new tank
 

SO i decided that when i move out i'm getting a larger aquarium. this might not be for a year or so but im curious what sizes and specifications are out there and how much it would cost. Also if you get an aquarium built can you have the front pane of glass made in starfire glass i heard thats much clearer. and i wanted something in between 200 and 230 gallons or so. Does anyone know where a good place is to get custom tanks built and how much it costs. And if anyone has pictures of larger tanks around that size that would be appreciated. haha sorry for the super broad question it's just easier to know the size of tank you want when you see pictures and such thanks anyone :)

you can indeed get just the front pane made of starfire, which is clearer, but you have to keep in mind that starfire does scratch easier.

some sizes i preffer are (LxWxH):

6'x3'x2'

5'x4'x20"

8'x3'x18" (FYI:shallow tanks can be a bit harder to make look nice, but you if you went with this size, i'd go rimless)

I was told by an LFS recently that for larger tanks a good rule of thumb is about $20-$22 a square foot (with in reason) and starfire is double that.

Just give them your credit card now and have the statements sent to the store so no-one knows how much your have spent..... Who ever really keeps track of what we have spent on our tanks.... OOOHHHHH Scary even to start thinking about that.

I kept a tally going on excel for the first 3 months of SW..... then i did the sum of column 2, almost threw up and deleted it :lol:

Sorry to jack your thread.

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Smart move
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Mercedes-Benz Vito Specifications

hahaha thanks guys this helps quite a bit and i just wanna know how much i gotta save to get a tank and stuff hahaha

fishworld in langley and delta build tanks I dont know what he cost but I have seen his work and it is amazing

I think it is really hard to do a custom tank on a budget. If you are starting from scratch, you should probably think in the 5-7k range for your tank, stand, lighting. If you have to save for it, you might be better off picking up one of the incredible deals that show up on here so often. When one of our fellow adicts has to give it up for a while.

You could start out with your basic set up and then upgrade the equipment as you save for it.

Very true. Once you start getting even remotely fussy about anything the costs seem to go up. Your estimate there I think is quite accurate (and depressing).

i was once told that to build a tank it costs
$20 a gal. on the cheeper end all said and done
$50 a gal for the higher end equiptment all said and done

Im into my 120G for about 3 grand and i bought the MHs used
the skimmer used built my own stand built my own sump bought dead rock and dry sand.

tank was new sump tank was new the sump return and CL pumps were new and heaters were new.

i got all my PVC for plumbing at wholesale costs..

i have all of the equipment already from my old tank i have another skimmer so instead of buying a new crazy one i think ill just run 2 (rs 135 and bk mini 180) i got 3 mh 250 w pendants il make a stand out of steel or aluminum ... havent really looked into that much yet but ill get it to work. and pretty much all ill have to buy is a tank ... if i can get a temporary sump started to make the system circulate so everything can cycle and get used to its new homei'll make my 125 i have right now into a sump.
This might be a terrible idea so if it is let me know hahaha but for now its roughly what i want to do . and there is really good deals on canreef so thats most likely what ill end up doing for a tank thanks :)