I know im nuts

[Dominick]

Well i have always been into the DIY on just about anything from aquariums
to vehicles my question is....does anyone know of a blueprint or something
simular for building a 900 + Gal tank? preferably over 900

thanks

 

[JProx]

Well i have always been into the DIY on just about anything from aquariums
to vehicles my question is....does anyone know of a blueprint or something
simular for building a 900 + Gal tank? preferably over 900

thanks

someone had posted a walkthrough on how he built a 1200gallon shark tank into his basement on this forum, it was probably over a year ago now, but i am sure if you look you can find it. he used cinderblocks for 3/4 of the tank (using them to build the walls) then just dropped in a plate glass viewing window, then covered the blocks with water proof paint.

the problem with anything over 400+ gallons is the weight and regular joist framing used for flooring/framing in houses, often will not have enough strength to support such a tank of that size. so you will either have to reenforce the area, or put the tank in your basement on a concrete floor (which is what the 1200gallon tank guy did). however it will be a very very expensive process of building the tank (not mentioning the materials to re-enforce the area, if necessary) then filling it with water and chemicals. if you want something that big.. why not just install a 1200 gallon pond in your backyard? it would save you a few bucks.

 

[mp3z24]

here is the 1700 gallon shark tank project...
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_1700g_tank_1.php

larger pictures are here:
http://groups.msn.com/TheSharkTank/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1

also, there have been some discussions on AA that deal with the cost of such a large tank.

i dont know if you are seriously planning on pursuing this, or if it is just a FYI kind of thing, but unless you have VERY deep pockets, it is unlikely that you will be able to set up or maintain/support such a large tank.

that article is a good read. i like the pic of the guy swimming in his shark tank.

p.s. my favorite quote from that shark tank article: "I found that my concrete floor in the basement was over 6" thick, and the slab on which I intended to build the tank was level and free of cracks. At that point I concluded that my floor would support the weight, and was ready to begin construction." sounds like good engineering to me... hah! i hope he talked to some structural engineers to back up that conclusion.

~mike

 

[Dominick]

Well i was looking at building something like this L shape but almost in the 900 Gal range

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_acrylic_aquarium.php

 

[JProx]

Mike congrats on finding that shark tank guy, i knew someone had posted it on AA but couldn't recall where it came from originally.

i got a chuckle out of the concrete conclusion myself, i just swore he used cinderblock for the bulk of the stand.. must have been a different tank.

now if you want to build the L shape tank (or similar) you are going to seriously need to reinforce the flooring, remember 1 us gallon = 8.93lbs, don't forget to calc in gravel, rocks/decorations, to get a good ballpark figure. if you follow the old addage of 1lb of gravel per 1gallon of water..

water - 8,037 lbs
gravel - 900 lbs
Rough total - 9,000 lbs ~ 4.5 tons

Thats not including the wieght of the tank, the stand, etc.

i would contact a struct. engineer for ideas on how to reinforce, but this will be huge investment, before you even add any water and not to mention any fish and if your going to use acrylic for the tank, its going to run you a moderate fortune.

it would probably be in your best interest to plan what you want to use for filtering, lighting, etc Now, then do a projected Monthly electrical bill after installation.

 

[src]

Well i was looking at building something like this L shape but almost in the 900 Gal range

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_acrylic_aquarium.php

If you look closely, that's actually two tanks. Just FYI.

 

[mp3z24]

Mike congrats on finding that shark tank guy, i knew someone had posted it on AA but couldn't recall where it came from originally.

thanks, i tend to have all these large tank projects stored somewhere. im an engineer, and a DIY kind of person, so i really like reading about the design/construction/etc with the large tanks... to bad, i doubt i will ever get to do one.

oh, and this guy does it the right way...the main tank is ~1500 gallons. (Reefkeeping's Feb 2006 tank of the month) however, i believe it is in a store, not a home.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php

"After two structural piles were hammered 19 meters into the ground to help support the weight of the 8000 kg tank, the fun of constructing the tank could begin."


~mike

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, there was another tank I saw, can't find it now, but it was around 1500G as well, and they used water from their own reservoir that was on their land as a sump. The water was brought in, filtered, heated, and filtered again, then into the tank, and the output of the tank went back to that reservoir. Could you imagine having your own reservoir as a natural sump?

 

[JProx]

mike, i can completely understand i am an electronical engineer myself, and hopefully a Computer science degree here shortly. but i am in the same boat as you - love diy and an engineer

i love seeing these monster tanks, and all the structural work that put into them, however the one on reefcentral is about the best i have seen in a long time.

i would love to do one of these tanks, but probably wont ever - what i have thought about doing though is building a tide pool sort of thing in the basement to the tune of 300-500 gallons, as a frag grow out tank. nothing fancy or flashy just a spot to grow coral, keep the best ones and sell the rest off, then maybe after 4 yrs i could break even on this hobby.. lol

i don't even want to think about the extra equipment and power necessary to have your own reservior installed and kept operational for the tank. that has to be costly, and ridiculously big. if i ever get like that i hope a mod for AA bans my account. i would however love to see pictures