ddiver
Fragging Extraordinaire
Some of you may have noticed that i've been MIA from here for the past year, reason being I've been working at an LFS for the past 2 years and just kind of the lost the passion for the hobby.I guess that's why they say you should never make your hobby your business...Before that i worked for my aunt at one of her 3 Thai restaurants.My family has been in the industry for the past 30 years and i personally have 16 years of experience.Long story short, you know how it can be working with family so off onto my own adventure I go...
While trying to make this restaurant thing happen i took a job at my buddy's LFS and was doing the thing i loved the most and getting paid doing it.It took 2 years to find the right commercial space for a restaurant because in this industry, location is key.It was a pretty daunting and frustrating task but we've finally signed a lease and have started construction.Of course, incorporating a 300 gallon reef tank into the restaurant somewhere was a no-brainer...I can't recall the guy's name but he was featured on RC for his sps dominant tank his Thai restaurant in Seattle, Washington IIRC.After seeing his tank, i knew i had to have my own:bigsmile: So as of recent, my passion for the hobby is starting to return.
I originally planned on going with the Marineland 300DD because i love the dimensions and it was the biggest prefabbed tank available at a reasonable price.My thought was to for it to be "in-wall" and have a little fish room/closet behind it.Well, space didn't allow so my architect suggested that the tank be viewable from 3 sides and for a better visual effect.I told him this couldn't happen with the 300 DD because of the cornerflos and he said he'd figure something out like a trim that would cover it up.To me this sounded like it was going to look too tacky so i figured if i'm going to do this whole restaurant thing, i need to do it right.So i talked to a local guy that built sumps for our store and got him to build me a custom acrylic tank that would make everything flow a lot betterThe best part is that it was only a few hundred more than what the DD would've costed me....
I got the exact same dimensions as the DD but 1 inch shorter.72"x36"x26".Sides are 1" , top and bottom are 3/4" thick acrylic.8" eurobraced all around with no cross bracing for clearance purposes.One little discrepancy in the sketch, the overflow box is 10" in height not 6".
While trying to make this restaurant thing happen i took a job at my buddy's LFS and was doing the thing i loved the most and getting paid doing it.It took 2 years to find the right commercial space for a restaurant because in this industry, location is key.It was a pretty daunting and frustrating task but we've finally signed a lease and have started construction.Of course, incorporating a 300 gallon reef tank into the restaurant somewhere was a no-brainer...I can't recall the guy's name but he was featured on RC for his sps dominant tank his Thai restaurant in Seattle, Washington IIRC.After seeing his tank, i knew i had to have my own:bigsmile: So as of recent, my passion for the hobby is starting to return.
I originally planned on going with the Marineland 300DD because i love the dimensions and it was the biggest prefabbed tank available at a reasonable price.My thought was to for it to be "in-wall" and have a little fish room/closet behind it.Well, space didn't allow so my architect suggested that the tank be viewable from 3 sides and for a better visual effect.I told him this couldn't happen with the 300 DD because of the cornerflos and he said he'd figure something out like a trim that would cover it up.To me this sounded like it was going to look too tacky so i figured if i'm going to do this whole restaurant thing, i need to do it right.So i talked to a local guy that built sumps for our store and got him to build me a custom acrylic tank that would make everything flow a lot betterThe best part is that it was only a few hundred more than what the DD would've costed me....
I got the exact same dimensions as the DD but 1 inch shorter.72"x36"x26".Sides are 1" , top and bottom are 3/4" thick acrylic.8" eurobraced all around with no cross bracing for clearance purposes.One little discrepancy in the sketch, the overflow box is 10" in height not 6".
