Damaged in Shipment

[Luvthekeys]

Well it appears I will have more time to ask questions. Was notified this morning that my tank was damaged in shipment. I had a feeling that buying it online might be problem due to the shipping across country. However I have ordered three large screen TV on line and they all arrived in good shape. Called **************.com and they said they would ship out a new one today however at this time their computer system is down. Not my day. I hope this not turn into a back and forth nightmare. Well the stand is supposed to arrive today so I can imagine what the tank would look like on it. Has anyone else gone through problems with tanks being shipped by UPS? Major disappointment was pumped to get started.

 

[flower]

Hi,

I never wanted to have an item shipped directly to me, I couldn't swallow the loss... The only tank shipped to me was a beautiful (made by people on this site) hand crafted 2 part sump/refugium that the UPS gorillas destroyed, and the farce of insurance that my friend paid for and was not reimbursed ... and he works for UPS in the office!

I wanted a large tank, so I asked my LFS to order me one with the desired stand and canopy. I never had a hiccup getting what I wanted. The store is able to order anything for the same price you can. If the tank leaks...they take it back, if it's broken, they manage the loss with the shipping company. Everything is just easier, because then they have the headaches. However, when it comers to equipment like skimmers, lights and such, I do order on-line, but not the tank. I always got glass tanks, which are heavier.

All that being said, I order from Foster and Smith all the time, they will take care of you. It's just that all this headaches concerning shipping is now yours too, it's not a bad thing, just a bummer you have to deal with it.

For what it's worth, I posted what I did for anybody else reading this post who wants to order a tank.

 

[Luvthekeys]

Flower thanks for your thoughts. I had my doubts but as I said have many fragile items shipped to me mostly without problems. Now they are sending a new tank and stand even though I am getting the stand later on today. They did not have separate tanks so I am getting another stand which will have to shipped back. They will provide a prepaid shipping label but now I have to go to a UPS store with a almost fifty lb. box. Chemo has robbed me of my strength so I will have to ask one of my friends to help me. I have ordered everything under the sun for this tank. Have 26 Gallons of distilled water in my garage. Forty lbs of sand I washed yesterday sitting in a bucket in my garage too. I am sure there is still some water in that sand. I live in Florida so my garage gets hot so I worry what might grow in that sand over the next week. They say something like this builds character, don't believe it. If I get the Lemon Peel Angelfish I will name it Flower Power. I used to have a 110 gallon African Cichlid tank and never had any of these problems. However I did buy it from a local Aquarium and he helped me set it up. Sometimes it does not pay to try to save money.

 

[flower]

Flower thanks for your thoughts. I had my doubts but as I said have many fragile items shipped to me mostly without problems. Now they are sending a new tank and stand even though I am getting the stand later on today. They did not have separate tanks so I am getting another stand which will have to shipped back. They will provide a prepaid shipping label but now I have to go to a UPS store with a almost fifty lb. box. Chemo has robbed me of my strength so I will have to ask one of my friends to help me. I have ordered everything under the sun for this tank. Have 26 Gallons of distilled water in my garage. Forty lbs of sand I washed yesterday sitting in a bucket in my garage too. I am sure there is still some water in that sand. I live in Florida so my garage gets hot so I worry what might grow in that sand over the next week. They say something like this builds character, don't believe it. If I get the Lemon Peel Angelfish I will name it Flower Power. I used to have a 110 gallon African Cichlid tank and never had any of these problems. However I did buy it from a local Aquarium and he helped me set it up. Sometimes it does not pay to try to save money.

LOL..Flower Power, I love it! I'm disabled, so I understand the frustration of having to ask for help with stuff you usually could do yourself. Let your family help, it will build THEIR character, LOL.

Did you rinse your sand in saltwater, or did you buy dry sand? Anyway, add some more water, and put a power head in the container or an air line. By circulating the water you can avoid problems... then again, it might help with the first cycle to have a little rot in there. I think you can have UPS pick up the package for you, well here in Illinois you can anyway.

P.S.
O thinking about it...using an air line would be better. If you do use a power head to circulate, make sure it doesn't suck up any sand, have it dangle in the water without creating a sandstorm or dropping down enough to suck up the sand.

 

[Luvthekeys]

It was dry sand so I rinsed it many times with tap water. That is my worry that sitting around there is still some wetness at the bottom of the pail. I figure when I add it to the tank I will use some type of additive to treat the little water that might be left. However I have it now out on the Lanai sitting in the hot Florida sun so moisture might not be a problem. One thing I will say it was Carib Sea ACS00050 Aragonite Reef Sand and no matter how many times I rinsed it the water never fully cleared up. Nice sand at least to these eyes.

 

[pegasus]

If you get the return shipping label before your new tank and stand arrive, and you or someone else is there to accept delivery, simply tell the driver you have a package to send back. I don't think they can refuse it, or at least I've never heard of any packages being refused. If nothing else, call the local UPS facility and tell them you want to arrange a pickup on the day that your package arrives.

I built a drain box out of 1" x 4" boards and aluminum screen. Just a simple square(ish) box, and nailed screen to one side of the opening. Poured my sand in it, rinsed it with a hose, and let it drain. Once it drained, I'd dump it in a bucket, and rinse another batch. This will work for draining most of the water off your sand, too. Just my 2c...

 

[beth]

I will buy just about anything online. Most of my shopping is online, but the glass tank I would have to be seriously convinced to do that. Not only can what happened to you happen, but the shifting around of the tank during shipment can weaken the seams resulting in a degradation of the seams that may not be obvious during the warranty period of the tank. Saying that however, tanks are shipped all the time. To warehouses, stores, etc. Who is the shipper?

Be sure to test your tank for water integrity before actually setting it up. That's good practice no matter how you get the tank. Also, be sure it is perfectly level.

 

[Luvthekeys]

Here is where the problem lies. The price was the best I could find. They have a good reputation for standing by what they sell. I now have bought several improvements for the tank i.e. InTank filter basket, Power centers with timers etc. I am kind of invested in getting this tank. Yes I know I can send the improvements back since I bought them from Amazon but I am going to give it one more try. The box with the stand in it looked pretty ragged too. However I will open it up and see what I got. If no good back it goes. They are sending me another stand with the tank since they did not have just the tank. Also sending a return label for one of the stands. Seems like a big waste of money but they are still in business so I guess it works. Oh the shipper was UPS. Which brings up another point. How many things do they pay for when one of their workers drop kicks a package or worse. Frustrating!!! I have a very bad feeling about this. That is why I will give it one more chance. If not I am sure I can find something else that will work. I just liked the package but of course I am new to salt water and did not want to go too big due to heath reasons.

 

[beth]

Just be sure to test it out and do a good inspection over a week.

 

[Luvthekeys]

Thanks for the support and tips. The more I think about it, if the next try does not work I will go to a reputable dealer locally and go for a little larger tank but I do like the bowfronts. Any manufacturers that are better then others? As you can see I am already planning for the failure of the second shipment. I read in one of these threads one guy tried four times before they got it right. With me it will be two and out. UPS guy did tell me they would take back anything i had if it had a return label.

 

[flower]

Hi,

Bowfronts and the wave looking tanks are pretty, but a nightmare to get good circulation throughout.

 

[beth]

I had a 72 gal bowfront 10 yrs ago. It was a nice looking tank and offered a bit of variety from the standard rectangle shape. I didn't exp circulation issues, but I also had a lot of pumps running through it.

 

[flower]

I had a 72 gal bowfront 10 yrs ago. It was a nice looking tank and offered a bit of variety from the standard rectangle shape. I didn't exp circulation issues, but I also had a lot of pumps running through it.

I was going on what others have had a problem with. LOL...Folks tell us what problems are, but often nobody speaks up when things go well. Because of that I think bowfronts get a bum wrap, they really do look nice, I like the wave on too.

 

[pegasus]

I had a 29 gallon bow front tank before I upgraded to a 40B, and I never had any issues with flow, either. Not sure how a curved front can be that much different than a flat front. There's only a few inches difference (depending on tank size) between the two...

 

[flower]

I had a 29 gallon bow front tank before I upgraded to a 40B, and I never had any issues with flow, either. Not sure how a curved front can be that much different than a flat front. There's only a few inches difference (depending on tank size) between the two...

That makes perfect sense to me...the people with bowfront issues claimed that if they adjust one power head to create flow, other areas were dead spots, and no matter how much they tweaked the PHs nothing worked. Lots of folks chimed in with how hard bowfronts were to get the flow right... I personally never owned a bowfront, so I was only going on what others posted who had them.

 

[beth]

I had a 29 gallon bow front tank before I upgraded to a 40B, and I never had any issues with flow, either. Not sure how a curved front can be that much different than a flat front. There's only a few inches difference (depending on tank size) between the two...

That is pretty much what I was going to point out. The 72 gal offers 6 more inches (at the very most) at the bow but its not like you have to push water through narrow corridors. Some people place a single pump in their tank with a hang-on back filter or return coming from the sump and think that will be enough circulation. I don't think so; especially for a reef tank.

 

[Luvthekeys]

Well the second tank came a hour ago. The box looked great not a dent on it. So I opened her up. Once she was out of the box and the plastic I noticed a crack in the back glass near the top left hand corner. So I called them and they said they were sorry and would I like to try again. Guess what I said. Yep I told them no thank you. One thing I don't have to send back the tank. They do not want a cracked tank back. They said send back anything not attached to the tank. I told them the hood was attached to the tank and she said they did not want that either. I thought that was a little strange but whatever. I now will start the process of looking for something else instead. I am thinking it might be better if I go Plexiglas. Any thoughts. Now the process of sending all the things I bought from Amazon that are specific to this tank back. I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

 

[pegasus]

Well the second tank came a hour ago. The box looked great not a dent on it. So I opened her up. Once she was out of the box and the plastic I noticed a crack in the back glass near the top left hand corner. So I called them and they said they were sorry and would I like to try again. Guess what I said. Yep I told them no thank you. One thing I don't have to send back the tank. They do not want a cracked tank back. They said send back anything not attached to the tank. I told them the hood was attached to the tank and she said they did not want that either. I thought that was a little strange but whatever. I now will start the process of looking for something else instead. I am thinking it might be better if I go Plexiglas. Any thoughts. Now the process of sending all the things I bought from Amazon that are specific to this tank back. I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

Acrylic tanks are nice. They are super clear, but they do have their Achilles' heel... they scratch fairly easily.

While not reef-ready, there is a $1 per gallon sale from 6/28 - 7/8 on tanks from 10 gallons through 55 gallons. If you're not familiar with the $1 per gallon sale, it's in the place "where the pets go".

 

[Luvthekeys]

Thanks Pegasus, I just spoke to the local reef store. He is going to work on giving me three options and is willing to bring it and set it up. It would be a great help to me since most of my strength has been sapped by Chemo. He has a good reputation so I am going to see what he comes up with. He is talking overflow and sump and talked me out of a bowfront. He said the bowfronts on the Nano tanks are not that curved so they are not hard to clean. But other larger bowfronts would be a problem to clean. I like to save money but I also dont need the frustration I have had over the last two weeks. As you see I am going larger. I am surprised that ************** do not want the tank back I was willing to take photos but they said that was not necessary. I know the light is expensive so I was surprised when she said it if was attached to the tank they did not want it back. The only things that was not attached was a couple of transformers. I will hold on to everything until I get my refund just in case they change their mind. I will also take a few photos in case they want them as proof. Maybe it is better that I support a local busniness.

 

[pegasus]

Now that sounds like a much better option. It's nice to have local folks that are willing to work with you, especially in your condition... and I prefer to do business in my home town when possible. I think you'll be happy with a sump setup. It keeps the majority of your equipment hidden, and easier to access. It's no fun reaching across a tank trying to work on something. I didn't know that you are going larger. How much larger?