Hello R2R members. This is my first post. And my first question is "Who should build my tank?" But first a little background...
I am looking to get back into the hobby with a 800g+ tank for my new office. It will be 84" x 24.5" x 36" and viewable on all five sides. It will divide my lobby, conference room and fulfillment center. It will be a FOWLR tank but a bit different in that I am using Marco rock to aquascape a replica of the Palmyra ruins. I have attached an image of where the tank is going. (The inner blue line being the tank.)
Thus far I have worked with Custom Aquariums for the build. However when they looked at my final plans for drilling the bottom of the tank they declined the build. They actually were not willing to drill ANY holes in the bottom of that size pentagon. However it is important for me NOT to have any plumbing on the sides because, as I mentioned, it is fully viewable from all five sides.
I realized the best bet might be to go with a PVC bottom. I worked through my LFS (great crew at Dallas North Aquarium) and got a quote from Planet Aquarium. Although it was quite a bit higher than CA I knew Planet has a great reputation and I was okay with the quote. However, when I learned they were not quoting low iron glass I sent back the quote. And it came back considerably higher. Like $5k higher just for the front panel!
I contacted Glass Cages (although I was a little worried about their reviews) and they stated that they did not build pentagon shaped tanks.
I currently have a call into Coast 2 Coast. I have heard good things about them and eager to see what they have to say. I also sent an email to Reef Savvy but worried about the build time. I'm willing to wait a few months, but not a year, as some have suggested. And I have a call into AGE Custom Aquariums.
So that is where I am currently at. I look forward to sharing more of my vision and sharing the build if there is interest. I am a creative type and look forward to stepping outside the box (or rectangle) in building a tank that is unique, functional and of course a great home for my fish wish list!
Your comments and suggestions on the builder is much appreciated.
Steve
I am looking to get back into the hobby with a 800g+ tank for my new office. It will be 84" x 24.5" x 36" and viewable on all five sides. It will divide my lobby, conference room and fulfillment center. It will be a FOWLR tank but a bit different in that I am using Marco rock to aquascape a replica of the Palmyra ruins. I have attached an image of where the tank is going. (The inner blue line being the tank.)
Thus far I have worked with Custom Aquariums for the build. However when they looked at my final plans for drilling the bottom of the tank they declined the build. They actually were not willing to drill ANY holes in the bottom of that size pentagon. However it is important for me NOT to have any plumbing on the sides because, as I mentioned, it is fully viewable from all five sides.
I realized the best bet might be to go with a PVC bottom. I worked through my LFS (great crew at Dallas North Aquarium) and got a quote from Planet Aquarium. Although it was quite a bit higher than CA I knew Planet has a great reputation and I was okay with the quote. However, when I learned they were not quoting low iron glass I sent back the quote. And it came back considerably higher. Like $5k higher just for the front panel!
I contacted Glass Cages (although I was a little worried about their reviews) and they stated that they did not build pentagon shaped tanks.
I currently have a call into Coast 2 Coast. I have heard good things about them and eager to see what they have to say. I also sent an email to Reef Savvy but worried about the build time. I'm willing to wait a few months, but not a year, as some have suggested. And I have a call into AGE Custom Aquariums.
So that is where I am currently at. I look forward to sharing more of my vision and sharing the build if there is interest. I am a creative type and look forward to stepping outside the box (or rectangle) in building a tank that is unique, functional and of course a great home for my fish wish list!
Your comments and suggestions on the builder is much appreciated.
Steve