Thinking about setting up a 3500 gallon tank. Used to be a shark tank according to buddy and has now sat in storage a year. I will measure when i see it again but its acrylic and he says its 16x8x4. Comes with sump, filtration, lighting and plumbing. All it needs is a way to heat it. Does anyone have any recommendation plus running costs. Tank just sits in storage so thought it could be put to use. thank you
3500 Gallon
- Thread starter Oddballs
- Start date
Damn! I have no suggestions on how to heat it but cost will definitely be a lot. You must show pics once you see it
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
I would lean towards ambient heat. I.e., place it in a heated room kept close to 78 F or whatever temp you need. A well insulated enclosed room heated on it's own thermostat will likely work out as very economical.
Agreed with above, I'd just heat the room around the tank. Although, if it was my tank I wouldn't be doing tropicals so it wouldn't matter.
I'm using a 1300w pond heater with a Clepco controller on my 1700. They aren't cheap though. If i was to redo, I would probably run several 700-800W Finex units instead. (I keep a couple of these handy as backup) They're modular and cheap, so if an component ever failed all you would have to do is replace that one part (the titanium elements just plug right into the controllers) and several units would provide redundancy. I would have no clue though how many you would need on a tank that big. Mine is part of my basement and is completely underground so it has a lot a natural insulation. In the dead of winter it only loses about a degree a day in times I have lost power due to ice storm or something else.
I'm not sure that keeping the room that hot is the way to go.. I guess you could experiment. My own gas bill definitely is higher than the costs of running my tank, and I'm super cheap when it comes to climate control for myself. I keep things around 55-60 degrees in the winter.
I'm not sure that keeping the room that hot is the way to go.. I guess you could experiment. My own gas bill definitely is higher than the costs of running my tank, and I'm super cheap when it comes to climate control for myself. I keep things around 55-60 degrees in the winter.
+1 The tricky part is going to be to have it well insulated, yet have it well ventilated enough to control the significant humidity in that room to prevent mold issue.
How big is that sump?
Sounds like an amazing tank!
It really depends on what fish you want to keep. There are many fish that are fine in "room temp" water - depending on the actual room temp.
If cost is an issue; then go with cool water fish. Simple. Done.
It really depends on what fish you want to keep. There are many fish that are fine in "room temp" water - depending on the actual room temp.
If cost is an issue; then go with cool water fish. Simple. Done.
Good point. Maybe with a tank of this size you may have to utilize both, ambient and aquarium heaters, to be efficient, if not just merely adequate. If you are able to set up a small pellet or wood burning stove in that room that would be the way to go. These stove run super hot for way cheaper than conventional heaters(gas, electric). You way also want to research into solar water heating, which is extremely efficient from what I hear.
I have about 3000 gals of tanks in my fish house, they are spread out to about 20 tanks though, so they lose heat much faster than a large acrylic would.
My furnace is set a 68'F in winter, the tropical tanks also have heaters, and the building is not well insulated.
In the dead of winter my energy bill for the fish house runs $300+ per month.
I unplug heaters and shut off the furnace usually in mid May thru early Oct, and just lights and pumps run approx @100-almost $200 per month.
My furnace is set a 68'F in winter, the tropical tanks also have heaters, and the building is not well insulated.
In the dead of winter my energy bill for the fish house runs $300+ per month.
I unplug heaters and shut off the furnace usually in mid May thru early Oct, and just lights and pumps run approx @100-almost $200 per month.
Use a PEX heat coil like VLDesign used on his 2600 gallon tank.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...16005-My-new-2600-gallon-plywood-tank-project
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...16005-My-new-2600-gallon-plywood-tank-project
