sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Ah.... well that better be with the stand then... and ouch. Definitely not in my budget, but it is rimless so it's not too shocking. doubly so if the stand is actually a quality piece of carpentry
Mike's newest disaster...
- Thread starter sfsuphysics
- Start date
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Ok finally did some scouting today to get a feel of what looks good/feels good.
So went to California Reef Co, and Neptune, and of course the storm kicked back up today but whatever, it always feels way worse when you're driving at freeway speeds although it was fairly heavy.
So at CRC, got htere at 11:45, and thought they were closed because their little sign says they open at noon, then someone walked out and relief occurred. Owner (forgot the name) told me that the old display tank was for sale, as well as the big mother Vincent mentioned in the back.
First the big one, 8' long, 3' deep, 2.5' tall, and it's on a huge farging stand. 450G tank... too much tank for me, and I'll leave it at that.
The old display is 8' long, 30" deep, 24" tall ( water line is about 23" due to bracing) he gave a fairly good price on it too, tank, stand, sump (although the granite slab for the bar top is not included
). The tank itself feels like a good size, however I am still stuck on 2 side viewable, and the overflows in the corners really put a hamper on that, sure I could cover them but then it would be about 24" of viewing pane down a long tank. Plus there is a chip in the bottom corner of the tank, it looks superficial although if you press it you can feel a little "squish" to it which makes me wonder if it goes all the way to the silicone, unfortunately without lifting the tank and seeing it from the bottom there's really no way to tell, could probably fix it with a windshield chip repair kit but the price wasn't THAT cheap for me to jump all over it. Plus this is going to be built in wall, and while I could retrofit the stand to part of it, I wouldn't have access where I want, and at the end of the day is it something worth getting? Well that question is irrelevant this is more about how tanks feel.
Then at Neptune it was raining quite a bit more, gotta say my kid was a fricking champ, only on the last 15 minutes on the way home did he get his cranky "I need a nap" phase.
Now Neptune's were nothing short of stunning. There were two major tanks that got me thinking though, their "$65,000" tank, and the 8' tank they have empty.
First the 8' tank, first off it's WAY to pricey for my tastes, but overall the tank is 8' x 24" x 24" and it just felt absolutely tiny because the front to back depth was dwarfed so much by the length of the tank. So probably going to steer clear of the long "skinny" tank. Although I would like to say I loved the doors on that stand, simple flush doors where you push the door to open it, and all of it skinned to a steel stand, absolutely beautiful craftsmanship whomever did it.
The other tank, the "$65,000" tank, just felt huge, it was set up in a peninsula fashion, but was 36" wide, 60" long and 25" tall, but what really pushed the feeling for huge IMO was the fact it was set rather high, my eye wasn't too far from the top, so when you, ahem *I*, glanced into the tank you didn't have to look at steep angle to the glass. My only complaint about seeing their display tanks, is that it gave a false sense of fish size in it, as my fish are all 'show size' as opposed to very young silver dollar sized tangs. So it is something I need to keep in mind.
Some observational points, of the tanks that I saw I really believe that having them look nice inside really helps sell the tank as it gives you a feel for what it can be, so the empty one at Neptune just bleh it's an blank canvas so doesn't feel, where as their peninsula one just looks stunning so it feels better, where as the CRC "show" tank is a neglected looking so it makes me think "ouch is this what my tank might look like?". So I really hope I can ignore that bias, but not sure if I can right now.
So my decisions?
Well I think a stand that is tall is definitely in store, the 65k tank was about belly button height for me, which puts it around bar type 40-42". My wife even suggested a few inches lower, but being as she's a good 7" shorter than me it's not surprising. I do want to incorporate a 2 side ledge/bar on it anyways, so that could work.
I'm leaning away from the 8' length now, and think I could get away with 6-7', I know Kris' tank is 7' and that feels huge, while the CRC tank was 8' and felt very big there was some bias with it due to the condition inside.
Need to be wide, can't go any larger than 36" due to the doorway, and the 65k tank made me want that 36" look a lot more, unfortunately the CRC tank at only 30" felt much smaller due to the overflow location and me trying to mentally block that out of the image.
Either way, I'm just now getting a temporary moving location for my fish, 100g pond liner (I'll show pics of my first plan... gesus!), need to get the sump area and overflow set up, but after that is done I can remove the 8' x 3' x 20" acrylic tank (hopefully find someone who wants it quick) and then finish the floor.
So went to California Reef Co, and Neptune, and of course the storm kicked back up today but whatever, it always feels way worse when you're driving at freeway speeds although it was fairly heavy.
So at CRC, got htere at 11:45, and thought they were closed because their little sign says they open at noon, then someone walked out and relief occurred. Owner (forgot the name) told me that the old display tank was for sale, as well as the big mother Vincent mentioned in the back.
First the big one, 8' long, 3' deep, 2.5' tall, and it's on a huge farging stand. 450G tank... too much tank for me, and I'll leave it at that.
The old display is 8' long, 30" deep, 24" tall ( water line is about 23" due to bracing) he gave a fairly good price on it too, tank, stand, sump (although the granite slab for the bar top is not included
). The tank itself feels like a good size, however I am still stuck on 2 side viewable, and the overflows in the corners really put a hamper on that, sure I could cover them but then it would be about 24" of viewing pane down a long tank. Plus there is a chip in the bottom corner of the tank, it looks superficial although if you press it you can feel a little "squish" to it which makes me wonder if it goes all the way to the silicone, unfortunately without lifting the tank and seeing it from the bottom there's really no way to tell, could probably fix it with a windshield chip repair kit but the price wasn't THAT cheap for me to jump all over it. Plus this is going to be built in wall, and while I could retrofit the stand to part of it, I wouldn't have access where I want, and at the end of the day is it something worth getting? Well that question is irrelevant this is more about how tanks feel.Then at Neptune it was raining quite a bit more, gotta say my kid was a fricking champ, only on the last 15 minutes on the way home did he get his cranky "I need a nap" phase.
Now Neptune's were nothing short of stunning. There were two major tanks that got me thinking though, their "$65,000" tank, and the 8' tank they have empty.
First the 8' tank, first off it's WAY to pricey for my tastes, but overall the tank is 8' x 24" x 24" and it just felt absolutely tiny because the front to back depth was dwarfed so much by the length of the tank. So probably going to steer clear of the long "skinny" tank. Although I would like to say I loved the doors on that stand, simple flush doors where you push the door to open it, and all of it skinned to a steel stand, absolutely beautiful craftsmanship whomever did it.
The other tank, the "$65,000" tank, just felt huge, it was set up in a peninsula fashion, but was 36" wide, 60" long and 25" tall, but what really pushed the feeling for huge IMO was the fact it was set rather high, my eye wasn't too far from the top, so when you, ahem *I*, glanced into the tank you didn't have to look at steep angle to the glass. My only complaint about seeing their display tanks, is that it gave a false sense of fish size in it, as my fish are all 'show size' as opposed to very young silver dollar sized tangs. So it is something I need to keep in mind.
Some observational points, of the tanks that I saw I really believe that having them look nice inside really helps sell the tank as it gives you a feel for what it can be, so the empty one at Neptune just bleh it's an blank canvas so doesn't feel, where as their peninsula one just looks stunning so it feels better, where as the CRC "show" tank is a neglected looking so it makes me think "ouch is this what my tank might look like?". So I really hope I can ignore that bias, but not sure if I can right now.
So my decisions?
Well I think a stand that is tall is definitely in store, the 65k tank was about belly button height for me, which puts it around bar type 40-42". My wife even suggested a few inches lower, but being as she's a good 7" shorter than me it's not surprising. I do want to incorporate a 2 side ledge/bar on it anyways, so that could work.
I'm leaning away from the 8' length now, and think I could get away with 6-7', I know Kris' tank is 7' and that feels huge, while the CRC tank was 8' and felt very big there was some bias with it due to the condition inside.
Need to be wide, can't go any larger than 36" due to the doorway, and the 65k tank made me want that 36" look a lot more, unfortunately the CRC tank at only 30" felt much smaller due to the overflow location and me trying to mentally block that out of the image.
Either way, I'm just now getting a temporary moving location for my fish, 100g pond liner (I'll show pics of my first plan... gesus!), need to get the sump area and overflow set up, but after that is done I can remove the 8' x 3' x 20" acrylic tank (hopefully find someone who wants it quick) and then finish the floor.
yellojello
Guest
When I bought my used tank, it was dual corner overflow, but previous owner removed one, and used that as a drain tube for water changes, which I'm been doing the same. It is a gamble if there is a failure, but going strong for 6 years already. Also get less water exchange and dump filtration though.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Yeah, another problem is I really only want the tank, and the owner wants to sell at the very least the stand with the tank, and at the price he's offering (which don't get me wrong is good), I can buy a similar tank, new, for less.
Ibn
Guest
Was actually at Neptune earlier today to drop off the DBTC frag for Vince and got a chance to admire that 8x2x2 tank. It's skinny and would be absolutely perfect if it was 30" front to back instead of the 24" (would move it from a 239G to 299G). Love the craftsmanship for the entire package, especially the skinned metal stand. Pricey but considering that the price includes the stand and the starfire on the glass, that's actually not a huge stretch (a 240G SC starfire tank with internal overflow is ~$3,500 by itself and IMO not as nice as that one).
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Eric, I agree on the 30" bit and the craftsmanship absolutely beautiful. However the rimless and needing to be 3/4" glass makes it so much more expensive, but hey this is an expensive hobby.
Vincent, isn't it great? I've never seen it before and I was just mesmerized by it, simple with 2 WAV pumps (I think), 6 kessil lights inset in the floating platform, and everything just looks fantastic. Then again when you essentially have workers to maintain the tanks every day and have an stock of corals/fish to constantly pick from if something happens it damn well better look that nice
Vincent, isn't it great? I've never seen it before and I was just mesmerized by it, simple with 2 WAV pumps (I think), 6 kessil lights inset in the floating platform, and everything just looks fantastic. Then again when you essentially have workers to maintain the tanks every day and have an stock of corals/fish to constantly pick from if something happens it damn well better look that nice
Flagg37
Guest
One thing I was thinking as you were describing the tanks is that the Neptune tank is a peninsula tank and therefore the rockwork is right in the middle. With your setup the rockwork would be pushed up against the back wall. So either you have some real front to back depth to your rockwork or the fish have a lot of room to swim in front.
I have roughly an 8x2x2 tank, and really like the setup.
It has far more view-able space being long and thin.
I do admit it lacks a bit of depth. But it does not take much growth in front to hide what is in back.
And it keeps the fish toward the front, so you see them more often.
The extra length also means you can have more "zones" if you want.
It has far more view-able space being long and thin.
I do admit it lacks a bit of depth. But it does not take much growth in front to hide what is in back.
And it keeps the fish toward the front, so you see them more often.
The extra length also means you can have more "zones" if you want.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
While true, my tank is still going to be 2 side viewable, so having everthing smooshed against the back along the whole length isn't that favorable, perhaps a taper appearance though where maybe 3' worth of one side has a more open lagoon feel, and then the other side has a lot of the rock hidey hole areas. It's something that is in the back of my mind to be certain. I mean heck even building rock ontop of structures (PVC, egg crate, etc) is a viable option.
At the end of the day, my experience with rockwork is that all the planning in the world is great right up until the time you have to implement the plan
While true, my tank is still going to be 2 side viewable, so having everthing smooshed against the back along the whole length isn't that favorable, perhaps a taper appearance though where maybe 3' worth of one side has a more open lagoon feel, and then the other side has a lot of the rock hidey hole areas. It's something that is in the back of my mind to be certain. I mean heck even building rock ontop of structures (PVC, egg crate, etc) is a viable option.
At the end of the day, my experience with rockwork is that all the planning in the world is great right up until the time you have to implement the plan
I wish I had a peninsula. So many fun options there.
But yes, the rock-scape becomes very critical. You can't just make piles.
Vhuang168
Guest
There is a 96/30/30 with stand n sump on RC.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2618767
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http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2618767
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
BSAJim
Guest
At the end of the day, my experience with rockwork is that all the planning in the world is great right up until the time you have to implement the plan
So very true. I am beginning to think that it is going to be easier/better to simply start over on mine, one side at a time
Coral reefer
Past President
I had to google that for fun, and yes, an acrylic ball sucker exists, and you can get it on amazon ....
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
I appreciate the eyes out Vincent, and to say it a bit nicer than the other Mike... I'm really not wanting an acrylic tank, like REALLY don't want one, even if it's free.
Even for a large tank?
I have an acrylic, and definitely understand the cons.
For a smaller tank, I would never consider acrylic again.
But for an 8 footer ... I might still go acrylic.
Add a few more syllables and you've got a nice haiku there.