For the last couple of years I have been agonizing over what kind of a tank I wanted to build for myself. I am the chief engineer for MonsterTanks, a custom acrylic aquarium fabricator. We make everything from little partitioned betta tanks to 8-foot giants that weigh as much as a Toyota.
I considered L-shapes, room partitions and wall mounts, among other designs. I could build virtually any shape and size imaginable. But nothing seemed quite right — until the aquarium gods whispered in my ear.
It came to me one evening. I began feverishly sketching designs in an attempt to try and capture the inspiration on paper. I imagined vertical interconnected neighborhoods clustered around a central waterfall — a walk-around tank with hundreds of different scenes depending on where the viewer stood.
Chambers for plants, territories for fish to discover and defend and a tall central tower, with water sheeting down its sides into the surrounding compartments. I sketched until 4:30 in the morning. Finally, I forced myself to go bed, not so much out of exhaustion as being overwhelmed by a flood of ideas.
An hour and a half later, my mind still on fire, I headed to the shop with sketch in hand. I started with a 2-by-4-foot base, about the size of the coffee table that stood in front of my sofa. That is where I would put my new tank.
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