Need help on picking a builder for LARGE acrylic tank

[jaytizzle]

As the title states, I need help picking out a builder for a LARGE acrylic tank. I am working with a friend to design his dream system. He's in the process of building a new house and wants a massive display. The size that he's settled on is 8' x 4' x 30" deep (external dimensions). Those dimensions work out to about 550 gallons internally. He'll likely get a custom sump done as well but that isn't the primary focus right now.

So on to the topic at hand. Who should we contact to get pricing for this monster? Realistically, price doesn't matter all that much. He knows he's gonna spend a grip to get this thing going and is willing to do it the right way up front. The biggest thing is that it has to be a high quality builder who can guarantee to meet the deadline. If the deadline isn't met it will be a huge headache as there is a very tight window to actually place the tank in the house during construction. Delivery will be required to Louisiana (Baton Rouge area) and placement in the house on would be a desireable service if available. Stand construction isn't necessary but plan drawings for a recommended stand would be desired as well. No need to have a huge steel stand fabbed up and shipped across the country when that can be done locally.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks you guys! Please let me know if there's any other details that you need to help me get going.

 

[Troylee]

Talk to James at envision acrylics... Best in the business hands down man... Should mean something since I have done acrylic for 20 years lol....

 

[jaytizzle]

Thanks, Troy. I'll give him a shout for sure. Your recommendation carries a lot of weight on this particular issue!

 

[7Reefer]

My 325 was built by Chris @ http://www.midwestcustomaquariums.com/ . I'm happy and will use him again. Good price and delivered ahead of schedule.

 

[laynframe]

Elite-Aquatics.net has the best custom sumps Ive seen hands down. Tyler is a great guy to deal with! When your ready hit him up. He built all my stuff and they are works of art!

 

[reefkoi]

I used ATM in Vegas they were the cheapest and as long as you provide them a CAD drawing with all the specs they will make it exactly how you want

C

 

[CALIKING]

If you were in the Los Angeles CA area I would say PFI (Plastic Fabricators INC). Best in California hands down... They specialize in monster tanks

 

[jaytizzle]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'll start contacting all of the above folks shortly.

If anybody else has any recommendations or can second one or more of the above guys, please throw your input here!

 

[Troylee]

Fwiw tenecor went under a couple months Ago but a few employees bought the equipment and started it under a new name... Can't recall it at the second but I'll call a friend of mine and get it... He just called me this morning to see if I was interested in going to Phoenix and working for them...hmmmm lol... ATM is cool but with every thing going on right now I hear " don't quote me" they don't really wanna touch any thing under 50k right now...don't know if it's true or not but worth a shot I guess.... I don't see anyone comparing to the prices and craftsmanship of envision acrylics....

 

[jaytizzle]

Troy, I got the intial price back from James and I gotta say that it looks pretty fine! We're gonna fine tune the specs on the tank and see what the final number comes to but so far it's definitely a good price. I still gotta shop the other guys and see what they price out to but James definitely holds the lead with your recommendation and the info I've gotten so far.

 

[7Reefer]

ATM built my 535. I would never use them again.

 

[pmvalenti]

i had a 17ft "L" shaped tank made by ATM in las vegas. quaility work and they shipped it over 2000 miles to me without any problems. they also built the stand for me out of steel tubing.

 

[Troylee]

Troy, I got the intial price back from James and I gotta say that it looks pretty fine! We're gonna fine tune the specs on the tank and see what the final number comes to but so far it's definitely a good price. I still gotta shop the other guys and see what they price out to but James definitely holds the lead with your recommendation and the info I've gotten so far.

Good to hear... That man knows more about acrylic than anyone on this planet.. Lol. He can break it down it molecular terms and even works with manufactures like acrylite to develop glues, solvents, etc... Hes not just a top notch fabricator but he knows all the science behind it.... I don't know any company or person who can break it down like James man...1smile1 hopefully some day he stops by here and says what's up... I haven talked to him in a couple years since I got banned from that other place....

 

[jaytizzle]

ATM built my 535. I would never use them again.

Why not? Would you mind sharing your experience? That is one of the names bandied about through my searching.

 

[7Reefer]

Customer service was horrible. My phone calls were never returned and it was a miracle that I would be able to speak with the person I was looking for. They were over a month late on delivery, and when it did come it was built to the wrong dimensions. I then had to fight the $750 shipping bill after they quoted me 350. Their solution was to ship the tank back at my expense, build me another tank and pay to have it shipped again.

 

[jukboxx]

my 250 was done by chris midwest custom aquariums, extreamly happy with it, got a great price also

 

[ermartin]

sounds like its going to be real nice. my question is why didnt he want to go glass and just have it built in place

As the title states, I need help picking out a builder for a LARGE acrylic tank. I am working with a friend to design his dream system. He's in the process of building a new house and wants a massive display. The size that he's settled on is 8' x 4' x 30" deep (external dimensions). Those dimensions work out to about 550 gallons internally. He'll likely get a custom sump done as well but that isn't the primary focus right now.

So on to the topic at hand. Who should we contact to get pricing for this monster? Realistically, price doesn't matter all that much. He knows he's gonna spend a grip to get this thing going and is willing to do it the right way up front. The biggest thing is that it has to be a high quality builder who can guarantee to meet the deadline. If the deadline isn't met it will be a huge headache as there is a very tight window to actually place the tank in the house during construction. Delivery will be required to Louisiana (Baton Rouge area) and placement in the house on would be a desireable service if available. Stand construction isn't necessary but plan drawings for a recommended stand would be desired as well. No need to have a huge steel stand fabbed up and shipped across the country when that can be done locally.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks you guys! Please let me know if there's any other details that you need to help me get going.

 

[jaytizzle]

sounds like its going to be real nice. my question is why didnt he want to go glass and just have it built in place

This tank is intended to be in place for many many years (i.e. forever). He was concerned about the seams on a glass tank that large not holding up for 10+ years. The easy answer is acrylic as the seams are chemically bonded and will never fail unless there is a build or design flaw.

I think we've finally settled on a final design so I'll be pricing it out shortly. I can say that I'm very excited to get to work on a tank build where the budget is more than most people spend on a car. I've personally never seen anything like this before aside from LFS monster displays and such. We don't have many big baller tanks around where I live.