This painful saga started to go wrong at first contact and I should already have been wary, but here is my experience with Micro-Reefs Aquariums.
I was in the market for a small (5 gallon) frag tank and was initially looking at a different vendor but they, unfortunately, had very poor reviews. Whilst conducting my research on that tank I came across Micro-Reefs Aquariums, and saw their construction thread on another forum of a tank that was exactly what I wanted.
I sent them a message, using the form on their website, about a custom frag tank and received a reply within minutes. Awesome, I thought. I replied to that email and then nothing.
After a few days I sent another message on their webform and received an instant reply. I replied to that email and then nothing.
I did this one more time and then gave up.
A couple of weeks later I decided that I really wanted this tank so sent one more message; I had given up ever trying to get a tank made to my requirements so I just said that I would take any small frag/pico tank that they could make. I finally received a quote and I paid immediately. This tank is very small (approx 12x12x8) so presumably shouldn't be too complex to manufacture.
The tank was delivered shortly afterwards but it was literally garbage; I could see that the acrylic had not been bonded correctly and I immediately emailed them back with my observations. I had received an email in the interim telling me that they had forgot to leak test it so later that afternoon I filled it up and it leaked straight away. I emailed them again and requested a replacement tank. I was told that they were too busy to manufacture a replacement and that as a gesture of goodwill they would refund the tank and I could have it as a freebie for me to fix, which I agreed to. I then conducted some research and discovered that, without major surgery or the addition of extra pieces of acrylic, the repair of an incorrectly bonded acrylic tank would be difficult if not impossible; in any case, the adhesive to fix it was not particularly cheap. I decided to try one more thing before disposing of it and pulled at the front panel to see how well bonded it was (to see if I could completely remove that piece and bond it back in place) and the front came off almost completely cleanly. There was, however, a small section at the bottom front that was bonded correctly and this snapped off and the tank then went into the trash (which is where it would have had to go anyway if I hadn't looked to try to fix it).
I then emailed them back to explain that it wasn't just a small leak and the bonding was almost non-existent. I did this simply for their information and did not ask for anything in return (I had already received a full refund).
The owner then told me that it was a different fabricator (not him) that had made my tank and he seemed very genuinely apologetic for the poor quality of the construction. He insisted that he should make me a second tank, completely free of charge, as an apology (I did not request this at any point - in fact I even told them that if they made a replacement that I would pay for it). He told me that he would start making it 'tomorrow' and that it should be finished by the following Saturday (this was on the Monday). I was also told that they would send me photos of the build to show the quality of the bonds during the new build.
10 days later I email again and ask for an update. I was then informed that this tank that I had been promised would be started 9 days earlier, and was being specifically made to overcome their previous shortcomings, had not even been started as they had been working on something else for another customer. I was then offered either a tank that they had in stock (which was from the same batch and by the same fabricator that didn't bond my first one correctly) or they would start making me another one 'tomorrow'. I wouldn't have been too concerned by this delay but even after the previous issues they didn't think it was worth a quick email to let me know.
At this stage I have given up and will be buying elsewhere.
I am somewhat gobsmacked that a company would be so concerned about shipping a sub-standard tank that they would offer to replace it free of charge, only to subsequently break their promises again within a couple of days. I am also pretty shocked that a professional acrylic tank manufacturer can't correctly bond a tiny 5 gallon tank in the first place.
I have attached pictures of what I received (it was me that pulled the front panel off, but you can see the sides have broken off completely cleanly as they weren't bonded at all).
I was in the market for a small (5 gallon) frag tank and was initially looking at a different vendor but they, unfortunately, had very poor reviews. Whilst conducting my research on that tank I came across Micro-Reefs Aquariums, and saw their construction thread on another forum of a tank that was exactly what I wanted.
I sent them a message, using the form on their website, about a custom frag tank and received a reply within minutes. Awesome, I thought. I replied to that email and then nothing.
After a few days I sent another message on their webform and received an instant reply. I replied to that email and then nothing.
I did this one more time and then gave up.
A couple of weeks later I decided that I really wanted this tank so sent one more message; I had given up ever trying to get a tank made to my requirements so I just said that I would take any small frag/pico tank that they could make. I finally received a quote and I paid immediately. This tank is very small (approx 12x12x8) so presumably shouldn't be too complex to manufacture.
The tank was delivered shortly afterwards but it was literally garbage; I could see that the acrylic had not been bonded correctly and I immediately emailed them back with my observations. I had received an email in the interim telling me that they had forgot to leak test it so later that afternoon I filled it up and it leaked straight away. I emailed them again and requested a replacement tank. I was told that they were too busy to manufacture a replacement and that as a gesture of goodwill they would refund the tank and I could have it as a freebie for me to fix, which I agreed to. I then conducted some research and discovered that, without major surgery or the addition of extra pieces of acrylic, the repair of an incorrectly bonded acrylic tank would be difficult if not impossible; in any case, the adhesive to fix it was not particularly cheap. I decided to try one more thing before disposing of it and pulled at the front panel to see how well bonded it was (to see if I could completely remove that piece and bond it back in place) and the front came off almost completely cleanly. There was, however, a small section at the bottom front that was bonded correctly and this snapped off and the tank then went into the trash (which is where it would have had to go anyway if I hadn't looked to try to fix it).
I then emailed them back to explain that it wasn't just a small leak and the bonding was almost non-existent. I did this simply for their information and did not ask for anything in return (I had already received a full refund).
The owner then told me that it was a different fabricator (not him) that had made my tank and he seemed very genuinely apologetic for the poor quality of the construction. He insisted that he should make me a second tank, completely free of charge, as an apology (I did not request this at any point - in fact I even told them that if they made a replacement that I would pay for it). He told me that he would start making it 'tomorrow' and that it should be finished by the following Saturday (this was on the Monday). I was also told that they would send me photos of the build to show the quality of the bonds during the new build.
10 days later I email again and ask for an update. I was then informed that this tank that I had been promised would be started 9 days earlier, and was being specifically made to overcome their previous shortcomings, had not even been started as they had been working on something else for another customer. I was then offered either a tank that they had in stock (which was from the same batch and by the same fabricator that didn't bond my first one correctly) or they would start making me another one 'tomorrow'. I wouldn't have been too concerned by this delay but even after the previous issues they didn't think it was worth a quick email to let me know.
At this stage I have given up and will be buying elsewhere.
I am somewhat gobsmacked that a company would be so concerned about shipping a sub-standard tank that they would offer to replace it free of charge, only to subsequently break their promises again within a couple of days. I am also pretty shocked that a professional acrylic tank manufacturer can't correctly bond a tiny 5 gallon tank in the first place.
I have attached pictures of what I received (it was me that pulled the front panel off, but you can see the sides have broken off completely cleanly as they weren't bonded at all).