A crazy Idea I had About A New Reef Tank...

[Aquariumaker]

I am thinking about setting up a large reef tank at my house here in Southern California.

I'm looking at building the tank around 500 plus gallons, and thinking maybe something like 12 ft X 2 ft X 3 ft. Or maybe even the option of something 8 ft X 2 ft X 6ft, I'm not sure yet.

I might even curve the front panel on either tank or do something wild with the front panel of the tanks being an infinity edge with the water coming over the front of the tank.

My initial idea that I am throwing out to someone on here is to find an expirenced person that would be willing to set the tank up and guide me in how to take care of it.

I am looking for all high quality new parts and equipment and I am not at all interested in bargain basement junk.

I will supply the acrylic tank, the steel tank stand, all of the finish cabinetry work, and the lighting.

I would need the person selected to set me up with all of the life support equipment, heaters, chillers, live coral, fish, etc. whatever is needed so it's turn key ready to go. All of the life support etc. would need to fit inside the stand and cabinetry.

I am looking at the most colors possible for the corals and small colorfull fish and nothing too big.

In exchange or for payment of the deal, equipment, set up, etc. the whole sha-bang-a bang, I would be willing to build the selected person their own custom large tank of equal value.

Let me know if this sounds like a possible idea for someone or if you are interested...

 

[purebullet417]

even though im not in your area to take you up on the deal if you going to do this do it right. your going to want to go wider then 2ft. thats quite narrow in a tank this larg. id go atleast 4ft depending on how big you go. also the taller you go the harder it will be to maintain

 

[Aquariumaker]

Yeah, I know exactly what your saying about the 2 foot front to back dimension being too small.

Where it's going in my living room if I go any deeper it would cut too much out into the room.

And as far as the height of the tank being too tall for cleaning the wow factor trade off would probably be worth it.

 

[Tangwich]

My only two cents is maybe instead of doing 36" tall or 30" tall, how about 27" tall, still would give you nice height and you would be able to reach the bottom depending on how long your arms are. Reason I say that is because my tank is 30" tall and its such a pain the rear to get to the bottom or when doing maintenance.

 

[Jflip2002]

Isnt invincible from Socal (escondido)? Since hes selling his tank, or sold his tank, Id check with him.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Are you serious? Sounds like a sweet gig. Where are you exactly?

 

[8BALL_99]

I hate to be one of Those people.. But your sig says you dont have a tank yet and since you fishing for someone to set this thing up. Please tell me this wouldn't be your first tank? If so This is a HUGE tank to start with. Also a Huge tank to stick in an existing living room. If you haven't had to work on a tank that is 30+" tall then its really hard to understand how much trouble it is. If your living room has carpet or hardwood floor then get ready for it to get wet. If space is an issue with the width then your not going to want to curve it since that would cut even more into your width at the ends. 24" wide isn't bad as long as you dont make it super tall.. Tall and narrow tanks just dont make for good reefs IMO they always have that wall O rock look. But really though if this is your first tank you might want to consider somthing a little smaller. A large tank might look cool but its alot to take care of

 

[ReefingBuddha]

look in your area for a custom aquarium and maintenance company, they usually do hotels, restaurants and large private tanks. They will help you build a solid system that is quite literally "turn key" and will be able to help stock and maintain it for you. I have a good friend who does this in Florida and he has a team of guys who come out and design, advise, build, stock, and then maintain to your liking. Either full maintenance or partial. I'm sure there are a number of business in your area that can provide this service.

Might be a good option for what your looking for and you'll get professional advice.

 

[FishyBiz]

If I'm reading the post correct he wants the person setting up the tank to provide all the equipment, rock, coral and fish. Then for payment he will build them a custom large tank. He probably has or knows someone in the acrylic industry??

 

[EnderG60]

DAMN why are you on the wrong coast Timing would be perfect.

 

[Sk8r]

Upon a time we had a fireplace conversation pit with a long bench facing the fireplace. Before we decided we were going to move, we were going to set up a marine tank the full width of the living room, except for walkway at either end, all gear in the box that also served as bench-sofa on its other side, and a matching observation bench on the other side. It would have cost a mint, but it would have been a heckuva living room tank.

 

[jjackson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12950029#post12950029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jflip2002
Isnt invincible from Socal (escondido)? Since hes selling his tank, or sold his tank, Id check with him.

nope he is from houston....

 

[Aquariumaker]

Well I asked the same question over on the 3reef forums and I guess I offended some people so just in case, here's my response over there.

Wow I didn't know I would offend so many people around the globe.

As far as not knowing what I'm talking about when it comes to the fish or the maintenece side of an aquarium you are correct and that's why I posted up asking the moon, and why not everyone does it to me everyday.

I know quite a few aquarium maintenence people, but I still decided to post this up.

As far as $$$... Did I not include in my post something stating that there could be money involved from either side?

And as for using this post to get business, not true at all. Did I list any website or make any remark about any business involved or hey buy from me?

So anyways, back to the question...

 

[purebullet417]

just think about the matinence side of it for a second. lets say i set you up with everything you need and get the tank up and running. you tank now has coraline on it and you have a scrape an acrylic tank thats very tall how will you go about that. also if you have never had a tank before its going to be a dauting task to do anything tank related. you have to think about how your going to do water changes get to things in the tank, clean pumps,skimmers, ect change bulbs. its alot to think about. if your really serious about doing this id get a professional matenience compay to service the tank for you

 

[8BALL_99]

You didn't offend me by any means.. I just don't think you understand what's all involved with a large tank. To me you have 2 choices..
1 Learn how and what's needed to setup and maintain a large tank or
2 Pay someone else to do it all.
Getting someone else to build the entire system then just hand it off to you will probably end bad. Its one thing to get someone to plumb things cause your bad at it. Or do the Electrical work cause you don't feel safe doing it. That's all fine and good. But having someone build the entire system cause you have no idea what's needed and how to do it then for you just to take it over with no experience Yikes!!

I could not imagine trying do much of anything it a 8'x24"x6' tank

 

[rlxwcapt]

It is ok with me if a person knows what they want and want someone else to design and setup for them. That is where my business comes into play. Most times I end up doing the maintenance as well. Sorry that I am on the East Coast.

Nick

 

[huskerreef]

Based on some of these responses, the only person to ever own a tank must have plenty of experience or they will most definetly fail. Not true, we all start out somewhere and I would be willing to guess that a lot is learned by research and trial and error. Now if you set up a complete system for someone and explained the basic up keep and maintenance and they have done a litte research they could most likely be successful. For what ever reason people in this hobby, especially the big tank guys, tend to become elitists and quickly jump on the "you don't know what you are getting into" mode. This hobby is not as difficult as some would like to make others believe. To me it sounds like he just wants someone that put together a nice system for him and in return he will make it beneficial for the person that does it or maybe he is intimidated by the whole putting it together part. Not to go off on a tangent, but it just irritates me when a newbie comes on wioth any question and instead of nurturing a new hobbiest, we quickly point out only negatives and intimidations.

 

[8BALL_99]

lol your right we shouldnt warn a new guy to the hobby that starting with a 720 gallon tank thats 6 feet tall would be alot of work and very hard to take care of.

 

[DawgDiggity]

yeah, some people go to a car lot and want to be lied to. These people spend big money on novelty and trend never really finding what they are looking for in the first place.
We all make mistakes and I haven't heard one person on this thread look down on anyone. Put giving the keys of a hyundai to a new driver is a whole lot different than handing over the keys of a ferrari. The mistakes I have made with my 55g would put me into a depression if multiplied by 12 on a +600g tank.
As far as being elitists... any one person who has any size of a saltwater tank is an elitist. Each one of us uses the pinnacle of human technology to remove our planet's life out of the greatest unknown to live, eat, and procreate right there under the care of our own roof. We have to be accountable.
jm2cents

 

[huskerreef]

whats wrong with wanting your first car to be a ferrari.....