How Dickson's Glasscages grew into national name for aquariums, more - Tennessean

Nearly 35 years ago, the Fiala family created a business that now serves fish enthusiasts, stars, museums, magicians, colleges and the government – and it started when their young son wanted a hamster. 

Beth Fiala went to the Dickson Walmart looking for a glass enclosure, preferably a 10-gallon tank. She felt they were overly expensive. She told her husband, Tom, an innovator and engineer by trade. So, he simply made a glass cage. 

And, Dickson County-based Glasscages was born. 

"After all that, you know, a 2-year-old kid has lost interest (in the hamster) by the time we got around to it," said Beth, laughing. 

Today, Glasscages is under new ownership that's updating many of the company's processes. 

Todd Seder, now a Dickson resident, and Joe Munden bought the business in 2019. 

"We absolutely fell in love with the company," Seder said. "But, really, we fell in love with the town." 

Glasscages is south of Interstate 40 in Dickson County, in a rural area with a fishing pond created by Tom as well as donkeys and an emu. 

Beth, 69, and Tom, 79, were looking to travel more and step back from the demands of running a company, which had been their existence for three decades. 

They had previous conversations with Seder and Munden, who owned an Atlanta-based glass distribution business. Those discussions eventually evolved into a change in ownership of Glasscages. 

Seder said they've added new equipment, processes and products over the last two years. 

"We have about a half million tons of glass," said Seder, adding that their glass will now all come from an American manufacturer. 

'Aquarium work throughout the country'

Seder said Glasscages has a variety of customers across the country. 

"If we are not the largest we are probably one of the largest custom aquarium builders in the industry," Seder said. 

"We support not only the general hobbyist. We also support industrial customers," Munden said. 

The 16 employees, who have an average tenure of 13 years, make tanks for the National Weather Service, the Nashville Zoo, the military, state and local parks, scuba divers, and Tracy Morgan – he's an exotic fish enthusiast. 

Morgan's not the only entertainer they serve. 

"We make enclosures for magicians," said Munden, noting those shipments are often headed to Las Vegas. "Looking at our company, you might have no idea we did those things." 

"Every tank we make, you can consider it a custom tank because every tank we cut to the size of what they need," Munden said. "Cut them to whatever size they want." 

How it started … and mermaids 

In the late '80s, the Fialas had an epiphany after creating that original homemade glass tank. 

Could they create a small business by making and selling their own "glass cages." 

They found a Texas company that made the metal frames. The Fialas traveled south and brought back a minivan load of frames. A short time later, they bought a 4,000-pound pallet of glass. By 1990, they were displaying terrariums at reptile shows in the Midwest and the minivan was hauling a trailer full of tanks. A year later, they bought a semitruck to haul the tanks.  

"It was (full-time), right from the very beginning," said Tom Fiala, who had been working as an engineer at Fort Campbell until his contract ran out. 

When that happened, the Fialas focused entirely on making glass tanks on their Dickson County property. 

By 1992, the Fialas were driving two semitrucks every weekend, traveling to New York, Florida, Texas and Chicago, among other cities. Also that year, they began making frames. And, a new manufacturing building was constructed on their property – which would be added on to every few years. 

Twenty-five years later, Glasscages had grown to where commercial truck lines were needed to ship the now larger and heavier tanks. They were being sent all over the country as well as Canada and the Virgin Islands. 

Beth noticed a trend over the years. 

"We used to get a lot of requests for mermaid tanks," said Beth, noting bars usually asked about tanks to showcase the fabled oceanic creature.

"People just think, oh they're going to have this half-naked lady swimming around," she added. "None of them would ever think, 'How is she going to breathe in there?'" 

No mermaid tanks were produced. But 4,000 other types of tanks are made in rural Dickson County. 

"I am dumbfounded that this company has this big of a reach based out of Dickson, Tennessee. It blows my mind," Seder said. "People that live in Dickson have no idea that this company exists. It's fascinating to see what's actually achieved."