Opportunity I just can't pass up. But how to go about it?

RcemeGuy289

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2019
10
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Long story short, my wife is getting a significant amount of money back from her taxes and, after paying all our bills and putting some aside, I have gotten the golden opportunity to build a brand new stand and rebuild a tank. Problem is I'm not sure which tank to build the stand for, lol.

I have a 155 gallon (48Lx24WX31H) and a 135 gallon (72Lx18Wx24H) as well as a 90 gallon (48Lx18Wx24H). The 90 gallon isn't set up currently but the other 2 are.

This stand is going to have one of the tanks stacked on top of the 90 gallon and the other tank will be sold (can not really keep up with the 2 large tanks, much less all 3, life gets too busy at the moment, excluding the current pandemic). I have the wood and plans/design for the stand already, but i just can not decide which large tank to incorporate into it.

No matter which tank I end up using it will have to be taken apart and resealed. The 135 simply has too many scratches on the front pane of glass to ignore as well as a really ugly silicone job done by the last guy. If it is taken down and resealed it will be simply flipped onto is side to create the new dimensions 72Lx24Wx18H. The 155 has no issues whatsoever, but, if I do keep it I also want to flip it on its side to create the new dimensions 48Lx31Wx24H, 31 inches of height is just too darn high and I would really love the extra 6 inches of width to accommodate some larger fish.

Now here is the problem, I just don't know which to do, lol. There are costs and benefits to both. The width of the 155 would allow larger fish and could get into a smaller spot and the glass is in better condition, however the amount of weight is quite immense, the length of the 135 is very nice but can be difficult to position, it can't house particularly long species comfortably and the height is only 18 inches (not much).

What would you do? I also plan on building a couple filters for these tanks as time goes on.

As a side note, while I know I can't keep true monsters in either of these set-ups, what would be your suggestions for both? I would love to hear I could keep a stingray or 2 in the 155 but I'm not getting my hopes up, lol.
 
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fishguy1978

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2020
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Go big or go home. Stack the 135 above the 155
 

RcemeGuy289

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2019
10
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Use the 90 as a sump for one of the larger tanks. It will work well for either. Keep all tanks. This way youll have both big tanks and one will be enhanced.
The 90 gallon is reserved for my wife's tank. I would like to keep both big tanks but at the moment they are just too much work. I'm in the military and they keep me pretty busy as is, coupled with moving around frequently it just isn't feasible for me to keep both.
Or...take apart both tanks, use the panels to make a tank somewhere in the neighborhood of 72x48x24.
Very tempting, but at this point in time a truly large tank just won't work for us.


I'm going to make a post regarding stocking of either aquarium and see if that helps me decide.
 
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RcemeGuy289

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2019
10
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Upon further inspection of the glass on the 6 foot aquarium while doing a water change I have come to the conclusion it would be a waste of time. The previous owners scratched every single pane of glass, it honestly looks like they took sandpaper to it, it is that bad. I will post a dedicated aquarium build thread to follow the entire build. Thanks for everyone's input.
 
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jjohnwm

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Mar 29, 2019
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Keep in mind that you can't simply re-assemble a tank "flipped onto its side" without, at the very least, cutting some glass. Each tank has one piece that is the length x the width of the tank, and two pieces that are the length x the height. If you try to flip it over, you end up with...at best...an aquarium where the front panel is either taller or shorter than the back panel. And this doesn't even take into account the fractions of inches that are taken up by the overlapping joints and corners.

If it were me, I would just build a stand that supports the two chosen tanks...which would be the two bigger ones...and then dress it up with trim pieces that conceal the corners and the ugly silicone job. Make it look like a custom wood-framed tank.
 
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