TLDR: Tanked ran on Animal Planet from 2011 to 2018, following Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas as they built custom aquariums for celebrities and businesses.
The show ended after a domestic incident involving Wayde King and his wife Heather, who was Brett Raymer’s sister, made continuing the family-friendly series untenable.
Wayde and Brett have not reconciled. ATM is still operating in Las Vegas with annual revenue of $5 to $10 million. Agnes Wilczynski runs a prop company. The General has retired. Redneck works in the trades.
Wayde King and Brett Raymer were brothers-in-law who built a business together, brought it to television, and spent 15 seasons building custom aquariums for Shaquille O’Neal, KISS, Tracy Morgan, and anyone else who wanted a tank the size of a room.
Then Wayde’s wife was arrested following a domestic dispute. She was Brett’s sister. Nine days later, Animal Planet cancelled the show.
The family that built Acrylic Tank Manufacturing was also what ended it. Here is what happened to everyone.
Wayde King Started Cleaning Tanks at 14 and Built a Las Vegas Empire
Wayde King grew up on Long Island and started cleaning aquariums at 14 alongside his stepfather. By his twenties he had moved to Las Vegas, founded Acrylic Tank Manufacturing with his brother-in-law Brett Raymer, and married Heather Raymer.
The business operated out of a 37,000-square-foot warehouse near the Las Vegas 215 Beltway, using in-house thermal forming ovens to bend massive sheets of acrylic into shapes no off-the-shelf tank could match.
On the show, King was the technical counterweight to Brett’s salesmanship. He was the one who pushed back on the impossible build ideas, insisted on the biological health of the fish, and kept the fabrication side running on schedule.
With more than 36 years in the industry by the mid-2020s, his authority on acrylic construction and life support systems was genuine rather than manufactured for television.
Following the show’s cancellation and his divorce from Heather in 2019, King stepped back from the public-facing version of ATM and rebuilt as an independent consultant and designer, taking private commissions for high-end aquariums from clients globally. The full story of what Wayde King has been doing since Tanked ended is here.
Brett Raymer Sold the Dream and Then Tried to Sell Donuts
Brett Raymer grew up in Sheepshead Bay and played football at Stony Brook University before finding his way into the aquarium business through his brother-in-law Wayde.
His role at ATM was sales, client relations, and the early “dreaming” phase of each project, the part where a celebrity describes something impossible and Brett promises it can be done.
During the show’s run he expanded into food and beverage, launching Donut Mania in Las Vegas with ambitions of growing it to ten or more locations. In May 2019, all locations closed abruptly following a lawsuit from Pinkbox Doughnuts LLC alleging stolen intellectual property and trade secrets.
The aquarium business had ended. The donut business had ended. And his partnership with Wayde was over.
As of 2026, Raymer remains in Las Vegas as an independent entrepreneur, appearing at charity events and celebrity functions, though his business partnership with Wayde King is permanently defunct. The full story of Brett’s business ventures including the Sylvester Stallone partnership is here.
The Falling Out Was About Family, Not Business
The friendship between Wayde and Brett survived 15 seasons of televised arguments about impossible build timelines and budget overruns. What it did not survive was the domestic incident in March 2019.
Heather King, Wayde’s wife and Brett’s sister, was arrested following an altercation in which she allegedly slapped and kicked Wayde. Charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence. But the damage to the partnership was complete.
Brett’s loyalty to his sister and Wayde’s position as the man she had allegedly attacked made any continued working relationship impossible. The legal battles over assets and children that followed the divorce made it worse.
Neither man has said much publicly about the depth of the rift. There has been no evidence of reconciliation as of 2026. The full story of what actually happened between Wayde and Brett is here.
Agnes Wilczynski Now Runs a Prop Company in Las Vegas
Agnes Wilczynski was the estimator and coordinator at ATM, the person who handled the practical logistics between the sales promises Brett made and the fabrication realities Wayde had to deliver on. Her calm in the middle of the show’s chaos made her a fan favorite.
She was also a classmate of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, a connection that led to one of the show’s more memorable celebrity builds.
After the show ended she moved into the prop and set design industry. As of 2026 she is an owner and prop master at Las Vegas Props, continuing to work in specialized fabrication in Nevada. The full story of what happened to Agnes after Tanked is here.
Heather King Was the Third Co-Owner Nobody Talked About
Heather King, Wayde’s wife and Brett’s sister, handled accounting and finances at ATM. She appeared on the show regularly but was rarely the focus of any storyline. The domestic incident in March 2019 changed that. The full story of Heather’s role on the show and what happened after is here.
She has since moved into a private life, largely disconnected from the public branding of ATM.
The General Has Retired and Redneck Stayed in the Trades
Irwin “The General” Raymer was Brett and Heather’s father and the show’s logistics manager, responsible for ensuring that acrylic, filtration media, and synthetic coral arrived on schedule. He was perpetually annoyed by the younger cast’s antics, which was precisely why he worked so well on screen. His full story is covered here.
As of 2025-2026 he has largely retired from the aquarium business and remains in Las Vegas focused on family.
Chris Raymer, known as Redneck, was Brett’s brother and a floor fabricator on the show. His blue-collar humor and technical skill made him a reliable presence across 15 seasons. He has maintained a low profile since 2018, remaining in the Las Vegas area and continuing in the trades away from the television spotlight. His full story is here.
ATM Is Still Operating in Las Vegas
Acrylic Tank Manufacturing survived the loss of its television platform, its founding partnership, and the personal fallout among its principals. The full story of what happened to the business is here. As of 2026 it operates at an estimated $5 to $10 million in annual revenue with 25 to 50 employees at the same 37,000-square-foot warehouse at 3451 West Martin Avenue in Las Vegas.
The business model shifted after the cameras left, moving toward commercial contracts for restaurant displays and luxury pool viewing panels rather than the celebrity one-offs that made for good television.
Employees in 2025 described a professional environment focused on accountability and efficiency, which is a different culture from the one Animal Planet broadcast for seven years but a more sustainable one.
Why Tanked Ended
Animal Planet announced the cancellation on March 15, 2019, nine days after the domestic incident involving Heather and Wayde King. The network stated the show had reached its natural conclusion after 15 fantastic seasons. The timing made that explanation difficult to take at face value.
Ratings had been declining for several seasons before the cancellation. The production costs of building multi-million dollar aquariums were high relative to the advertising revenue a niche cable show could generate.
The personal fallout among the cast made continuing a show built around a family business effectively impossible. All three factors were real. They arrived at the same moment.
The show continues to air in reruns and streams on Max, where it functions as a document of a specific moment in 2010s celebrity culture and a genuine archive of custom aquarium engineering. The fan community remains active. People still visit the ATM showroom in Las Vegas.
The warehouse is still there. The ovens are still bending acrylic. The fish are still being moved in.
It just happens without cameras now, which is how it happened before the cameras arrived in the first place.
