i ordered a tank from them, despite all of the negative reviews here, and other places.
my experience thus far-
ordered the tank, they pretty much didn't offer any information about what was sufficient for my needs, they just asked "where do you want the holes, and how big do you want them?"
i guess most people who call know exactly what they want- what flow rates they need and what size holes are needed for the bulkheads and such, so that wasn't shocking.
all the while everyone i spoke to seemed polite, and somewhat patient with my experience, or lack thereof.
i had to pick the tank up in allentown, pa(about an hour away from me) in 3 weeks. i borrowed one of the service trucks from my boss for the pickup, and headed to get my new tank.
we arrived at the pickup location( a days inn, where they were to hold a reptile show later that day), and backed up to the glass cages truck, which was loaded with tanks of all shapes and sizes, including a 680 gallon tank, that looked to be about 12 feet long, which was sitting right on the trailer floor. i expected the larger tanks to have been palletized, but they were not.
the driver, and his partner were very nice people also.
my tank was about a quarter of the way back in the trailer, so we had to wait a bit until the other folks picked up their tanks(21 people total).
a guy was picking up a 150 gallon tank while i was there, and i really liked how his turned out, however, my tank wasn't quite what i expected. the first thing i noticed was a black plastic trim that was glued around most of the top of the tank, which didn't look quite like it belonged.
also, i noticed immediately, that there were 2 center braces on this tank. i believe it was the owner and i, who discussed 1 brace. i was thinking....ok, i'll make it work. then as i started to look closer, there were more issues. 1st i saw what appeared to be a chip in the glass on the inside, right at the seam. i immediately made the GC representative, aware of this, and she preceded to dial her cell phone. she got someone on the other end, who after a verbal explanation of the chip, instructed the rep. to assure me that it will not hurt the integrity of this thick glass and to hand me 50 dollars. i said, ok, it's in the back of the tank...i'll never see it...i have a very small time frame in which to get this tank mounted in the wall and running....just accept it.
when i got it home i inspected it further and noticed many imperfections in the silicone as well, but at this stage in the build, i'm pretty much stuck with it.
one thing i forgot to mention that i found strange was the overflow covers. i ordered black acrylic overflow covers. the problem wasn't that they looked like they were cut by a blind man, the problem was that they were taped to my glass overflows. i asked about it, and the rep told me that there is no way you can get acrylic to stick to glass, so basically, you just let the sand and whatever you are going to put in the tank push against them to hold them against the overflows. hmm.
i also ordered an acrylic sump.it's a small square sump that will fit perfectly in an oceanic cube's stand. first i ordered it with 2 "L" shaped baffles in one corner where i would place a return pump, and when i called back the next day, i believe it was the owners wife who got on the phone and told me "about that sump...we're going to pass on that...we'll just make you the square sump and you put the baffles in". i agreed because i know it's not a difficult task. actually i think it's more difficult to explain what i wanted, then to make it myself.i received the sump on the same day as my large tank. this looked pretty decent i guess. a small imperfection here and there, but the rounded corners came out nice, and the glue didn't look too bad either.
the conclusion that i have come to about glass cages is that it's entirely hit or miss. the guy who got the 150 the same day as i was there was happy with his tank, and it looked good to me. i just hope it holds water. pictures are below-
my experience thus far-
ordered the tank, they pretty much didn't offer any information about what was sufficient for my needs, they just asked "where do you want the holes, and how big do you want them?"
i guess most people who call know exactly what they want- what flow rates they need and what size holes are needed for the bulkheads and such, so that wasn't shocking.
all the while everyone i spoke to seemed polite, and somewhat patient with my experience, or lack thereof.
i had to pick the tank up in allentown, pa(about an hour away from me) in 3 weeks. i borrowed one of the service trucks from my boss for the pickup, and headed to get my new tank.
we arrived at the pickup location( a days inn, where they were to hold a reptile show later that day), and backed up to the glass cages truck, which was loaded with tanks of all shapes and sizes, including a 680 gallon tank, that looked to be about 12 feet long, which was sitting right on the trailer floor. i expected the larger tanks to have been palletized, but they were not.
the driver, and his partner were very nice people also.
my tank was about a quarter of the way back in the trailer, so we had to wait a bit until the other folks picked up their tanks(21 people total).
a guy was picking up a 150 gallon tank while i was there, and i really liked how his turned out, however, my tank wasn't quite what i expected. the first thing i noticed was a black plastic trim that was glued around most of the top of the tank, which didn't look quite like it belonged.
also, i noticed immediately, that there were 2 center braces on this tank. i believe it was the owner and i, who discussed 1 brace. i was thinking....ok, i'll make it work. then as i started to look closer, there were more issues. 1st i saw what appeared to be a chip in the glass on the inside, right at the seam. i immediately made the GC representative, aware of this, and she preceded to dial her cell phone. she got someone on the other end, who after a verbal explanation of the chip, instructed the rep. to assure me that it will not hurt the integrity of this thick glass and to hand me 50 dollars. i said, ok, it's in the back of the tank...i'll never see it...i have a very small time frame in which to get this tank mounted in the wall and running....just accept it.
when i got it home i inspected it further and noticed many imperfections in the silicone as well, but at this stage in the build, i'm pretty much stuck with it.
one thing i forgot to mention that i found strange was the overflow covers. i ordered black acrylic overflow covers. the problem wasn't that they looked like they were cut by a blind man, the problem was that they were taped to my glass overflows. i asked about it, and the rep told me that there is no way you can get acrylic to stick to glass, so basically, you just let the sand and whatever you are going to put in the tank push against them to hold them against the overflows. hmm.
i also ordered an acrylic sump.it's a small square sump that will fit perfectly in an oceanic cube's stand. first i ordered it with 2 "L" shaped baffles in one corner where i would place a return pump, and when i called back the next day, i believe it was the owners wife who got on the phone and told me "about that sump...we're going to pass on that...we'll just make you the square sump and you put the baffles in". i agreed because i know it's not a difficult task. actually i think it's more difficult to explain what i wanted, then to make it myself.i received the sump on the same day as my large tank. this looked pretty decent i guess. a small imperfection here and there, but the rounded corners came out nice, and the glue didn't look too bad either.
the conclusion that i have come to about glass cages is that it's entirely hit or miss. the guy who got the 150 the same day as i was there was happy with his tank, and it looked good to me. i just hope it holds water. pictures are below-
