Your thoughts on custom tank manufacturers?
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JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
This can be rather common for custom tank manufacturers, I've only experienced dealing with 3 of them myself. Concept was first and it still took a few days, Reef Savvy was last at 3 weeks. Now in saying that Reef Savvy as well as the rest of them usually only have one person handle quotes. And I'm sure you can imagine how many quotes they get even in a day lol I can only assume that every other manufacturer is atleast almost the same for number of employees handling quotes. So it can take a while sometimes. It's one of those things like many other things in this hobby that requires a monumental amount of patience
Potatohead
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This can be rather common for custom tank manufacturers, I've only experienced dealing with 3 of them myself. Concept was first and it still took a few days, Reef Savvy was last at 3 weeks. Now in saying that Reef Savvy as well as the rest of them usually only have one person handle quotes. And I'm sure you can imagine how many quotes they get even in a day lol I can only assume that every other manufacturer is atleast almost the same for number of employees handling quotes. So it can take a while sometimes. It's one of those things like many other things in this hobby that requires a monumental amount of patience
Three weeks to answer an email is ridiculous, period. After 48 hours (and even that's long) I would write you off entirely and then if I got a response three weeks later I would just laugh. I know RS is busy and doesn't probably need any more business currently, but that's just bad.
JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
Feel free to share your thoughts on it when it shows up! I'm happy to add them to the list as well
Sounds like it could be REALLY Awkward if it doesn't turn out well;Nailbiting
JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
It's an unfortunate side effect of the popularity they have gained. None of the ones I worked with got back in less than 48 Hours. But 2 were within the week.
This is to be expected. They get what, over a few dozen quotes a day? You can expect them to have an employee dedicated to quotes IMO. They have a 6 month wait time on builds. If you aren’t patient enough to wait for a response, perhaps you’re better off with a non-custom aquarium
Potatohead
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Or the place where someone is seeking to spend 5k+ could answer an email in a timely fashion?
Silver14SS
Valuable Member
Definitely gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I have to beg someone to take my money 
If someone can't respond to me, I start wondering what would happen if I purchased from them and had an issue.
If someone can't respond to me, I start wondering what would happen if I purchased from them and had an issue.
JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
Alright, so to kind of get back on track here I'll share my experience with Miracles Aquariums.
I had struggled with the decision on which builder to go with for quite a few weeks and after much debate and everyone's final quotes coming in I settled on Miracles Aquariums out of Mono, Ontario, Canada. Speaking with Derek on the phone was great. After sending in a rough sketch as to what I wanted we discussed all the options at hand from Closed Loop sizes to drain options of which were quite extensive. Derek offered Internal/External Weir option's as well as the Ghost overflow from Reef Savvy or I was free to purchase another overflow and have it mailed directly to them to have the tank drilled appropriately. I went back and forth between the external and Ghost overflow and at the end of the day went with the External overflow option (For those who would like to know, the cost of the external overflow was worked into the tank and the Reef Savvy Ghost was an additional $395.00 CDN). My first quote for my 60" × 24" × 17" peninsula with external overflow and 1 piece starphire euro bracing came out to $2250.00 CDN + Taxes and shipping. I was sold and placed an order October 29th 2018.
So my tank originally was going to be 60" L x 24" W x 17" H but part way through the build (Only 1 week from the date of ordering) I had decided to make it a little wider at 60" x 30" x 17". Talking with Derek we agreed on a price difference as all the panels had already been cut aside from the eurobracing and he informed me it would add another week orso to the timeline (Was originally told end of January for delivery).
Fast Forward a few months later and I ended up recieving the tank March 2nd with a final Invoice of $3436.00 CDN with taxes shipping (2000 Miles) and the adjusted price due to the dimension change ($650) about a month later than originally quoted but I chalk that up to the change in dimensions and although Derek never mentioned it I feel that the first Eurobracing piece broke during tempering which was something I was warned about in the beginning.
The tank came very well crated and on an expensive hardwood "Bluskid" as we call them here in Canada. 1" styrofoam padding on all sides and bottom. This same styro is what's recommended to place under the tank so you can use what the tank comes with as an underlayment on your stand.
First Impressions of the tank are wow. The quality of work is amazing. Silicone on outer corners is immaculate. The bottom around the bracing leaves a little more to be desired but that will be covered in sand so I'm not concerned with it atall. Honestly I wouldn't be concerned if it was a BB setup either as it's not super messy or anything. I had originally thought that the silicone would be tooled in the corners but this was not the case and I'm guessing something you need to ask for specifically. I'm actually happy they didn't tool them because it leaves a cleaner edge in the corners, especially on the end of the peninsula. With a VERY thin comb I've found the odd bubble or two in the silicone, none of them are in a place I would considered structurally significant so I'm not worried about them.
I was surprised to see both the bottom and back panels were both 3/4" glass as opposed to the 1/2" the rest of the tank is constructed of. This explained the extra weight I wasn't prepared for when it arrived (Tank + Crating was around 512 pounds). The tank also came with bottom interior bracing which I'm guessing must be standard on Miracles tanks because I didn't ask for it. It also came with reinforced rear corners which was another thing I didn't expect.
The overflow is just awesome, I mean you almost can't get any thinner than what it is which is merely a 1/4" Black Acrylic weir siliconed to the back of the tank. The only downside to it is it is not removable for cleaning purposes but I don't see this being a big dea as it's easy enough to reach with a tooth brush. This type of overflow also gives you the ability to get the water level very close to the top of the tank if you wish which is a nice bonus. One thing I didn't like about the weir itself was the slots for the weir were actually cut further than the weir was cut in the glass. This led to silicone seeping out if these slots during installation. Now it's hardly noticeable and doesn't really bother me in the grand scheme of things but it's good to be aware of and address in advance if you're ordering.
During the build phase I was asked if I would like a stand to go along with it. As I planned on building my own I didn't really get into detail with the options but I believe they offer the standard steel powder coated options with black being standard and coloured coating slightly more.
Overall I love my Miracles tank and will love it even more once it's full. The only major issue I had was the interior of the Eurobracing was not polished like the rest of the edging. It almost gives the look of frosted glass which isn't too bad. I haven't spoken to miracles about it as it's not the end of the world but I'm not even sure if it would have been possible to polish with the rounded interior corners.
EDIT: I have spoken with Derek and the inside edge of the one piece Eurobracing can be polished but it has to be done by hand, for a tank this size it would probably cost and extra $3-400 Canadian to get it done. Honestly the frosted look has grown on me and I'm happy with the way it is now. If I could do it over again I'd probably bite the bullet and get it polished though
I wouldn't hesitate to have Derek build me another tank and recommend them to others looking for a great quality build
I had struggled with the decision on which builder to go with for quite a few weeks and after much debate and everyone's final quotes coming in I settled on Miracles Aquariums out of Mono, Ontario, Canada. Speaking with Derek on the phone was great. After sending in a rough sketch as to what I wanted we discussed all the options at hand from Closed Loop sizes to drain options of which were quite extensive. Derek offered Internal/External Weir option's as well as the Ghost overflow from Reef Savvy or I was free to purchase another overflow and have it mailed directly to them to have the tank drilled appropriately. I went back and forth between the external and Ghost overflow and at the end of the day went with the External overflow option (For those who would like to know, the cost of the external overflow was worked into the tank and the Reef Savvy Ghost was an additional $395.00 CDN). My first quote for my 60" × 24" × 17" peninsula with external overflow and 1 piece starphire euro bracing came out to $2250.00 CDN + Taxes and shipping. I was sold and placed an order October 29th 2018.
So my tank originally was going to be 60" L x 24" W x 17" H but part way through the build (Only 1 week from the date of ordering) I had decided to make it a little wider at 60" x 30" x 17". Talking with Derek we agreed on a price difference as all the panels had already been cut aside from the eurobracing and he informed me it would add another week orso to the timeline (Was originally told end of January for delivery).
Fast Forward a few months later and I ended up recieving the tank March 2nd with a final Invoice of $3436.00 CDN with taxes shipping (2000 Miles) and the adjusted price due to the dimension change ($650) about a month later than originally quoted but I chalk that up to the change in dimensions and although Derek never mentioned it I feel that the first Eurobracing piece broke during tempering which was something I was warned about in the beginning.
The tank came very well crated and on an expensive hardwood "Bluskid" as we call them here in Canada. 1" styrofoam padding on all sides and bottom. This same styro is what's recommended to place under the tank so you can use what the tank comes with as an underlayment on your stand.
First Impressions of the tank are wow. The quality of work is amazing. Silicone on outer corners is immaculate. The bottom around the bracing leaves a little more to be desired but that will be covered in sand so I'm not concerned with it atall. Honestly I wouldn't be concerned if it was a BB setup either as it's not super messy or anything. I had originally thought that the silicone would be tooled in the corners but this was not the case and I'm guessing something you need to ask for specifically. I'm actually happy they didn't tool them because it leaves a cleaner edge in the corners, especially on the end of the peninsula. With a VERY thin comb I've found the odd bubble or two in the silicone, none of them are in a place I would considered structurally significant so I'm not worried about them.
I was surprised to see both the bottom and back panels were both 3/4" glass as opposed to the 1/2" the rest of the tank is constructed of. This explained the extra weight I wasn't prepared for when it arrived (Tank + Crating was around 512 pounds). The tank also came with bottom interior bracing which I'm guessing must be standard on Miracles tanks because I didn't ask for it. It also came with reinforced rear corners which was another thing I didn't expect.
The overflow is just awesome, I mean you almost can't get any thinner than what it is which is merely a 1/4" Black Acrylic weir siliconed to the back of the tank. The only downside to it is it is not removable for cleaning purposes but I don't see this being a big dea as it's easy enough to reach with a tooth brush. This type of overflow also gives you the ability to get the water level very close to the top of the tank if you wish which is a nice bonus. One thing I didn't like about the weir itself was the slots for the weir were actually cut further than the weir was cut in the glass. This led to silicone seeping out if these slots during installation. Now it's hardly noticeable and doesn't really bother me in the grand scheme of things but it's good to be aware of and address in advance if you're ordering.
During the build phase I was asked if I would like a stand to go along with it. As I planned on building my own I didn't really get into detail with the options but I believe they offer the standard steel powder coated options with black being standard and coloured coating slightly more.
Overall I love my Miracles tank and will love it even more once it's full. The only major issue I had was the interior of the Eurobracing was not polished like the rest of the edging. It almost gives the look of frosted glass which isn't too bad. I haven't spoken to miracles about it as it's not the end of the world but I'm not even sure if it would have been possible to polish with the rounded interior corners.
EDIT: I have spoken with Derek and the inside edge of the one piece Eurobracing can be polished but it has to be done by hand, for a tank this size it would probably cost and extra $3-400 Canadian to get it done. Honestly the frosted look has grown on me and I'm happy with the way it is now. If I could do it over again I'd probably bite the bullet and get it polished though
I wouldn't hesitate to have Derek build me another tank and recommend them to others looking for a great quality build
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Awesome review of tank from miracles, they are one that I’m waiting for quote. I just received my quote back from custom aquariums so that’s one down. They def took the shortest amount of time as it was about 5 days including the weekend.
Silver14SS
Valuable Member
Mine are cut into the back panel but I don't think TankMeUSA does them this way anymore. I believe they use an acrylic insert now as well.
JoshH
Tank Status: Wet...ish, growing things....
This is more of a plate than an insert. Really the only way to make it look any better would be what you described and what Innovative Marine has on there EXT line and that's a solid rear acrylic panels laminated to the back glass with the weir slots cut into them. Which I'm sure Miracles could probably do for a little more money. I didn't know at the time and never bothered asking.
Dragon52
2500 Club Member
I bought a Tsunami 185gl from Fish Tank Direct will never use them again. I received no after purchase support from them at all. Others here on R2R have had better luck then
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Braves Fan
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There definitely seems to be a little bit of a trend going on. And you know I've been tagging along on your thread as well
I am loving that Reef Savvy Overflow Box ,, its worry free ,, works as its supposed to ,, only time I have had to mess with it ,, is when I increased the water flow on the return pump ,, there was nothing to that ,, just had to turn the gate valve a bit ,, I am having the Reef Savvy overflow box put onto the new Chalice tank I have ordered from Mircales Aquariums ,, can't get enough of a good thing
Braves Fan
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Yes, a 36” wide tank was tricky through the door haha. We had to roll it on it’s side to come through! We kept it in the shipping container until it was in the living room.
Wow ,, that is a awesome tank
how about a link to a tank build 
