Zack
Fri, 23rd Jan 2015, 12:20 PM
First and foremost, I'd like to say this review is written as Zack the charter member and not Zack the board of director member. All views in this review are my own and do not represent the views of the board of directors.
Now onto the review! I'll be reviewing the product and the services provided by Zen Reef using a variation of the ebay detailed ratings system. I will be reviewing on:
Quality of the product
Communication with seller
Time to receive product
Value
And using ebays 0-5 scale with 5 being the best.
First up, Quality!
Now, going into this, I had already seen a fair number of Zen Reefs frag tanks, probes, racks, and ato containers on their social media pages while writing their sit and talk. I've also had the chance to handle them in person at various local fish stores and see them in action. I knew when I placed my order that Tuan and Tran would fulfill it to the highest standard and upon receiving the tank I was thrilled at the quality.
Here's what I ordered: 7"x7"x5" lxwxh acrylic tank, with the back panel black, the bottom panel white, and the front panel with a small Zen Reef sticker on the bottom
Right corner. A few weeks later, I was tagged in an Instagram video of Tran showing off my tank and was amazed at the quality. We met that night and Tran told me what work went into my build: Laser cut panels, edge polishing, and laser etched Zen Reef logos! The quality of this tank is nothing short of fantastic, and I rate it 5/5.
Communication with seller
Tran and I have had worked together on their sit and talk and once again things worked out fantastically. During the designing process I changed my mind about the dimensions a few times and Zen Reef was more than accommodating of my indecisiveness. When we had finally settled and payment was issued, I was given a rough time frame for the completion. The next day after payment, Tuan pmd me on Maast and confirmed my dimensions and placements of logos and panels and Tran sent me a message confirming the size of the logo. As soon as Tuan was finished, he notified me and Tran and I scheduled a day for pickup. Communication was thorough, concise and very fast. Zen Reef has earned an easy 5/5 here.
Time to Receive Product
Since this was a completely custom build, and since Tuan and Tran were making orders from the holidays, I was given a time frame of two weeks for completion. My order was paid for on the 5th of January, and on the 17th Tuan had it finished. I picked it up on the 19th, making it exactly two weeks that Tuan had quoted me. Zen Reef was very prompt in fulfilling my order, even for such a small order that I can't wait to order my bigger tank from them.
Value
Value is an interesting term as it's fully subjective. Some may see the price tag of this tank and think it was over paid and others may think it was under paid. A portion of this price I would assume goes into the finishing work and the colored acrylic which may not scale down to this size but I honestly feel this was a great value. When starting this tank, I tried a few cheap betta tanks from Walmart, and they all were super thin "plastic", hazy, scratched and felt brittle. A buddy of mine then showed me a brand called landen, which is an ADA rip off company. For 60$ shipped they could sell me a 1.7 gallon low iron rimless tank. While appealing, I'm not a huge fan of the dimensions offered, nor of the thickness of their glass. The ability to buff out scratches in the future was also appealing. Not satisfied with the dimensions of a pre made tank, I approached Zen Reef about the build and they were thrilled of the idea and the tank size and offered me a very competitive, free quote that was well under several online tank makers prices.
They also had options for colored acrylic and the laser etched logos. The value I received in my opinion was fantastic and this tank would make a great betta tank or pico reef. Zen reef earned an easy 5/5 for the value on this one.
26105
Now onto the review! I'll be reviewing the product and the services provided by Zen Reef using a variation of the ebay detailed ratings system. I will be reviewing on:
Quality of the product
Communication with seller
Time to receive product
Value
And using ebays 0-5 scale with 5 being the best.
First up, Quality!
Now, going into this, I had already seen a fair number of Zen Reefs frag tanks, probes, racks, and ato containers on their social media pages while writing their sit and talk. I've also had the chance to handle them in person at various local fish stores and see them in action. I knew when I placed my order that Tuan and Tran would fulfill it to the highest standard and upon receiving the tank I was thrilled at the quality.
Here's what I ordered: 7"x7"x5" lxwxh acrylic tank, with the back panel black, the bottom panel white, and the front panel with a small Zen Reef sticker on the bottom
Right corner. A few weeks later, I was tagged in an Instagram video of Tran showing off my tank and was amazed at the quality. We met that night and Tran told me what work went into my build: Laser cut panels, edge polishing, and laser etched Zen Reef logos! The quality of this tank is nothing short of fantastic, and I rate it 5/5.
Communication with seller
Tran and I have had worked together on their sit and talk and once again things worked out fantastically. During the designing process I changed my mind about the dimensions a few times and Zen Reef was more than accommodating of my indecisiveness. When we had finally settled and payment was issued, I was given a rough time frame for the completion. The next day after payment, Tuan pmd me on Maast and confirmed my dimensions and placements of logos and panels and Tran sent me a message confirming the size of the logo. As soon as Tuan was finished, he notified me and Tran and I scheduled a day for pickup. Communication was thorough, concise and very fast. Zen Reef has earned an easy 5/5 here.
Time to Receive Product
Since this was a completely custom build, and since Tuan and Tran were making orders from the holidays, I was given a time frame of two weeks for completion. My order was paid for on the 5th of January, and on the 17th Tuan had it finished. I picked it up on the 19th, making it exactly two weeks that Tuan had quoted me. Zen Reef was very prompt in fulfilling my order, even for such a small order that I can't wait to order my bigger tank from them.
Value
Value is an interesting term as it's fully subjective. Some may see the price tag of this tank and think it was over paid and others may think it was under paid. A portion of this price I would assume goes into the finishing work and the colored acrylic which may not scale down to this size but I honestly feel this was a great value. When starting this tank, I tried a few cheap betta tanks from Walmart, and they all were super thin "plastic", hazy, scratched and felt brittle. A buddy of mine then showed me a brand called landen, which is an ADA rip off company. For 60$ shipped they could sell me a 1.7 gallon low iron rimless tank. While appealing, I'm not a huge fan of the dimensions offered, nor of the thickness of their glass. The ability to buff out scratches in the future was also appealing. Not satisfied with the dimensions of a pre made tank, I approached Zen Reef about the build and they were thrilled of the idea and the tank size and offered me a very competitive, free quote that was well under several online tank makers prices.
They also had options for colored acrylic and the laser etched logos. The value I received in my opinion was fantastic and this tank would make a great betta tank or pico reef. Zen reef earned an easy 5/5 for the value on this one.
26105