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

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Don't be scared if you want Togo big go big! Just do more research than just here. You can diy a lot but professionals are a good start! ( and so is scuba diving courses! Good luck and I'm definitely following!


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If one is an experienced salt water aquarium hobbyist, he/she should have adequate knowledge in maintaining it. The problem lies on what equipment needed that applies to a huge volume of water. As Greg had posted, there are available equipment that would suit any requirement. As far as using salt water directly from the sea, it depends on where you get it and how clean it is. Probably you need a large holding tank to let any unwanted stuff to settle down at the bottom or remove floating chemicals at the surface like oil. You can not return the used water directly to the sea but you can dump it on the ground at let the soil filter it back to the sea. That means you also need a pond to dump it and at the same time let the sun evaporate some of it.
Edit: I just came across to this links
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00354919
http://www.praqua.com/solutions/culture-systems/recirculating-aquaculture-systemsras
http://www.agritechintl.com/recirculating-aquarium-system.htm

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That looks like fun to clean lol


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Take the architect and the tank designer out for a drink!
Really these two people need to be on the same page throughout the design as the tank will form a considerable part of the structure. It will have an effect on the house design from the first page.

I'm glad you haven't been dissuaded from this endeavour as yet!
Assuming you use concrete as per your initial outline,
The concrete alone will cost you a few grand plus wages, concrete prices fluctuate, also delivery distance plays a big part on price, if you are isolated (outside of a delivery perimeter) it will cost more. (Concrete spec will also vary in price, a harder mix costs more)

3-4 men should easily cope with the shuttering/rebar and pouring. (Ideally one man needs digger exp. or that's more money on a driver. (Excavate at foundation stage to keep digger hire cost minimal)

Any good building team will be able to work to the drawings provided by the tank designer, after all that's the way it works in the real world!
I'm not sure a regular architect could engineer this tank. Your building team could (would need to) work the job in alongside the main build.

I DIY on my days off but a build like this I would surely like to be a part of, it ticks all of my favourite boxes, construction, engineering and fishes, and this is 20 times the size of my biggest build, I used concrete and steel for a stand. I moved the tank once with no issues except my biceps! Yours will be permanent, even if you change your mind.

If I was in a position to consider something like this for myself I would set aside 5 grand to get to this point, then you still need viewing panel, tank lining and system equipment and associated plumbing. That gets you a basic system, now factor in substrate/rocks/stock.
15-20grand, that's my rough guess and so for me, it will remain a dream!

Your tank will be the size of my fish house. (You can buy all glass tanks that size but the water is around 1 meter deep, that could work out much cheaper!)

My LFS has a custom 3meter square tank by 1.2 depth, it holds over 9000 litres.
It's only half what you want but maybe the DIY glass option could be more cost effective. (I say DIY I mean built on site, same thing to me)

Do you have a specific shape in mind or is it just a numbers build?

3x3x2.2 or 6x3x1.1 or 12x1.5x1.1 meters it's all the same volume. The deeper it is the better the glass spec. will need to be, this will increase cost.

12-meter long glass fins for the new entrance - Van Gogh Museum

Anything is possible in glass.
 
Here's a 20,000 gallon to mimic....
Featured Aquarium: Atlantis Marine World — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
I would imagine it would be about a hundred grand before you buy a single fish.

That's built exactly the same, shuttered concrete with steel reinforcement.

(If ever there were to be such a thing as fish porn, that is it!)

It's nice how they talk about the sense of ownership. That is something any good contractor feels. Pride.

DIY extreme!
That link is great.
 
That sounds absolutely wonderful. I hope to live like that someday! I dont know if anyone on here will have any good advice as that is one of the larger household tanks I have heard of short of seeing some on youtube. I have no idea how to run one or use real ocean water.
 
Thank you every one for the feed back. in talking to a builder who has built aquariums for large projects including shopping malls, they feel it would be cheaper and easier to build a tank and set it in place. They are looking into the cost and the best plan.
This being said if anyone has some money saving ideas on filtration, heaters,pumps and skimmers i will gladly appreciate them.

Thanks
Weekend Chef
 
planning on incorporating a 4000 gallon salt water aquarium into the house fo...

Here's a 20,000 gallon to mimic....
Featured Aquarium: Atlantis Marine World — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
I would imagine it would be about a hundred grand before you buy a single fish.


I think you're light on that estimate.
Depending on how it's built, the tank alone could cost a big portion of that 100k. Lighting, flow, filtration, water handling and automation could come to another $50k or more, then you have rock, several tons. A 4000 could easily hold tens of thousands in fish and coral. Not sure of the final number, but it's gonna be pretty impressive.

It's a big project. I've been planning my 1000 gal for years and it isn't cheap to build or operate. But that being said, it's very straight forward.

Wish I had the money and room!

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I think you're light on that estimate.
Well, it's a starting point at least! ;)


Thank you every one for the feed back. in talking to a builder who has built aquariums for large projects including shopping malls, they feel it would be cheaper and easier to build a tank and set it in place. They are looking into the cost and the best plan.
This being said if anyone has some money saving ideas on filtration, heaters,pumps and skimmers i will gladly appreciate them.

Thanks
Weekend Chef
I think this tank builder is about to get into uncharted territory. You would need at least a forklift to bring a 4000 gallon aquarium into your home. "That pet place" has a large reef tank built by Oceanic that had a blemish so they replaced it under warranty. They needed a forklift to bring it in and place it, and I believe this tank was only 1200 gallons.
 
Well, it's a starting point at least! ;)



I think this tank builder is about to get into uncharted territory. You would need at least a forklift to bring a 4000 gallon aquarium into your home. "That pet place" has a large reef tank built by Oceanic that had a blemish so they replaced it under warranty. They needed a forklift to bring it in and place it, and I believe this tank was only 1200 gallons.
At 4000 gallons it might even need to be built on site
 
If I were building a house, I think I would bite the bullet and essentially build a small swimming pool with at least one acrylic window. Depending on depth, they would be about 4" thick and would weigh a lot. Massive filtration, a thick epoxy coating on the walls and away we go. Need a superstructure over the top for lighting and other services. A way to get in easily and a hooka breathing rig to service the inside. If the money is available, it's a very straight forward project done many times for resorts and other public displays.


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Every time you got a coral or anything you would have to go scuba diving that would get old real fast


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Every time you got a coral or anything you would have to go scuba diving that would get old real fast


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Or would it...

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