow, etc.) they are relatively inexpensive add ons. They'll email you a quote within a few days, it might be worth just checking out what they can do, they can also tell you the location of your pickup options so you can see what kind of distance you're looking at to pick it up. what size tank are we talking about here? mine is a 90 and I picked it up no problem with 2 people and an SUV.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Interesting!

 

[SallyWho]

Yes, i had a very good experience with them. I saw the same reviews you did and almost didn't buy because of them but i'm glad i did. I kind of rushed them, I finalized my tank and paid 4 days before it was set to ship. ive got one little silicone burr that bugs me a little, but no one else notices it. it was right where one of the straps was around the tank for shipping, its just a little too much silicone that protrudes from the joint a little, so i attribute it as much to me rushing them to get it on the December shipment as anything else. they were half the cost of any other custom tank builder i priced (i got about 8 quotes from different companies) is it a ReefSavvy or a SCA aquarium? no, but those tanks cost 2-3x as much and that's not who they are competing with. they're competing with the mass produced Marineland/Aquaeon tanks, and personally I think they blow those tanks out of the water. plus if you want to add some higher end features that the off the shelf tanks don't offer (like eurobracing, low iron glass, drilling for a ghost overflow, etc.) they are relatively inexpensive add ons. They'll email you a quote within a few days, it might be worth just checking out what they can do, they can also tell you the location of your pickup options so you can see what kind of distance you're looking at to pick it up. what size tank are we talking about here? mine is a 90 and I picked it up no problem with 2 people and an SUV.

I'll keep them in mind, then. It can't hurt just to ask for a quote! Thanks for your input.

 

[Forsaken77]

If you go to THIS MARINELAND PAGE and scroll down to the "product manuals and instructions," they have the pdf "tank specifications," which lists every tank or panel on a tank with tempered glass.

The 180, for example, has no tempered glass at all.

 

[SallyWho]

If you go to THIS MARINELAND PAGE and scroll down to the "product manuals and instructions," they have the pdf "tank specifications," which lists every tank or panel on a tank with tempered glass.

The 180, for example, has no tempered glass at all.

Oh! You know, my eyes glossed right over that link. I saw it, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that my answer may lie there. Thanks!