My new 800g+ pentagon FOWLR tank

[srcleary]

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

 

[lapin]

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would stick with well known commercial tank builders

 

[lapin]

Oh and howdy welcome

 

[Smarkow]

I think custom aquariums does a great job. If you follow their website carefully, you can see signs that they are actively experimenting and testing to ensure quality. Makes sense when you remember they give you a lifetime warranty. Check out this huge tank they did.

 

[SPR1968]

I think custom aquariums does a great job. If you follow their website carefully, you can see signs that they are actively experimenting and testing to ensure quality. Makes sense when you remember they give you a lifetime warranty. Check out this huge tank they did.

That’s a great video and this sounds like a fantastic build thread Steve. We will need pictures and lots!

I have tank size envy now that’s huge!

Ive also just showed it to my wife in like a hint hint, sort of test the water sort of way...... lol

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel. Following the thread. Super nice

 

[Ron Reefman]

That’s a great video and this sounds like a fantastic build thread Steve. We will need pictures and lots!

I have tank size envy now that’s huge!

Ive also just showed it to my wife in like a hint hint, sort of test the water sort of way...... lol

"Ive also just showed it to my wife in like a hint hint, sort of test the water sort of way......" Good luck Shaun!

 

[WirelessMike]

Welcome to the reef! Can’t wait to see this play out!

 

[Zach B]

Welcome Sounds like an awesome build

 

[srcleary]

Thanks all. Here is an update.

1. As I mentioned I was willing to go with Custom Aquariums but they declined the build, due to the drilling in the bottom panel.
2. I would like to go with Planet and I would go with them if their Starfire option was affordable. It was not affordable, due to the fact that prices and demand are rapidly increasing and they have to obtain from a third party vendor. Bummer. (They suspected it would be a deal breaker.)
3. Coast 2 Coast was out of range for my budget.
4. I spoke with Miracle and was impressed. Their price is on the high side of my budget, but they remain a contender.
5. I am waiting to here back from AGE and they promised a quote today to tomorrow.
6. I have not heard back from Reef Savvy yet.

At this point I have not submitted bid requests from any other builder. If you have a recommendation of a quality, reputable builder (and hopefully at a decent price point) I am all ears. But it seems like demand and material costs are having a huge impact on this industry.

And I will be loading lots of images as we begin to make progress. My goal is to have the tank ordered in the next week or so. Thanks for following!

Steve

 

[Fudsey]

I don't know who they used, but give @WWC a call or PM. Their corner display tank is the only tank that is similar that I can recall.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I highly recommend AGE and I also have a CDA 80g frag tank in shipment right now. Reef savvy is great and supposed to be the best around but for me when I heard back (which took like a month maybe a little more) the wait for a standard 80g with starfire glass all sides, external overflow, vertical seam reinforcement and starboard bottom was around 8-9 months wait... so I went with CDA.

 

[srcleary]

I don't know who they used, but give @WWC a call or PM. Their corner display tank is the only tank that is similar that I can recall.

Will do. Thanks!

 

[srcleary]

I highly recommend AGE and I also have a CDA 80g frag tank in shipment right now. Reef savvy is great and supposed to be the best around but for me when I heard back (which took like a month maybe a little more) the wait for a standard 80g with starfire glass all sides, external overflow, vertical seam reinforcement and starboard bottom was around 8-9 months wait... so I went with CDA.

I spoke with AGE today. They also declined the build in glass because of the size. They offer acrylic but that has not really been an option for me as I am certain, being in an office environment, it will get scratched! I am still in talks with Miracle.

 

[SPR1968]

Have you done the equipment specifications yet Steve or any thoughts ?

When I built my large system (now inadequate! lol) the tank cost very little in comparison to the equipment which costs a absolute fortune depending on what you go for.

 

[srcleary]

Have you done the equipment specifications yet Steve or any thoughts ?

When I built my large system (now inadequate! lol) the tank cost very little in comparison to the equipment which costs a absolute fortune depending on what you go for.

Yes I have been working on the equipment list and it is SCARY to say the least. Not to mention my FISH list. LOL. I will be sharing all of this as we progress and looking forward to feedback and comments. I am working with John and Mike at Dallas North Aquarium for all the equipment and installation. The stand will be an open concept so it is extremely important to me to have it look great and obviously function great as well. For the sump itself we are looking at having it made by Bashsea. We are also setting up an Apex system.

Honestly If I looked at the all-in price right now I would probably cancel everything!

I am facing price increases at every turn. URG. It seems like the industry is really changing right now with cost of goods.

 

[srcleary]

UPDATE: I have decided to go with Miracle Aquariums. Derek seems great and I am confident that it is the right choice for me. It will be about 12 weeks before my tank arrives so there is plenty of time to build out all the equipment and the aquascaping.

The aquascape is very important to me as it is going in my office as a show piece and my agency does lots of creative work. My inspiration, as mentioned previously, is coming from the ruins of Palmyra. (image attached)

I have purchased some Marco rock and I've been cutting the shapes into bricks to use for the structure. (images attached) I will be incorporating some swim throughs and caves.

I have also been working on the first set of columns. These will stacked on the sand bed (as if they had fallen over) and the core is 2" black PVC which will also serve as swim throughs for my hopeful pair of Yellow Canary Morays. We sanded the PVC and started gluing coarse Aragonite sand to it. We are building up three layers and then will add some finer sand, leaving some ares of the coarse sand to simulate the decay. (pictures attached) We will also be adding the top square section. I purchased a 2" diamond hole saw today and looking forward to seeing if I can successfully drill the Marco rock to match the PVC.

I am also looking to go with a black sand bed.

Steve

 

[NautiTang]

Thats a pretty cool idea.

 

[srcleary]

UPDATE: This past week we have been working on the columns. We start with a black PVC core and add coarse sand to the outside. We then add a layer of fine sand and cut a 4" x 4" Marco rock caps for the top and bottom. We drilled a 2" hole in the Marco rock so the entire column is hollow. It will lay on the sand (black) for the eels. Lastly I added some corner pieces of Marco rock to give it more of an ancient column look.

We are using the technic where we apply layers of GlueMaster super glue , then sand, more glue, more sand etc. It works great. The sand and glue literally create a mortar like substance that gets hard as a rock (pun intended ). I use the "heavy" glue for the coarse sand and the "thin" glue for the fine sand.

I've attached a few images here.

I have some fine tuning to do with the column and then have to make many more to create our design. The first four columns will lay on the surface of the sand. Two will be broken apart and two will be whole to create the 30" cave. The next four will create a structure of sorts for the ends of the tank. I am playing around with the idea of including a tomb or sorts between the columns for a fish hideout (for the smaller fish).

This next week I hope to begin the wall structure. I will do some testing this evening.

Steve

 

[Macbalacano]

Welcome! Following along! So cool!