Building a tank...

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:37:36 GMT, "Sean"
wrote:

Anyone have any tips on what one would need/do when building a custom tank?
Materials to use and sealant advice would be great. I'm looking to contruct
a tank that is about 300Gs...

Sean



Someone in another group posted this link

http://www.oregonreef.com/

"Fishman" wrote in message
news:K_jCf.27555$AV.20978@trnddc07...
I calculate just under 1200 gal. (1196)

At 10 lbs per gallon (which may be low considering all the complimentary
equipment and supplies) that would be 12000lbs over a footprint of 32sqft.
This is 375 lbs per sqft. That's a lot of weight and unless you're on a
concrete slab basement, I would seriously consider some shoring up.

1 gallon of water occupies 231 cubic inches. Granted the entire volume
would not be water. Gravel and rock would take up volume as well,
however,
they have a higher density than water and would weigh more per unit area.

If you're considering a multiple side viewing of the tank, you might do
better to have it custom built by a reputable company. A tank that size
would be very expensive but they may even have warranties.

Fishman

I want to build it myself...its not something that I am going to jump into,
I'm going to take my time and learn as I go. A fun project if you will. It
will be in the room not used in the basement of the house (concrete base).
Basically a TV area with a sweet tank behind the couch, kinda sunk into the
wall. I choose this room because it doesn't need the floor re-enforced and
its away from any sizable amount of sunlight. It will be accessible from
the other side of the area as it is a different room just seperated by the
tank and wall that is used for laundry. I can do the clean up and have any
ugliness tucked away in there

Sean

Someone in another group posted this link

http://www.oregonreef.com/



Nice. My tank is going to be freshwater. Saves a pile of money. Basically
I want to re-create a section of a junglescape river scene. Piranha are
going to be the main fish with some frogs and other fish from the same type
of aquascape living amoung the Piranha. I know the Piranha are going to nip
the fins of the other fish but that's what I am trying to do, re-create the
river in my house. If I can I am going to try and have a large number of
aquatic bugs too. The list goes on.

Sean

Sean wrote in message
...
Anyone have any tips on what one would need/do when building a custom
tank?
Materials to use and sealant advice would be great. I'm looking to
contruct
a tank that is about 300Gs...

Sean


Here's a few link that I've looked at, hope they help.

http://www.garf.org/news22p2.html

http://www.petfish.net/articles/Do-I.../tank-diy1.php

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...c_aquarium.php

http://www.kingvinnie.com/aquaria/diy/

"Sean" wrote in message
...
Nice. My tank is going to be freshwater. Saves a pile of money.
Basically I want to re-create a section of a junglescape river scene.
Piranha are going to be the main fish with some frogs and other fish from
the same type of aquascape living amoung the Piranha. I know the Piranha
are going to nip the fins of the other fish but that's what I am trying to
do, re-create the river in my house. If I can I am going to try and have
a large number of aquatic bugs too. The list goes on.
=======================
Check on those Piranhas as I believe it's illegal to keep them as pets in
your country as well as mine.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
Troll Information:
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Sean wrote:
I would like for it to be acrylic as it is much stronger and about
half the weight of glass. I was thinking about building a tank about
8 feet long and about 4 feet deep (front to back) by about 5 feet
high (floor to ceiling). This may be well beyond 300Gs,
[...]
water weight calcs....

Well, that part is simple: for all practical purposes 1 liter of fresh water
has a weight of 1 kg.

So let's do it in ISO units: 8'x4'x5' is about 2.4mx1.2mx1.5m = 4.32 cubic
meter

In other words your are dealing with a tank of about 4.32 tons of
freshwater, total weight probably somewhere near 5 tons. Sal****er even a
bit more. Or converted back 4230 liter are roughly 1100-1200 gallons.

I suggest you contact an architect because unless you are living in a former
factory your floors are certainly not designed to take that kind weight.

Good luck

jue

Check on those Piranhas as I believe it's illegal to keep them as pets in
your country as well as mine.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...

Piranhas are legal in Canada, at least where I live. I live in Newfoundland
and I can tell you the water does not get near to anything that a Piranha
can survive in for more then a few minutes. I'm talking 8-10c celcius tops
in the summer. There may be a few places in BC or Onterio that have some
ponds that would support them for a month or so but thats about it.

Sean

"Jürgen Exner" wrote in message
news:%SsCf.25$JO5.13@trnddc04...
Sean wrote:
I would like for it to be acrylic as it is much stronger and about
half the weight of glass. I was thinking about building a tank about
8 feet long and about 4 feet deep (front to back) by about 5 feet
high (floor to ceiling). This may be well beyond 300Gs,
[...]
water weight calcs....

Well, that part is simple: for all practical purposes 1 liter of fresh
water has a weight of 1 kg.

So let's do it in ISO units: 8'x4'x5' is about 2.4mx1.2mx1.5m = 4.32 cubic
meter

In other words your are dealing with a tank of about 4.32 tons of
freshwater, total weight probably somewhere near 5 tons. Sal****er even a
bit more. Or converted back 4230 liter are roughly 1100-1200 gallons.

I suggest you contact an architect because unless you are living in a
former factory your floors are certainly not designed to take that kind
weight.


No need. The house I am living in is 3 years old. It has an infloor
heating system all through the concrete foundation. To allow for this the
concrete had to be extra thick. In total (according to the contractor) its
about 2 and a half feet thick. If that won't hold the weight, I can't
imagine what one would have to do.

Sean

"Sean" wrote in message
...

Check on those Piranhas as I believe it's illegal to keep them as pets in
your country as well as mine.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...

Piranhas are legal in Canada, at least where I live. I live in
Newfoundland and I can tell you the water does not get near to anything
that a Piranha can survive in for more then a few minutes. I'm talking
8-10c celcius tops in the summer. There may be a few places in BC or
Onterio that have some ponds that would support them for a month or so but
thats about it.
============================
Keep children away from your tank and ENJOY! :-))
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
Troll Information:
http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm
Reading Headers:
http://www.technomom.com/writing/headers.shtml
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

1200 gallons....... hehehehe
At 4 foot deep, make sure you account for the cost of scuba gear in the
"investment". Ya' gotta clean it sometime!