Tenecor Acrylic Aquariums

[Lowell Lemon]

Question for Lowell Lemon and Tenecor...when it comes to seems on acrylic aquariums . Do you recommended hand polished museum quality seems or solvent welded regular seems?

Museum quality seams usually refers to water clear bonds with little on no bubbling in the seam. The edge preparation that is best for this is a proper cut right off the CNC machine. You cannot get quite the same edge quality using hand routers and route tables. The feed and speed control of a CNC router is so much more consistent than any hand operation. That said I built most of the aquariums with hand operations over 30 years. The current technology is so much better with a CNC machine!

You know there are new technologies that allow the CNC to cut a polished edge. But in my humble opinion the largest majority of tank builders in the past flame polished. I did for close to 30 years and I had very few problems. Hand polishing is going to be more expensive in terms of labor and materials. Polishing by hand or with a flame creates induced heating of the acrylic surface. Flame polishing can create more heat if you do not move the torch quickly. The torch is Hydrogen and Oxygen and creates a flame at about 6300 degrees Fahrenheit, if I recall correctly. Just a brief exposure to the flame "glazes" the surface and should not heat a large section of the edge. If you move to slow the edge can catch on fire! Oops, in that case you might increase the chance of crazing (micro cracking) in the future. Exposure to alcohol or petroleum distillates seems to increase the possibility of crazing. I cleaned the surface of new aquariums with water and a few drops of dawn diswashing liquid in a spray bottle before packaging for shipping.

Anytime you polish acrylic the sheet manufacturers used to recommend heat annealing the entire assembly after the final polish. No one to my knowledge ever did that except a DOD manufacturer I provided polished acrylic chassis for in the 90's and 2000's. I did offer it to customers but they balked at the price. I even offered it when I built a couple 16' long aquariums for a customer and I would have been renting a 40 plus foot autoclave for the 24 hour heat cycle.

So, to answer your question I give the customer what they want. So I do hand polish sometimes but at a higher price due to the added expense. It does not make economic sense to hand polish large numbers of production aquariums due to the pressure to deliver large quantities at a reasonable price.

I have not received the custom router bit that polishes yet. But soon I will be experimenting with it.

 

[piranhaman00]

Wow this thread is great! Tenecor dropping the hammer. Haha

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

I am fairly certain I want my next tank to be acrylic but that is a year and a half out as we are moving Hopefully prices are not astronomical by then.

Prices are not going up

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Museum quality seams usually refers to water clear bonds with little on no bubbling in the seam. The edge preparation that is best for this is acproper cut right off the CNC machine. You cannot get quite the same edge quality using hand routers and route tables. The feed and speed control of a CNC router is so much more consistent than any hand operation. That said I built most of the aquariums with hand operations over 30 years. The current technology is so much better with a CNC machine!

You know there are new technologies that allow the CNC to cut a polished edge. But in my humble opinion the largest majority of tank builders in the past flame polished. I did for close to 30 years and I had very few problems. Hand polishing is going to be more expensive in terms of labor and materials. Polishing by hand or with a flame creates induced heating of the acrylic surface. Flame polishing can create more heat if you do not move the torch quickly. The torch is Hydrogen and Oxygen and creates a flame at about 6300 degrees Fahrenheit, if I recall correctly. Just a brief exposure to the flame "glazes" the surface and should not heat a large section of the edge. If you move to slow the edge can catch on fire! Oops, in that case you might increase the chance of crazing (micro cracking) in the future. Exposure to alcohol or petroleum distillates seems to increase the possibility of crazing. I cleaned the surface of new aquariums with water and a few drops of dawn diswashing liquid in a spray bottle before packaging for shipping.

Anytime you polish acrylic the manufacturers used to recommend heat annealing the entire assembly after the final polish. No one to my knowledge ever did that except a DOD manufacturer I provided polished acrylic chassis for in the 90's and 2000's. I did offer it to customers but they balked at the price. I even offered it when I built a couple 16' long aquariums for a customer and I would have been renting a 40 plus foot autoclave for the 24 hour heat cycle.

So, to answer your question I give the customer what they want. So I do hand polish sometimes but at a higher price due to the added expense. It does not make economic sense to hand polish large production aquariums due to the pressure to deliver large quantities at a reasonable price.

I have not received the custom router bit that polishes yet. But soon I will be experimenting with it.

We never use flame. The bit you are talking about is called a compression bit.

 

[piranhaman00]

Quick question, I see it says 1/2 inch acrylic, will there be a lot of bowing in that ? I am trying to understand how acrylic thickness correlates to tanks , some people says 3/4 inch is best , I am just trying to get a grip on all this information

From my research into buying my first acrylic tank everyone says to go one size up.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Wow this thread is great! Tenecor dropping the hammer. Haha

No. I hope people don't see this as anything other than discourse. You guys here are why we do what we do. What happens is we sometimes get ahead of ourselves and try to do too much. Those frags were delayed a couple days because of the new equipment installation and because we also built and shipped almost 200 diy frags and pedestal sumps. Almost 200. In two days. (Everything is made to order and there is no inventory) I am not a sales or custerner service rep and sometimes what I do and say here causes problems in the back. Like when I thought it would be fun to do the first DIY drop. (The drop off kit is coming soon.) I see this hobby as unnecessarily and grossly overpriced. Lights, tanks, (especially lights) chems. For example, 2 part. Wow! Another business line we are in is soil amendments and conditioners for "high value" crops. Probiotics mostly. The cost of soda ash and calcium salts are cheaper than dirt. Literally. If you ever bought a protein supplement or health drink at a big box retailer, good chance we made it in another division. What do edible proteins and aquarium two part have in common? Bottling and packaging Equipment we no longer need that sits in storage. No big deal to set up production of 2part using this surplus equipment. We have staff chemists and lab techs to create the product specs. In house design staff to create labels. Marketing team to SEO them. The bottom line is Aquariums are what I enjoy. But the more I see the pricing of stuff in this hobby, the more opportunities.

 

[italquam]

No. I hope people don't see this as anything other than discourse. You guys here are why we do what we do. What happens is we sometimes get ahead of ourselves and try to do too much. Those frags were delayed a couple days because of the new equipment installation and because we also built and shipped almost 200 diy frags and pedestal sumps. Almost 200. In two days. (Everything is made to order and there is no inventory) I am not a sales or custerner service rep and sometimes what I do and say here causes problems in the back. Like when I thought it would be fun to do the first DIY drop. (The drop off kit is coming soon.) I see this hobby as unnecessarily and grossly overpriced. Lights, tanks, (especially lights) chems. For example, 2 part. Wow! Another business line we are in is soil amendments and conditioners for "high value" crops. Probiotics mostly. The cost of soda ash and calcium salts are cheaper than dirt. Literally. If you ever bought a protein supplement or health drink at a big box retailer, good chance we made it in another division. What do edible proteins and aquarium two part have in common? Bottling and packaging Equipment we no longer need that sits in storage. No big deal to set up production of 2part using this surplus equipment. We have staff chemists and lab techs to create the product specs. In house design staff to create labels. Marketing team to SEO them. The bottom line is Aquariums are what I enjoy. But the more I see the pricing of stuff in this hobby, the more opportunities.

Keep it coming. I appreciate you trying to make things more affordable for us.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Keep it coming. I appreciate you trying to make things more affordable for us.

It's not that hard. Crazy high prices. Crazy. Another example is GFO. We source this at $120 per TON! Used mainly for scrubbers. Hard carbon charcoal? Not the coconut shell? Even cheaper.

 

[italquam]

It's not that hard. Crazy high prices. Crazy. Another example is GFO. We source this at $120 per TON! Used mainly for scrubbers. Hard carbon charcoal? Not the coconut shell? Even cheaper.

Going to be excellent, you guys will be a one stop shop , get tank , stand plumbing needs , chemicals, equipment. I am excited

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Going to be excellent, you guys will be a one stop shop , get tank , stand plumbing needs , chemicals, equipment. I am excited

No on most of the chems. 2 part and maybe a couple of no fish probiotic tank cyclers. We want to focus on aquariums.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

No on most of the chems. 2 part and maybe a couple of no fish probiotic tank cyclers. We want to focus on aquariums.

Back to that 2 part. For example,Calcium chloride 10 pack for $79 at the leading online reef supplier We will be pricing that at around $29

 

[angelsandtangs]

Sent a few emails and another request today for a quote .. understand if y’all are backed up my current tank is from you .. thanks

 

[sevenstacks]

Back to that 2 part. For example,Calcium chloride 10 pack for $79 at the leading online reef supplier We will be pricing that at around $29

I’m new to R2R and Tenecor, but have been in this hobby for 40 years. At least long enough to remember FAMA magazine, plenums, downdraft skimming, and an annual pilgrimage to That Fish Place to chat with a few authors who are older than I am these days.

I received an email last week from Michelle at Tenecor and I’ve narrowed it down between a 120x36x30 or a 120x30x30. Based on the price Michelle quotes when she gets back to me. (Who am I kidding, I’ll end up going with the 36” wide even if I have to take out the basement door to do so). The wife won’t mind… How many times have we told ourselves that one?

On a different subject, it looks like Tenecor recently removed the “Large Aquarium” link with the product codes and gallons from the aquarium section on their website; or at least I can’t find it. Is that correct?

I started working with Michelle at Tenecor on this large(er) aquarium before this change on their website happened, so I hope I’m okay. I would hate to have to settle for a 120x24x24 from their website. How’s that for a first world problem?

Kindest regards,

Joel from sunny Colorado

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

I’m new to R2R and Tenecor, but have been in this hobby for 40 years. At least long enough to remember FAMA magazine, plenums, downdraft skimming, and an annual pilgrimage to That Fish Place to chat with a few authors who are older than I am these days.

I received an email last week from Michelle at Tenecor and I’ve narrowed it down between a 120x36x30 or a 120x30x30. Based on the price Michelle quotes when she gets back to me. (Who am I kidding, I’ll end up going with the 36” wide even if I have to take out the basement door to do so). The wife won’t mind… How many times have we told ourselves that one?

On a different subject, it looks like Tenecor recently removed the “Large Aquarium” link with the product codes and gallons from the aquarium section on their website; or at least I can’t find it. Is that correct?

I started working with Michelle at Tenecor on this large(er) aquarium before this change on their website happened, so I hope I’m okay. I would hate to have to settle for a 120x24x24 from their website. How’s that for a first world problem?

Kindest regards,

Joel from sunny Colorado

First world problems are the best kind of problems. That link is no longer available because we were getting too many quote requests and while most people were patient enough to wait for our replies, some weren't. Michelle and the other reps do an excellent job but the reality is we are very dependent on our acrylic suppliers and their materials availability/lead times. Getting quotes from them to prepare quotes for our customers stretched out reply times. Most people were understanding, some were not. It is getting more difficult to source the correct acrylic for many of the larger sizes. Regrettably, the larger sizes you mention are getting the hardest to source materials for. That 120x24x24 is an awesome tank. Great price too because those sheets are still relatively available.

 

[italquam]

First world problems are the best kind of problems. That link is no longer available because we were getting too many quote requests and while most people were patient enough to wait for our replies, some weren't. Michelle and the other reps do an excellent job but the reality is we are very dependent on our acrylic suppliers and their materials availability/lead times. Getting quotes from them to prepare quotes for our customers stretched out reply times. Most people were understanding, some were not. It is getting more difficult to source the correct acrylic for many of the larger sizes. Regrettably, the larger sizes you mention are getting the hardest to source materials for. That 120x24x24 is an awesome tank. Great price too because those sheets are still relatively available.

Any idea when the tank configurator will be available on the website?

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Any idea when the tank configurator will be available on the website?

This one is coming along nicely. The other ones will be easier once the first one is finished. The stand options are still in the works. So are the lighrs.

 

[areefer01]

Sent a few emails and another request today for a quote .. understand if y’all are backed up my current tank is from you .. thanks

I sent in a request on Friday and received an email on Saturday. Michelle (Tenecor) was beyond helpful.

 

[Aaron75]

Michelle is probably a busy person. I alone have sent 4 different inquiries over the last 2 weeks on a cheap diy promo tank Tenecor ran and received responses in reasonable amounts of time each time, all from Michelle. I'd imagine they're flooded and recommend to exercise a little patience. Just my experience.

 

[areefer01]

Michelle is probably a busy person. I alone have sent 4 different inquiries over the last 2 weeks on a cheap diy promo tank Tenecor ran and received responses in reasonable amounts of time each time, all from Michelle. I'd imagine they're flooded and recommend to exercise a little patience. Just my experience.

Oh I am sure - I was just chiming in on a reasonable response. I guess looking back on it maybe I should have just not mentioned it Not sure it added any value.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[thedon986]

What’s up with the stand price increases? I have been patiently waiting to order a 48x24x36 stand because I wanted extra cross bracing for the bottom shelf and I finally got an email thread going about the extra parts and now it looks like the base price went from $465 (?) to $729? More than a 50% with no notice? Stand price on the custom build tool linked about still seems to be the price from last week?