custom ~300 gallon in the making, questions

[talksalt]

Hello all,
I am pretty new here but have been lurking for a while. I dont post as much on here as much as I do on other forums for my other hobby (computers/web development).
Anyhow, I currently have a 75 gallon and its about 8 months old. Well, I have fell in love with tangs! I currently have a Yellow & a Naso which get along great. I want more tangs and understand that the Naso shouldnt even really be in nothing smaller than a 125 gallon.
After a talk with my wife she gave me the goahead to build the tank I want in the second living room we have. I pretty much have everything planned out for sump/fuge, where to get my cell cast acrylic and so on. I am just stuck on one thing pretty much on the build, I'l try my best to explain the WxHxVxblah blah
I have this long wall where the 75 currently is, I'll post a pic of the wall from months ago to give you an idea. I am going to order two 24x24x3/4 sheets for the sides, and two 24x48x3/4 sheets for the front. Now the look I am going for is to have the two sides slanted in towards the front. If you were looking from the top it would look like this:
________/
My goal is to use cement for the floor and back of tank and rock & cement for the corners and middle joint coverage.
My main question is, what will cement do to my stablility (chemical/nitrates/polution) wise?
I have seen that you can make your own DIY LR with certain cement but needed cured. So would my tank have to cure for even longer even after getting my cycle going?
I go to see live aquarium shows alot (I live in Florida) and see that thier huge tanks have a blue type paint, What type of paint is this and will it be safe?
Another question (sorry),
What the best way to get cell cast to adhere to cement? Scuff the edges and use silicone for aquariums?
I'll photoshop up a quick sketch of what I mean by using rock and cement.
And yes, I'll be posting pictures as I progress

I lowered the quality of the pics for faster loading. The wall picture shows most of the wall but not all of it. There is about 4 more foot to the right.
This is my first step of coming here because if the cement isnt going to work it will change plans completely and I want to start this build next week sometime.
Thanks in advance (Insert Naso Smiley Here)
David

 

[bronco300]

wow....are you not going to have the glass touch each other, just have rock forms in between? the stones being as a decor to the sides? or am i misunderstanding that and they're just covering the corners? either way that would be pretty sweet. i have no answers to any of your questions, but awesome idea,lol

Luke P

 

[talksalt]

Right, the glass will not be touching each other. The rock & cement will be acting as the weld between the two is the best way I could explain it.
Thanks for your feedback
-Dave

 

[matty0h_52]

Thats a pritty cool idea, if you can pull it together. i think the only problem would be the weight. what is the structure sitting on? what kind of rock are you thinking of useing? glass and cement? i dont think they would stick, what are you useing to creat a groove so the glass can sit inside the cement structure?

 

[tree]

Am I understanding correctly that the tank will protrude from the wall? Very cool idea.
I have a concern with regards to the cement. Since it is porous, how will you resolve the problem of water leaking thru the cement? I know there are solutions you can paint the cement with to make it watertight but I don't know if they would be safe for your fish. A resolution may be to create the aquarium using the acrylic so that the panels meet and can be watertight. I would then do the cement rockwork as an enclosure for the aquarium where the cement isn't actually touching the water.
I think matty0h_52 has a valid concern about the weight as far as how you will support the cement rockwork if it is coming out of the wall.
Have you considered how you will run any filtration?

 

[robchuck]

That is a fantastic plan!
However, I would recommend glass as opposed to acrylic for a tank to be constructed in this manner. Silicone adheres to glass much better, plus it won't scratch nearly as easily. Also, the concrete can be coated with epoxy paint designed for the aquaculture industry (silicone sticks to this as well). Regardless of what material you go with, the viewing panels will mostly be held in place by water pressure, with the silicone acting as a gasket.
I would also recommend taking a look at the 2700 gallon tank thread in the aggressive forum to find some pointers for building a tank in this style.

 

[matty0h_52]

Tree i think you pritty much on the right track if he seems all the glass together and then builds the rock work on the out side that would pritty much solve and leaking problems that may occure.

 

[matty0h_52]

that means the front glass would be all one unit. wooooooow thats gatta way 200lbs alone. i think my 205g tank (30x30x48) ways 250 (totally estimateing)

 

[talksalt]

Originally Posted by matty0h_52
Thats a pritty cool idea, if you can pull it together. i think the only problem would be the weight. what is the structure sitting on? what kind of rock are you thinking of useing? glass and cement? i dont think they would stick, what are you useing to creat a groove so the glass can sit inside the cement structure?
It will be sitting on cement blocks covered with rocks for a better look. The sump/fuge system will be built under the tank.
Originally Posted by tree
Am I understanding correctly that the tank will protrude from the wall? Very cool idea.
I have a concern with regards to the cement. Since it is porous, how will you resolve the problem of water leaking thru the cement? I know there are solutions you can paint the cement with to make it watertight but I don't know if they would be safe for your fish. A resolution may be to create the aquarium using the acrylic so that the panels meet and can be watertight. I would then do the cement rockwork as an enclosure for the aquarium where the cement isn't actually touching the water.
I think matty0h_52 has a valid concern about the weight as far as how you will support the cement rockwork if it is coming out of the wall.
Have you considered how you will run any filtration?
No, the tank will not be cut into the wall. The only thing that will be really touching the wall is the hinge system I am going to use to lift my lighting when needed.
Your regards about the cement being porous etc is my reason for being here to ask all this in the first place
Filtration, I have whipped up some drawings to have my current 75 turned into my sump/fuge. Running plumbing wont be an issue since using cement I can put holes or PVC where I need it to be. Thats the easy part lol,,,,,
Originally Posted by RobChuck
That is a fantastic plan!
However, I would recommend glass as opposed to acrylic for a tank to be constructed in this manner. Silicone adheres to glass much better, plus it won't scratch nearly as easily. Also, the concrete can be coated with epoxy paint designed for the aquaculture industry (silicone sticks to this as well). Regardless of what material you go with, the viewing panels will mostly be held in place by water pressure, with the silicone acting as a gasket.
I would also recommend taking a look at the 2700 gallon tank thread in the aggressive forum to find some pointers for building a tank in this style.
Im more of a acrylic man myself

Scratches can be buffed out easily if mild or resin can be used to fill them in.
You pretty much understand how I want to set this up and also thought that the pressure would help seal the cell cast to the cement. If I build the silicone thick enough then I dont really think any problems would arise.
This epoxy paint your talking about. I am going to have to google that and see what there is and if I can use for my type of aplication. And hope they have in more colors then just blue :thinking:
I have checked out that 2700 gallon thread and got me wanting to go to home depot right now to get everything

Thanks everybody for your input, Looking forward to reading some more from you folks

-Dave

 

[robchuck]

Originally Posted by talksalt
Im more of a acrylic man myself

Scratches can be buffed out easily if mild or resin can be used to fill them in...
...This epoxy paint your talking about. I am going to have to google that and see what there is and if I can use for my type of aplication. And hope they have in more colors then just blue :thinking: ...
I'm an acrylic man as well (as careful as I am, I've still scratched my tank, but it is nice to be able to repair those scratches; and it's not that difficult to boot!).
In regards to the epoxy paint, search Google for "Sweetwater Epoxy Paint". It definately comes in more colors than blue.
Also, search for a member by the name of Novice150. He built a 1700 gallon shark tank a few years ago using plywood and epoxy and documented the build on this website.

 

[acrylic51]

Sounds like a sweet tank the acrylic if used is going to set you back a pretty penny.....On another fish forum they have a good thread going with a actual acrylic tank builder that could possibly help you out with what you might want to know

 

[nytrillium]

I thik i can answer your cement question....
Having worked with cement on numerous occasions, I can say that it is very porous. Also, the salt water in the tank will react wiht the limestone in the cement and slowly break it down. They have this exact problem on pilings across ocean bays and such. As for painting the cement to protect it, yes that will work to some extent however you will have a hell of a time keeping it sealed. it will most likely require periodic maintinence. Also, using the cement to adhere the two pieces of acrylic wont work. The cement wont "stick" to the acrylic sheets and you will deffinately have leakage...
Sorry to pick on your idea. I'm just trying to help.. I love your idea though. It should look really cool.
But as a suggestion. Why not use weld on to connect the acrylic together then, silicone to seal it further. then you could add the cement "rock" as a boarder to coover the corners. That way you know it will stay water tight and you dont have to worry abut the cement in the aquarium.
Hope i ould be of some assistancce.
Have fun, Brian

 

[aw2]

I'm still relatively new here and from what I understand, we're not supposed to post links to other boards, so I'll do it this way...
Go to Reef Central, into the "Large Reef Tanks" forum. Then, look for a thread labeled "1700gal. Stingray Reef".
That guy, "Energy", did exactly what you're talking about. His thread has covered dozens and dozens of pages, including how he built it, the filtration, fish room, etc. etc. It truly is a work of art.