Expensive New House - Convince Me to Build a Reef Tank

[Rosseau]

Odd thread title - hear me out.
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My father is in the process of building a new home. He's put a lot of planning and money into it.

He has never had a reef tank before, however he's seen mine and is in understanding of my interest in them.

He's half way convinced to build in a moderate sized tank (200G or so, I'm not sure).

For now, what would help me to convince him all the way would be to see pictures of nice tanks built into decently nice homes.






I wasn't sure how to make this thread without sounding like a jerk.... I'm happy with my nano's and DIY stands etc etc... However, my father would be interested in a clean looking tank which sort of complements the room, is built in... professional etc etc.


Please help!! I would have his money to fund a wicked tank! I may not have to wait to get a real job before having the tank of my dreams !

Thanks.

[Chihuahua6]

Start reading through the Large Tank forums. You will see plenty of nice pics there. Also the Modern reef thread right in this forum, somewhere. he may apprecaite the clean minimalist look.

[barbra]

Are you sure you want to start him on such an intense hobby if he is not entirely sure about it? It may not go well in the long run.......

[pledosophy]

Don't do it! If your pops wanted the tank he wouldn't need much convincing. Just get him a nano and let him convince himself. On second thought, why would you do that to your poor mother.

[sassafrass]

Here is a 450 I built and installed in a multi million dollar home in Mill Valley Ca. only liverock and water but sill nice. Dimensions are 10 x3 x2 Feet

[Rosseau]

Thanks everyone. I'll poke around the large tank forum and elsewhere.


I am not entirely sure of his motivation for wanting the tank... maybe I should figure that out first. I can't say that he has poured over my nano tanks... so perhaps it's more of a 'look at me I've got a REEF tank'... I'm not sure. Well, it isn't so conceited of him, but maybe it isn't all about enjoying the inhabitants for himself. Ah well, many of us are in this for different reasons.

Fortunately, the city he lives in is full of people similar to him and as such there are some local reef stores which are all about near-complete service of large reefs for their clients.


It wouldn't be outrageous in size, but still bigger than anything I can have for now.

[rhiggsbear]

Originally posted by barbra
Are you sure you want to start him on such an intense hobby if he is not entirely sure about it? It may not go well in the long run.......

I agree. Does he know what he is really getting into? Is he will to commit the time and effort to keep the tank looking like the ones you see in the pictures?

A beautiful garden takes more than planting some flowers.

[Playa-1]

I would say slow down a bit and consider the long run. I doubt your going to be there for ever so who's going to take care of the tank after you leave the nest? Are they committed to taking this on? Most people like the look of a well maintained fish tank but taking on the chores that are involved is not for everybody.

[Rosseau]

I'm out of the nest and have been for several years now (but I'm not so far out that I can't mooch off of reef tank goodness).

These are things I would discuss with him. I know first hand how finnicky and time consuming these things are - even just the small ones. He actually will need to convince me that it's what he wants.

I will definitely chat it out a lot. Perhaps, I got a little excited last night in making this post.

Fortunately, like I said above, there are some local reef stores which cater to this sort of situation.

The 500G tank isn't on order yet fortunately.

Thanks again

[rhiggsbear]

Hey, if he has the $$, maybe he can get one of the reef stores to maintain for a fee. He won't quite have the enjoyment we all have, spending hours, days, weeks tweaking, cleaning, playing and mostly, enjoying the tweaking, cleaning, and playing with our tank.

Some people have to have a big beautiful house but also have to have maid to maintain it.

[Sk8r]

what would be a good intro would be to take him to your lfs after viewing some nice inwall pix, and show him the various species up close, plus take him to lunch and talk about what it takes to care for this idea. It's like riding horses...versus having horses. The rider whose mummy saddles up for him/her, has the horse where somebody else sweeps the stable, and takes a jumping class does not "have" horses. Having horses means checking feet, handling horse for vet and shoer, mucking out, and cleaning your own tack. There's a big difference. Either love of it drives you----or it won't.

[WHiteout]

i agree with sk8r, that sounds like a good plan. even though he has the money to purchase the tank, get everything started, and have some one else maintain it, he should be aware of the blood sweat and tears gone in to some of these tanks and the people that take care of them.
another idea is to really get him involved in it as far as purchasing, and putting the tank together. teach him how each thing works, how it functions and the important task it preforms in order to create a man made eco-system in his own house. also like sk8er said first take him to a store, and really let him see the animals up close and really pay attention to how he reacts.

if all of that works out then i think both of you would have the time of your lives on a huge long term project with bounty galore.

[Rosseau]

All good ideas thanks!

Perhaps he is simply trying to bait me back to "the nest".... !

[Sk8r]

Lol!
Because I had been a critical (tech change) 10 years out of the hobby, and was at the time flush and short of time, I tried hiring a pro to set up and take care of it.
I hate to carp (pardon pun) but he installed my sump backwards in the cabinet, left the sump lids in place, set the whole corner tank up flush against the wall (never!!!!) and arrived to set up beautiful old live rock with 80 gallons of January cold saltwater in a pickup truck, and my wonderful live rock wrapped in newspaper.
He wanted to charge me 30 a visit to check chemistry and scrape algae (sorry, I hoped for more) and when he decided to do a water change, he shot the water straight down on a bubble coral frag that had survived everything else and blew it to blazes. Then presented me a 50.00 bill for services.
It was not a happy relationship and that last did it. I'd nurtured that little frag for weeks.
So I found RC, studied up, found most of the things wrong with my setup (and the lids) and have done it myself since.
My apologies to the genuinely skilled wonderful, devoted people out there who do this job the right way, but if you hope to get him linked up to one, check out what you're getting and be sure they're for real. I hired one who immediately went out of biz, but he recommended his 'friend' and I ended up with real troubles---which fortunately, once I buckled down and studied the 'new' way of reefing, were something I could fix with what I'd bought. My lfs, thank goodness, is one of those rare gems, a real reef shop run by a longtime reefer, and he'd sold me the right things, kudos to him!

[reeftanktime]

If he doesn't enjoy the maintenance maybe he could hire someone.

[OceanDweller]

You seem like you know what your doing so it shouldn't be too much of a problem I suppose if you can help to keep it in check for him occasionally. Make sure you devise a system for easy water changes and glass cleaning. I would say stick totally with softies at first and you may not want to get a skimmer due to the maintenance of someone unaccustomed to using one, though I would have a huge fuge and possible mangroves without one. Also keep the drains/returns to a minimum as most new people are not as well with the "oh crap, where is that leak coming from"... I say minimize the chores to monthly or bi-monthly large water changes, like 35-40%... and make sure you do them right. Carbon and phosban? Just some ideas...

[gookster]

show him some rimless tanks and you'll be set