Who to contact for QUICK price estimates for some custom aquaria? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter capman
- Start date
Custom Aquariums in Neenah Wisconsin
Planet Aquariums are super nice. Let me know if you want a quote done.
I also can say I have read the glasscages reviews and they are not good
But you have had good experiences with Custom Aquariums I gather. Is that correct?
I've had some communication with them, on the phone, and via e-mail. They seem good, but it has been difficult to get details from them on specifics of stands they could build. They don't have much detail on the website, and they'd want a good chunk of money to do CAD drawings laying out the specifics. I understand where they are coming from, but when there is so much money involved it would be nice to be able to get a bit more detailed information prior to committing any significant amount of money to this.
That being said, at present it is looking like we'll probably have them build our tanks, and I'm thinking of also using their overflow systems, which take up minimal tank space, and would be easy from a plumbing standpoint.
For our big tank (roughly 6 foot x 3 foot footprint.... though if I can make it fit in the space, and I think I probably can, I'm thinking of more like 6 foot x 40 inches) I'm thinking we will have them build the stand. Price quote for that stand is about $1000, which does not seem too outrageous for something like this. And getting the stand from them gives us the lifetime tank warranty (if we don't use their stand the warranty is something like 30 days, or maybe a few months.... I forget exactly).
For our collection of 6 tanks (two rows of three tanks, one row above the other, each tank with a 3 foot x 2 foot footprint) they are quoting a rather higher price for the stand (and have not been willing to give terribly specific details without paying a significant amount of money for a CAD drawing). I realize this stand will need to hold a lot of weight, but their price is a lot more than I had anticipated. A metal fabricator who is a neighbor of mine gave me a really quick estimate of what it might cost him to build a stand for these tanks (he would use stainless steel angle iron, or something like that, rather than anodized aluminum), and his cost estimate was much lower.
It is looking like the building construction folks are considering the stands (and the enclosure) to be part of their responsibility as part of the construction costs, so this is going to work out well from the standpoint of my budget.
The stand for the 6 tanks is currently the big wildcard in this project, and this issue needs to be resolved soon. We'll probably have the stand built by some local metal fabricator, even though we'll not have the lifetime tank warrantee if we do so. I've never had a tank fail though, and so if we handle the tanks properly, and level them properly, I think the chances of us having a problem are going to be pretty small.
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Just talked to our head of facilities today, who is working with the building construction team coordinating things, and is working on the tank stand and enclosure issue. Looks like we are going to have Custom Aquariums do the whole thing - tanks, stands, and if they are able, the enclosures too. Cost of stands and enclosures is going to be part of the cost of the building (thus not coming out of my grant budget for the project) which is a huge relief to me!
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Also...
For the big tank, I've decided to increase the size from 6ft x 3 ft x 2 ft high to 6ft x 4 ft x 2ft high. We have the space for this as it turns out, and the cost will not be that much more in the big picture.
My plan will be to install a partial false back in the tank (maybe 3.5 or 4 feet long, about a foot from the back wall of the tank) that will create an open raceway of sorts in the back (that could also double as a fish trap when necessary). I want to try to have a spawning group of blue tangs in this tank (yes, really....we'll see how it works out), and it seems this sort of arrangement could provide lots of swimming space, opportunities for individuals to get away from each other (thus possibly reducing some aggression) etc.
The four foot front to back dimension might seem excessive from a tank management standpoint, but it really will be more like a 6 foot x 3 foot tank (assessible from front and sides) with a a 6 foot by 1 foot tank behind it (assessible from the back). And we will have full access to all four sides of the tank for maintenance.
I wish this tank could simply be a bit longer (e.g. 7 or 8 feet), but that won't fit in our lab space.
I'll welcome any suggestions/help folks might be able to offer regarding the creation and installation of the false back once we have this tank. Ideally, I'd like to somehow rig up some sliding doors that would normally be mostly open, allowing fish entry for swimming through and for being fed (I'm thinking that about half the time we'd feed back there just to get fish in the habit of going back there) but that could be slid down to trap fish in the space for easier capture if needed.
For the big tank, I've decided to increase the size from 6ft x 3 ft x 2 ft high to 6ft x 4 ft x 2ft high. We have the space for this as it turns out, and the cost will not be that much more in the big picture.
My plan will be to install a partial false back in the tank (maybe 3.5 or 4 feet long, about a foot from the back wall of the tank) that will create an open raceway of sorts in the back (that could also double as a fish trap when necessary). I want to try to have a spawning group of blue tangs in this tank (yes, really....we'll see how it works out), and it seems this sort of arrangement could provide lots of swimming space, opportunities for individuals to get away from each other (thus possibly reducing some aggression) etc.
The four foot front to back dimension might seem excessive from a tank management standpoint, but it really will be more like a 6 foot x 3 foot tank (assessible from front and sides) with a a 6 foot by 1 foot tank behind it (assessible from the back). And we will have full access to all four sides of the tank for maintenance.
I wish this tank could simply be a bit longer (e.g. 7 or 8 feet), but that won't fit in our lab space.
I'll welcome any suggestions/help folks might be able to offer regarding the creation and installation of the false back once we have this tank. Ideally, I'd like to somehow rig up some sliding doors that would normally be mostly open, allowing fish entry for swimming through and for being fed (I'm thinking that about half the time we'd feed back there just to get fish in the habit of going back there) but that could be slid down to trap fish in the space for easier capture if needed.
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