Reef tank management company in Calgary?

[asylumdown]

Does anyone know of a person or persons from this board who commercially maintain reef systems in people's homes in Calgary?

It's looking more and more like we're going to be putting our house on the market this summer and since my tank is built in to the house, I want to make it as easy as possible for someone to keep running it after they move in if they want to keep it. I've always done everything myself, but the chances that another die hard reefer will buy this place are pretty tiny so I want to have something set up where-in they could just have a guy (or girl) come in once a week for maintenance.

If they don't want the tank, I'm going to have to sell everything and spend a weekend turning the space where the tank is in to a closet.

[kien]

Does anyone know of a person or persons from this board who commercially maintain reef systems in people's homes in Calgary?

It's looking more and more like we're going to be putting our house on the market this summer and since my tank is built in to the house, I want to make it as easy as possible for someone to keep running it after they move in if they want to keep it. I've always done everything myself, but the chances that another die hard reefer will buy this place are pretty tiny so I want to have something set up where-in they could just have a guy (or girl) come in once a week for maintenance.

If they don't want the tank, I'm going to have to sell everything and spend a weekend turning the space where the tank is in to a closet.

Are you not planning to start up a tank in your new place?

[asylumdown]

That all depends on what our next living arrangement looks like. We're sort of up in the air as to whether we'll be staying in Calgary or not, there's a chance we might move to Vancouver, but there's also a chance we might move to San Francisco, New York, Melbourne, or New Orleans. It really depends on what happens with work in the next 6 months. We may end up needing to rent for a few months while things get settled, and if we stay in Calgary, we'll likely buy a place that requires major renovation, so there's a good chance I'm going to have a long stretch where I can't have a tank.

The best case scenario is that we buy a place that needs little to no work in calgary, with at least a month's overlap between possession of this place and our possession of the next place so that I can set up a new system using my current equipment and move everything over, then have enough time to turn the cavity my tank will leave behind in to a closet. I doubt highly that's going to happen though, and I don't think we'll even know what's going to happen by the time we list this house.

Rather than having several grand in livestock to worry about when things are so unsettled, it would be better to just sell the whole system with the house and start over (with the latest and greatest in LED lighting technology) when we're in a place that we know we'll be in for a long time. Also, my favourite part of a tank is setting it up, so the idea of starting from scratch excites me a little.

[Coralgurl]

So why not assume that a new homeowner would not want the tank and dismantle now rather than chancing having the time to rebuild the area while trying to move and get settled?

If I was buying a house with a tank and had to incur further costs to maintain, I might be a bit turned off or want a substantial reduction in price. I have a realtor friend I can get some advise from if needed?

[asylumdown]

We've already talked about it at length with our realtor, the only way the new homeowners get to keep the tank is if they see value in it and want it. It will be specifically carved out in the sale agreement, so the price of the house will be separate from the aquarium. Thus they could either buy the house with the tank, and pay for the system as though they were buying it separately (I'd obviously give a very generous deal on the whole thing to try and make it a more attractive offer), or buy the house without the tank, in which case it will be a closet when they move in. We did something similar in our last condo, Kelly had put in a hideously expensive swarofski chandelier after the unit was built that was carved out of the sale agreement as needing to purchase separately. The new homeowner didn't like it, so we sold it to someone who did and put the original light back up in it's place.

We'd never agree to selling the house with the tank still in it, and a reduction because of it. Worst case scenario, they'd get a reduction so that they could build whatever kind of closet/recessed shelving unit they want in the space the tank now occupies, but the tank, sump, and stand would be gone when they got here.

If the people who buy the house like the tank and want it, I want to make as easy as possible for them to keep it, hence the third party maintenance company.

[Coralgurl]

Well hopefully you find someone who loves the tank and all your hard work!! I'd be so nervous about the situation, and then if they kept it, wondering how all my little "kids" were doing...lol, ya I'm nerdy like that!:lol:

Sounds like an amazing opportunity and exciting times ahead of you! Hope you stick with reefing as your tank is a work of art!

[asylumdown]

hehe thanks,

yah it's definitely been on my mind a lot, but in the grand scheme of things it is a pretty small fraction of what's going on with this house. But concern for what lives in the tank now is why I'm hoping to find someone who could manage it now so that I could bring them up to speed on how the whole thing works, it's history, and what it needs before it's not in my control anymore. I'm hoping whoever does it (if indeed this does come to pass) knows a little something about fish as well, I can just imagine the new homeowners coming home from Big al's and dropping an un-quarantined lion fish in the tank because their kids thought it looked 'cool', then being confused when half the fish disappear.

[sphelps]

Personally I wouldn't buy a house with a built in tank, and I'm in the hobby. So out of the very small percentage of buyers that have reef tank interest subtract that yet again for people like me. There are too many hidden problems that large tanks can cause and the way the housing market typically is a sale is easily lost to another seller for relatively small reasons. With my house I made sure that the tank and equipment can be removed and made to appear as if nothing was ever there without major reno. Having a house on the market also sucks, anything that could prolong that would be worth avoiding. If it isn't already obvious my point is I would recommend removing all traces of the aquarium before the house even gets listed.

[Coralgurl]

Funny you mention that, I was at Pisces last year and a couple were looking at the marine fish, apparently had a huge set up that they had someone else set up for them. The girl at the store was telling them they could have this and that, how many fish and how big of fish they could buy etc. They were all excited and had picked out a number of fish to buy right then. I can't remember how, but it finally came out that they had a fresh water tank........doh!

Anyway, sorry to hijack! There was a guy on here I met at one of the first reef meets I went to who did tank maintenance, but I can not think of who it is. I remember he was a tall skinny guy though...lol Doug or Matt may know though??

[sphelps]

Nate (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=821)does maintenance I think.

[lastlight]

Agree with Steve. I did the same thing with my last house too. Small details make all the difference and that tank is no small detail. People might even worry a out effects the tank has had on the house. With no tank there you remove all risks.

I know you live your tank so you guys must have some pretty awesome prospects to be heading in this direction. Good luck!

[kien]

Agree with Steve. I did the same thing with my last house too. Small details make all the difference and that tank is no small detail. People might even worry a out effects the tank has had on the house. With no tank there you remove all risks.

I know you live your tank so you guys must have some pretty awesome prospects to be heading in this direction. Good luck!

+1

I've preveously sold two houses where I had fish tanks and the feedback I got from the first house that had a 90g in it was that the buyers LOVED the look of the tank, but then got worried about all the details like water spills, humidity, mold, weight on the floor. All that stuff turned them off even if they thought it looked cool. Second house I sold I dismantled the tank well before I put it up for sale and it sold within a couple of days of listing.

+1 for Nate as well. He does exactly what you're looking for and is a great guy.

[Reef Pilot]

FWIW, we bought a house 3 years ago with a built in SW tank, and downstairs sump. It was just chance, but after we saw the house and the tank, it became a selling (buying) feature for us.

That's how I got started with this crazy hobby... And have since added a 2nd larger tank downstairs....

But we love it. The main DT tank (built in) is actually in the kitchen just in front of a large island. It is always the focal point, when we have visitors over.

[asylumdown]

Well you've all given me a lot to think about. I think I love this thing too much to rip it out without knowing if I have to. We can't have a possession date before September 1st without triggering nasty penalties on our mortgage, so if we list in June and have a lot of negative feedback regarding the tank I've got time to rip it out. A lot of the issues that have been raised regarding what people might be worried about in regards to the tank long term (humidity, weight, spills, etc.) were specifically addressed in the construction of the cabinet and floor, so assuming our real estate agent passes those on I'm hoping (maybe wishfully so) that those won't be an issue to a potential buyer.

I'll send Nate a PM and see if he'd be interested in meeting me. It will break my heart to have to tear this thing down if it comes to that, I really did think we were going to get more than a year and a half out of this place. Then again, it took three years to build and who can honestly say what their life will look like 4 years from today.

[paddyob]

It's a novel idea, but highly unlikely you are going to convince someone to spend $75/hr to maintain it.

That bill adds up, and having worked for a maintenance company I know it can be $5-600/mth. Or more. And on top of a mortgage payment, could cost you a home sale.

Best of luck.

I also can't see someone paying more for your house if you leave the tank. It's like a stereo
In a car. It does not make the house more valuable. Having two agreements to sell the house is absurd. Anybody seeing the lower price will tell you to take your tank. The interest incurred in that purchase would be foolish for any buyer to consider.

This opinion comes from my past, selling mortgages. Little amounts over a long term add up.

Does anyone know of a person or persons from this board who commercially maintain reef systems in people's homes in Calgary?

It's looking more and more like we're going to be putting our house on the market this summer and since my tank is built in to the house, I want to make it as easy as possible for someone to keep running it after they move in if they want to keep it. I've always done everything myself, but the chances that another die hard reefer will buy this place are pretty tiny so I want to have something set up where-in they could just have a guy (or girl) come in once a week for maintenance.

If they don't want the tank, I'm going to have to sell everything and spend a weekend turning the space where the tank is in to a closet.

[asylumdown]

I think my only saving grace on the maintenance end will be that even 600 a month to maintain it is less than it costs to clean this place every month. Anyone who buys this place will be able to afford to pay the maintenance, but it's all a matter of whether they see value in doing so or not.

However, I'm going to call our plumber and electrician to see how expensive it will be to cap/remove the lines to that space.

On the upside, if there's a closet in that room, we can officially list our place as a 5 bedroom house...