We also did the California Academy of Sciences, which is more of a science building,” said Brett. We are doing the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium in Fort Meyers, Florida right now we did the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, and we’re getting ready to do Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center in Boca Raton, Florida.

“You know, one of the things that Wayde and I really enjoy doing is aquariums or windows for conservatories, nature centers-and we do a lot of work for those types of facilities. Wayde and Brett pride themselves on using their work to help animals. “If it’s the size of a Costco building and they want us to put panels in it, we do it, and then we put in the life support.” By putting acrylic viewing panels of sufficient thickness in cement or fiberglass-reinforced plastic, there really is no limit as to how large an aquarium can be, Wayde explains. They also built a million-gallon dolphin pool with acrylic viewing windows. The tank and installation cost $1.6 million and has everything from sharks and rays to triggers and angelfish. Located on what used to be the Gleneagles golf course, the tank is in a four-story private home that was designed around the aquarium. In fact, there was no crane in Scotland large enough to support the aquarium, so one had to be driven in from London. Brett’s favorite tank that he installed is in Scotland and is a whopping 32 feet tall and 11 feet in diameter. It also means that they can make tanks as large as their clients desire. For example, if you have a little cove in your house and you wanted to match the radius, they can do that. Using an in-house oven and a technique called thermal forming, they can actually bend acrylic and shape it to whatever the client wants. They install aquariums internationally and are currently the #1 manufacturer in the world for custom-shaped tanks. Have you ever wondered who designs those high-end, glamorous aquariums for celebrities, hotels, and Fortune 500 businesses? Did you ever imagine that a car, a telephone booth, or even a beer keg could become a fish tank? Wayde King and Brett Raymer-co-owners of Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM) and the stars of Animal Planet’s new reality TV show Tanked-not only build those tanks, they boast that if you can dream it, they can make it a reality.Īccording to Wayde, ATM is famous for its “turnkey” setups-everything from the tank, the stand, all the woodwork, the facade, the pumps, the filters, and the coral inserts are created and installed by ATM, and they even stock the fish. An exclusive interview with the stars of Animal Planet's new program Tanked, who build some of the world's most imaginative aquarium setups.

Tanked fish tanks