What is the craziest aquarium design you've seen? Pics welcomed

[vetteguy53081]

As I am trying to now plan the next big tank, I am looking at some options and then the word" Crazy" came up regarding scaping and something unique. When we hear the word aquarium, we generally envision or percept a square or rectangle glass box. In searching, there are tanks out there we will never own or afford and I came across some below.
Ive always liked bullet tanks and do appreciate the tank and pedestal by member @o2manyfish . Ive seen glass headboards, the well known 17,000 gallon tank often featured.

Do you have a unique tank design?
If so, what are the challenges and how did you get it into your dwelling?
Would you in spite of cost recommend this to a friend?
Pics Please

These scare me:

 

[BanZI29]

from the show "tanked"
yea I know.....
funny thing, I went and saw this thing IRL about 3 years ago and it was still up and running.
not sure about now thou.

 

[vetteguy53081]

from the show "tanked"
yea I know.....

I love tanked despite the issues they had. I also watch wrestling on TV - which is worse. . . yea, I know LOL

 

[Pyrogens]

As I am trying to now plan the next big tank, I am looking at some options and then the word" Crazy" came up regarding scaping and something unique. When we hear the word aquarium, we generally envision or percept a square or rectangle glass box. In searching, there are tanks out there we will never own or afford and I came across some below.
Ive always liked bullet tanks and do appreciate the tank and pedestal by member @o2manyfish . Ive seen glass headboards, the well known 17,000 gallon tank often featured.

Do you have a unique tank design?
If so, what are the challenges and how did you get it into your dwelling?
Would you in spite of cost recommend this to a friend?
Pics Please

These scare me:

How in the.... I've never seen these "floating" tanks. I couldn't have one of those long term, I wouldnt be able to sleep comfortably at night. I would really like to know how this works structurally.

 

[flashsmith]

No shame in watching wrestling. Millions watch love Island, 90 day fiancee, All kinds of crap fake drama. Lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

How in the.... I've never seen these "floating" tanks. I couldn't have one of those long term, I wouldnt be able to sleep comfortably at night. I would really like to know how this works structurally.

Every creeking sound and I would be on my feet

 

[Gumbies R Us]

from the show "tanked"
yea I know.....
funny thing, I went and saw this thing IRL about 3 years ago and it was still up and running.
not sure about now thou.

Tanked was always an interesting show just to see the crazy tanks they would come up with.

 

[BanZI29]

Tanked was always an interesting show just to see the crazy tanks they would come up with.

Yea it was. Kinda sad what happened to them thou. famed destroyed the co.

 

[Devaji]

i'll just leave this right here:


be fallowing along this guys new fish basement add on. he builds his own DIY plywood tanks. worth checking out. if I was in the market for a larger tank I would really consider it.

here is a video from his predictor bay build.

 

[paragrouper]

The Aquarium at Scheel’s in Plano, Texas is pretty unique.

 

[o2manyfish]

Thanks for the shout out. Much Appreciated.

I think the most important thing to take into consideration is the ease of keeping the tank looking clean. There is a big difference between these large tanks that have a daily keeper paid to maintain them, vs those of us posting on boards like this that are more hands on and dedicated to our tanks.

My brief time with a 36" deep tank taught me that even though it was the most beautiful tank I had ever owned it was just impossible to maintain as a reef. When I see reef tanks that are 4',5', 6' or 8' tall - All I can think of is how often is my fat butt would have to dive into the tank to pick up that coral that got knocked off the aquascape.

Reef tanks, with their algae growth and coraline growth, take a lot to maintain cleanliness. And not being able to easily reach all the spots in the tank and get leverage to clean (or scrape) would eventually become an ugly problem.

As for shapes of Unique Tanks. A local car dealership has a 1500g tank which is shaped like an S. It's about 15' long with 2 gentle curves in and out. The tank is 4' deep. It's fish only. And it's an impressive display.

Another memorable tank was in the lobby of an apartment building it was about 14' long, only maybe 2.5 to 3' tall but was curved away from you (gently). So it was like a gentle "C" shape where you stood in the center of the C.

A tank I was asked to consult on last year was kind of intersting....

This tank makes a statement - 24' long unfortunately only about 22" deep front to back and only 2' tall. But impressive. If you like small fish this could become a stunning reef. It is a reef tank. And the constrainted of the interior designer have made the tank a lil tough to maintain. That's a marble base, front facade and matching marble on top of the tank with just some poorly thought out openings in the marble to access the tank every 4' or so.

We have in our house what we call the fish room. It's a small room only about 14' x 10' with 1 wall being glass doors to the back yard, and the opposite end being a step down from the living room. For years I had a 125h in the room and it fit the room well. When I upgraded to a 400g it was built to take up 1 entire wall of the room (96x33x28.5). I didn't want the fish tank to look like a wall so I moved the filtration to the back patio and had a steel stand built where the entire right end of the tank sat on a steel post.

When it was time to replace the 400g there was no way to go bigger with where the tank was. So we flipped the tank to the opposite side of a the room. But now we were looking at a 120x48x30 tank and that was going to fill almost 40% of the small room and I didn't want it to look like another wall in the house. So I engineered the cantilever stand.


During the build process of the tank last year, when I posted images of the stand being built/assembled there were dozens of naysayers saying the stand would never stand.

But I ignored them, I trust the brains of CAD/CAM engineered structures much more than internet trolls.

And the final result was a giant tank, that while is massive in a tiny room, doesn't have such a brick wall feeling.

Now in my situation we maximized the space we had available. If I had the opportunity to build a house with a large fish tank I would definitely build a floating tank. A giant tank floating on a pair of I-beams over the floor is just stunning. I have seen several of them online an a few in person. And they are just mesmerizing to see the tank floating out of a wall with nothing underneath it.

If you are going to go big, just make sure it's small enough that you are able to keep it clean and not so big that in 6 months you have a 1/2 dirty tank.

Dave B

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the shout out. Much Appreciated.

I think the most important thing to take into consideration is the ease of keeping the tank looking clean. There is a big difference between these large tanks that have a daily keeper paid to maintain them, vs those of us posting on boards like this that are more hands on and dedicated to our tanks.

My brief time with a 36" deep tank taught me that even though it was the most beautiful tank I had ever owned it was just impossible to maintain as a reef. When I see reef tanks that are 4',5', 6' or 8' tall - All I can think of is how often is my fat butt would have to dive into the tank to pick up that coral that got knocked off the aquascape.

Reef tanks, with their algae growth and coraline growth, take a lot to maintain cleanliness. And not being able to easily reach all the spots in the tank and get leverage to clean (or scrape) would eventually become an ugly problem.

As for shapes of Unique Tanks. A local car dealership has a 1500g tank which is shaped like an S. It's about 15' long with 2 gentle curves in and out. The tank is 4' deep. It's fish only. And it's an impressive display.

Another memorable tank was in the lobby of an apartment building it was about 14' long, only maybe 2.5 to 3' tall but was curved away from you (gently). So it was like a gentle "C" shape where you stood in the center of the C.

A tank I was asked to consult on last year was kind of intersting....

This tank makes a statement - 24' long unfortunately only about 22" deep front to back and only 2' tall. But impressive. If you like small fish this could become a stunning reef. It is a reef tank. And the constrainted of the interior designer have made the tank a lil tough to maintain. That's a marble base, front facade and matching marble on top of the tank with just some poorly thought out openings in the marble to access the tank every 4' or so.

We have in our house what we call the fish room. It's a small room only about 14' x 10' with 1 wall being glass doors to the back yard, and the opposite end being a step down from the living room. For years I had a 125h in the room and it fit the room well. When I upgraded to a 400g it was built to take up 1 entire wall of the room (96x33x28.5). I didn't want the fish tank to look like a wall so I moved the filtration to the back patio and had a steel stand built where the entire right end of the tank sat on a steel post.

When it was time to replace the 400g there was no way to go bigger with where the tank was. So we flipped the tank to the opposite side of a the room. But now we were looking at a 120x48x30 tank and that was going to fill almost 40% of the small room and I didn't want it to look like another wall in the house. So I engineered the cantilever stand.


During the build process of the tank last year, when I posted images of the stand being built/assembled there were dozens of naysayers saying the stand would never stand.

But I ignored them, I trust the brains of CAD/CAM engineered structures much more than internet trolls.

And the final result was a giant tank, that while is massive in a tiny room, doesn't have such a brick wall feeling.

Now in my situation we maximized the space we had available. If I had the opportunity to build a house with a large fish tank I would definitely build a floating tank. A giant tank floating on a pair of I-beams over the floor is just stunning. I have seen several of them online an a few in person. And they are just mesmerizing to see the tank floating out of a wall with nothing underneath it.

If you are going to go big, just make sure it's small enough that you are able to keep it clean and not so big that in 6 months you have a 1/2 dirty tank.

Dave B

I have had both tall and deep and " God Bless Grabbers and Tongs " or I would have been in trouble.
My 360 I had was 34" deep and when I placed rock in it during setup, Leaning over the rim to get to bottom, I cracked three ribs - Not kidding

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

many years ago I remember someone didn't want to spoil their nice view with a fence around their house so they made it an aquarium.

 

[FlyinAg]

They are very trusting in their fellow man!

 

[CoralB]

As I am trying to now plan the next big tank, I am looking at some options and then the word" Crazy" came up regarding scaping and something unique. When we hear the word aquarium, we generally envision or percept a square or rectangle glass box. In searching, there are tanks out there we will never own or afford and I came across some below.
Ive always liked bullet tanks and do appreciate the tank and pedestal by member @o2manyfish . Ive seen glass headboards, the well known 17,000 gallon tank often featured.

Do you have a unique tank design?
If so, what are the challenges and how did you get it into your dwelling?
Would you in spite of cost recommend this to a friend?
Pics Please

These scare me:

Great thread !! I’ve always admired the tank at mandalay bay in Vegas

 

[second_decimal]

many years ago I remember someone didn't want to spoil their nice view with a fence around their house so they made it an aquarium.

That looks like a Pablo Escabobar special haha. No one in their right mind would dare even sneeze near that. So many cool tanks and definitely dig the I-Beam floating tanks.

 

[lubeck]

The floating tanks gotta be solid concrete, No? Only way I would feel comfortable.

do you have any ideas on the water volume?

 

[vetteguy53081]

The floating tanks gotta be solid concrete, No? Only way I would feel comfortable.

do you have any ideas on the water volume?

I'm Guess-timating 300 gallons

 

[lubeck]

Are you planning any certain size tank or are you open altogether?

Edit: not sure if you were commenting on the floating tanks at 300 gal or your own build. Sorry

 

[exnisstech]

The floating tanks gotta be solid concrete, No? Only way I would feel comfortable

I'm thinking maybe steel beams anchored in concrete then covered with the panels