Large Tank costs/etc Questions

[ferret]

Ok. I'm crazy and this is years off, and my wife will probably never let me, but..

When I have a house and a nice basement with a nice concrete pad under it, I want to build a tank. A big tank. My currently under consideration dimensions are something on the scale of 3-4 foot depth, 4-5 foot height, and 10+ length. I'd run it all the way against a wall, or as much of one as I could. I'd want it at least a foot off the ground (Probably use cinder blocks to raise it up).

I figure the biggest issue would be getting 10 foot long pieces of acyrlic/glass for the walls :P

I'm not even pondering whether it would be salt or fresh water at this point, so I'll leave lighting considerations out for now.

Any ideas on the possible costs or major hardships? Besides getting walls long enough, filtration would seem like the next major concern. I need like 10,000 [acronym:28b0e94e3f="Gallons per hour"]gph[/acronym:28b0e94e3f] filtration I think. The above dimensions hover somewhere between 1100 to 1300 gallon I believe.

I'd just love a huge tank to let some of the big tank busters loose in.

[yaksplat]

I think the biggest issue here would be structural integrity. At a depth of 5 feet, the pressure is going to be roughly 2.23 psig. Based on this number, your joints will have to handle an extreme amount of force.

To give you an example, the front wall will have a total force exerted on it of 8028 lbs. Each sidewall will have a force of 3211 lbs. All of this force will get concentrated at the joints. Assuming an equal distribution of force, this is roughly 53 pounds of force on every linear inch of silicone at the corners and about 33 pounds on the lower joint.

Then you will also need glass thick enough to handle the stress of the water pushing against it. For this case you will need 2" thick glass for the front and back and 1.5" glass for the sides.

To be on the safe side, the bottom should also be about 2" thick

I hope you have a big wallet

and good luck with your wife

Jim

[Thaiboxer]

Holy cow! That's all I can say. And I'll echo Yak's comment about your deep pockets...

[ferret]

Hey I can dream

[snapcrackler]

Monthly maintenance costs and electricity = car payment

You could put a bumper sticker on your wife's car that says "my other car is an aquarium"

[ferret]

By the time I have a house, $200-300 monthly shouldn't be a huge concern, as I'll be fully graduated by that time and should have a fairly nice salary. Plus about that time, I'll have my current car paid for so hey, I'll have $300 a month to waste

The setup and construction would be the major concerns. What are he possiblities for construction not involving glass/acyrlic? I've read of silicon sealants for brick, etc. Due to the thickness and dimensions of the glass panels required, it might be easier to construct a reinforced brick enclosure and only have the front display panel to worry about.

[Thaiboxer]

They have a 1000 gallon tank at an [acronym:4769730954="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:4769730954] near me, and that's how they did it. It's mostly enclosed with non-glass, and has two large acrylic windows.

Still... I'd go with a concrete outdoor pond for a lot less money, especially if I lived in Georgia.

Good luck!

[yaksplat]

That would still be one expensive and heavy piece of glass

[ferret]

I have to have a yard for a pond :/ And my wife keeps talking about townhouses. They don't have yards really.

[Thaiboxer]

That's my problem now - I'm in a twin home in a small townhouse complex. I love my house, but really want a yard. I want a Jacuzzi and a koi pond... they might get cold in MN, but Pondmom seems to do okay! I have this perfect back yard in my imagination... sorta like Mr. Miagi's from Karate Kid, but not quite so elaborate.

Back to reality!