INTERVIEW: Guys from ‘Tanked’ smell something fishy

Wayde King and Brett Raymer, stars of Animal Planet’s Tanked reality series, have found that a successful television program has led to an even more successful business. The brothers-in-law, who own and operate Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas, make a living by providing luxurious, customized fish tanks to clients around the world. Their exploits, both personal and professional, have been the subject of Tanked for many episodes, and now the guys are back with a new slate of adventures. Joining them for the ride are celebrity guests Tracy Morgan from NBC’s 30 Rock and Betty White, a TV legend.

There’s no telling what King and Raymer might make next and who they might meet along the way.

“Being on TV is great,” Raymer said recently during a phone interview. “I think it’s pretty surreal that we’re on television. It’s changed our whole lives — personally, business-wise. But, you know, we created the show. It’s not like the network found us; we kind of found them. So I think we always believed that the show was going to be successful.”

King said their family members, who originally come from Brooklyn and Long Island, also love the show and notoriety. “It’s actually really fun,” King said. “Our families love it, and it’s great going out and everybody knowing who you are. The business is doing very well because of it. … And we love to build the aquariums, and now we get to share it with the rest of the world.”

The new season, which airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Animal Planet, features a return visit from Morgan, an actor and comedian who has become a close friend of the Tanked family. “This is actually the second tank that we’ve done for him, and he’s actually not like any other celebrity that we’ve done,” Raymer said. “We’ve actually hung out with him, interacted with him, stayed at his house. You know, we’re kind of like family with him, believe it or not. You know, I grew up in Brooklyn. Tracy grew up in Brooklyn. Wade grew up in Long Island, so we kind of hit it off really good. Plus, he shares the same passion, you know, for animal life that we do and for doing amazing projects. So he’s just a great, great client.”

King had this to say about working with another TV personality on the new season: “Betty White is an icon. She’s been on TV since we were kids growing up. She’s the oldest woman alive on TV today, and seeing her and filming her was incredible.”

There’s little time to have a personal life outside of the family business. Luckily, Raymer said he and King get along well, and they’re not playing roles in front of the camera. If King needed something, Raymer would be there for him, and vice versa. But there’s one big difference between the two: Raymer takes Sundays to enjoy football while King is not much of a pigskin fan.

“We both look at business a different way, but we have the same outcome,” King said. “We want to both make our money. We both want to make sure that we do the right thing. And sometimes I look at business one way; he looks at it another way. And we try to do what’s best for the business.”

Even though Acrylic is booming with new customers, there are challenges. King said having good employees is always an obstacle. The company expects “a little more” out of its professional staff, and sometimes the owners don’t have their expectations met.

For Raymer, the greatest challenge is the simultaneous back-and-forth between business person and TV star. The audience, he said, might not realize how difficult shooting a reality series can be. “People don’t realize how much filming it takes to make 20 episodes in a year,” he said. “We’re literally filming 325 days a year. … And while on the road, we’re doing emails from our phones. We’re doing it from our computer from our hotel rooms. Then you come home and you got to juggle your family because they don’t get any time.”

Raymer said he understands that the cameras need to be rolling; after all, they are paid for their TV efforts. “You have to make sacrifices to do your job,” he said. “And one of the sacrifices are that you’ve got to have the cameras in your life most of the time, and I think that we’ve gotten used to it. Plus, we work pretty good with our production company. You know, there’s things that they need to get done, and there’s no questions asked. And then there’s times when, you know, hey listen we can’t be there Saturday, we can’t be there Sunday, we got this, this and this, and they accommodate.”

Acrylic has manufactured approximately 10,000 aquariums worldwide. Some of the favorites for the company include a tank in Scotland that measures 35 feet tall. Another one is a church tank in Dallas that holds 70,000 gallons. That project cost $4.5 million and took two-and-a-half years to complete. “We’re really proud of that one,” King said. “It’s beautiful. It’s living art. It’s beautiful. It’s a masterpiece, and it took a lot of time and effort to do it, a lot of work, engineering, everything.”

Raymer said there’s also a tank at Brendan Theaters in Las Vegas that holds a special place for the team. “That’s a shark tank that’s 25 feet long, 4 feet wide, 3 feet tall, that’s owned by a friend of ours,” he said. “And actually my sister got in that tank, and that pretty much solidified our television show. So that tank kind of has a special meaning, and it’s still up and running and doing well.”

Tanked typically shows the most luxurious and creative tanks that the company makes. However, the company has options as little as 50 gallons, and Raymer said he takes pride in the fact that Acrylic attempts to offer aquariums to everybody. “Just because we’re on television, we’re not the most expensive, you know, guy in the world,” he said.

The television show’s success means more business is coming to the company, so much so that the Tanked team needed to move into a facility measuring 34,000 square feet.

“The main thing is you want to build your infrastructure and not start to run,” King said. “You want be able to walk still and make sure you’re capable of running, and handle all the tanks and the sales that come in. And we’re actually doing it pretty good. We’re handling all of the sales. Everything’s growing nicely, and we’re not overdoing it, which is a great thing.”

Raymer stands behind his products and his show: “We have the best aquarium show on the planet, hands down. You’re never going to ever be able to top what we have. I don’t care who you are, what you do. I think we’re the best at what we do, and plus we’re real and genuine.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Tanked airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Animal Planet. Click here for more information.