Do it yourself

Quote: rxwine

But the clincher is the closing line.

The super upbeat people are always
the first ones to go broke in business.
Every time. If you think otherwise, you
haven't been around much. You can
believe in your product till you're
blue in the face, doesn't make people
want it.

Trial and error always wins the day.

Example. In a village I go thru all the
time, there's a restaurant is a strip mall.
The first one failed about 10 years ago.
Since then, 6 other people have tried
and failed in the same spot with diners.
They go in and by all the tables and chairs
and everything needed from the last
suckers, er, previous owners.

I usually go in and talk to the new people.
They are always extremely upbeat and
enthusiastic, they will make it work. And
of course, 6 months later, they are belly
up because they're business newbies. They
think all it takes is a strong will to succeed.

Wrong. It takes experience in the field, and
due diligence. They had neither. Right now
there's a micro brewery there. I give him
till the end of summer.

Quote: Evenbob

The super upbeat people are always
the first ones to go broke in business.
Every time. If you think otherwise, you
haven't been around much. You can
believe in your product till you're
blue in the face, doesn't make people
want it.

Trial and error always wins the day.

I was thinking more a life raft, where I would hear nothing except more bad news about how we were going to die. In fact, if you are ever in a life boat with 4 or 5 people I suggest not offering too many thoughts, as I assure you, they will likely choose you to drown or eat first.

While I believe you already said you weren't making something with the illusion of super big (and although you may have set your dimensions of the table size, it wouldn't really matter here) have you considered a diminished depth and increase the overall height? It would hold the same amount of water. The extra glass would add some more weight.

I'm not sure how much turning room the size of fish you have in mind are going to need. But I've seen that type of commercial tank before.

The actual depth of a tank is something that is easy to create an illusion of, so it will just look like a massive tank.

(not sure if I'm using "depth" as the right word here with a water tank, but anyway, the distance from the front to wall)


(not sure what the bottom of the tank needs to be made of, so not sure what weight factors there)

Quote: rxwine

While I believe you already said you weren't making something with the illusion of super big (and although you may have set your dimensions of the table size, it wouldn't really matter here) have you considered a diminished depth and increase the overall height? It would hold the same amount of water. The extra glass would add some more weight.

I'm not sure how much turning room the size of fish you have in mind are going to need. But I've seen that type of commercial tank before.

The actual depth of a tank is something that is easy to create an illusion of, so it will just look like a massive tank.

(not sure if I'm using "depth" as the right word here with a water tank, but anyway, the distance from the front to wall)


(not sure what the bottom of the tank needs to be made of, so not sure what weight factors there)

Just to be clear, because your mention of the table confuses me, the table is a separate project from the aquarium. While that table could hold 8 adult men, that tank is gonna weight a #$%^ ton more than that. Like, more than three times that lol.

Depth as you define it (I'll call it "width") is the one dimension that's sort of locked in due to the orientation of my house. There's a jut of wall sticking out, which the tank will be flush to. If I go wider or thinner in that sense, it'll look funny because of that wall. It's approx 3', which will give ample turning room for any fish outside of a fully grown Esox, which I ain't never catchin' or bringing home.

My rough dimension plan was a 6'L - 3'H - 3'W, depending on whether my house can support the nearly 4,000lb of mass that much water possesses, plus rocks, plus aquarium itself. But regardless of dimensions, the tank will be built the same.

I will build a box frame out of 2"x 4" that matches the 6'L - 3'W bottom of the tank, and make it approx 2' high. That will get it off the floor for viewing, spread the weight over a large area, and give me a void underneath the tank for all my plumbing and filters so they're hidden and "clean". It will obviously be braced, and I can "wrap" it with some sort of quality plywood or laminated wood to make it look nice. Put some access doors on it to get to the plumbing and pumps, all that good stuff.

The tank itself will be part acrylic, part plywood. Since it's in a corner wall, one end, the backside, and the bottom are not going to be visible, and there's no sense adding all the weight and severe cost of acrylic ($500 vs $40) for no reason. Only the front and the one exposed end will be acrylic. I will build a supporting frame again out of 2"x 4", which the acrylic / plywood tank will sit inside. The two acrylic panels will be chemically welded together, and the acrylic and plywood halves will be inserted into the supporting frame, which will sit on the box frame.

Then comes the plumbing. Big fish eat big prey, leave big carcasses, and make big poops. And the two toughest problems with big tanks is handling the waste to prevent ammonia buildup, and emptying the damn thing when needed. So I'll cut about 3 - 3" holes, evenly spaced, into the plywood bottom and install some PVC plumbing flanges. The middle one can lead to the pumping and filtering system housed underneath the tank. The other two will be connected via PVC, routed through a hole in the floor, and connected to my waste water pipes. A simple shut off valve will be installed on each. That way, my filters are working from the bottom, where all the BS falls and gets trapped in the rocks. And every now and again, I can just dump from the other two holes to get what the one pump hole misses. And come winter when/if I need to shut it down, I just flip the valves and let it drain. No more buckets, no more vacuums, no more siphon pumps pissing fish water all over my carpets!

After that, it's just a matter of sealing it all. I'll use a special aquarium epoxy to coat the plywood, which serves to separate it from the water and make it "like glass". Then I just need to run a bead of aquarium safe silicone between all the panels and the flanges, let it all cure, and I should have the big ass aquarium of my dreams.

Quote: Face

Now... how much would you pay for something like this? That's a serious question, and don't worry about my precious feelings. I can't find anything online that is comparable, and I'm curious. It's all fir, so there's no hidden value in the wood. I suspect I would need to do something to cater to those who decorate for a rustic motif in order to get real value out of it. Something like building it out of reclaimed barn slats. But for what it is... how much? Ready, set, roadshow me.

In rural Washington and Oregon woodworkers abound but sales seem to take place on craft days. Funny signs, unusual hand tools or swinging chain saws, rustic furniture or just birdhouses. It seems one guy built birdhouses all winter long but relied on a five day garlic festival to draw traffic to his home/workshop. The hippies in various communes didn't buy the birdcages but they brought the traffic with them.

Music and arts festivals seem to unite small communities since they bring city slickers who have the money to buy them knick knacks.

You can now relax Face the Leafs are done playing for another year. Who will you be cheering on in the playoffs?

Quote: Fleastiff

In rural Washington and Oregon woodworkers abound but sales seem to take place on craft days. Funny signs, unusual hand tools or swinging chain saws, rustic furniture or just birdhouses. It seems one guy built birdhouses all winter long but relied on a five day garlic festival to draw traffic to his home/workshop. The hippies in various communes didn't buy the birdcages but they brought the traffic with them.

Music and arts festivals seem to unite small communities since they bring city slickers who have the money to buy them knick knacks.

I've thought of it, but it's just not possible at this time. Too much capital that I don't have to sink into creating a number of things worthy of a craft show. Plus, it's WNY. None of that stuff starts here for quite a few weeks. It could be 75* and sun tomorrow, and 3' of snow the day after.

And then when I get a job and have the capital, I'll likely not have the time =p

Sold the table, though. Less than minimum wage, but more than playing video games all day =)

Quote: kenarman

You can now relax Face the Leafs are done playing for another year. Who will you be cheering on in the playoffs?

I've been relaxed since December, friend XD

The typical scenario goes as such. Cheer for the Leafs until late November. Look on in wonder as they implode shortly thereafter. Stop watching in January and focus on my own hockey. Check back in around March to see if they spoil anyone in their Spring time surge. Playoffs start. Cheer for the Habs until they get bounced, then cheer for the Bruins until hockey is over.

Boston really screwed me this year.

So I'm pretty much riding the Hab train to the finish. If they wind up getting bounced, I'll be watching for no other reason than it's playoff hockey. Should that happen, all I'll care is that Pittsburgh doesn't win (because Crosby) and that Detroit doesn't win (because TheCesspit ;))

Quote: Face

I've thought of it, but it's just not possible at this time. Too much capital that I don't have to sink into creating a number of things worthy of a craft show. Plus, it's WNY. None of that stuff starts here for quite a few weeks. It could be 75* and sun tomorrow, and 3' of snow the day after.
And then when I get a job and have the capital, I'll likely not have the time =p
Sold the table, though. Less than minimum wage, but more than playing video games all day =)

Well, this is the Age of the Internet.......
Etsy or Etcy or something like that is the site for selling hand made knick/knacks. They recently let in a few "manufacturered items" and one woman made several million buying from China's auction site and selling on etcy.

Good luck. You can carve wood or swing a hammer in the cold because your customer is as close as PayPal and FedEx are.

Face, why did you sell the table?

Quote: Face

I've been relaxed since December, friend XD

The typical scenario goes as such. Cheer for the Leafs until late November. Look on in wonder as they implode shortly thereafter. Stop watching in January and focus on my own hockey. Check back in around March to see if they spoil anyone in their Spring time surge. Playoffs start. Cheer for the Habs until they get bounced, then cheer for the Bruins until hockey is over.

Boston really screwed me this year.

So I'm pretty much riding the Hab train to the finish. If they wind up getting bounced, I'll be watching for no other reason than it's playoff hockey. Should that happen, all I'll care is that Pittsburgh doesn't win (because Crosby) and that Detroit doesn't win (because TheCesspit ;))

Notice you didn't put the Rangers on your list. They seem like a natual for you considering where you live. Habs will be my back-up team once the Canucks get bounced. Carrie Price played his minor hockey where I live.