building a dream tank

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thefishguy

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 10, 2005
Messages
74
Location
Maple Park, IL
I have read other topics like this, but most just end up arguing that it would be to expensive. anybody who has any input or ideas would be great. what would it take to put an aquarium the size of a large room. like 20 by 20 by 12. what type of foundation, structure would it take. you would almost have to build a room with special vents for the humidity, what type of lighting and how much. this is obviously a dream but what type of lighting would it take and how expensive would it be. any input is appreciated
p.s. please don't put it down by saying it is impossilbe financially
 
That's 31,000 gallons! What's your budget? Are you willing to go into $300k-$400k? Monthly costs of ~$5000/month? Live rock alone is almost 20 tons!!

How about your homeowners insurance? That's voided. Not to mention the zoning laws. Be realistic please. Professional aquariums with millions in budget and dozens on staff perform those projects.
 
Well I currently have about 650 gal total water capacity for my 525 gal tank. I am planning a new tank to hopefully be installed in 1 1/2 to 2 years so I have some numbers to give you some idea of what to expect. The tank I am planning is 15L X 5W X 6H it will have to have a solid concrete foundation to support the approx weight of 20 tons so the one you gave would weigh approx 225 tons and need at least a 1 foot re-enfored concrete slab foundation. Next you would need approx 13000 lbs of sand for a 4" sandbed. For lights on the one I am drawing up I would need roughly 10,000 watts FO and 20,000 watts coral MH lights due to the depth. I have estimated my power bill to increase by $400 a month if I do corals so the tank you said expect a porportionate 220,000 watts and a monthly power bill of $4,400 (just lights based on my KW rate) I know that when I ordered my 525 gallon that acrylic has a 35% per foot jump in cost for material over 8' in length and I am guessing 3" thickness of the material for that tank. If you are serious I can hook you up with the guy who made my last and will make my next. I am not about to estimate cost but it would be well over $200,000 just for the tank. If I was doing something that large I would look into a manmade concrete reef container with only the front exposed. Everyone who has set up a SW tank knows the biggest cost is all the filters pumps etc. I would guess not counting the structure to house it you are looking at a min of $750,000. PS. do not forget the water changes. My 525 gal cost me around $50 a month in mix and RO water so doing a 20% would set you back around $3500.

Hope this helps
 
That fellow did a great job on a fabulous tank - 840 gallons. That's a far cry from 31,000. Apples and oranges there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a "you CAN'T because..." kind of person. I earn my living working on huge projects that require vision, years of effort and careful planning. Because of that, I'm also a realist. I've been a part of some impressive projects but to achieve great things, you need to keep yourself grounded.

In a residential area, private home, 800...1000...maybe 2000 is doable. 31,000?? I can put the guy on Mars but Jupiter will have to wait for the next generation.
 
What about if you made some sort of indoor pool structure? Or literaly had an indoor pool installed and just converted it into an aquarium?

Just a thought.

Joe
 
Anyone been to KIMA in Texas?

There's a huge cylindrical aquarium there. Took a helicopter to place it within the building. I think its something like 60,000 gallons, about a 60ft diagonal, and three or four stories high... Houses sharks, tons of fish, everything. The restaurant is called The Aquarium (go figure) and has dozens of little reef tanks mounted in the walls. All with healthy, thriving environments.

What about Sea World? They house several large killer whales.. :roll:
 
No doubt it can be done, but at what expense. Better ways to achieve the same thing. It would be cheaper to buy a house and scuba, or even a sub.

schoeplein:
Seaworld is owned by a fortune 200 company and charges well over $100 to look at their fish.
 
Yeah I almost scared myself when I typed up the first response. Hopefully my wife does not see it.
 
31,000 gal would be a HUGE tank. I wouldn't want the cost of maintaing it. I would go with Brenden's option..get one around 2-3000 gal. At least it would be more affordable maintenance wise.

Mike
 
Bah. Mike... set your goals high! :lol:

My dream tank would have a 3000 gal SUMP. Of course, I would have diving equipment, if only there were sharks safe for human interaction. :lol:

In all reality though... I would say that 850 gal would be the biggest I would EVER go... coincidentally... it matches www.oregonreef.com hah. :wink:
 
i use to want to get a pool when i was little and put fish in it lol. ive never had a pool in my life (except those lil kiddie pools) and then i could go swimming with the fish :). then i noticed the temp, bugs, and finally how unrealistic it was. for me at least..

one day hes going to have his 31000 gallon tank and you'll pay him to see it! :D
 
My dream tank would be anything bigger than 125 gallons.

I think anything bigger than that is just to much maintenence for my fancy.
 
wow, it's nice to read about dreaming...here I am financialy struggling to keep a 55 gal... :cry: My dream is to be able to afford a 125 gal, my husband says I must be :drinking: oh well.....keep dreaming...
 
I'm with you, gilraen. I have a 55 as well and I'm working on methods to get to that 120. After that, I'm in Jason's camp - a maintainence factor comes t play.

48x24x24. 120 gal,...... :lol: ....da-bomb!
 
I found instead of sitting around pondering about it... just do it. If you already have a 55 upgrading to a 120 should not be that much of a expense. Sell your old tank and buy some more LR etc for the new 120 gal.
 
Hey, Brenden, sounds good. Know of anybody who just scored a killer tank they can ship to me :wink: :wink: :?:
 
Not much of an expense??, so all the equipment that we have for the 55 should be good for a 120?? In my case, I don't think so, everything I have is for "up to 65-75gal aquarium", I think it would be expensive to buy all new equipment for brand new tank---not to mention the tank itself. Just my 2 cents... 8)
 
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