Fantastic Fish Tanks!

When celebrities want a fish tank, a simple goldfish bowl often isn’t enough. That’s where Wayde King and Brett Raymer come in. They build custom fish tanks. King and Raymer have built thousands of over-the-top tanks for their famous clients. Their tanks come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and themes. They’ve made tanks in the shape of a pinball machine, an army tank, a boom box, and more.

When retired basketball star Shaquille O’Neal wanted a new home for his fish, he called King and Raymer. They constructed a 3,000-liter Egyptian-themed tank, complete with sphinxes. King and Raymer’s work on O’Neal’s tank was featured on the TV show Tanked on Animal Planet. The duo’s clients range from zoos and aquariums to celebrities and sports stars like O’Neal.

Tanked has been on the air since 2011, but King has worked with fish and tanks for as long as he can remember.“When I was seven years old, we had a pet store in our basement and there were lots of fish tanks,” says King. “That’s where it all started for me—with this early love of animals, especially fish.”

After King and Raymer design and build a tank, they handpick a selection of fish to call it home—which is easier said than done. “Some species of fish get along with each other and others don’t,” King says. It’s taken them years of experience to figure it out.

“It’s fun, but it is a lot of work,” says King. “It isn’t as easy as everyone thinks. There is a huge responsibility because the animals are relying on you to provide them with a good home.”

Some celebrities want their own fish tank. But a simple goldfish bowl often isn't enough. That's where Wayde King and Brett Raymer come in. They build custom fish tanks. King and Raymer have built thousands of over-the-top tanks. May of their clients are famous. Their tanks come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and themes. They've made tanks in the shape of a pinball machine, an army tank, a boom box, and more.

Retired basketball star Shaquille O'Neal wanted a new home for his fish. So he called King and Raymer. They constructed a 3,000-liter Egyptian-themed tank. It even had sphinxes .

King and Raymer's work on O'Neal's tank was featured on the TV show Tanked. This show is on Animal Planet. The duo has many clients. They range from zoos and aquariums to celebrities and sports stars like O'Neal.

Tanked has been on the air since 2011. Though King has worked with fish and tanks for as long as he can remember. "When I was seven years old, we had a pet store in our basement. There were lots of fish tanks," says King. "That's where it all started for me. I had ans early love of animals, especially fish."

First King and Raymer design and build a tank. Then they handpick a selection of fish to call it home. This is easier said than done. "Some species of fish get along with each other and others don't," King says.

It's taken them years of experience to figure it out.

"It's fun. But it is a lot of work," says King. "It isn't as easy as everyone thinks. There is a huge responsibility. That's because the animals are relying on you to provide them with a good home."

Let’s say a fish tank is 10 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 7 inches tall. We can use cubes to visualize the tank’s volume, or how much space is inside it. Each cube represents 1 cubic inch.

You can fit 6 rows of 10 cubes along the bottom of the tank. How many cubes are along the bottom of the tank?

The tank is 7 layers tall. How many total cubes would fill up the tank? This represents the tank’s volume.

Larger tanks can hold more fish. A large tank measures 9 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 5 meters tall.

How many rows of 9 cubes can you fit along the bottom of the tank?

How many cubes are along the bottom of the tank?

How many layers of cubes can fit inside the tank?

How many total cubes would fill up the tank? What does this quantity represent?

King and Raymer built a fish tank for singer Nick Carter. The tank measures 3 meters long by 1 meter wide by 1 meter tall. What is the volume of the tank in cubic meters?