Leigh,
Stopping short of introducing her as "My next ex-wife" I have no clue how
else to go about convincing this woman that a fish tank in a common area is
a good thing.
( It doesn't even matter to her that the fish are mostly
native to her homeland of Australia! She'll fly a flag, but not boast about
the beautiful fish. :O(
I bought one of Amanos books and she knows exactly how awesome these tanks
can be after time, yet she still won't budge. I do, in all honesty, see
some merit to having the tank in a room I can lock. I've had to dig out
spoons, coins and other items my 2 young daughters have deemed necessary to
have a properly decorated tank. ;O) At least in the spare bedroom I can
lock the door and make sure these things don't happen when I'm sleeping and
the wife is away. LOL It's all the same to me as I will most likely end up
moving all my computer equipment, gaming stuff, etc, etc to that room and
it'll be my sanctuary to get away from all the madness.
p
If I build the stand the way I'm envisioning it, then it'll be very sturdy
and quite capable to hold all 3 tanks. The 2 75s would essentially be
sitting on the floor as only wood would be between them and the floor.
Please, keep in mind, I am limited to "one tank" which I'm conveiniently
distorting in my mind to "one stand." ;O) I have no issues concerning
floor stability as I live in a ranch style home with a solid concrete
foundation laid down less than a year ago. If the concrete slab should give
way, them I'm sueing the daylights out of someone for shoddy workmanship.
Cheers,
John
"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
See, she wants to make sure we can still have a bed in the room. WHy?!?!
I
have no idea.
Guest bedroom?
Isn't there any way you can convince her to let your put the tank
someplace
more public? The living room, family room, dining room?
A big part of the appeal of having a huge tank is the showpiece it
becomes.
You want people to see it. And you want *you* to see it -- otherwise, it
tends
to be neglected. Perhaps if you promised her it would look good, and
showed
her some photos (like Amano's)? Maybe she's afraid it will become a
smelly,
algae-ridden eyesore. There are stands that look like fine furniture, and
once
the tank is established, it's easy to keep it looking good.
My 75 gallon is in my dining room, in a place where you see it as soon as
you
enter my apartment. It's quite striking, and people always comment on it.
The
other day, a couple of guys from Time-Warner came over to check the cable,
and
both spent more time looking at my tank than looking at the cable. (They
were
especially impressed with the Amano shrimp. :-)
The way I see it... working the angle I want 2 75gallons under the 125
gallon, I need the stand to be at least 8 feet wide plus at least 12" for
a
minimum of 3 pairs of 4x4 post/legs.
Are you sure your floor will support this weight? The 75 gallon tanks
will
weigh 100-150 pounds each, the 125 about 200 pounds -- empty. Water
weighs 8
pounds a gallon, so filled, this setup will weight well over a ton -- no
counting the weight of the tank, hood, lights, gravel, etc.
I would really think twice about stacking tanks of this size. I don't
like
stacked tanks, anyway; it's hard to do maintenance on the lower tank, and
so it
often becomes unsightly. And when the tanks are this big, the weight
becomes a
serious problem.
Leigh
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/