Tips on building a tank

[kdpuffer]

Hey all, so the story is that I have some fish that will require large tanks in the fairly near future and was tossing around the idea of building my own tanks and stands for them. Both tanks will be about 150 gallons and will be standard dimensions however I will be making them 28 inches deep and 18 inches high. What thickness of glass should be used? How would i brace the tank? I would like to mount both tanks on one stand one above the other. Any tips on building the stand? I was thinking of doing a steel frame welded together with some form of cover/doors so the space above, below and between the tanks is concealed. I am thinking of industrial steel style doors. My thoughts so far is the bottom tank 24 inches off the floor and probably 18 inches between the tanks with an 18 inch space above the top tank. This setup will be in my basement on the concrete floor and I have the space picked out already. One of the tanks will be for my frontosa colony and the other for my tiger fish and likely some other awesome unique wow factor fish. Also what would the recommendation be for filtration? Let me guess fx5's lol how many should be used? Well that's all I can think of for now so fire your tips and suggestions my way, thanks all.

 

[kdpuffer]

Oh another thought would be what kind of glass, tempered or normal. Also there was a specialty glass I've heard of but I don't recall the name, it was for aquariums and was suppossed to be super clear or enhance visibility or something like that.

 

[Blueangel4730]

Are you thinking acrylic as the 'special' glass?

 

[BrackAttack]

the only time i think you should build a tank is when they are bigger then 200gal. i feel like the products youd need to build it would cost just as much plus plywood tanks are not that attractive.

 

[kdpuffer]

No it wasn't acrylic I was thinking of, wanna avoid acrylic I think. I have kids and it scratches super easy. The special glass I'm thinking of was some sort of enhanced glass, maybe it was called jeweled or something like that I just cant remember grrrrr.

 

[rebelyeller89]

No it wasn't acrylic I was thinking of, wanna avoid acrylic I think. I have kids and it scratches super easy. The special glass I'm thinking of was some sort of enhanced glass, maybe it was called jeweled or something like that I just cant remember grrrrr.

Was it starphire?

 

[kdpuffer]

Yes I believe that was it, what is the difference between that and regular glass?

 

[rebelyeller89]

It's a low iron glass. Supposedly offers clearer viewing, but I've never seen one in person.

 

[kdpuffer]

Well I'm content with regular glass. to answer a previous post recommending just buying a tank, buying used tanks this size in my area is expensive hence why I'm looking into building. I'm a handy person and enjoy DIY projects and was hoping to take it to a new level provided it posed a cost benefit, which in my area it does. I would like to keep to DIY on the tanks and stand as for the equipment I'm still at odds. A sump would be awesome and I would love to incorporate one in its just a matter of space. Do you think a person could build a sump and also accommodate breeding guppies into it somehow? Perhaps different chambers for adults and fry? This is at the moment an idea and nothing is set in stone. The other issue is to get two tanks the same dimensions to stack as I'm hoping to do. All input and suggestions are welcome, like I've said this is just a thread to probe the idea and get input.