Joe,
I love the new website! and I just put in a quote for a small frag tank.
I would love to hear some insight from the builders side on a couple of things.
1) Are there dimensions you prefer to work with?
2) is there a point where going bigger is actually cheaper? Like if someone ordered a 11ft long tank, but you get glass sheets in 12ft and adding an additional foot would actual reduce the labor and cost on the tank.
3) What's the current state of supply and relative pricing on glass? We hear things that are all over the spectrum and getting an actual answer from a manufacturer would be nice.
4) Is there anything people consistently forget to think about when ordering a custom tank?
Thanks
@Pntbll687 for the feedback on the website. tried to make it fun.....
Great questions. lets dive in!
1) Are there dimensions you prefer to work with?
Hmmmmm, we stock 144" and 130" long sheets of glass. We have fun building the big ones. I would say from 36" to 96" are the easiest with respect to the glass weight that needs to be moved around... other than that, its all almost the same.
2) is there a point where going bigger is actually cheaper? Like if someone ordered a 11ft long tank, but you get glass sheets in 12ft and adding an additional foot would actual reduce the labor and cost on the tank.
We price our tanks with the yield of the glass in mind. for example, if you want an 90" tank, it will be priced as a 96" tank for length. We do the same thing with the width and height.
3) What's the current state of supply and relative pricing on glass? We hear things that are all over the spectrum and getting an actual answer from a manufacturer would be nice.
Yes, raw material access has been tough. We also have a glass importing company and were able to see this issue about a year and half ago. over a year ago we started over ordering supply. currently we have just under a million lbs of glass on the property. We also entered into a direct relationship with Vitro Glass (starphire manufacturer) which has assisted in our supply. So, over a year ago we made the decision that we didn't want to participate in supply issues and here we are not dealing with it.
4) Is there anything people consistently forget to think about when ordering a custom tank?
Very interesting questions....
1) Aquarium Pad
2) not thinking through all the plumbing, being short the last pvc elbow.....
3) Hinged glass lids on framed or euro-braced tanks
We do get a lot of change requests during the builds, overflow placement, change in tank size, adding vinyl wrapping, changing overflow style and adding options.
Hope that helps. Fun questions. Thanks for asking!
