Building my 11 000 gallon saltwater Tank - Discussion and Brainstorming

[drjohntas]

Very interested to learn of your progress. Like you I am looking at solar to offset electricity costs .. reckon it is the way to go. Pity batteries are still so expensive as pumps have to run thru the night as well. I have a local aquaculture cement-construction manufacturing company willing to build my aquarium. They are going to make it off-site in a single-pour method and deliver/crane it onto site. I had to modify my aquarium window dimensions to accomodate the maximum pane sizes available locally. I suppose I could do the overseas thing like you but I feel a bit anxious about dealing with an OS company. Actually, having a cement lintel below the viewing window will make it less accessable to large crustaceans. Also less likely to have grit getting on window and getting scratched. I am looking at getting a "Mighty Magnet" for cleaning.. or perhaps low tech with a daily clean using a simple window cleaning pad-on-pole may be safer and not too much work.
Please post info re your project's progress.

 

[Evolutionnext]

Hi there, great to hear of your plans.
Another guy from belgium contacted me as well and he does a similar structure.. off site pouring of concrete and then shipment by crane.

I have found a great company that will install the acrylic pane very professionally. THy will make a full sized steel frame that is welded into the concrete. This creates a solid window frame that the acrylic can slide into. The edges are filled with a material that swells when getting wet. At the back anther frame is then attached that keeps the water out. seems like a very professional system usually meant for glass walled pools.

I am currently waiting for the ok from the government to start building.. I guess another 1-2 months and we are a go!

 

[drjohntas]

ah.. thanks for that. I will talk to my glazier about options re window.
I am keen to keep swapping ideas....
What are you planning re bottom substrate and cleaning the bottom.

 

[Evolutionnext]

ah.. thanks for that. I will talk to my glazier about options re window.
I am keen to keep swapping ideas....
What are you planning re bottom substrate and cleaning the bottom.

Haven't thought about the gravel a lot yet, so can't say. Any ideas to keep the ground maintenance free?

The water changes will be automatic so I hope to not have to do anything in terms of water changes cor half a year until I need to refill the reacement tanks.

About the glass... My father is an engineer and we will be building an automatic algae magnet mover. Essentially it will be a 2 axis robotic arm with a magnet on the dry side pulling the 500kg magnet in the inside in a predefined path.. Always at 4:00 am. Needs safety features such as laser beams etc, but should also keep the glass maintainance free.

About the gravel... Dont know yet.

What size are you going to get?

 

[drjohntas]

Wow your strategy sounds a blowout… love the idea.

Cleaning acrylic is a topic thrashed around on forums. Scratches are everyone’s fear.

I have no experience as all my aquariums have been glass…but I have concluded

1. toughest acrylic you can get will scratch less easily

2. Cleaning often to avoid build up of tough algae

3. I wonder if soft cloths on domestic-style pad on a pole may be simple and safer for frequent cleaning.

4. I will try to avoid sand in the aquarium as far as possible.. less grit in the system means less risk

5. I am having the viewing window at least 250 mm above floor of aquarium to minimise contact of window with substrate.

6. I have always (45 years now in the hobby) had pebble substrates.. look good but a real pain as they collects so much crap… so I am going for a “bare bottom” which will resemble a rock platform.. ie irregular “rock-tiles” with fissures and cracks …. a natural look like diving over a sandstone platform.

I will then use a Max Blaster battery pool vacuum (fits on an extension pole) to regularly clean up debris without having to lose water out of the system.

7. I have looked at available magnets.. I like the look of Mighty Magnets F-12 Model which is a floating magnet for 2 - 2.75 inch acrylic. They have a F-17 model for acrylic 102 mm thick.

If their home-page videos are representative of how easy it is to use them then I will be happy.

8. My tank-contruction adviser suggested a tiny slope of aquarium floor (30 mm is all that is needed) will allow an exit pipe at the lower side to completely empty tank if need-be.

 

[Evolutionnext]

Wow your strategy sounds a blowout… love the idea.

3. I wonder if soft cloths on domestic-style pad on a pole may be simple and safer for frequent cleaning.

Actually, I have an algae magnet that actually floats above the glass and only 2 blades touch the glass. Google for Tunze Care magnet.. there is a plastic version but it also comes with blades that work better. My plan is to create such a magnet that cant entrap sand grains for safety. Keeping it far away from sand or even not having sand at all seems a safe approach. I might think about bare bottom rock simulation too... but the biology in the sand is not to be dismissed too easily.


8. My tank-contruction adviser suggested a tiny slope of aquarium floor (30 mm is all that is needed) will allow an exit pipe at the lower side to completely empty tank if need-be.

Good idea. I will have an emergency outlet at the bottom.. but to be honest.. if an emergency happens.. that reuires an immediate response like this it can only be a completely shattered panel..... the damage is done.. the house is flooded and there is not much you can do even with something that empties it in 5 mins. Any other emergency wont require you to act so quickly. Plus.. when you have corals etc... emptying is going to kill it all. But yes.. some sort of emptying option will be useful.

What are you planning to put into the tank? and what size?

 

[drjohntas]

I am doing a cool-water marine.. I live 30 metres from the sea so can pump water direct to the project. I will be collecting most if not all of my specimens so can chop and change without expense. For an Oh Wow impact I am planning to pop in a couple of Giant Tasmanian Crabs (google the term and you will understand the Oh Wow tag). Perhaps some abalone and rock lobsters and stripey trumpeter. However I am a diver from way back and love a lot of the smaller reef species .. so it is a toss-up between a few large Oh Wows or a lot of smaller ones. The larger species are all highly prized restaurant fare.. so I am considering the aquarium to double as a living larder.
Back to your magnet-blades.. pity there doesn't seem to be a model with magnets that cope with 50 mm plus acrylic.. have you seen any? I hope you keep your blog alive so we can follow the journey and see how your exciting inventiveness turns out. If your blades work out you may have a little business opportunity there.

 

[Evolutionnext]

Oh wow! huge beasts! Those will be impressive.. And tasty.. Thigh I wonder if you will eat any after you saw them grow up etc.. I imagine it to be something like eating my cat. Im planning a fish pond to raise trout in to eat.. But those aren't part of my living room..

Close to the ocean... What luxury.. I'm envious.. No filtration etc needed. Great.

About the magnets... I'm actually planning on 120mm acrylic... So the problem is exponentially worse. I can't remember the exact numbers numbers right now, but from or calculations having a 700 kg magnet will have a pulling force against iron of 3.5 kg at a distance of 120mm acrylic plus 10 mm of air... Somewhere in that range... I plan to have a 700kg magnet on either side.. One inside and one outside for a combined force of about 7 kg... I think this should work. One magnet costs about $300....

Ill keep you posted.

 

[drjohntas]

Unfortunately our estuary drains a peat wilderness and local farmland so water quality is bad for extended periods following rain or high winds. Also summer algea and dinoflagellate blooms are a menace.. so I will be pumping when best conditions into a 12000 litre rainwater tank and sterilizing that with a UV.
Back to your blades ..
Spending a bit of time on forums reviewing the Tunze blade product. Apparently their own product info sheet is guarded about us with Acrylic. “can be used on Acrylic “In a limited way”. A comment on that was that "any magnet mechanism needs to be used with caution"


Some cautionary quotes amongst the multitude of positive ones:

“As long as you use the short 45mm plastic blades and not the 86mm plastic blades it should be ok to use on acrylic. You want to avoid using the 86mm plastic blades because they are made from fiberglas reinforced plastic and the glass fibers can potentially scratch acrylic. “


“I was using this Tunze cleaner on my new tank and only now I noticed it was making scratches very close to water surface, so nowhere near the sand. Can't imagine how it did that.” (my guess is that the water surface-tension itself is a trap for grit)


“I've scratched my glass about 6 times with the Tunze because grains get caught on the inside of the blade when "reversing" the magnet. You have to be incredibly careful near the sand edge.”

 

[Evolutionnext]

Hi everyone.. it has been done... all my plans of building this thing have been put in motion.... The house is being built and as it should be.. the aquarium is done first. Here is my build report:
http://www.megaaquariums.com/at/Build_Report

And here are some photos: