soo...............600 gallon tank prebuild

ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
ok i have a 155 gallon tall square, a 125 gallon standard long, 75 gallon half octagon thing, a 55 gallon standard, a 29 gallon long, and a 29 gallon tall.....the fiance is not happy......so i was like baby im not either i want to just get rid of all of them and get one tank and she was on board immediatly (no time for spell check too excited)
and she has enjoyed me making canopies and stands and such because i like the diy so but she said this would be the last tank until atleast we have the house and are married and my pay has to be double what it is now.......so i got to go big long story short i am building from scratch an acrylic 8X4X2.5 600 gallon tank, the stand, canopy, sump, skimmer, and live rock
. (sorry for the run on sentence and all lower case) i need to know how feasible it is to make an acrylic tank of this size at home with no experience with this material, also i need to know: how should i go about size lumber and the length from each other the studs and such would have to be to support 5000 lbs. come on help me out this is going to be a long and lengthy build
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
wow i cant believe that no one is interested

well do you think that a 120 sump would be enough, because i could make that out of the leftover acrylic
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
i have 3X 400 watt metal hallide lights and a 4 foot t5 4 bulb fixture and a 4 foot compact fixture
the acrylic for 5 sheets is gonna be ....$950
it should make my 600 dt and a 120 tank........maybe a sump i really haven't got any replies on if that is gonna be big enough i have only tanks up to 220 so dont really know about anything this big
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
-going to locate a plastic horse trough to have rock that im going to make cure while i am building
-going to cast 500 lbs of rock
-going to use 300 lbs dry sand and 80lbs live
-also going to go by a few thrift stores and get about 8-12 10 gallon tanks to start culturing pods, phyto, macro, rotifers, and shrimp
 
fishkid13

fishkid13

Active Member
wow big tank... Can't wait to see it built. Is the tank 6' or 8'. Want are you planning for support wise? All of the water, sand, rock...?
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Wow way to jump in the deep end. If I had never attempted acrylic fabrication before (Oh Wait! I Haven't!) I don't think I'd have the chutzbah to learn by building a 600g DT. All I can say is, Good Luck! Post lots of pictures, we'll be watching.
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
I am going to put 120 together first and get some scrap to play with first and if I am unsuccessful I will get a guy that works there to glue it on the side for me.......
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by ironchef205
http:///forum/post/3190620
what do you mean support for what

How are you going to support the tank?? Are you going to build a stand?? Build it in a wall?? Just 600 Gallons of water is 4800 pounds. Plus the acrylic, sand, rock, etc...That's going to be at least 6000 punds when you're done.
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
Well that was one of the things I am having trouble with I don't know how the frame needs to be to support this weight I want to build as much as possible so I would like to build it out wood but if not my friends dad has a metal fab shop so I could get him to build one and then build a wood cabinet shell to go around the metal frame
but I would like some expierenced carpenters word on what I should do
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by ironchef205
http:///forum/post/3190640
Well that was one of the things I am having trouble with I don't know how the frame needs to be to support this weight I want to build as much as possible so I would like to build it out wood but if not my friends dad has a metal fab shop so I could get him to build one and then build a wood cabinet shell to go around the metal frame
but I would like some expierenced carpenters word on what I should do
I'm not an experienced carpenter, but personally I'd sleep better at night if I knew the stand was made of welded steel. Making a cabinet around it is easy to do too....but I think you'd get much better support with steel...JMO.
 
fishkid13

fishkid13

Active Member
Steel is much better for support if you have a large tank. Plus as said the box wouldn't be that tricky to build around it. If a steel stand it made, have it in pieces, so it can fit through the doors, and finish assembling it inside... Just a thought.
 
ironchef205

ironchef205

Member
Yea i might do that it's just gonna set me back more time and money but in the long run it will be worth it I am gonna have to do some someones listing and try to find an ro/di too
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
acrylic tanks are a bit tricky.alot of little things to know like:
silicone wont stick so you need to use capillary cement which i still wouldnt trust for a tank that size.i would find someone who knows how to weld the seams.use the flat top rim reinforcement.(i cant remember the name of the piece right now)my friend built the stand for my 250 gallon it is just 2 by 4's.it is not overkill but i would think 2 by 6's would be fine.an acrylic tank needs support across the entire bottom as apposed to glass which can sit on the plastic rim.
google diy acrylic tanks there are some good links out there.
also the taller you make the tank the thicker the acrylic needs to be.
there is a formula online somewhere of this .
just need to start research .good luck.
 
fishkid13

fishkid13

Active Member
Originally Posted by ironchef205
http:///forum/post/3191071
Yea i might do that it's just gonna set me back more time and money but in the long run it will be worth it I am gonna have to do some someones listing and try to find an ro/di too

yard sale, $5

Yes, you could use 2x6's but I personally would sleep better a night knowning I had heavier duty stand for a tank that size then 2x6's, but what ever makes you happy I guess...
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Check out this thread....another guy made a tank the similar size
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/304207/large-plywood-tank-build
 
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