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Who to contact for QUICK price estimates for some custom aquaria? (1 Viewer)

capman said:
And again, if Glasscages would not be your choice, do you have a different tank builder/supplier that you prefer?
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Acrylic: Midwest Acrylics pretty much no questions asked.

Glass: Since I bought my from Miracles I'm likely a little biased. That said, I can tell you everything they did wrong (which is a lot, check my build thread). Basically you need to provide them specs and hold them too it. Someone in the past few weeks posted a builder in WI or MI, had a standard website with a lot of standard sizes - a lot like glass cages but seemed a step up with neat overflow options. I kinda like the idea of 3/4 glass (commercial glass cages) for your application, over build the tanks and you'd never have a problem with them. 3/4" glass, euro braced with a glued in center brace would never come apart. The US$/CA$ is pretty favorable right now but not sure how that would affect you.
 
Thanks Marty.

Custom Aquariums has a 6' x 3' x 24" high tank as an option for a little less than Glasscages.

I also just looked at Marineland pricing.

It seems like estimating as much as $2000 for the tank (and maybe $1000 for a stand?... not sure about that) would put me in the ballpark.

The Custom Aquarium pricelist in this link is super useful otherwise too. They list prices for just about anything I might be considering for the display tanks.

Thanks much!
 
Hmmm.. maybe closer to $2000 for a stand....
 
I've seen some of his work. Very nice.

Part of the room design involves the construction of a custom enclosure (open in the back to give access from the aquarium room behind) to keep the noise, salt spray, etc out of the teaching lab. The architects have a contractor in mind for that. We will need a bare bones stand though - nothing attractive - to simply support the tank behind this enclosure. I seem to remember another thread here talking about construction of a simple metal stand for a tank roughly this size costing around $1700. I think maybe it was you quoting this figure? I should find that thread.
 
I did a 96x36x30 metal stand for ~ $500 w/o labor for welding (metal and powder coating only, buddy welded it). That's a simple one tank thing thou
 
I'm thinking all we will need to buy will be a stand for the big tank.

For the 6 smaller (not small, but much smaller) tanks I'm completely confident in my ability to build a 2x4/plywood two-level stand that would do the job. Cost of materials would be modest. We'll see.
 
By the way, I see I should really read through your 450 build thread. Looks like there are good ideas there to think about.
 
Does your school or an affiliate school have a metal shop/program that could build the stand?

I'm very happy with my metal stand. The openness has made things mich easier to maintenance. Jelloboy built mine. Might be worth asking him for a quote
 
marty9876 said:
https://customaquariums.com/s-4-all-aquarium-standard-sizes.aspx
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capman said:
It seems like estimating as much as $2000 for the tank (and maybe $1000 for a stand?... not sure about that) would put me in the ballpark.

The Custom Aquarium pricelist in this link is super useful otherwise too. They list prices for just about anything I might be considering for the display tanks.
Click to expand...

The Custom Aquariums website is one that I periodically look at based on their comprehensive list of sizes and pricing.
My 120gal was my original "dream tank" size, but I would love to go bigger someday. And Custom Aquariums lists the 300L as a standard size; and it's on "special" right now!

marty9876 said:
Maybe Jason (jlanger) could make it for less depending on your needs. I was very happy for the skin he did on mine.
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Thanks Marty.
Maybe I should look into updating my Yellow Pages to include more information about my methods of construction; I did start a thread about my thoughts on stand building last month. The stand information that is on the Custom Aquariums web page has good information, but their methods border the custom/factory line; more of a "conscious" factory design than a "mass-produced" factory design.
I'm pretty comfortable with wood stands up to about 240gal; larger than that I think I would prefer a metal stand with wooden skins.
 
marty9876 said:
I really want to try a tank with a external overflow.
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Interesting.

Not something one could do with a glass tank though, right?

What do you see as the major advantage of an external overflow? Mostly to not take up tank space with a distracting ugly overflow?
 
It's a recent 'less is more' type of thinking on my part. You can certainly do external overflows on glass.

Few thoughts:
- smaller something is less crap/bio fouling goes on. Overflows seems to be one place crap will collect and grow and rarely if ever get cleaned out. Not accessible/not easily accessible, out of sight out of mind. Bigger the take the more pain it is to get too unless you have true access to all sides of the tank. Externals are way shallower and way smaller than traditional internal overflows
- it's seems any aqua scape design will be set around the overflow to some degree, would be great to have a true clean slate pure rectangle to work with
- my original thinking was you'd end up with more internal space with an internal overflow. If you have 36" of depth to work with, even if the overflow takes up space in the tank you still end up net more with having the overflow internal vs. external and taking up the whole run being wasted. My current thinking is just find a way to make the space it takes up 36" + overflow needs....;)
- true bean animal drains are external I think, likely the quietest method if done right (I failed with my internal bean)
 
Custom Aquariums in Neenah,WI has some great prices, they do not do eurobracing, but use anodized marine grade aluminum and they back their tanks with a lifetime guarantee. base price from them is around 2500, you can go check them out and they also have free delivery for anything over 2000 and are only about 5-6 hours from you Capman.


Almost forgot, you are NOT required to buy their stand to get the tank warranty.
 
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Thanks for the info.

What do you mean regarding base price? Many of their tank prices are less than $2500.
 
Sorry I meant just the basic tank itself without modifying it to have low iron glass and thickness, also the choice to get a black or blue back glass, lids, stand, etc...
 
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This was a great and useful conversation that we had back in January. Thanks to all who contributed.

I'm now at the point where I need to make more serious plans. While I probably won't actually be ordering the tanks for another year (we move in to our new building at the start of January 2018 - and I don't know how much before that I'll have access to the new aquarium room to start working on setting things up), I need to nail down some specifics on tanks and stands very soon.

I'm thinking of going with Custom Aquariums in Wisconsin for the tanks (and plan to e-mail them with some specific questions very soon), and probably a local metal fabricator for the stands.

I thought I'd ask though whether anyone has any further thoughts or suggestions?
 
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