270x60x50 cm (214g) - Tank build - Ideas & Suggestions please

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
S

sirpreet

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 27, 2012
14
0
0
UAE
Dear All,

I have presently 3 Arowana's and the tank seems to be becoming smaller for them.

Thus decided on making a GLASS tank for my Arowana's & give them more space.

I have been reading and reading on the Monsterfishkeepers forums to get as much information on the tank build, but cant get enough.

There are extremely experienced fishkeepers and people here who have experience on tank builds, thus please assist me with my project.

Stand is not a challenge (planned on a wooden stand, yes it needs to hold a lot of weight).

Filtration has been planned already - shall be running two filters - Eheim 2260 & Cristalprofi 900 (hope this is enough)

Glass thickness, bracing, how to glue the glass, top of the tank (meaning cover as Arowana's jump a lot) - these are the areas of my challenge.


Appreciate everyone's help to assist me in making this tank. look forward to your suggestion and advise.

jfyi, i am based in Dubai, if this helps or if anyone is living in Dubai - most welcome.
 
What kind of arowana are they? The length is good but IMO the height and width aren't enough to make it a long-term home for an arowana. At 2' in length they're actually a pretty thick solid fish, so 50cm height doesn't give that much room. Also at 2' they [all species] should be still growing so you're going to need a wider tank to provide long-term housing.

As for the glass thickness, 50cm isn't very tall so you won't need exceptionally thick glass, have a look at this link; http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium
10mm glass would give you a safety factor of 3.8, which is plenty. With a long tank like that I would expect "euro bracing" around all sides plus a couple of front-to-back braces across the opening, and full length braces front and rear along the bottom seam.

IMO if you're planning to build a long-term tank for your arowanas you will want to increase the height to at least 60cm water level and the width to 75cm minimum, 90cm would be better especially if you're keeping silvers.
 
Thanks David,

Yes I have silver arowana. wow, 90 cm or 75 cm... I dont think i have the space. Will have to double check.

I was thinking of about 12 cm glass thickness.

Also can you please elaborate on "euro bracing" what is this.
 
sirpreet said:
Also can you please elaborate on "euro bracing" what is this.
Click to expand...

A picture is worth a thousand words, do a Google image search for "euro bracing". I'd post one but I'm on my phone. IMO 12mm is overkill for a 50cm high tank, if 10mm will give you a safety factor of 3.8, but if you increase the height and width 12mm would be justified.

As for the size, you should plan on your silver reaching about 60cm in a couple of years from juvi size, and from there growing steadily to 70-90cm+. If you want your tank to house the fish as long as possible go 60cm high at least and as wide as you have space for.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
David, Thanks very much for your advice. appreciate it.

Roger than i will go for a 60 height. As i do have the space for the height. shall have to double check for the width.
 
David,

Just to update you, I have now decided for a 270cm x 60cm x 60cm tank. Thus going for a 12 mm glass width.

Can you suggest to go for straight glass or tempered glass ?
 
I live in Dubai as well, nice to see at least one other MFKer in Dubai :) In my experience most tank builders here build using tempered but to be honest it doesnt matter if you go with normal or tempered they both have benefits and problems. I have built my own and have always used standard glass.

At 60cm high with good bracing 10mm will be fine. It is simple to just go up in galss size but you should consider the weight of the glass 12mm is 20% heavier than 10mm and that weight will add up on your size tank. So dont go bigger than needed.

10mm glass weighs 25kg/sqm
12mm glass weighs 30kg/sqm

In your tank you are looking at 5.6sqm of glass so at 10mm that will be 140kg and at 12mm 168kg. Water and decor alone is gonna be in the region of 1000kg so I would say save weight where you can.

As for actually making the tank check out UARUJOEYS channel on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKIT2OLOYQ I have made 4 tanks now all from watching his channel.

Where are you planning on getting the glass from?

B.
 
bozatron said:
I live in Dubai as well, nice to see at least one other MFKer in Dubai :) In my experience most tank builders here build using tempered but to be honest it doesnt matter if you go with normal or tempered they both have benefits and problems. I have built my own and have always used standard glass.

At 60cm high with good bracing 10mm will be fine. It is simple to just go up in galss size but you should consider the weight of the glass 12mm is 20% heavier than 10mm and that weight will add up on your size tank. So dont go bigger than needed.

10mm glass weighs 25kg/sqm
12mm glass weighs 30kg/sqm

In your tank you are looking at 5.6sqm of glass so at 10mm that will be 140kg and at 12mm 168kg. Water and decor alone is gonna be in the region of 1000kg so I would say save weight where you can.

As for actually making the tank check out UARUJOEYS channel on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKIT2OLOYQ I have made 4 tanks now all from watching his channel.

Where are you planning on getting the glass from?

B.
Click to expand...

Dear B,

Many thanks for your reply. Highly appreciate your knowledge about the glass. I went to a shop in Bur Dubai and asked for pricing and things.

To be honest, I have not been able to find a decent shop to get glass from in Dubai. I am sure there are plenty, but it seems i have not had the privilege to visit them.

Can you please assist ?


rgds,

Sirpreet
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom