Dry Tank

We have a 500 gallon salt water tank that was leaking. (8 ft wide x 4
ft high x 2 ft deep).

It is not repairable and we do not want to spend the 10 grand it will
cost to replace it.

It was suggested that we would be able to utilize the tank as a "dry
tank" which would house shells and dry coral in an attractive display
similar to the one shown he

http://www.molluscan.com/dennison/images/aquarium.jpg

Does anyone have a recommendation as to who might be able to design
this for us? We are a business located in Perris, CA (Southern
California)

I have thought of something like this but dry coral is not cheap. Maybe
think of some of the newer display corals. It would give more color to
the tank and only be a little more expensive. Cleaning the tank will
such since you will have to occasionaly dust the corals, but no
different than a dry tank.

If a glass top is put on, the corals would not even need
to be dusted, but I personally would not be interested in
a graveyard tank. If it were me, I'd repair it, or at
least repair it enough to make it into a terrarium.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Sandbag wrote on 3/18/2006 8:21 AM:
I have thought of something like this but dry coral is not cheap. Maybe
think of some of the newer display corals. It would give more color to
the tank and only be a little more expensive. Cleaning the tank will
such since you will have to occasionaly dust the corals, but no
different than a dry tank.

Why do you say it is not repairable? A tank that large is most
certainly worth repairing unless a panel is cracked. Even then, the
repair would be cheaper than a replacement.

b

--
¼á
"Betty" wrote in message
oups.com...
We have a 500 gallon salt water tank that was leaking. (8 ft wide x
4
ft high x 2 ft deep).

It is not repairable and we do not want to spend the 10 grand it
will
cost to replace it.

It was suggested that we would be able to utilize the tank as a
"dry
tank" which would house shells and dry coral in an attractive
display
similar to the one shown he

http://www.molluscan.com/dennison/images/aquarium.jpg

Does anyone have a recommendation as to who might be able to design
this for us? We are a business located in Perris, CA (Southern
California)

Some reason or other, I just can not see where it would be impossible
or all that expensive to reseal a glass tank......If the panes are not
cracked, its certianly resealable. I have already redone a 210 gal
tank, and would love to get my hands on a leaking 500 gal......If yur
gonna turn it into a dry tank with bleacked corals etc, may as well
just hang a picture up of a reef..........

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:34:52 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:
If a glass top is put on, the corals would not even need
to be dusted, but I personally would not be interested in
a graveyard tank. If it were me, I'd repair it, or at
least repair it enough to make it into a terrarium.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Sandbag wrote on 3/18/2006 8:21 AM:
I have thought of something like this but dry coral is not cheap. Maybe
think of some of the newer display corals. It would give more color to
the tank and only be a little more expensive. Cleaning the tank will
such since you will have to occasionaly dust the corals, but no
different than a dry tank.


--
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oooO
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\ ( ( )
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The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

It's still reparable, but risky. I sure would not want the
liability of it leaking again,if I were to repair it. But
if it were my own tank, I would repair it. I'm a risk
taker :-) The crack would need to be cleaned out, and
acrylic solvent would be put in the crack to rebond the
acrylic. And the stand would have to be reinforced. And
since the crack is obviously in a place where you don't
see it, extra acrylic could be added to enforce it.

The other thing is that the tank was probably not made
strong enough to begin with.

But then, if you repaired it, there would not be much risk
if it were turned into a terrarium.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Betty wrote on 3/20/2006 5:51 PM:
Billy wrote:
Why do you say it is not repairable? A tank that large is most
certainly worth repairing unless a panel is cracked. Even then, the
repair would be cheaper than a replacement.



We had several people come out to view the tank and was quoted about
$10k to replace it.

The tank, which is only about 4 years old, was built into cabinetry and
did not have any sort of steel frame beneath it. With the weight of
all the rocks and water, it's believed that the wood compressed or
settled a bit and sadly, the tank is cracked. We thought it was just a
seam - but it's actually the left side and front cracked in the acrylic
itself.

Yes - this is the fault of the person who installed the tank - who is
now very much in debt and very out out business so we can't rely on him
to fix his error.

The owner does not want to spend that much money to fix and is looking
for some sort of comprimise.

I looked at terreriums and it seems like the tank would need to be
removed for things to be installed correctly? I'm not even an amatuer
- let alone an expert - so I have no idea if that's the case or not.

You guys seem like a pretty knowledgeable group - what would you do if
you had maybe a thousand or two to spend on this project to make it
look presentable - if not really cool looking?

I looked at terreriums and it seems like the tank would need to be
removed for things to be installed correctly? I'm not even an
amatuer - let alone an expert - so I have no idea if that's the
case or not.

I don't think so.

You guys seem like a pretty knowledgeable group - what would you do
if you had maybe a thousand or two to spend on this project to make
it look presentable - if not really cool looking?

Does the owner like reptiles? That would make a great home for some bearded
dragons! They need UVB light, which shoudn't be a problem. Some kind of
heating from overhead that makes a temperature gradient in the tank.
They're dry/desert animals, so maybe a small fan to move the air.

I would LOVE having something like this....it's hard to ever have a big
enough enclosure to make a good home for a reptile. I keep boa
constrictors, an iguana, a turtle. I would NOT recommend an iguana, though.

Great idea Cindy! At least then there would be something living in the tank.
Unfortunately we had to kill another snake last week. This one was in
the kitchen. I say unfortunately as it turned out to be a tree snake but
it was very thick and about 4 feet long and the lighting where it was
made it next to impossible to see the colouring and we couldnt see it's
head - looked like a brown snake and I'm too young to die
Next day I saw a beautiful coppery coloured one go through the house
yard. I'm all snaked out right now and you wouldn't believe how many
noises round your house can suddenly sound like a snake sliding

Cindy wrote:
I looked at terreriums and it seems like the tank would need to be
removed for things to be installed correctly? I'm not even an
amatuer - let alone an expert - so I have no idea if that's the
case or not.


I don't think so.


You guys seem like a pretty knowledgeable group - what would you do
if you had maybe a thousand or two to spend on this project to make
it look presentable - if not really cool looking?


Does the owner like reptiles? That would make a great home for some bearded
dragons! They need UVB light, which shoudn't be a problem. Some kind of
heating from overhead that makes a temperature gradient in the tank.
They're dry/desert animals, so maybe a small fan to move the air.

I would LOVE having something like this....it's hard to ever have a big
enough enclosure to make a good home for a reptile. I keep boa
constrictors, an iguana, a turtle. I would NOT recommend an iguana, though.

Miskairal
Your place and snakes osunds like our place here with
snakes......Loaded with rattlers, copperheads and cotton
mouths......plus tons of other non venomenous types. Once it gets warm
out, you certainly do not walk around outside at night without a
flashlight. We kept a 4 foot eztern diamondback and a 3 foot timbler
mrattler in a acrylic tank for years, until I finally had enough sense
to admit it was a dangerous thing no matter who well i thought I could
handle them.....so I turned them loose......Anymore if possible I
catch and relocate, and kill only if there is no other way out.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:24:34 +1000, miskairal
wrote:
Great idea Cindy! At least then there would be something living in the tank.
Unfortunately we had to kill another snake last week. This one was in
the kitchen. I say unfortunately as it turned out to be a tree snake but
it was very thick and about 4 feet long and the lighting where it was
made it next to impossible to see the colouring and we couldnt see it's
head - looked like a brown snake and I'm too young to die
Next day I saw a beautiful coppery coloured one go through the house
yard. I'm all snaked out right now and you wouldn't believe how many
noises round your house can suddenly sound like a snake sliding

Cindy wrote:
I looked at terreriums and it seems like the tank would need to be
removed for things to be installed correctly? I'm not even an
amatuer - let alone an expert - so I have no idea if that's the
case or not.


I don't think so.


You guys seem like a pretty knowledgeable group - what would you do
if you had maybe a thousand or two to spend on this project to make
it look presentable - if not really cool looking?


Does the owner like reptiles? That would make a great home for some bearded
dragons! They need UVB light, which shoudn't be a problem. Some kind of
heating from overhead that makes a temperature gradient in the tank.
They're dry/desert animals, so maybe a small fan to move the air.

I would LOVE having something like this....it's hard to ever have a big
enough enclosure to make a good home for a reptile. I keep boa
constrictors, an iguana, a turtle. I would NOT recommend an iguana, though.




--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

I don't know about where you are but here there are more people killed
by snakes whilst trying to catch/kill them. We only kill them if they
are in the house or in my bird aviaries/sheds. Normally we would never
kill a tree snake. Last year I took a photo of a tree snake in a tree
right beside the back door. It was only feet away from me but when I got
the photo developed (yes, old stuff) you cannot see that there is a
snake there at all, even I can't.

I have 2 spare 90 litre tanks at the moment and the thought has crossed
my mind to house some reptiles. I have done no research yet though so I
don't even know if that is possible in such small tanks. I'll probably
never look into it - learning all this sal****er stuff is enough for the
next few years

Roy wrote:
Miskairal
Your place and snakes osunds like our place here with
snakes......Loaded with rattlers, copperheads and cotton
mouths......plus tons of other non venomenous types. Once it gets warm
out, you certainly do not walk around outside at night without a
flashlight. We kept a 4 foot eztern diamondback and a 3 foot timbler
mrattler in a acrylic tank for years, until I finally had enough sense
to admit it was a dangerous thing no matter who well i thought I could
handle them.....so I turned them loose......Anymore if possible I
catch and relocate, and kill only if there is no other way out.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:24:34 +1000, miskairal
wrote:

Great idea Cindy! At least then there would be something living in the tank.
Unfortunately we had to kill another snake last week. This one was in
the kitchen. I say unfortunately as it turned out to be a tree snake but
it was very thick and about 4 feet long and the lighting where it was
made it next to impossible to see the colouring and we couldnt see it's
head - looked like a brown snake and I'm too young to die
Next day I saw a beautiful coppery coloured one go through the house
yard. I'm all snaked out right now and you wouldn't believe how many
noises round your house can suddenly sound like a snake sliding

Cindy wrote:
I looked at terreriums and it seems like the tank would need to be
removed for things to be installed correctly? I'm not even an
amatuer - let alone an expert - so I have no idea if that's the
case or not.


I don't think so.


You guys seem like a pretty knowledgeable group - what would you do
if you had maybe a thousand or two to spend on this project to make
it look presentable - if not really cool looking?


Does the owner like reptiles? That would make a great home for some bearded
dragons! They need UVB light, which shoudn't be a problem. Some kind of
heating from overhead that makes a temperature gradient in the tank.
They're dry/desert animals, so maybe a small fan to move the air.

I would LOVE having something like this....it's hard to ever have a big
enough enclosure to make a good home for a reptile. I keep boa
constrictors, an iguana, a turtle. I would NOT recommend an iguana, though.