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T.I.B.E.T (The Incredibly Big Expensive Tank)

Water change system 90% complete!

Rating: 2 votes, 4.00 average.
6 Comments
by
michika
, 08-12-2010 at 08:09 AM (2041 Views)
I just finished placing my order for the second to last piece of our automatic water change system; a HDPE Heavy Duty Horizontal Leg tank. Last purchases are actual plumbing parts, but I've learned my lesson about pre-ordering before I've figured out 100% what I'm trying to accomplish.

I have to say though the 55g garbage containers we've been using since 2004/2005 have done us very well. I want to re-purpose them but can't figure out how. I may just offer them up for sale at a really cheap price to another hobbiest thats starting out. They're equiped with float valves that have made life immeasurably easy for water changes, and top ups. After next weekend we'll have the space to start assembling anything we need, and I'll be able to start cooking my rock.

We've decided we'll definitely assemble our sump ourselves, and the big question now is do we want to assemble the display tank ourselves. I'm not sure if just the two of us can physically assemble the tank, or if we'd have to call in some help. The price difference between unassembled and assembled is about 50%. I'm not trying to save money for the sake of saving money, but I do have to be reasonable. Why should I pay someone who won't warrenty their work? We've assembled tanks in the past, the largest we've done is our 180g tank that is currently housing my fish and about 1/2 of my rock. I'm very much so on the fence on this one.

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Tags: diy, waterchange
Categories
‎ Tank Entry , ‎ Plumbing , ‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. Midnight's Avatar
    Glad to see progress. If no one will warranty their work for on site assembly then I would just as well do it myself. That is if you have the know how.
  2. melev's Avatar
    Wow - it's a LOT of water. Do you have that much faith in your skill as a tank builder? Are you going to reinforce all the base perimeter with euro-bracing? How long will you hold your breath when it's full?

    Why won't they warranty their work?

    Can you post a picture or link of the new water container?
  3. michika's Avatar
    Lets start first with why nobody will warranty their work. There are essentially three builders in my area; Bow Valley Aquariums being one, and two other guys who work in conjunction with two stores in our city. All three locations do great clean work, but the prices are vastly different.

    Bow Valley; told us last year that they can't warrenty it because they only warrenty tanks they build in their shop. They would offer to come out and build the tank on site in our basement. Our quote for glass + delivery to our house = ~$1400, but there is a huge lead time (2-3 months) because of the length of the tank and him wanting to give us a good deal. The additional rate for someone to come and build was quoted around ~1200 + travel costs. I do understand though that they have adjusted their management style, and we want to go back to them to discuss our current design (from March 2010) further. Ultimately I'd love to go with them because their price is best overall, and I've seen their work, but they have supply chain issues and they won't warranty.

    Shop 1: The guy who builds their tanks though will not offer a warranty on his work regardless of anything else. The tank builder says he never has and never will. The price quoted for just glass was twice that of Bow Valley because they do not get wholesale prices on glass. He also refuses to do low-iron for the two display panels saying they can't get low-iron glass in 10.5ft lengths. The cost for this person to assemble the tank on site is almost equal to the cost of the glass.

    Shop 2: They make great tanks, but their price was 3x that of Bow Valley's. Also will not warranty and advised us that we should be getting extra insurance (rider policies) to cover ourselves in the event of a tank failure. They will also not build on site, will only build and deliver to my front lawn.

    I have faith in our skills, but what I do not have faith in at this point is our design. I also want to overbuild Tibet to a certain degree to help with my comfort level. Bottom line I would rather a tank builder come and build on site for us, and I want a warranty for their work. If warranties are unavailable I still would prefer someone to come build for us, but to pay someone such a LARGE amount of cash to do so isn't prudent in my mind. Yes, I am willing to pay for the skill and techniques involved in assembling, but I'm not willing to pay someone $1,200+ for such a task on top of the base material costs.

    Does that explain it a bit better?

    We ordered a 200g water containter you can view it here; http://calgaryplastic.ca/LT.gif. It's currently backordered so it could be here anywhere from next week to the 2nd week of September depending on transportation schedules.
  4. melev's Avatar
    That does sound like a dilemma. I don't really have any suggestions, other than perhaps going with a plywood tank you build yourself with a front glass panel. You can use fiberglass and / or resin for the majority of the tank, and glue in the front glass yourself. I have a friend that built a 1000g tank that way, and I'm sure he'd be happy to help talk you through it. Additionally, he has a massive thread with all the pictures on their club's site.

    Thanks for the picture. I'm going to be shopping for some type of vessel myself, I just don't know what yet.
  5. michika's Avatar
    I'll pitch the idea and see what comes of it. Bottom line is that I want something that I can enjoy relatively stress free for a long number of years before I even have to consider removal/update/upgrade/etc.

    Just for the record, your not talking about Fudge's porthole tank are you?
  6. melev's Avatar
    No, here's the original info I posted on my site years ago. His username is KentE: http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/07/05/ny/ny2.html