What about freshwater aquariums?

What was included in the labor rate of $250-$300?

Edited by kevin.st - May 02 2017 at 5:46pm

I'm guessing that the wood aquarium idea is to keep the cost down and also make it more of a DIY build instead of an off the shelf purchase. That seams to be the usual motivation behind this type of projects.

Make sure that whomever you find to do the tank work has both wood and fiberglass experience. Sealing the wood and getting the glass to seal in the wood frame can be tricky.

I've seen a few attempts at creating the hydroponics filtration that you have pictured and there seams to be a repeating occurrence of either debris getting through the bell siphon or tannin's from the soil discoloring the water and producing a tea look instead of the clean clear water most hope for. Have you come up with ways of dealing with these two things?

Both of your pictures of small tanks show no (or at least I can't see it) filtration. Do you have ideas for how to handle that situation in these tanks or are you thinking that these two systems will be connected somehow and the hydroponics will filter both?

While not a huge fan of goldfish I have had some pretty impressive planted tanks full of hundreds of mixed tetras of all colors that were pretty impressive way back when.

Thank you all for responding and giving me a warm welcome.

@kevin.st
I specifically asked this person for just his labor rate.  He gave me a fix cost quote.  So how did I come up with his rate? The second picture is from a blog of a person who built his aquarium out of wood.  He kept track of how many hours he spent building it.  He took about 20 hours to build his aquarium.  He included paint time and the time it took to build the concrete slab (10 hours).  I can paint the aquarium myself and I don't need a concrete slab. Based on the time it took to do his build and what I can do myself, I estimate my build will take a total of 10 hours construction time.  That is how I came up with this labor rate.  I asked him to give me an estimate after he indicated that he wanted to do a plywood aquarium build without any prompting from me. Even after him tell me how much he wanted to do one for someone one day, I suspect he really does not want to do it.  I have been in the construction business in the past.  Typically when one doesn't want to take a job and they feel uncomfortable telling the client "No, I don't want to do it", they quote some ridiculous rate.  Or they have some other bigger project they have been hired for and will only do yours if it is worth it to put off the other client.  I believe that is what happened here. 

@a reef oasis
My motivation in building a plywood aquarium is indeed costs.  But there is a little more to it.  I do live in an apartment.  I live in the basement. There is nothing underneath me other than concrete and ground. I state now as other people on some other boards that I posted to always mention weight of the final build and asked if I have taken that into account.    Anyway... I haven't exactly asked my property manager's permission to have do this and given the size of it she will mostlikely say "no".  So I figure if I made it out of wood I can argue that it is a piece of furniture. Now that I think about it, maybe I can even put some removable doors to hide it if the time came. LOL   I can also argue that I have insurance to pay for any flooding caused by me which causes damage to the apartment.  I will also point out that there is no one below me so if th aquarium does cause a flood, the only damage will be to my apartment.  And yes... I did check with my renters insurance.  If I flood the apartment, insurance will cover it.   Basically I am doing it and asking for forgiveness later.  And Krazie4Acans is right.  I do want a hand in building this.  It imagine that it will be very satisfying when it is all said and done.  Especially when people tell me how cool it is and I can say I built it with help, of course! 

@Krazie4Acans
The filtration system for the small aquarium pictured in the "white room" is underneath the cabinet.  The intake and output is hard to see as she bought the glass intake and output you can get off of amazon.  I have no idea where the filtration system is for the aquarium that is on the t-slot aluminum stand.  As for mine, I would like to build the filtration system in the aquarium itself.  I would find it very hard to believe that none of you are familiar with King of DIY (aka Joey Mullen) youtube channel.  He built an aquarium with an integrated filter to display some Discus in his living room. It is a pretty simple DIY. It looks awesome!

For anyone that is interested in watching the video you can click on this link: https://youtu.be/ThOjHe6THNg

There is another build recently that he built in the filter.  You can see the video by clicking on this link:  https://youtu.be/GMAu_upVyVw

Cheers,
Keightley

I give you an A+ at your attempt but goldfish, koi, and carp are all the same to me and my interest level is still a pretty solid zero.

I think you should build it and post a build thread here so we can see your progress. (sameless plug).

Goldendoodles. Ya I have a friend with one and it walks into walls and falls down the stairs. Not my idea of a fun dog although entertaining. lol

What about finding a used glass aquarium and putting a wood housing around it with doors to hide it when needed? Probably cheaper than the wood/fiberglass option and they are posted here on the forum all the time. Then with your construction background you might be able to handle the DIY part without having to take Jello salad to the neighbors.

Most of the big aquaponics places don't put the fish portion on display so they don't care about debris and tannin colored water.

jdinchak wrote: Once you go salt, you don't go back!

Found that one out the hard way!  Although sometimes they cause the need for a therapist instead of the other way around...

Also, I'm a fan of glass tanks with overflows. I'd have a real tough time advising someone to go plywood these days.

So since I am so new, I have a question regarding the webboard in general.  If I want to hire someone to help me build this idea of an aquarium, where would I advertise on here?  In the DIY forum?  Is there a more appropriate forum where I am more likely to receive replies to my project?

DIY would be the place. Although I suspect that you will find that there aren't that many on here who have dared delve into the plywood and fiberglass world and are still here on the board to pass on their tale.

I would guess there are fewer than 10 people on this forum with any experience in what you are talking about tackling. I'm not saying that there aren't some that have tried I'm just saying it a very specialized craft and those that I know have tried are no longer in the hobby or are using their abilities for koi ponds now.