huge tank questions please help

jeffro63

jeffro63

Member
i'm in the process of buying a new house and down in the basement there is a wall that would be perfect for building a huge tank. now i,ve looked around a bit and i don't think you can buy a tank this size but it's what i want so i'll have to build it. my question is how thick of glass do i need for a tank this big. i'm looking at a tank 4' tall 4' front to back and 20' left to right. does anyone know what i need for glass. 3/4 inch 1" or even thicker?
i sure hope someone has an answer for me cause i would really like to build this tank.
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
WOW!!!! Big plans!!
That tank would be around 2300 gallons!!! The weight of the water alone would be around 20,000 pounds!!!! :scared: Add a few thousand for the tank, a thousand or so for the rock and sand, you got one heck of a load in a small area.
Seriously, contact a structural engineer to look into this as your flooring may not be able to handle this type of load.
Also, this is not something you would want to consider building yourself. If you are serious about this, contact a professional tank biulder. There are a number that advertise in various fish magazines available at LFS's.
Consider the cost alone of just running this tank. You would be looking at several thousand dollars per month in electric and water costs for the pumps, heaters, lighting, filtration, ect. I don't even want to think about how much everything would cost anyway.
Good luck.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Your best bet if your going to have the tank built is let the tank manufacturer telll you what size or thickness the glass would be.....He's the professional, but with something that tall your going to be pretty thick IMO....Are you looking glass or acrylic?? The tank would probably be built on site, but there are places that will build what your looking for......Envision would be a place to check out for something like that
 
tinmanny

tinmanny

Member
Are you talking about one piece of glass or plexi. either way will it even get in to your basement in one piece. that is real big
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Why talk him out of this tank... do it!!! It sounds unbelievable.
 
jeffro63

jeffro63

Member
well for the flooring it'll be in the basement on a concrete floor, the stand will be poured concrete so the weight will not be a problem. As far as getting the glass downstairs i got that figured out to, just peel the flooring up when i put in the new carpet and lower it in through the trusses. the house is out in the country so the water is free i also will be putting solar panels on the roof so i don't need to cover electric. As far as filteration there is a room directly behind where the tank will be that will house a massive filtering system as well as r/o di units etc.
so yes i have been doing some planning, some thinking, and a whole lot of dreaming. i'm just hoping to make this tank become a reality very soon.
I will look into that place called Envision thank you Acrylic 51
thanks folks when this tank actually becomes real i'll post all info as it comes along
right now i am doing a lot of reseach into finding substrare and live rock stuff like that at wholesale prices rather than what the lfs is charging. looking into refugeiums, water movement systems protien skimming, etc. so yes i am aware of what this thing is gonna cost $$$$$$$$$$$$ but i believe its gonna be worth it
 
mitzel

mitzel

Active Member
Tank Length = 240 inches
Tank Width = 48 inches
Tank Height = 48 inches
Tank volume is calculated as
Tank Volume = 2393.8 Gallons
plus sumps and plumbing. :scared: thats a whole lot of water.
I cant wait to see this.

What do you plan on stocking it with ?
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
Originally Posted by jcrim
Why talk him out of this tank... do it!!! It sounds unbelievable.

Not trying to talk him out of it (I'd like to see it too), but just saying that this is not a simple DIY tank project.
As for the weight, even with the poured concrete, with that much weight you could get some major depression (in a concrete basement 1/2" is major) that could crack your foundation. I've done some engineering work in the past and an industrial machine about the size and weight of your tank required 36" thick reinforced concrete flooring with packed gravel several feet below that. The last thing you would want when this tank is set up is to have a shift in the flooring that causes it to flex and crack open......that would be a mess that would require more than a shop vac to clean up!!
OK, off my soapbox on that.
I am curious though, what do you plan on stocking it with? Fish only? Corals? Whale sharks???
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Definitely not trying to talk him out of the tank by any means.......It won't be a quick weekend project by any means.....The concrete will be an issue as well as the glass....If you go the the other site they have alot of good prep info on doing tanks of this magnitude and you might get some helpfull hints or tips as well.....If I'm not mistaken don't think you'll find the glass local.....I've read and led to believe that glass for something of this nature would come from overseas and that adds to the cost as well.....Not a glass expert, but one of the top things on my list to find out from the get go.....Again the tank building will be done by the experts so you just have to find out what the different builders recommend and compare notes......
Concrete stand sounds cool, and filter room behind is excellent and you'll need the room......Make sure your concrete guy is good and make sure it's reinforced all the way through....Good luck and keep us posted!!!!!!
 
salty tank

salty tank

Member
get scuba gear and go scuba diving in it! Get like a 200 gallon tank and turn it into a massive refgium thad be cool
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Ventilation is probably the first things I would start working or looking into as well for this size tank....
 
jeffro63

jeffro63

Member
thank you all for the good responses............. the Grog was wondering how it will be stocked. So far all i'm planning on is just a large community tank of the basics, kinda like the Nemo movie, all peaceful type critters, maybe a few corals but not getting carried away. just a big ole community tank where there is always something going on somewhere. A relaxation thing after work.
 
reefiness

reefiness

Active Member
i would say not to make it 4 ft tall mabye like 2-3 becuase at 4ft your gona need like 1000 watt mh to reach the bottom of the tank nicly plus with that surface area ur gona need about $5000 worth of lights alone.

plus the cost to rum probably close to 10000+watts of lights.
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
I think there is someone that did something very similar. Mr. 3000 I think was the guy. Google it and see what you come up with. As I recall the tank is no longer up and running b/c of evap. issues. All of that water was ruining his house. The tank itself was concrete coated with epoxy with a very large veiwing window.
I would agree with Grog, that's alot of weight and a standard 4" concrete floor is not built for that. I'm sure it can be done and WOW how cool would it be. I would just hate to see it go bad after all the work and planning its going to take.
Good Luck! Can't wait to see that post!
Tim
 
atmosfear

atmosfear

Member
I did concrete for 7 yrs where i live here in Indiana.I did some figures. 4 ft x 4 ft x 20 ft is about 2400 gallons of water. One gallon of water wieghs aprox 8 lbs thats 19200 lbs of water. A 4 inch concrete slab is usually poured with 4000 mix this means it can handle 4000 psi so over that much area if iwas flat on the floor it should handle it. Since you were going to pour a concrete stand it would limit that area so I would recommend you pour a 6 to 8 inch footer underneath the area where your concrete stand would be. Beside that sound like a awsome undertakeing heck I would like to help. Keep us posted.
 
bill f

bill f

Member
Everyone's concerned with its cost, it's not you wallet.
Doesn't sound like costs an issue to me. Sounds like he'll be doing his homework
Looking forward to seeing it.
 
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