DIY Glass Tank Kits. Anyone interested in building your with pre-cut panels?

[Tenecor Aquariums]

We have a product planning meeting every Friday morning and the idea of offering DIY glass aquariums came up again.

The Concept

Offer for sale pre-cut aquarium kits for DIY assembly consisting of beveled and polished low iron glass panels. The kit will include optional AIO systems. The product line will be kit equivalents of all the popular Chinese tanks on the market today. (Many of the popular brand name glass tanks are manufactured by the same Chinese firm). Silicone, spacers and alignment jigs all included.

The Value Proposition

Up to 30 to 40% cost savings over pre-assembled tanks. Significant portion of the savings would come from greatly reduced shipping costs.

We already bought the domain GlassAquariumKits.com and have established relationships with glass manufacturers. This post is part of our market research before we commit to it.

We want to hear from you.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

Do the same in acrylic. That would be cool.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Do the same in acrylic. That would be cool.

Acrylic is much more difficult to DIY. Getting good seams is by orders of magnitude harder than putting a glass box together. Especially with the larger sizes. Having said that, we would gladly supply precuts to anyone who wants them. Just no guarantees.

 

[Woodyman]

 

[Cool tangs]

Great idea, although....

Include some steps, recommended silicone for that region/country for long lasting hold. Make sure holes are pre drilled and a guide or included plumbing again with steps

I'm suggesting this as you want to target more then just the DIY, you want to make this option more affordable and simple for the less DIY to target a bigger audience. And don't just limit yourself to low iron, we know normal float glass once filled with water still looks amazing as well and can save another buck or 2

Think of it like flat pack aquariums

 

[Reefing102]

I could see it working but also failing. While many people would put their tank together correctly, I can see just as many doing it incorrectly and ending up with failed tanks. At least if a seam fails on the major brands, there’s usually some warranty where as I’m not sure how a warranty would apply in a user built kit

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

I could see it working but also failing. While many people would put their tank together correctly, I can see just as many doing it incorrectly and ending up with failed tanks. At least if a seam fails on the major brands, there’s usually some warranty where as I’m not sure how a warranty would apply in a user built kit

This is exactly right and one of the two reasons we have hesitated. The other argument is that we will be eating our babies and cannibalizing acrylic sales. This one is not so strong since in the larger sizes (150 gallons and up) we already beat glass hands down. Good obsrevation.

 

[gwainrig]

sounds like a very good idea..lots of diy'ers out there. I would think that most people doing this would understand that putting together would be at your own risk..risk must be bolded for the hard of seeing. the cost would have to be worth the risk for the diy'er..

 

[Woodyman]

Options for PVC bottoms and smoked back panels would be nice as well.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Great idea, although....

Include some steps, recommended silicone for that region/country for long lasting hold. Make sure holes are pre drilled and a guide or included plumbing again with steps

I'm suggesting this as you want to target more then just the DIY, you want to make this option more affordable and simple for the less DIY to target a bigger audience. And don't just limit yourself to low iron, we know normal float glass once filled with water still looks amazing as well and can save another buck or 2

Think of it like flat pack aquariums

Just bought flatpackfishtanks.com.

 

[Cool tangs]

sounds like a very good idea..lots of diy'ers out there. I would think that most people doing this would understand that putting together would be at your own risk..risk must be bolded for the hard of seeing. the cost would have to be worth the risk for the diy'er..

I think warranty with in reasonable grounds. Provided instructions were followed and photos backed up the claims. Before and after for example, glass panel was shipped broken vs dropped. You could provide the silicone to also inhance the seal quality. It not like pre bought already made aquariums come with a decent warranty anyway

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Options for PVC bottoms and smoked back panels would be nice as well.

The PVC bottom idea is a good one. Then the pre-drilling issue goes away and we can offer internal overflows.

EDIT: and the freight expense dropped again..

 

[5G Reefer]

I think it would be a good idea but the price would have to be reasonable.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

I think it would be a good idea but the price would have to be reasonable.

We penciled about 30% savings at retail. That is before container rates went to the moon.

 

[5G Reefer]

What price are they starting at?

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

What price are they starting at?

No idea yet. We are looking at tanks in the mid range of gallons. 40 to 200 gallons. Take the cost of a popular brand and multiply their retail price by .70

 

[Woodyman]

No idea yet. We are looking at tanks in the mid range of gallons. 40 to 200 gallons. Take the cost of a popular brand and multiply their retail price by .70

So a standard 40 breeder at basically $55 standard retail non sale. So your thinking your price would be around ~38 bucks?

 

[Woodyman]

While we're at it I would like to see more low tanks. A frag option for say only 8-12" height would be nice.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

While we're at it I would like to see more low tanks. A frag option for say only 8-12" height would be nice.

Have you seen our frags? They are on the pricey side but included freight kills it. Glass frag kits...

 

[Woodyman]

When I upgrade my frag from my current setup I'll take a better look. I did check them out along with others when purchasing the hush flow AIO the other day.