Had a very interesting talk today...........

[Martin Thoene]

......at The Menagerie. Not just to Harold, but at great length to one of his customers. George Boeckmann and I have talked before. We always seem to run into one another on Fridays.

Apart from being a regular film extra.....I met him one day after he'd been up all night playing a Zombie in "Land of the Dead" I think it was.....
George is into doing interesting things with aquaria and terraria.

http://www.greenscapeinteriors.com/

He's interested in learning more about River-Tanks and inviting me round to check out his creations because he thinks we could combine heads to come up with some new twists on unusual type aquaria setups. He's a whizz at hiding plumbing and such to make his designs aeshetically pleasing.

He basically custom builds everything......and I like DIY stuff for aquaria.

Martin.

[Jim Powers]

That sounds very interesting and could result in some very unique setups. Keep us posted.

[Emma Turner]

Looking forward to seeing what you two come up with! Very nice website he's got there.

Emma

[Graeme Robson]

I agree. Keep us posted.

[Martin Thoene]

Well this is a seriously belated update. I just never got around to ringing him.

I met George at The Menagerie on Friday afternoon when I got the Vanmanenia. We went round to his girlfriend's office (she's a psychiatrist specializing in meditation) where he has several of his creations on display. He hopes to really use the facility as a showroom for his art.

Fantastic stuff.....I was very impressed. He has setups ranging from a cookie-jar upward in size. There's even vases modified as little natural habitats. No fish in the really tiny setups, just plants, but he'll add little structures of rock, gravel and his signature crystals to create tiny little natural sculptures.

Next stage up are a series of hexagonal setups that feature a rear mounted upright wall supporting an overhanging lighting housing. Below in the tank, the rear is a compartment housing hydroponic clay balls as a bilogical media. Side areas are divided into small planting areas for tropical plants that likedamp conditions.

Some setups feature tiny waterfalls and include a dicreet float-type water level indicator as evapouration can be high so needs monitoring. The systems are all made by George from clear, smoked and black glass using black silicone to glue everything together. He buys black plastic aquarium trim from a local supplier so all edges are trimmed. Everything is packed into the small spaces. Things like wiring running in channels created to conceal it. Opening little stained glass doors may reveal a concealed digital thermometer or the lighting timers.

Some of these hex's are mounted on a base, some on an internally lit stained glass panelled stand. The largest one he has built is just so incredibly detailed in design it's a marvel.

These things are incredibly complex and time-consuming to build and George sells them for appropriate prices and can supply after-sales maintenance. These are not conventional aquariums by any stretch of the imagination. They are living sculptures.
The style is part art-deco, part Bauhaus.....kind of a unique mixture. He uses small, brightly coloured fish that really project out from the dark and mysterious aquaria. Underwater, he uses a lot of small Anubias species and Java Moss growing on Lava Rock plus some small Cryptocoryne species.

He showed me a base cabinet he built. Basically, it is a modified existing drawered square unit. George restlyled it in a way I can't describe...you have to see it. Each drawer opens to reveal a highly detailed interior. The top one contains a set of very nice looking tools that might possibly be needed to service any of the setup's systems. These are all layed out in a velvet-lined drawer.
Below, the drawer opens to reveal angle mounted black paint-roller trays that house aquarium nets and other stuff. Glossy black topped, oval glass jars contain aquarium water test kits and meds. He seems to have thought of everything. When someone buys a setup from him, they can get every last detail at once in a beautifully detailed, complementing set.
He even custom builds shipping crates for the designs so they can be moved safely. The customer buys the crate which can be dissassembled with screws and stored flat for any future move. He seems to have thought of everything....the crate is even number coded for ease of assembly.

George showed me his latest "under construction piece. Custom built steel stand holding a 6 foot long tank of around 30" width that's divided down the centre by a smoked glass panel. The rear will be a resevoir, the front the fish part. Above it and set back is another tank that's rear wall is raised far higher as a backdrop. It will feature a centre waterfall. Each side mirrors the other and these consist of filtration areas with drilled returns to the lower resevoir, planting areas and two areas planned to hold Horned frogs (if I remember the species correctly). There will be stained glass overhead lighting housings, CO2 injection, etc.

This will be an extremely impressive setup when up and running. George expects it to take a long time to come to fruition. Although this one is not planned for Arowana, he's thinking of something similar aimed at that market. This would definitely be in the really high-end corporate foyer sort of market rather than as a home aquaria. However, as I pointed out, this area has a lot of affluent Chinese people who would appreciate such a setup.

I had a really interesting time looking at all his creations and he's extremely open about showing how it's all put together and operates, plus explaining how certain design features came about. He's a very talented person who very much thinks outside the box.
He's invited me to go check out the other stuff he has at home at a later date. He has some more conventional tanks there. It's a small world. Turns out he lives in the same building where Dr. Momfish's office is.

Martin.

[Emma Turner]

Thanks for the update, this stuff sounds amazing! Did you chat much about new River Tank designs?

Emma

[Jim Powers]

This sounds VERY interesting. Does he have a website with pics of his work?

[Martin Thoene]

The link is in my first post Jim. I told him he needs better photos and there's none of the stuff I've described. He wants me to photograph them

Martin.

[Jim Powers]

Oh yes, I forgot that.
He definately needs your photographic skills to improve the site.

[Martin Thoene]

Other stuff I forgot is timer-phased coloured lighting that goes from daylight, to sunset/sunrise with orange lighting to blue moonlighting. Also misters and CO2 injection built into the rear tower parts of the structures.
In most of his designs, a mound of lava rock or gravel stuck together with silicon, plus the signature white and purple mineral crystals forms a removable lid to access the filtration and pumping chamber. Really neatly thought out and executed.

Clever guy.

Martin.

[shari2]

Sounds like a very inventive guy. Glad you got back in touch with him. Definitely get him some good pics for that website. Seriously in need of updating (same as you posted last time, no?). Needs some links to descriptions of the awesome possibilities and some better pics for sure!

Waiting for those good pics.
See if he needs a partner, why don't cha? Someone to do advertising/marketing, and maintenance...and pictorial promotions. Commensurate with the quality of the work, of course.

[Martin Thoene]

How do you do that?
I already mailed him back a series of thoughts and ideas on promotional requirements if he wants to have a successful business out of this. A really striking portfolio.....much more than a simple folder of good photos is only one thing that's needed IMO.

This could get interesting.
The funny thing is that contacting him was a New-Year Resolution and I walk into him at The Menagerie.

Martin.

[shari2]

yes, it's a small world and I think the word 'coincidence' should be removed from usage.
perhaps an artistic endeavor is called for. A lovely hand painted drawing of one of the best of his displays could be even better than a photo...

or some developmental sketches that don't give away too much in the way of proprietary info, but illustrates the uniqueness of his work, and the fact that they can't get it anywhere else...

[Martin Thoene]

yes, it's a small world and I think the word 'coincidence' should be removed from usage.
perhaps an artistic endeavor is called for. A lovely hand painted drawing of one of the best of his displays could be even better than a photo...

or some developmental sketches that don't give away too much in the way of proprietary info, but illustrates the uniqueness of his work, and the fact that they can't get it anywhere else...

Well ....coincidentally I thought of those things too Why does this not suprise me?

Martin.

[shari2]

Best of luck, Martin.
It would be lovely to finally be working in a field that you love and have so much expertise in. Just make sure that you are getting what you're worth from your efforts.