Those who have the Wal-Mart 46 gallon bowfront...

[dralarms]

Front falling off? . Why would an "all glass" brand aquarium at your lfs be any better than the one i can get at the Wal Mart? Wal Mart didn't build the darn things they are just selling them. Shoot some people will bad mouth anyone

 

[grimlock3000]

The tank is not availible at www.walmart.com, and for the record, almost no one will ship glass fish tanks

Not to dwell on the Wal Mart issue, but as a general rule what they sell is sub standard. I have had two heaters and one filter go bad, along with getting aquarium rocks from Wal Mart that started to RUST in less than a month. I would not be surprised if these tanks were not as well built as others. Even if they are built by All Glass, does not guaratee they are built to the same specs are the tank destined for fish shops. It would not be the first time a company made a lower grade product for mass retail sales. I would probably still buy one because it is so cheap

justmy2cents, you have an All Glass 26g and a Wal Mart 46g, are they exactly the same

 

[dralarms]

justmy2cents, you have an All Glass 26g and a Wal Mart 46g, are they exactly the same

Actually the 26 gal is an acrilic perfecto I think. Can't find the label in this mess on my desk , But I beg to differ with you on quality and for this reason, they are giving the same 5 year warranty, and it's their rep on the line if they get a bad name bacause of their tanks leaking. People arn't going to blame wal mart (well they will at first) when wal mart tells them to contact the manufacture (which they do) then you will have alot of upset people having to replace tanks? Nah, I think they are the same quality. I do have a 55 gal that was bought at wal mart and I have looked at the exact same tank at petco and I didn't find any difference. Oh and BTW I don't care what it is, you WILL have a certain amount of bad come from anything that is made by us humans. I install alarm systems and since 88 I bet I have installed thousands of door contacts, and you will get 1 bad once in a while, it happens.

 

[grimlock3000]

"But I beg to differ with you on quality and for this reason, they are giving the same 5 year warranty, and it's their rep on the line if they get a bad name bacause of their tanks leaking. People arn't going to blame wal mart (well they will at first) when wal mart tells them to contact the manufacture (which they do) then you will have alot of upset people having to replace tanks?"

I never said there were lower quality, I said it was a possibilty that they were. Problems do not go back to All Glass, it would go back to the company on the box which is considered to be the manufacturer (Aquaculture?). All Glass would build the tank to the specs and cost requirement of Aquaculture since Aquaculture is not likely to be setup for mass production of tanks. If a tank blows out, it goes back to Aquaculture and they handle it. Aquaculture is not going to say, "Too bad, we bought these from All Glass, go tank to them."

Marineland makes the filters that Wal Marts sells as Aquatechs but I am sure they did not care when my Aquatech filter died

 

[dralarms]

Marineland makes the filters that Wal Marts sells as Aquatechs but I am sure they did not care when my Aquatech filter died

Wrong again, I did have my filter quit on my 55 gal. Wal mart wouldn't do anything about it but marineland sent me parts to fix it FREE OF CHARGE. The difference is I called them, you appartently didn't. your loss. I'm not trying to start a flame war so I am dropping off this topic.

 

[grimlock3000]

Oddly enough I did ask Marineland about my Aquatech 5-15 when my HOT Magnum started leaking air and they sent me replacement parts for the HOT for free but claimed they had nothing to do with the Aquatech. I never thought twice about it after that, maybe they thought I was trying to gank them for free parts or something. Glad you had better luck with them, I ended up returning the Aquatech to Wal Mart.

I never said the Wal Mart tanks were worse as a fact, I simply stated that even the best companies can have quality issues when mass producing items. Like I already said I would buy one of these 46g combos if I could, but they only sell 10s, 29s, and 55s in my state.

 

[dralarms]

I sure don't understand why they said they don't have anything to do with aquatech. I got the 55 gal kit from wal mart and the filter started making some awful noise after just a month, I called the number in the "kit" book and some very helpful guy had me clean it and check a couple of other things and after we tried everything he suggested he send me a new impeller which was a marineland penguin 330 impeller. When I got my emperor 400 I checked and the phone number is the same. I think you might have gotten someone on a bad day. Sorry. What I would do is play dumb and call back just on the aquatech and see what kind of response you get.

 

[grimlock3000]

I should call the Aquatech number and ask for help with a Penguin filter and see what happens

 

[freshwatergal]

Wow...ok...here are my thoughts on the whole wal-mart vs. lfs...If the SAME tank is $200 at the lfs, and $90 at wal-mart, Im goin for wal-mart. IMHO, it's the same thing. Everything is massed produced. You can't tell me that when petsmart runs out of tanks, they call the supplier and they make certain tanks just for petsmart. That would kinds be like saying Im not gonna buy a car from this BIG Ford dealer cause there is a "SMALLER" dealer 10 miles away, and their cars are better quality. Everything is made the same, otherwise no one would be in business because they would have to keep replacing the BAD ones, or go bankrupt from people suing them.

 

[oscarbreeder]

They have the 46 bow front at wal-mart here in Columbia,S.C.
But my LFS has a sale on 55 gal for $139

 

[TankGirl]

I am torn on the issue of LFS versus big retail outlet. I do want to support my LFS, and buying big-ticket items from them helps them stay in business. If they stay in business, then I will always have a good place I can go to get better quality fish from folks who know what they are doing. At the same time, the difference in price makes it impossible for me to buy a filter from my LFS, and since I spend A LOT of money on this hobby I need to save wherever I can. If I have to special order something I will usually get my LFS to do it, and negotiate a price with them (try it!).

My PetsMart has a 46-gal bow tank plus strip light hood for $169, then the stand that goes with it for $119. If I was in the market for it and Walmart had the whole package for $169 or so, I would have to go for it.

 

[ScottS]

Can I assume this is what the aquarium/stand/hood look like? This is from the All-Glass website.

I'm just really curious because the black pine stands I've seen for 55g at a couple lfs are awful looking.

 

[fesone]

next time you look at the tank at wal-mart look at the glass ... see how thin the glass is ... now look at the seems ... not much there... my wife works at wal-mart and had even put one on lay away for me when they started being returned cracked or leaking!!!! a total of 4 within 2 weeks!!! i went to another walmart and they had 2 cracked in the store... hope that helps

 

[TankGirl]

my wife works at wal-mart and had even put one on lay away for me when they started being returned cracked or leaking!!!! a total of 4 within 2 weeks!!! i went to another walmart and they had 2 cracked in the store... hope that helps

That is very interesting! I really have to wonder if there are different manufacturing standards for different retailers. If you go to the All-Glass website they are very proud of their high manufacturing standards, but I'll bet even PetsMart does not get cracked, leaking new tanks returned to them very often. Maybe someone who does purchasing for a giant retailer like Walmart will see this thread and comment - I would like the inside story!

 

[freshwatergal]

Scott S...that's what the tank and hood look like. My stand is plainer looking.

We can debate the whole issue time and time again, but I don't think there is any difference in the quality between mass retailers and lfs. Maybe the ones that came back cracked were because of neglect. and the ones cracked in the store are because the workers just really dont care. I worked at wal-mart for three years, and never once did I notice any difference between what we sold and what the lfs sold. There are standards that EVERYONE has to abide by, if they don't then their stuff doesn't get sold! All of my tanks that I have ever had have been from wal-mart, personally because I can not see spending $350 for the exact same thing at the lfs. I have upgraded the filter and that at times, but I really don't see a problem with it. I just think that people are trying to discourage other people from getting what they want. In my hometown, wal-mart is the only thing I have for this hobby. There isn't a "mom & pop" store for me to go to, the closest one is an hour away.

The glass on my tank is AS thick as the glass of any other tank.

That's just my opinion, take it for what's it worth!

 

[dralarms]

Mine didn't come with a wood stand, mine has a metal welded frame stand. Now my 26 gal bow front looks just like the brown one in that picture. I will try and get a picture posted of mine. It may very well be that wal mart is purchasing from different suppliers due to shipping constraints.

 

[Fruitbat]

My 26 gallon bow front (purchased at PetCo) is identical to the one in the picture that ScottS posted.

 

[Madame_X]

next time you look at the tank at wal-mart look at the glass ... see how thin the glass is ... now look at the seems ... not much there... my wife works at wal-mart and had even put one on lay away for me when they started being returned cracked or leaking!!!! a total of 4 within 2 weeks!!! i went to another walmart and they had 2 cracked in the store... hope that helps

I have to wonder how much of that is due to the way they're being handled at WalMart.

We were looking at their 55 gallon kit since we couldn't find the bowfront, and since Marineland makes their filters it seemed like a decent deal. However, every single one we saw had a smashed-up box. We went to four different WalMarts, too, and every single one was the same way.

I'm just not comfortable putting 55 gallons of water into something that has obviously not been handled very carefully by the people stocking the shelves. We ended up buying the 55 gallon from Petsmart--the box was in perfect shape, and so is the tank.

I'm still going to keep my eyes open for that bowfront (its a heck of a deal) but I might be inclined to set it up outside and fill it for a few days before setting it up in my house.

 

[dralarms]

Mine wasn't even in a box, The tank was wraped with cardboard and placed inside of the stand.it was very easy to inspect all seams & stuff.

 

[Squeesan]

I'm a little late chiming in on the subject, but I bought the 55 gal set up from my local Walmart in April. Took the Walmart filter and used it for my 20 gal freshwater community tank, and bought a couple penguins for my goldfish and the 55 gal.

The tank, lights, heater, filter, everything that came in the box was, and is in perfect working order. I would absolutely buy another tank set up from Wally World.