When I initially planned out my new reef tank setup my mind was essentially made up to purchase a custom glass display tank and an acrylic frag tank. My thought was to spend the extra $$ for a high quality display and be economical with the frag tank. All of that changed once I took delivery of my display from Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums.
This aquarium, a 187 gallon low iron tank with euro bracing and an external overflow, was a piece of art as the quality and craftsmanship were top notch. It was the Porsche of fish tanks! Yes, it was time to rethink my frag tank setup.
For my prior setup I went with an acrylic frag tank since it was much cheaper and lighter then glass. Nonetheless, there were some tradeoffs, as the acrylic on this 44 gallon tank scratched easily and the eurobracing began to warp.
I have always been an advocate of investing in quality products (you get what you pay for) since well built products are engineered to last long and are trustworthy. Yes, a frag tank is typically not on “display” as a showpiece but I ultimately decided a custom glass frag tank was worth the investment since I was in it for the long haul. I also like to stick with what works so it became a no brainer to use Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums once again for this project.
Here are the specifications for the frag tank:
- 75 gallons (60″L x 24″W x 12″T)
- Eurobracing
- External overflow (right side)
- 1/2″ glass (low-iron glass on front)
- Painted back panel (black)
- 1-1/2″ drain
- 1″ return
Ordering the frag tank was painless. I have had some nightmare experiences with other tank manufactures in the past but the customer service at Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums was excellent, as the back and forth communication with Chris Walker, who is President of Sales, was seamless (I had a similar experience with my display tank).
As for timing, they met their eight week deadlines on both projects. In fact, my frag tank was ready earlier then promised. Eight weeks is the typical timeframe for a build and Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums does pride itself on hitting deadlines and completing projects on time. Other manufactures are not as reliable or swift. I did shop around when I was in the market for my display tank and one tank builder quoted me a six month turn-around time. Ouch. I heard some really good things about the quality of this vendor’s tanks but that timing was just not going to work, especially for a standard tank build.
Ok, now let’s talk about quality. Once again I was not disappointed, as Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums created another masterpiece. It looked so good I wondered whether I should even add water!
Digging a bit deeper into the build quality, Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums only uses American made glass. Why is this important? The number one reason is quality, as American made glass is less prone to scratching than Chinese made glass. Ask this question when you are shopping around for a builder. Chinese glass is cheaper then American made glass so a low price quote is a red flag.
Finally, reliability is certainly important when considering a builder and Coast To Coast Custom Aquariums has zero blemishes, with no tank failures in its eight year history. In fact, Pat Pawlowski, the company’s President and Master Tank Builder, has a stellar track record over the twenty years he has been building tanks. Overall, CTC is the complete package when it comes to high-end tank builders so give the guys a holler the next time you are in the market for an aquarium. You won’t be disappointed.
Additional Resources
If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.
As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.
Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.
