Hi there, i'm new to the forum and I am sure you guys could help me. I am planning to build myself a house and being an aquarium fanatic, I want to integrate a really really big tank in it. I dont know of the costs yet and I am at the stage of checking the prices for acrylic etc. to see how big the tank is going to get.
First the Idea:
Not taking cost into consideration, the plan would be to have a 5 meter wide continous glass/acrylic pane for the living room, that starts at the very bottom of the floor and goes up to about 2.4 meters. The glass/Acrylic would have to be 3 meters high. The aquarium would be roughly square in shape.. so about 5x 7 meters. I would have it made in concrete with the glass as a window set in concrete. The water depth would also be 3 meters. the opening would be separated from the living room to not have aquarium smell in the house.
It would be sea water with some corals at the top and sealife with maybe a few sharks or rays.
In the bathroom, I want to have a whirlpool that is half underneath an acrylic dome. If you are in the water, the sharks will swim past your head behind the half dome. The dome would be at 3 meters water depth. I immagine the dome to be 3 meters in diameter.
Now I have asked for some quotes of acrylic manufacturers and then I realized, that I really have no idea about the thickness required. Everyone tells me a different thickness. As I really dont want to flood my house, I thought I could start an interactive discussion on the topic. Maybe you can help me?
The open questions are:
1) With a 3 meter depth, what thickness would the acrylic have to be?
2) I think with water depth, the actual volume of water is irrelevant... whether there are 10 000 liters or 500 000 liters should not make a difference.. right?
3) Acrylic is more expensive i think, is Glass even available in form of a continous 5 meter x 3 meter pane? Would glass be a suitable alternative to save on cost?
I will be sure to award your help with elaborate pictures when I get round to making the aquarium (which might still take 1-2 years... I am in the process of looking for a site to build.
Thanks a lot!
First the Idea:
Not taking cost into consideration, the plan would be to have a 5 meter wide continous glass/acrylic pane for the living room, that starts at the very bottom of the floor and goes up to about 2.4 meters. The glass/Acrylic would have to be 3 meters high. The aquarium would be roughly square in shape.. so about 5x 7 meters. I would have it made in concrete with the glass as a window set in concrete. The water depth would also be 3 meters. the opening would be separated from the living room to not have aquarium smell in the house.
It would be sea water with some corals at the top and sealife with maybe a few sharks or rays.
In the bathroom, I want to have a whirlpool that is half underneath an acrylic dome. If you are in the water, the sharks will swim past your head behind the half dome. The dome would be at 3 meters water depth. I immagine the dome to be 3 meters in diameter.
Now I have asked for some quotes of acrylic manufacturers and then I realized, that I really have no idea about the thickness required. Everyone tells me a different thickness. As I really dont want to flood my house, I thought I could start an interactive discussion on the topic. Maybe you can help me?
The open questions are:
1) With a 3 meter depth, what thickness would the acrylic have to be?
2) I think with water depth, the actual volume of water is irrelevant... whether there are 10 000 liters or 500 000 liters should not make a difference.. right?
3) Acrylic is more expensive i think, is Glass even available in form of a continous 5 meter x 3 meter pane? Would glass be a suitable alternative to save on cost?
I will be sure to award your help with elaborate pictures when I get round to making the aquarium (which might still take 1-2 years... I am in the process of looking for a site to build.
Thanks a lot!
