Tanked on Animal Planet

[RayD]

Have you guys watched "Tanked" on Animal Planet. Boy would I like to meet and talk with these guys. I'd have a million questions.

They're the "Cake Boss" of fish tanks. Of course their works of art are FO tanks. No LR just fake coral and great fish. But as an experienced SW aquarist I need to know how these guys take a brand new setup and add fish in right away right out of the shipping boxes. I want to know their cycling method and bio-load specs because some of the work I've seen have way too many fish for the size of the tanks they create.

Like the "Juke Box" tank or the "Milk Truck" tank.

I also see lots of Fluval canister filters, bio balls, and just typical equipment we as reefkeepers wouldn't even consider.

I need to talk to these guys!

 

[Turbosnail]

Ya when the show started someone else started a thread saying the same thing. Its crazy how fast they are adding fish.

 

[tommy6905]

Awesome tanks, but I agree I asked myself the same questions when I was watching it. I always keep my lights out for about 5 hours when I introduce a new fish, and it seems like they have the lights on immediately and the fish don't look to be stressed at all. I bet you there's a lot more going on that they don't show. Like make everyone believe they just add water/salt and pplop the fish in.

 

[RayD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3R3bxZA64I&feature=related

 

[RayD]

Awesome tanks, but I agree I asked myself the same questions when I was watching it. I always keep my lights out for about 5 hours when I introduce a new fish, and it seems like they have the lights on immediately and the fish don't look to be stressed at all. I bet you there's a lot more going on that they don't show. Like make everyone believe they just add water/salt and pplop the fish in.

I have to agree. They're only showing the basic stuff. But some of the gear troubled me. Has anyone seen a protein skimmer in any one of these setups? They obviously know what they're doing if they're that successful I just wish it was a little more technical so we could see what really goes on.

Oh and Tangs with a net? We buy a $40 Tang a handle it with kid gloves. These guys buy shoals of YT and other Tangs and net them up and drop em in. I got hung out to dry when I worked at an LFS by a customer for netting a fish. LOL!!

 

[pallobi]

I think their methods show a real lack of respect for the animals themselves, and an inability to do things properly and to create real, and natural, as well as beneficial enviroments... they are only in it for show and money, and the spectacle of it all... as a very serious and involved hobbyist, i have no respect for that show, and especially their methods, and especially the rush in which they do things... a healthy and properly done setup of any kind, reef or fish only, should never have a deadline... this hobby jus doesnt work like that, and more importantly, neither does the natural and stable eco systems in which any of these animals come from... and as most of us are well aware of, nor does the smaller, captive eco systems of which many of us build up ourselves... also, imo, most people who keep fish only tanks (not everyone of course), have no respect for the animals in the sense they pack them in, and usually completely skimp on setting up proper filtration and flow... especially those that pay others to come to their home or business to setup and take care of their tanks for them...

 

[jletendre]

A few things had me puzzled about their methods. Firstly, they use water from a hose to fill the tanks .. Straight tap water.. Maybe they
Mix in dechlorinator or something.. They add all the fish right in.. They pick up fish bare handed and play with them..
I suppose since they are just doing FO tanks, the exactness we reefers strive for matters much less.. In a lot of the pics you can see that the tangs have ich. Wonder how many fish on average die a week or two after setting up a tanks

 

[Turbosnail]

The tanks could be cool if cycled properly but IMO they are just abusing animals.

 

[pallobi]

When i started to watch the first episode and heard them say "we do shark tanks in our sleep", i knew it was a complete joke, turned the tube off, and havent bothered with that nonsense since... there is absolutely nothing of value to any hobbyists, or non hobbyists, to be learned from that show... of course, and as always, on this post and any others i have ever posted, this is entirely in my own, but educated, opinion... nothing more...

 

[kshliapa]

The show is not meant for any educational purpose. It is only entertainment. I agree with the OP that it would be interesting to see how they fill a tank and add fish, and it seems they do overcrowd a lot of the tanks that they make. It also is not meant to instruct anybody on how to set up a reef tank. You do have to wonder about how many fish die in the tanks they build, but how many people here rush things and kill a lot of animals.(Not that it makes it any better, i am just saying.)

 

[expatgoalie]

I'm sure they're using some sort of microbial compound that one can buy off the shelf to auto-cycle the tank like TurboStart or equivalent... I've used it in a pinch due to being screwed because I didn't have a QT tank set up and needed one immediately. Essentially the tank is cycled after 12 hours, or so they say. all I know is that I dropped a pair of sick clowns in about 18 hours after I started the tank and they didn't die and responded to the treatments...

I've seen some plumbing shots that lead me to believe they run fish rooms behind the scenes, but outside of us (the hobbyists) the dirty details aren't nearly as interesting as the fish in the tank. Sure, it doesn't help Joe Q. Noob who watches the show and thinks reef tanks are easy and quick to set up, but I'm not going to condemn the show as total crap without actually seeing or hearing what they do for system engineering. For all we know they could be setting up remote sumps/fishrooms on all of these things. If that's the case, all they're guilty of is being impatient (by using a bio-media to auto-cycle the tanks) and poor fish handlers (nets, seriously?)...

 

[Ford625]

http://www.acrylicaquariums.com/index.shtml

I forget where I saw it but the protein skimmers are run inline with the filtration and uv sterilizers and stuff. They add a ton of chemicals to neutralize everything and add the fish when it's safe. Personally I like what they do and hope to see more of their cool builds!

 

[nicks387]

These guys didnt get to where they are by not knowing what they are doing. You think they set up a $30,000 tank and stock it like that only to have all the fish die a week later? Absolutely not. They likely have all the biofilters already seeded from the shop and load up the bio media from there to put in the filtration unit. The filtration shots although brief, show that theres alot going on in terms of life support. The show is for entertainment, not education, the average person watching could care less about maintenance, husbandry or filtration. Thats what we want to see, but most people just want to see big money tanks in big houses or casinos that you dont see everyday. If every customer was losing fish they wouldnt be in business long. These are fish only tanks so they likely have some copper in the water or other treatment for ich such as Hypo salinity etc. They are using skimmers, and large UV sterilizers as well so QT is not that big an issue. When they go back to old customers homes to add something the tanks still look crystal clear and amazing so they clearly have good filtration, or algae and cyano would be everywhere. They do reef tanks as well but the big ones on the show are fish only. They answered a lot of peoples questions on R2R and they know what they are doing. They are not the producers and cant control what Animal Planet choses to show, which is not filtration or husbandry. Its just for entertainment, not education.

 

[afboundguy]

The show is not meant for any educational purpose. It is only entertainment.

These guys didnt get to where they are by not knowing what they are doing. You think they set up a $30,000 tank and stock it like that only to have all the fish die a week later? Absolutely not. They likely have all the biofilters already seeded from the shop and load up the bio media from there to put in the filtration unit. The filtration shots although brief, show that theres alot going on in terms of life support. The show is for entertainment, not education, the average person watching could care less about maintenance, husbandry or filtration. Thats what we want to see, but most people just want to see big money tanks in big houses or casinos that you dont see everyday. If every customer was losing fish they wouldnt be in business long. These are fish only tanks so they likely have some copper in the water or other treatment for ich such as Hypo salinity etc. They are using skimmers, and large UV sterilizers as well so QT is not that big an issue. When they go back to old customers homes to add something the tanks still look crystal clear and amazing so they clearly have good filtration, or algae and cyano would be everywhere. They do reef tanks as well but the big ones on the show are fish only. They answered a lot of peoples questions on R2R and they know what they are doing. They are not the producers and cant control what Animal Planet choses to show, which is not filtration or husbandry. Its just for entertainment, not education.

Exactly... It's for entertainment only... Of course they're not filling up a tank with tap water and throwing in the fish instantly... For all we know there could be a month long gap between them filling up the tanks and putting fish in but of course the producers aren't going to show that because if they did there would only be us crazy hobbiest watching the show and we're not that large of a demographic

And there are ways to get around overstocking a tank. One of which is scheduled maintenance. And I'm sure some of those tanks that are overstocked up the wazzo need more than weekly maintenance and I wouldn't be surprised if they planned some of their builds like that. Hmmmm I'm going to sell this millionare a huge a** tank and they are going to pay me everytime I come to clean it because they don't want to be bothered. Not saying that is what they do but it's an angle...

I remember thinking along the same lines as Ray and some of the other people with regards to what they where showing on the program but as soon as I realized that it was just a show for Joe Schmo I started enjoying it a lot more...

 

[jjh]

that quarantine tank they built was bigger than all my tanks combined.. just on of the tanks in the rack hahahah!

 

[cps68500]

FWIW, I figured I'd post a question to them...

From: ME
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:07 AM
To: @acrylicaquariums.com
Subject: Cycling?

I am mid week #3 in cycling my new tank. How is it that you guys can add fish immediately? I would like to do the same.
Thanks,


From: acrylicaquariums.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Subject: RE: Cycling?
To: ME


Hello,
Thanks for watching the show!!
We use a commercial grade concentrated bacteria when we add the fish for the show. I don’t recommend this for the average aquarium, you’re doing it the right way and patience is a virtue in this hobby. Unfortunately when your dealing with public displays and a tv show they want everything yesterday. So we have to take drastic measures for it to work. We also maintain the aquariums so we have a guy out there every day testing the water and making sure that everything is okay. Be patient and do it the way your local fish guy instructed you too, it really is the best way to have a successful aquarium.
Thank you for your interest and for watching the show,

 

[Turbosnail]

FWIW, I figured I'd post a question to them...

From: ME
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:07 AM
To: @acrylicaquariums.com
Subject: Cycling?

I am mid week #3 in cycling my new tank. How is it that you guys can add fish immediately? I would like to do the same.
Thanks,


From: acrylicaquariums.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Subject: RE: Cycling?
To: ME


Hello,
Thanks for watching the show!!
We use a commercial grade concentrated bacteria when we add the fish for the show. I don’t recommend this for the average aquarium, you’re doing it the right way and patience is a virtue in this hobby. Unfortunately when your dealing with public displays and a tv show they want everything yesterday. So we have to take drastic measures for it to work. We also maintain the aquariums so we have a guy out there every day testing the water and making sure that everything is okay. Be patient and do it the way your local fish guy instructed you too, it really is the best way to have a successful aquarium.
Thank you for your interest and for watching the show,

Thanks for posting this it makes me feel a lot better.

 

[pallobi]

I agree with chris, great post cps...

Also, i was a bit overzealous in my posts... by no means do i beleieve they dont know what they are doing, as clearly they have a solid knowledge base, and even greater reputation.. i am very opinionated in general, i know this, but i jus dont care for the show, and folks who have others do things for them in this hobby, though i dont consider those who do that hobbyists... but the second part of that comes from experience with people and clients from a maintenace business i was part of in the past... i make a living off slinging booze and getting people buzzed, and some drunk, and the honest truth is, i prefer to deal with drunks than people who have others take care of their tanks lol... true story

 

[afboundguy]

Maybe I should move to Vegas and try to get the daily tester job That sounds like it could be fun... Better than what I'm doing now

 

[Ford625]

FWIW, I figured I'd post a question to them...

From: ME
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:07 AM
To: @acrylicaquariums.com
Subject: Cycling?

I am mid week #3 in cycling my new tank. How is it that you guys can add fish immediately? I would like to do the same.
Thanks,


From: acrylicaquariums.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Subject: RE: Cycling?
To: ME


Hello,
Thanks for watching the show!!
We use a commercial grade concentrated bacteria when we add the fish for the show. I don’t recommend this for the average aquarium, you’re doing it the right way and patience is a virtue in this hobby. Unfortunately when your dealing with public displays and a tv show they want everything yesterday. So we have to take drastic measures for it to work. We also maintain the aquariums so we have a guy out there every day testing the water and making sure that everything is okay. Be patient and do it the way your local fish guy instructed you too, it really is the best way to have a successful aquarium.
Thank you for your interest and for watching the show,

NICE FOLLOW UP! I'm impressed. Speaking of...how many fish deaths do you think they've had?