Introducing the $200K Home Aquarium

Looking for the perfect final touch to trick out your Manhattan penthouse? Consider a 700-gallon, $200,000 aquarium. Such high-end systems are the new status symbol among the “what recession?” set, reports the New York Times. These aren’t your 50-gallon waiting room tanks: They can be 14½ feet long, weigh 6,000 pounds, hang from the ceiling, include complicated lighting systems and antique statues, and one will cost you at least $50,000—plus $1,000 a month in maintenance.

Of course, you have to buy the fish, too: Think $5,000 for a shark, or $600 if you’re OK with downgrading to a black tang. If you absolutely must have jellyfish, expect to spend $5,000 a month on maintenance. But it totally pays off! “It’s always the centerpiece of the party,” says the owner of the 700-gallon model. Of course, not everything always goes swimmingly: One 30-foot aquarium, built into a game room floor, stopped being used when the bank foreclosed on the house.
(More aquarium stories.)