What do I ask professional tank installer?

[Cardeater]

I want to finally get a new tank. There are two places I've found in the Chicago area. I only knew of one "Old Town Aquarium" in Chicago proper but Google suggest a place in Crystal Lake called "Living Art aquatics."

Old Town Aquarium | Chicago's Premier Aquarium Retailer & Service Co.

Founded in 1975, Chicago’s Old Town Aquarium is considered one of the nation’s top aquarium specialty stores. Livestock, installation, maintenance, and design.

www.oldtownaquarium.com

Aquarium Builders in Chicago – Living Art Aquatics

Have an ambitious idea for a custom aquarium? Contact our personalized aquarium builders in Crystal Lake, IL, to make your dream a reality!

livingartaquatics.com

I'm trying to figure out what questions I should ask when I call them.

I figure I need to ask about insurance they carry.
I imagine they are gonna require I use whatever acrylic manufacturer they have. I guess I can ask them this or if they'll install something from fishtanksdirect or if their prices are competitive with that place.

I basically have a 125g and I've played around with measuring and I think a 8ft could fit in there.
Some other limiting things are I guess it would need to fit in the door and elevator for the building. Floor is concrete so I've been told that weight shouldn't be an issue but obviously I'd appreciate their expertise in this area.

What other questions would you be asking them? I guess I'll have to pay some fee for them to come over and actually evaluate and measure everything.

I imagine someone will suggest it, but I cannot DYI. I'm not handy and I'm willing to pay premium to get this done right. I don't want to somehow screw up and find out tank doesn't fit.

I've been wanting to do this for some time now but it seems overwhelming to just get started on it.

How much would you budget for this? I see tanks that might work are $4-6k plus sump if I went that way and stand. Don't know how much to expect for installation.

Any suggestions and comments are welcome and I move forward with this process.

 

[LazyBones]

Maybe post this on FB any of the clubs and see if any GCCA or Greenwater hobbyists even Madison or Milwaukee people know rightaway. Been out of the hobby too long but do know the owner of Sho Tank out of Mundelein might be the best bet to talk acrylics with about expectations and they do service/installs like they did long time ago but I dont know if they still have acrylic maker for them I have not seen a brand new one in their shop in the year I have been in there but again been out of touch in this hobby. I know Old Orchard former employee or something now has a fish shop out of Morton Grove you can hit him up hes very friendly too so is the lady there too.

 

[Backfromthedead]

What type/brand of tanks are you looking at? What size specifically? For over 7' I think youre gonna be limited to custom shop-custom order. I can't think of any manufacturers that distribute 8' tanks though you may have a local builder since you are in a larger metropolitan area.

For something like a 8' 300g shipped to your door and installed I would expect to pay easily $6k+ these days.

I'm excited for you. Let us know how this goes and if you find anything good.

 

[Cardeater]

What type/brand of tanks are you looking at? What size specifically? For over 7' I think youre gonna be limited to custom shop-custom order. I can't think of any manufacturers that distribute 8' tanks though you may have a local builder since you are in a larger metropolitan area.

For something like a 8' 300g shipped to your door and installed I would expect to pay easily $6k+ these days.

I'm excited for you. Let us know how this goes and if you find anything good.

I want acrylic. I was looking at fishtanksdirect bc they have good prices but I won't be surprised if these places will want me to use their supplier. Basically I wanna go as big as can fit through the door here. Probably have height be the limiting factor as I'd rather have it more horizontal room than vertical, plus I read people complaining about having to work with deeper tanks (especially seen people complain when it gets into the 30" deep+ range).

I think Id want a sump bc that's more water volume but I guess if I did a drip and/or water change system, the extra volume isn't as important.

 

[fishguy1978]

30in deep or wide can present an issue depending on how long your arms are. I have both in my fish room and no access to the back of the tanks. I have a step stool that allows me to do most of what I need but a regular A frame ladder for more than just gravel vacing.
Measure every door way and elevator opening. I would even make a pvc pipe frame the size of the tank you want and see if you are able to maneuver it through the building. When I was in NYC a customer ordered a custom tank and stand. Tank fit, stand had to be cut in half to maneuver from the hall into the apt.Make sure you account for the furniture dolly too.

 

[Cardeater]

30in deep or wide can present an issue depending on how long your arms are. I have both in my fish room and no access to the back of the tanks. I have a step stool that allows me to do most of what I need but a regular A frame ladder for more than just gravel vacing.
Measure every door way and elevator opening. I would even make a pvc pipe frame the size of the tank you want and see if you are able to maneuver it through the building. When I was in NYC a customer ordered a custom tank and stand. Tank fit, stand had to be cut in half to maneuver from the hall into the apt.Make sure you account for the furniture dolly too.

Yeah that's what I'm worried about. That's another reason I want to have this professionally installed: so they can make sure the measurements aren't screwed up.

I saw on one of these tank portfolio that they used a rented crane to bring the tank up. It didn't seem as expensive as I would have imagined but neighbors would see that and raise problems I imagine. Ive read through condo agreement multiple times and there's nothing about aquariums being prohibited. Just limits breeding or commercial operations and more exotic pets but "regular" household pets are allowed (I don't have exact wording in front of me."

There was also something about having to notify board about connections to plumbing so that might be an issue if I did auto water change or drip system. I think I could get by that by mention tank exchange as part of a larger rehab so it gets lost in what is being done.

Being plumbed has possibly positive insurance coverage benefits from when I talked to agent. Like if I built it into wall, it would be covered as part of building insurance rather than Personal effects.

I remember hearing aquarium coop talk about having to have drains not directly connected to plumbing from tanks. Something like they had to have drains empty into a larger pipe so water could back siphon. I wonder if doing something like that would mean it's not technically connected to plumbing.

 

[ken31cay]

Since you're willing to pay for it then I would say let the custom shop you order from work these things out and guide the entire process. Have a chat with them about what you're looking for, what your concerns are, and then see if they'll work out a plan that makes sense to you. I'm sure you're not the only customer who needed a custom service like this.

I actually ordered my two complete acrylic setups, 8ft/450gal & 6ft/180gal, from fishtanksdirect but shipped them overseas to me here in the Cayman Islands where I live. I had more than a few conversations with them about my orders, especially my 450gal which needed quite a bit of customization. I'm sure if I lived in the U.S. then they would have come out to where the setups were being placed and measured, etc. to assist with the process if I asked them for that service.

Good luck.

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

IMO ask ahead on size before dreaming of dimensions- make sure it is able to be fit in your doorway or window before you can plan ahead alone having to ask them what is the size limit on what can fit in your planned route of entry

 

[ken31cay]

RE: tank & stand dimensions: my 450gal is 96"L x 36"W x 30"H so could not fit through even our 36" doorways. Luckily have some double french doors I could bring it in through.
RE: cleaning large tanks: one of the posts above mentions this. IMO there's a difference cleaning a 30"H (or larger) tank compared to smaller tanks. When cleaning my 30" H 450gal I can no longer clean the inside using just a step stool and a rag. I now have to use a 5 foot ladder and lean part way into the tank when I need to wipe the walls, which I like to do about every 4-6 weeks. I can get around this at times by using an acrylic-safe algae scraper to clean all the walls but I still like use my hand + wash rag which is quicker and does a much better job.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I want acrylic. I was looking at fishtanksdirect bc they have good prices but I won't be surprised if these places will want me to use their supplier. Basically I wanna go as big as can fit through the door here. Probably have height be the limiting factor as I'd rather have it more horizontal room than vertical, plus I read people complaining about having to work with deeper tanks (especially seen people complain when it gets into the 30" deep+ range).

I think Id want a sump bc that's more water volume but I guess if I did a drip and/or water change system, the extra volume isn't as important.

Yeah...I'm planning up my first drip tank as well...If I go sumpless I will probably rig up a mattenfilter. Along these same lines, if I were you, consider a taller tank/shorter stand if you go sumpless since you won't need as much room under stand (thicker glass will eat up sump money too).

I consider the maintenance issue on tall tanks an effort problem. If you want that height bad enough, a MFKer will find a way to keep it clean lol. But I will admit I've been leaning to 24" and under height lately because of material costs.

My opinion, you don't seem like a MFKer that has a bunch of tanks that need to be maintained quickly and frequently but rather that you focus on one like your aforementioned 125g. If this is gonna be your only, main display tank and you want that height I say go for it.