planning on incorporating a 4000 gallon salt water aquarium into the house foundatio

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weekend chef

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I am constructing a new home and planning on incorporating a 4000 gallon salt water aquarium into the house foundation. It will be below ground level and consist of one acrylic viewing panel with the remainder of the tank concrete.

i originally wanted to build a cold water tank and circulate the ocean water near by through the tank. This i thought would allow me to have native species in the tank however apparently it is frowned upon to return the water to the ocean.

i am looking for help, ideas, does and don't for this construction. i have had 160 gallon tanks but this one is beyond me. If anyone out there can recommend the equipment i may need for such a project please let me know. I want the most practical best performing equipment for this salt water aquarium that i can buy. I appreciate all the sound advice i can get.

Thanks
Weekend Chef
 
I'm going out on a limb here and assuming somone putting in 4000 gallons kinda has an idea of what they are doing. I'd love to hear how you see this going down. Are you maintaining this yourself or will you hire pro's? 400 gallon water change a week seems pretty insane...lol

Are you doing coral in this tank? Sharks? Mermaids?
 
Aquarium advice

I have access to ocean water and hope to use it as my water change source.
There are companies in the area that offer maintenance if i find it to much to handle. i am hoping upon completion of the house i will be retired and can spend the time relaxing on my new property enjoying the ocean and aquarium hopefully with out a phone.

I want to do this during construction as it will be much easier the following the completion of the house.
Any help that can be offered i will greatly except.

Thanks
Weekend chef
 
If you can go without a phone I hope you keep the internet!
(So you can keep me posted here!)

That will be phenomenal if you complete it.

Very inspired idea!

Have a word with the nearest public aquarium, look up "the tank that jack built" it's closed down now I think but it was a monster private uk aquarium. It's almost 4 metre footprint. I know for freshwater, pool equipment can be used but marine applications I'm not so sure. Any pump needs ceramic parts or salt resistant. Maybe a boat yard could put you onto a supplier of marine pumps for small vessels. Maybe a bilge pump.
 
If money isn't a concern have you considered calling the guys from Tanked or something to have it done by pros? There must be hundreds of factors to think about when dealing with something of this size. The eveporation alone could probably destroy the house if your fish room isn't vented properly. You could loose up to 40 gallons of water a day in evaporation alone! I'd assume an extra breaker for the electrical. How do you heat 4000 gallons of water? I don't think you'd use regular heaters from Petco...lol

This is blowing my mind....lol

(I still think you should get a mermaid, she'd be ok in a 4000)
 
Are you serious! :facepalm:

4000 gallons is on the table! Money can not be a concern!;)

(I'm just saying!) no fights!:ROFLMAO:

Even rock/sand is going to be more than some peoples entire fish hobby lifespan! This is nuts! (y)

I'd suggest a gas boiler of some description but the trouble with salt water and metal makes it tricky.

You could heat the room, that's what I do, then push individual tanks as appropriate. I used an under cabinet kitchen heater rated at 1 or 2 KW (switchable) and a reverse thermostat which keeps me at 22C if it gets cold. Insulated walls. Humidity control fan. Or in this case, perhaps fans and heaters!

It will handle 28c easy in my room and it's only on the 1kw switch.
Maybe you could insulate the concrete element, kingspan in the walls maybe?
And plenty rebar!

It'll be 15 ton of water! (34,000lb I think!)
plus rocks/sand/salt

(y):popcorn:
 
I'm a little confused by this.

If you are planning on building a house with this kind of tank in it, you will need a great deal of professional assistance. This really isn't a project the average person takes on. There are all kinds of structural and filtration things to consider not to mention the humidity that this kind of tank will create in your house.

I would suggest contacting a few contractors that have done this kind of work for their advice!

This is a major project in every sense!
 
aquarium advice

I have no intention of building this monster myself. I am looking for help in locating and pricing the best products to make this a reality.
I could just hire someone to supply all the equipment required at an incredible mark up or with help i can learn and understand from people such as yourself of how and where to purchase and what items should cost for such an endeavor.
If i can i would like to purchase the components from the manufacturer or supply house and have them shipped to me if pricing is in favor. I will then have a contractor put it all together. My main objective after building something to admire is to not be ripped off by suppliers and tradesmen.

thanks
Weekend chef
 
Well the tricky part about asking for help from folks on this site is, I don't think anyone on this site has set up a tank of this size. Something this large is going to require a lot of special equipment and that is not going to be cheap no matter where you get it from. This is going to take a lot of research and talking to people who have established systems this large.

This isn't the normal tank we offer help on.
 
Ziggy953 said:
Well the tricky part about asking for help from folks on this site is, I don't think anyone on this site has set up a tank of this size. Something this large is going to require a lot of special equipment and that is not going to be cheap no matter where you get it from. This is going to take a lot of research and talking to people who have established systems this large.

This isn't the normal tank we offer help on.
Click to expand...


+1, honestly I think your best bet is to go visit an aquarium and ask to see there filtration set ups and plan on building/having some one build similar. All of our knowledge of equipment maxed out in the few hundred gallon range let alone thousands.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
This will be a massive undertaking, the logistics alone have ruined my night;) I work for a company that builds high end homes. Just because your Gc is in the know does not mean.the rest of the guys on site have the slightest clue/interest in this project. This is a finish job that would be best completed by a professional that specializes in this alone. Not a diy job by any means.. nothing worse than spending thousand and thousands on a major disaster..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
+1 on contacting a professional . Just don't use the guys from the show "Tanked". Do a quick search of threads in that topic and you'll see why. The Tanked show is kinda taboo on this forum lol.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
I think that a company like the one on Tanked would would best. There are many out there that are not on TV. There are countless things that will go into getting everything set up properly and I bet they will have ideas on things one of us would never think of. IMO, something on this scale should not include concerns about money or being ripped off. Research products and demand that the builder has competitive pricing. The Acrylic pane itself is going to cost a lot and there probably isn't going to be much competition to bring that cost down.

Please keep us posted on this build. If love to follow a build, from step one, on something like this.


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Don't use a TV company like ATM, IMO. I would hire a contractor that builds giant tanks to at least consult with. This is on the order of a public aquarium build.


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Following along. Can't help much. Custom built skimmers may be an option. Someone on YouTube documented their custom built 6 ft tall skimmer.
 
planning on incorporating a 4000 gallon salt water aquarium into the house fo...

Everything you need is commonly available. Giant protein skimmers, sand filters, etc. you will need a sizable room to house the equipment for such a tank. And a budget to go along with it. Even if you pump SW and filter it, the cost of power and chemicals won't be cheap.

No, you can't dump the SW back into the ocean. Monterey Bay uses fresh SW but processes the heck out of it before it's legal to put it back into the bay.

Cool project. Hope it works out.


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