Building A Super Tank

[GobyMaster]

Okay, if you've read at the Oddball Institute, I've completely driven the people crazy by my constant changing of my dream tank. It's changed sizes about 5 times (never realised that it was that much! )
Well, I've finally settled on a super tank. 11.5 x 4.5 x 3' L x W x H and about 1500-2000 gallons. But, unfortunetally, the tank is too big to fit through the doorway down to our basement. At first, I thought that all hope was lost until my dad came up with an idea.

How hard and expensive would it be to build a tank of the dimensions listed above??

The stand would be 12 x 5 x 3' and home built, just like the tank will be.

Thanks,

GobyMaster

 

[Pimp]

ummm a 2000 gallon tank.. ya- u need to build your house around the tank- reinforce the ground- maybe get a building permit(idk depends) and probbly a lot more stuff. your bills are gonna extream.



u need to plan out the thickness of the glass- and

if you have never buil.t a tank before dont build the first one so bigggggggggg. my first tanks all leaked and it takes practice. its like an art.



but its not impossible- people build pools....

 

[Maximus]

Most comapanys that build large custom tanks, will build it in your house.

Not everyone with massive tanks have massive doors to fit them

 

[GobyMaster]

Thanks. About how much would it cost to have a tank (a big tank) custom built in your home by a company in US dollars?

GobyMaster

 

[Maximus]

You really don't have a clue, you just want a big tank.
If a 450 custom was too much for your budget, then a 2000 will be too.

Ring up different companys, do some reasearch for yourself, and you might not have to
change your mind so often

 

[Pimp]

with all the bills for constrcution- water- heating and such after a year or so- probbly about 10,000- depending where u live and if u inslate the room.

its a guess-- i live in az and i have a pool--- that takes half my bills each mounth with all the water. and if i heat the pool then omg-------

 

[Dorkhedeos]

line the outside of the glass with sheets of styrofoam, then double glass the viewing side. this will cut down on your heating costs. if you can, try to styrofoam the top too.

 

[CFC]

Any glass tank above around 300 gallons needs to be built in place, tanks of this size and bulk are too heavy and awkward to transport and there is a huge risk of the glass breaking from the strain of being moved.

The building costs of a tank of 2000 gallons are going to be huge, i have just commisioned the construction of a 900 gallon tank and the build cost of that is a bit under 2000 GB pounds sterling, i would expect a 2000 gallon tank to cost at least 8000 US dollars as the volume dictates that a minimum of 15mm glass will need to be used (unless you are having a tank that is very long and wide and less than 30 inches tall). Once you have the tank you need to also filter it, filtration for a tank that large needs a lot of planning and will need to be custom built costing several hundred dollars at the very least.

Heating will require at least 5000 watts if you are using submerged aquarium heaters, the equivilent of leaving a electric oven on 24 hours a day every day. With tanks of this volume insulating and heating the room the tank is housed in is a cheaper option, allow around 1 watt of heating per cubic foot of room space to maintain a 25c temperature.

Big tanks are a large investment and a continual cost to run so a lot of thought has to go into it before buying one.

 

[KhaosInc]

The place I am planning to order my next tank from doesn't sell a 2000, but they do offer a 1500 and 3000 gallon tank.. these are acrylic tanks though..


New 1500 Gallon 120x48x60 $11,999.00
New 3000 Gallon 120x120x48 $29,999.00

and for a point of reference, the 860 gallon I am hoping to get soon (biggest I can fit through my doors... ) shipping will be another $700 to my driveway, I get to figure out the rest.

http/www.crystalviewtank.com/prod01.htm

another thought that I have seen done. Just use 3 walls of your basement, and add glass to the 4th wall.

 

[GobyMaster]

The place I am planning to order my next tank from doesn't sell a 2000, but they do offer a 1500 and 3000 gallon tank.. these are acrylic tanks though..


New 1500 Gallon 120x48x60 $11,999.00
New 3000 Gallon 120x120x48 $29,999.00

and for a point of reference, the 860 gallon I am hoping to get soon (biggest I can fit through my doors... ) shipping will be another $700 to my driveway, I get to figure out the rest.

http/www.crystalviewtank.com/prod01.htm

another thought that I have seen done. Just use 3 walls of your basement, and add glass to the 4th wall.

Did you get the demensions right for the 3000? 10x10 feet and only 4 feet tall, that would be a very small aqwardly shaped tank!
GobyMaster

 

[Lateral Line]

I wonder about the floor. Having dug up the floor in our cellar and laid a new one about ½m lower, I saw how flimsy the "concrete" actually was, just a screed overlain by 20-30mm of rough cast concrete with no reinforcement. I went through it with a Kango like a hot knife knife through well warmed butter. I'd check that before even considering dimensions.

Another thing to consider, a large tank in a cellar puts a lot of moisture into the environment. We have a bit of a problem keeping our cellar dry, with a big tank down there, particularly a heated one, that would be a real concern.

With regard heating, you don't say where in the US you live. Granted cellars are usually "cool", that is a relative term. Where I stayed in Houston, the "cool" cellar was already at trop temperature for most of the year, so heating would be less of an issue.

I wonder how you'd go about cleaning a tank of that size. I have been known to wear a snorkel while working on a 6x2x2.

 

[SkiFletch]

Oh God, the thought of heating a tank with 3 concrete basement walls in the winter here in Buffalo just made me cringe... Here, let me try and warm up the frozen earth

There is one other option that's often overlooked... 3 walls of epoxy sealed plywood and a front wall of glass. Something even average carpenters can build themselves.

 

[LuckyCricketMafia]

Why do you want such a big tank? I mean I want a huge tank too but why wouldn't a 100-200 gal tank work?

 

[andyj]

been trying to find this link all day.....

http/www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32986

 

[GobyMaster]

Why do you want such a big tank? I mean I want a huge tank too but why wouldn't a 100-200 gal tank work?

No, a 100-200 gallon tank would not work. I'm getting some sharks, which is why. And, I've decided against building a tank, which will be very expensive, so I've decided to go with building an indoor pond with the same dimensions, which will cost about $500, unlike the $10,000 people were saying!
All I need for the pond, is 5 pieces of plywood (11.5x5x3' in size), and one piece of glass, and then my filter and heaters, and some liner, and I'm done! The most expensive part of this tank will be the glass and sharks. I've got my eyes on a real beaute here:Epualette Shark, which unfortunetally, costs $400 , but it'll be well worth it!

The pond idea is infininty more likely than the all-glass tank idea. I should get the pond set up in a few months, instead of the few years it would've taken me to earn up the the all-glass tank!

GobyMaster