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What to expect from a custom built tank?

James O

James O

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Joined
16 Nov 2013
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Location
South Coast
I hear good, bad and ugly stories (with accompanying tanks) when people order custom tanks. I know not all are reasonable but was wondering, when I finally order mine, what I can reasonably expect in regards to:

Silicon - neatness & what sort of overspill from glass gap etc 2-5mm maybe? What about bubbles?
Alignment - I'd view any misalignment as a potential weakness. What's acceptable?
Edges etc - any miscuts or badly jointed corners?

What is acceptable and what would you reject?
 
I would reject anything below ADA standards.:cigar:

Seriously, I would want to see their work (in person) before I ordered one.
 
I found the following unacceptable
ta7u9uga.jpg
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by7ety4y.jpg

Any smears you can see are silicone.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 

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Most of the messy silicone is outside of the tank. Lots of silicone has been squeezed out and is just smeared along the edges of the glass or up on to the pane fronts. There are also some silicone finger prints..
Hoping the second is better. I don't expect ADA precision but it is just plain messy.
 
That is far and away the worst example I have ever seen 😱. If that was bought from an advert for custom built aquariums then whoever ran the advert should be made fully aware of this shoddy work.:stop:

I think you answered JamesO's question big time. It goes to show you should be so careful who you buy from and only buy either from a well proven manufacturer or as a result of recommendation.:grumpy:

Hope you got a full refund
 
Best of luck Lindy, I do hope the replacement is okay.

Harry.
 
So basically, if it isn't perfect, send it back
 
On another thread someone has just got a tank from a company used by many on ukaps and has not been happy. That company is also sending them another. I think there are always occassional mistakes.
 
A mistake is ordering 10000 paper clips rather than 1000.

Sending out a dreadful version of of your only product is just dumb:banghead: they're not churning out tanks like jewel after all:facepalm: Each one is a bespoke luxury item:greedy:

I'll be visiting my manufacturer to agree design etc and get something in writing. I'm gonna be a right PITA 😀
 
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Nd aquatics seem get good reviews and quite a few members have used them. I have heard the odd complaint but i think the customer was expecting too much. Ada make tanks with set sizes which makes producing them much easier. The glass will be cnc machined and the perfect size, the silicone is probably put on by a machine too and all put togeather in a purpose built fixture to hold everything in place.
I would expect the fillet of silicone to be no bigger than 2-3mm and uniform along all the seams. No overspill onto the glass like lindys pics
I would expect all the glass to line up within .5mm, idealy .25mm, and any misalignment that reduced the contact area of silicone would be unaceptable too.
Make sure you tell them exactly what you expect as you place the order
 
ND were going to be the recipients of my attentions😀

But it's good to hear that anyway Big clown
 
If you give them a high standard when their quoting then they will probably tell you what they can achieve. Ask them how they cut their glass and what their tolerances are for the glass size and squareness. Ask about the tolerances for the finished build too.
I'm a sheet metal worker and i get +\- .25mm and .5* angular. Metal bends when you weld it so these should be easily achievable by siliconing a bit of glass together
And remember bigger tank = bigger tolerance
Have fun been the nicest pita
 
PITA? Me? We must have met Big clown!😀

Yeah I'm gonna visit them and run through my ideas before handing over money. They have been very good on the phone too but I like to look someone in the eye
 
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