Yes- I have seen some very good deals on aquaria in FB marketplace. Good prices, too.I ordered mine from Planet Aquariums. It was custom built and shipped to my LFS with their regular order so I didn't have to pay freight costs. I believe my 210g + stand + fitted lid + sump cost around $1500, and that was considered a really good deal several years ago. I would expect it to be like 25% more now. Definitely not the most cost-efficient route... but I sure got what I wanted quickly. That was low iron rimless glass - acrylic would probably run less.
I'd keep an eye on Facebook marketplace or your LFSs if they buy used tanks. If you're patient & in an urban area & lucky they occasionally pop up for ~$500-1000.
If you wanna go really big and are handy, plywood tanks are getting pretty popular now and there are lots of guides for building them online. I'm pretty sure I'll do that if I ever want anything bigger than my doorframe.
Where Do You Guys Get Such Big Aquariums?
- Thread starter PB&Jcichlids
- Start date
Got mine from Custom Aquariums. They have an engineering limit because they do all glass (plus truly giant tanks would be heavy asf and good luck getting them in anything smaller than a garage door). You could go as wide as 72" for a monster 36H x 72W x 140L approx 1600 gallons. Weight would be 1700lbs empty and a whopping 15,000lbs full. Would only set you back around 20k with basic 3/4 glass. This would be just the tank alone. If It were me I'd just build a house around something like that or leave a wall off!
- Aquariums up to 36" tall may have a max length of 140"
- Aquariums over 36" tall may have a max length of 96"
What size is the tank you got from them and what do/did you stock in the tank? I know acrylic has it downsides but because of it's advantages I personally prefer to go with acrylic for tanks 6' or larger.
I ordered my 150 from tennecor in 2000, still going strong as my sump , better than the company, lol
I ordered my 450 from tyd pool marine in 2012, not sure if he is still building tanks. I chose him because no one else was willing to work with me on shipping
There is not much of a secondary market here so limited options for sure
I ordered my 450 from tyd pool marine in 2012, not sure if he is still building tanks. I chose him because no one else was willing to work with me on shipping
There is not much of a secondary market here so limited options for sure
I have a 6ft 225. Tempered glass on front, sides and back with regular glass bottom. So the glass is 1/2" vs the 3/4" it would have been if I had gone all regular. Front is starfire clear. I also gained back several gallons capacity on the same footprint by doing this. The back has a custom print background, you can choose or send them a picture of your choice. Right now it houses my Oscar, one blood parrot, one rainbow cichlid, one syno catfish, one acara, and 10 honduran redpoints (all adults). The stand is aluminum framed by steel. The 225 has a heavy duty marine grade frame. I could dance on the sucker. The 110 aquaclears can barely fit over the thick framing.
I have a 125 Clear for Life acrylic tank which hasn't had an issue with scratching at all. I use microfiber cloths to clean. It's a custom 'fatboy' footprint of 5ft. Tank has no perceptible bowing at all. Sand has not been an issue.
I also have a smaller acrylic tank (SeaClear) I use for growout purposes.
In my region you gotta pay for a larger tank/stand. I think Cali is the only place that 300-500 gallon tanks are dime-a-dozen.
In the last week of looking at Facebook marketplace I’ve found well over a dozen tanks over 180 gallons. Most of them were full set ups and on top of that either were or were close to $5/gallon.
I hear you. I would love to see pics too but then I'm not too anxious to show my tanks as I don't have any good photos.
