12 Volt Man's Aqueon 150 Gallon Startup Thread

[12 Volt Man]

yeah, here in the GTA all the local Big Al's stores sell them.

believe it or not, they are actually the CHEAPEST stand available in terms of price - even the-fall-apart-when-wet particle board stands are more money..

and steel stands are among the most solid and sturdy stands out there...the LFS says they are the best for handling the huge weights of these monster tanks..

its a win win situation...but they don't look as nice as the wooden cabinet stands..thats the one drawback..

 

[12 Volt Man]

..there is a massive snow storm here today...I almost got stuck in my own driveway and I drive an SUV..

I hope they can still deliver the tank tomorrow....

 

[BushFishRox]

I would go with a steel and then dress it up ply-wood, if I knew Big Al's sold steel stands I would of gone with one of those over a pine stand.

 

[12 Volt Man]

see, I like the look of the pine stands.

they sell for 370+tax for the 72x18 size.

the metal stand was 146 + tax..

what scared me about the pine stands was not the wood, but rather how they are put together, they are put together with wood staples and glue..there is not a single nail or wood screw in the whole thing...

I was a little nervous putting a tank that big on there for the long term...15 years later, I still want it to be structurally sound..

my older 90 and 65 were set up non stop since 93 and 95 respectively.. all the way until last month...on metal stands...

part of why I chose to do the same stand even though the pine cabinet stands (in black) look amazing

I am hoping to get the same sort of longetivity from this set up (touches wood)

unless of course I one day upgrade to a 265 (my fav. size monster tank) LOL

 

[BushFishRox]

my next tank will be atleast 3' wide and longer then 6' so I think I will be going custom but that wont be till I get a house.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I sort of wish I could have gone wider than the 150..but the room it is in is too small. with space left for an AC on the the tank, a 180 ( the next size up) would take up almost half of the adjacent wall...26" of tank + stand + space behind tank for a HOB AC110... you add it all up and its too wide for that room....from the wall to the edge of the tank would be almost 3 feet...the adjacent wall is only 6 feet and a bit...it would have been too big...

so I had to go with the 150 which, in all truth is a bit narrow for its height and length...an awesome looking tank for sure, but a 24" wide tank would have been better...

when I get a bigger house one day I want to get a 265 size (84x24x30 tall).

its my fav. monster size tank..

 

[FishGoneWild]

true. but you only move it once

acrylic scratches too easily for my tastes

That's what you think. If you keep browsing through this site you'll constantly want fish bigger than that tank then it's time to upgrade. That means it's time to move the tank. I'm the process of upgrading to a wider tank and I'm dreading the move. I know it'll take a good half or more of the day. As far as scratches you just got to be more careful and have a bottle of scratch remover car wax on hand.

 

[12 Volt Man]

...tank is on its way..around 10 eastern standard time. they expect to be here..

pics by lunchtime hopefully

 

[BushFishRox]

...tank is on its way..around 10 eastern standard time. they expect to be here..

pics by lunchtime hopefully

it better be setup and fully stocked by lunch time

 

[12 Volt Man]

lol