Aquarium as a Dining Table?

[THEJPC]

I'm considering having a custom saltwater aquarium constructed (that will be fed saltwater directly from the ocean as I live very close to the sea) -- but as a table that would be used for dining (see attached pic). The dimensions would be 300cm long x 100cm wide x 15cm tall, which would make it 450 liters (~120 gal). I'd want to go with acrylic since I'd want to be able to move it indoors during the winter (when it would not be used). Note: the aquarium height is limited to 15cm as I want adequate space for people's legs under the table.

A few questions: has anyone attempted this, do you have any advice, how would it be supported underneath, how would the [removable] top piece(s) stay in place and not bend, how could I get a solid seal on the top (with a hole in the middle, like in the pic) so that you could look down into the aquarium without wavy water getting in the way or leaking out, is acrylic a good material to put dishes/cutlery on or would I need see-thru placemats to protect the top, and is 15cm adequate for sea life (typical Mediterranean fish: wrasse, goby, bream, crabs, hermit crabs, sea urchins, maybe octopus, etc.?

 

[j.falk]

Algae, algae and more algae...plus the scratches from utensils hitting it (people drop cutlery all the time)...

An octopus? They would eat everything else in the tank...

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'll let others speak to the practicality of the design (@Troylee @Lowell Lemon - any thoughts from either of you guys on this sort of tank/build?), but here are a few things from me:

is acrylic a good material to put dishes/cutlery on or would I need see-thru placemats to protect the top

From what I've seen, most of the pros build acrylic tanks with polycarbonate lids, as the polycarbonate won't bend - as I understand it, polycarbonate is stronger and more impact resistant (which would be good for a dining table), but it scratches extremely easily; so you'd probably want protective, see-thru placemats or just a see-thru sheeting on top (I know I've seen some see-thru vinyl sheets that might work here in the States).

and is 15cm adequate for sea life (typical Mediterranean fish: wrasse, goby, bream, crabs, hermit crabs, sea urchins, maybe octopus, etc.?

It would probably be adequate for some of the small species, but I'd suggest looking into what species you'd like to keep and asking about those specifically, as tank size/dimension needs will vary wildly depending on the species (a dwarf hermit crab species, for example, would probably be fine, but a foot long fish probably wouldn't). Plus, some of those may get along with each other, but others - such as octopus - are not typically safe with tankmates.

Realized I forgot to answer this earlier.

Generally, the recommended tank size for one dwarf octopus (the small species that get about the size of a hand) is 30 gallons (or more - larger is better for these guys, with most people who have kept them before recommending more in the range of 50-75 gallons for one). Very few things can be kept with an octopus, as most things either get killed by the octopus or cause major issues for the octopus - it very strongly advised to never put fish in a tank with an octopus (unless the fish is being added specifically for the octopus to hunt).

That said, here are some things that I've heard may be kept successfully:
- pencil urchins
- brittle stars/serpent stars (not the big, green "serpent star" Ophiarachna incrassata - this one is predatory, and not worth the risk with an octopus)
- most starfish (predatory stars that feed on bivalves like clams and mussels seem to be some of the safest; I'd avoid the reef safe ones/biofilm eaters, as we really can't feed them like they need to be fed at this point and they usually just slowly starve to death in our tanks) - I have heard of an instance of Chocolate Chip Sea Stars eating a couple of octopuses (I can't verify the account, but the poster mentioned their friend who watching their tank witnessed it), so I'd personally avoid them too.
- leather corals and most softies, including gorgonians (I'd avoid the highly toxic softies like zoas, palys, and gonis with octos though, and most gorgonians are pretty fragile and should be placed out of an area where the octo is likely to go)
- non-ricordia mushroom corals

And, here's one that could probably be kept successfully that I haven't heard of anyone trying:
- detritus feeding sea cucumbers; this one may or may not work, but given that most other echinoderms can be kept safely, I'd assume these ones would probably be alright too. I would personally avoid the filter feeding sea cucumbers, as they tend to be more toxic and more likely eject their poison into a tank if scared/attacked (and octopuses - being highly intelligent and playful - tend to "attack" things, even when they're just playing with them; I've heard of octopuses throwing hermit crabs across the tank just for fun, and I wouldn't want to risk it with a highly toxic cucumber).

Your tank needs to be escape proof, and should not have any holes in it, as octopuses can fit through any hole they can fit their beak through - and their beaks are typically super tiny compared to the rest of their bodies. The lid on the tank also needs to be held down in some way - I've heard of people using duct tape for this, but some kind of latch/lock system would work too as long as the lid is held firmly in place and isn't able to be pushed up enough for the octopus to escape.

Also, two things to keep in mind with octopuses:
1 ) They typically are very short lived (most dwarf octopuses live for about 6-10 months, with 6-8 being more typical from what I've seen), and if you get an adult, you may only have it for a few weeks before it dies.
2 ) Be wary of which octopus you buy - the dwarf species (such as Octopus mercatoris, O. joubini, etc.) are fine, but others like the Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena spp.) are lethally venomous (i.e. they could literally kill you).

If you have serious questions about keeping octopuses, the site linked below is a great resource, and there are a handful of people either on that site or on here (or both, in some cases) who would likely be able to help answer those questions for you:

https://tonmo.com/articles/octopus-pet-checklist-before-you-get-an-octopus-as-a-pet.3/

Starting an Octopus Home Aquarium | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine

With their smarts and unique appearance, octopuses are marine aquarium favorites. Here are some facts you need to know before bringing home an eight-legged friend.

www.tfhmagazine.com

 

[His Coral Highness]

It just seems… I don’t know… in poor taste…

 

[Troylee]

Looks cool but to be honest I would question keeping live stock in it with a such a large tank and no open surface agitation for gas exchange.. if it were me and I really wanted to do that I would have a standard tank built with a euro brace like a large frag tank… get your table “stand” built and then place the tank on it with a fully supported bottom.. have some acrylic stands built that sit in the tank but are like 4” taller or so and place a piece or real glass on top: quick scribble sketch lol.. black is tank with euro the red would be a clear acrylic stand that sits in tank to support the “blue” glass on top.. this would work best but be a pain to clean as you’d have to have a couple people to lift the glass off every so often and risk damaging it..

 

[glb]

Cool idea, but you’d need gas exchange, and the underside of the lid would probably get a lot of condensation and salt residue, making it hard to see.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Since it is a pump and dump system the oxygen level is probably not a concern if the flow is high enough. I think you would just get tired of trying to keep it clean in the outdoor environment. The top sealed to the tank would be very difficult to develop but could be done using something like a Viton seal and some sort of mechanical attachment like machine screws out of Nylon or stainless steel. SAR Polycarbonate might work for the top. Your design with legs at the corner should work as long as there is no deflection in the frame.

Not a very practical display in terms of cost and maintenance. This is one of those just because you can doesn't mean you should.

 

[Waters]

First thing that comes to my mind is the fish being scared to death all the time......other than that it would probably work (the Tanked guys did many similar tanks) but maybe something more suited to freshwater fish due to the ease of care.

 

[Troylee]

First thing that comes to my mind is the fish being scared to death all the time......other than that it would probably work (the Tanked guys did many similar tanks) but maybe something more suited to freshwater fish due to the ease of care.

And the majority of thier tanks could never keep fish alive.. the phone booth tank was at my buddys shop and it killed everything they put in it because the o2 exchange was crappy! It was basically a 240 gallon stood on end.

 

[harrylarry]

I'm considering having a custom saltwater aquarium constructed (that will be fed saltwater directly from the ocean as I live very close to the sea) -- but as a table that would be used for dining (see attached pic). The dimensions would be 300cm long x 100cm wide x 15cm tall, which would make it 450 liters (~120 gal). I'd want to go with acrylic since I'd want to be able to move it indoors during the winter (when it would not be used). Note: the aquarium height is limited to 15cm as I want adequate space for people's legs under the table.

A few questions: has anyone attempted this, do you have any advice, how would it be supported underneath, how would the [removable] top piece(s) stay in place and not bend, how could I get a solid seal on the top (with a hole in the middle, like in the pic) so that you could look down into the aquarium without wavy water getting in the way or leaking out, is acrylic a good material to put dishes/cutlery on or would I need see-thru placemats to protect the top, and is 15cm adequate for sea life (typical Mediterranean fish: wrasse, goby, bream, crabs, hermit crabs, sea urchins, maybe octopus, etc.?

Call in the guys at ATM, they can make it for you!

 

[Troylee]

Call in the guys at ATM, they can make it for you!

He can make you some pasta or a sandwhich.. that place is long gone and Brett owns a restaurant now lol.. they’re local to me

 

[harrylarry]

He can make you some pasta or a sandwhich.. that place is long gone and Brett owns a restaurant now lol.. they’re local to me

 

[THEJPC]

Thanks for all of the feedback and suggestions! This especially resonates with me:
"This is one of those just because you can doesn't mean you should."
Additional Info:
- I live in the U.S. for most of the year but spend ~3 months a year workationing in Greece, near the ocean, with access to local sea life via snorkeling, land fishing, boat fishing, piers, tide pools, etc. (I grew up here so I'm very familiar with the local sea life.) There is a local aquarium on the island I'm on (Syros) but I wanted to create something more "hands-on" and approachable, for the limited time that I spend there, for myself and my friends and family to enjoy. I've kept a variety of sea life in buckets and live wells in the past, with limited success, and now that I have the financial means, I want to explore other options.
- My ultimate ambition is to have a ray/shark touch pool (as several large aquariums have in the U.S.) where you can "pet"/feed the fish, but this is not viable at the moment due to cost, location, weight and licensing/permit concerns.

 

[GARRIGA]

Live wells on boats are pressurized to keep sloshing at a minimum. Perhaps a similar approach would work with support sump handling gas exchange. This would make viewing of the fish easier as there should be little bubbles and flow could help perhaps disperse them to one end.

For maintenance. Pressurization would be turned off. Water level slightly dropped. Now maintenance can be done.

Thick enough glass lid should survive scratches since glass tables aren’t a new thing. My computer desk is basically a thick glass sheet on top of two opposing cabinets.

All plumbing would need to be under the floor for aesthetic reasons although all that interfaces would be two tubes to facilitate flow and that could be encased with something more aesthetically pleasing. Flow would likely be closed loop hidden within the rock work.

Seems like a cool idea.

 

[THEJPC]

Table would be outside on a verandah so underfloor plumbing is not an option, unfortunately. You are correct: two hoses/pipes/tubes: one for inflow, one for outflow. Placement troubles me, probably near the bottom of the tank to minimize surface agitation, but I'm so not there yet! I wanted the outflow to be near the top and to work as a gravity fed hose, so that I don't have to hook up a 2nd pump.