Photo by Byron Lee

Ty's Tropicals specializes in beautiful aquariums like this one at Ben Bridge Ala Moana

Photo by Nathalie Walker

Tyler Takehara of Ty's Tropicals

Custom aquatic installations from Ty’s Tropicals

While the talking heads on HGTV espouse the value of accent walls and vertical stripes, there is no better way to bring your room to life than, well, life.

This is where Tyler Takehara and his team of aquarium architects at Ty’s Tropicals can really take your room to the next level.

The aesthetics of the aquarium are timeless. If you need to add a new accent, pick up a new fish, not a paintbrush.

For color, most fish in the Hawaiian Islands are of the red and yellow variety, but Takehara brings in fish from as far as Christmas Island, the Philippines and Australia to bring out the greens and blues that really bring a tank to life.

Takehara has been building and installing saltwater tanks on Oahu since 1980. You can see his handiwork everywhere from Ben Bridge Jewelers at Ala Moana and the sushi bar at John Dominis to his 500-gallon masterpiece at the Imperial Hotel.

While he does have a lot of commercial accounts, more than half his tanks are in private homes. They handle every aspect of the aquarium from the bare bones construction to finishing cabinetwork to blend it seamlessly into your home.

The lead-time on their installing an aquarium ranges from six to eight weeks with a standard tank of 200 gallons running around $2,000 turnkey (sans the fish). They have both glass and acrylic material available, but Takehara prefers the latter.

“Acrylic is the material of choice, it’s stronger, lighter and when you make the aquarium you use a solvent that welds the pieces together,” says Takehara, who has been building tanks and breeding fish since fifth grade. “With a glass one you are just using a silicon that only bonds it together, and that can come undone.”

The other appeal of acrylic is that Takehara can bend it to almost any shape you want to give the exterior of your tank waves or have it fit in a special corner.

His work has only just begun once the tank is installed. An aquarium, especially a saltwater tank, requires weekly attention. While the owner could take care of the maintenance, Takehara has found that tends to detract from its appeal.

“An aquarium is a stress reliever, that is why most people have us do the work,” says Takehara, who services all of his accounts weekly. “It’s not like a fresh-water tank where you can say, ‘I’m too tired, I’ll change the water next week.’ If the ammonia levels get too high, it can become toxic. Most people just want to sit down and enjoy the aquarium and not be bothered with the cleaning. They just want to sit back, relax and enjoy the fish.”

For figuring out service rates, Takehara says the rule is generally $2.50 per gallon of water a month. It may seem a bit high, but when you look at all the work that is required, from rotating the coral, changing the water and cleaning the walls, it’s a small price compared to the hours you would spend doing it yourself.

As for Takehara himself, spending all day working on fish tanks you would think he’d want to get away from them when he got home. Instead, his house is overflowing with his scaly friends.

“I have 50 tanks of my own, I have a pond and a 200-gallon aquarium,” says Takehara, “You have to enjoy it, it’s got to be your passion if it’s going to be your work.”

You can reach Ty’s Tropicals at 488-7104.