socool111
New Member
OK new user here. I'm new to this hobby, new to everything. Hopefully will be an active member in the community in the coming months!
So I am working with a local, very reputable shop and got some advice, feedback quotes etc. I just want to broaden the conversation to see what a community of experts think to do full due diligence.
My wife and I don't like to half-butt stuff. When I was looking into this as a hobby, I wanted to go full blown deep end: no freshwater, go straight to saltwater, live reef etc. What's the point of an expensive hard hobby if you can't have all the colors of a reef tank! But I digress from my question...
The big debate in my household is that we wanted the aquarium to fit with our aesthetic. Once my wife decided that she wanted the tank in the open living room instead of just in my office, then the aesthetic appeal of the tank itself entered the conversation.
She hated the look of the Red Reefer 350 Q2 cabinet and lights (with how they suspend over the tank). So we actually have a friend who is an amazing woodworker. He is going to build a cabinet with a top to it. Something like this (but smaller):
So after going back to the store we worked with. They told us that to do something like this you really can't use the Red Reefer, and instead have to order a custom acrylic tank (or rather, if you are getting an acrylic tank, you might as well order it custom to fit the exact space).
We got a quote for a Red Reefer 350 Q2, 90 gallon tank (71 "active" gallons) for around 8500 (this includes everything to get us started: installation, gravel, salt water, live rock, hydrometer etc. etc.). 6800 was the price + tax + $800 home installation cost. We have yet to get a quote for the acrylic.
1) Was the estimate pretty standard (I can see from the red reefer site they did not upcharge the cost of the aquarium)? From what I can tell it's fair pricing (don't even try and suggest we install it ourself, I am hopeless at that stuff).
2) Would you agree that to get a good aestetic feel we would need to go with an acrylic instead of a pre-manufactured tank? That we can't somehow repanel a pre made or soemthing?
3) What do you think a custom tank will come out to (without the wood work)? It's going to be 37x17x24, with two sides not being clear (as they are up against walls).
4) How crazy are we?
So I am working with a local, very reputable shop and got some advice, feedback quotes etc. I just want to broaden the conversation to see what a community of experts think to do full due diligence.
My wife and I don't like to half-butt stuff. When I was looking into this as a hobby, I wanted to go full blown deep end: no freshwater, go straight to saltwater, live reef etc. What's the point of an expensive hard hobby if you can't have all the colors of a reef tank! But I digress from my question...
The big debate in my household is that we wanted the aquarium to fit with our aesthetic. Once my wife decided that she wanted the tank in the open living room instead of just in my office, then the aesthetic appeal of the tank itself entered the conversation.
She hated the look of the Red Reefer 350 Q2 cabinet and lights (with how they suspend over the tank). So we actually have a friend who is an amazing woodworker. He is going to build a cabinet with a top to it. Something like this (but smaller):
So after going back to the store we worked with. They told us that to do something like this you really can't use the Red Reefer, and instead have to order a custom acrylic tank (or rather, if you are getting an acrylic tank, you might as well order it custom to fit the exact space).
We got a quote for a Red Reefer 350 Q2, 90 gallon tank (71 "active" gallons) for around 8500 (this includes everything to get us started: installation, gravel, salt water, live rock, hydrometer etc. etc.). 6800 was the price + tax + $800 home installation cost. We have yet to get a quote for the acrylic.
1) Was the estimate pretty standard (I can see from the red reefer site they did not upcharge the cost of the aquarium)? From what I can tell it's fair pricing (don't even try and suggest we install it ourself, I am hopeless at that stuff).
2) Would you agree that to get a good aestetic feel we would need to go with an acrylic instead of a pre-manufactured tank? That we can't somehow repanel a pre made or soemthing?
3) What do you think a custom tank will come out to (without the wood work)? It's going to be 37x17x24, with two sides not being clear (as they are up against walls).
4) How crazy are we?
