Hi all , seeing as i'm new to the hobby (only 10 years tropical experience ) and can only post here , i really hope some more knowledgeable people can help me .

I currently have an 8x2x2 running in my converted double garage , its a great tank and i have kept numerous fish in there including some big ones that i rehomed , trouble is i'm getting greedy

At the moment i have a bit of spare cash , the time and space are there too , and i want a bigger tank, much bigger

I'm not going to buy one , we are talking thousands , i have been told by a few peoplethat tanks are easy to make , are they really

I'm sure a 2 footer or even maybe a 4 footer with the right sealant and good glass and clips etc would be easy ish !

But i want a tank to cover the length of the garage wall , where my current 8 footer is , upto maybe 20ft and at least 3 foot front to back and i always wanted a tank with maximum viewing area at the front , ie floor to eye level , so 6ft high

Now i'm not stupid , i know a tank 20ft by 6ft by 3 ft is f@~@@g massive and almost too unrealistic , but the glass for such a tank is actually quite affordable anyway, before my mate sells it me from the double glazing firm he works at )

But my point is , is this really feasable , does anyone have anything comparable , is there an alternative , a pond with viewing , plastic tank ,whatever ?

also , can atank so big , literally just sit on the floor ,obviously it would be padded but are there issues , it is a concrete garage floor ,carpeted , would there be condensation or moisture issues ?

I know i've gone on but this is a real possibility for me and of course you would all want to see it fulfilled wouldnt you ??? hahah

So any help , hints , tips or info would be very gratefully received , cheers , Paul.

With something as big as that you are talking about some quite extreme weight and pressure and I don't know if I would want to be responsible for that going wrong. Building a small tank is relatively easy but I would be very concerned about which is the correct sealant to use, how thick the glass needs to be to cope with the pressure. How to support that weight on the ground. I can't imagine you'd have much room for error and would be seriously punished with thousands of gallons of water all over the place if anything went wrong.

Anyhow, I think you need to consider phoning around some local aquariums / zoos to ask who supplied their tanks and see if you can get any advice off of the company who built them. You might even consider visiting a small, local tank manufaturer to see if you can meet with someone to talk about it.



ps: you are still validating. Either you havn't clicked the link in your email or you need to wait til tomorrow. Then you'll be able to post elsewhere. If you still have no luck tomorrow then pm cfc as he is in charge here.

This post has been edited by jonesyUK: Jun 12 2007, 07:58 PM

the sealant alone wont hold more than a 30gallon tank in my opinion
you would need some kind of reinforcement at the bottom edge and top edge and maybe in the middle

the sealant will only keep the water from leaking out in bigger tanks
however im sure there is some special sealant or glue that would hold the tank together but i still recomend some reinforcement just to be safe

your first port of call with a tank this big is to contact a structural engineer, get him to come out to your property conduct a survey and tell you how much weight your garage floor and walls can safely hold. then you can take it from there.

however monster tanks in the home are perfectly possible check this guys tanks out

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=586

also please please please make a journal of making this tank with loads of pics, it's something we all dream of and I'd certainly like to see it done!

Thanks guys , yeah i saw the tank that jack built a while ago , my tank however would be free standing and on a solid concrete floor with ply and foam base under the tank weight wouldnt be an issue , its just the way i will construct it that is giving me a headache , i have been in touch with a company "up north" somewhere todya about the possibility of a 16ft x 5ft x 4ft acrylic tank on a small base , costing coming soon anyone know roughly how much acrylic tanks are ?

i'll keep you posted about any updates , in the mean time any pics of large tanks or helpful hints and tips would be appreciated , thanks , Paul.