1,230 Gallon Plywood aquarium

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

wilbeckj

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2011
14
0
0
Kansas
Last summer I built a 450 gallon aquarium, I had a ton of fun building it, but every time I look at it, it gets smaller and smaller. I am thinking about building another one, but this one will be 1,230 gallons, the dimensions will be 3'x5'x11'. I found a dead space in my house and nothing is their. If I build it this summer, I plan on spending around $650 give or take on the 1,230 gal tank. Call me crazy, but I am serious on the price, I know it sounds really cheap, but, on my last build, I found a few ways to drastically reduce the price of building them. The 450 gallon only cost me around $400 to build including the sump, lights, and all, the only thing I didn't do was make the outside look nice,( which I will do in time.)
Glass 200-240$ give or take
Wood 150-250$ give or take
Epoxy 100-125$ give or take
Pump/Sump/Filter 100$ give or take
Wood glue, screws, wood filler 50$ give or take
Plexi Glass Top 50$ give or take

Again, I am just contemplating it, and if I built it, I would start late June to Mid July, somewhere around there.
If you have any questions regarding my 450 gallon build, and how I made it so cheap, just ask! I am willing to help
PS. I am posting this to ask you guys what you think, and any tips on saving money, I know some would say that going cheap isn't the way to go, but on my last build, I went cheap, and everything turned out just fine, and if not better than some of the more expensive alternatives.
 
where do you shop? just the pump for my sump for my 500g was 489+shipping. i think i dumped over 300 in lumber for my stand and screws. but go for it! ps i hope those dimensions arent in LxWxH cuz that would be crazy
 
If you have photos building the 450 gallon tank you could post that as a build thread on here.

Could you post some photos of the existing 450 tank?
 
I will post some photos of the existing 450. I know I took some pictures while I was building it,( Not as many as I should have though), but IF I can find the pics of me building it, I will post them.
 
And for my 450 I just bought a 1350gph pump, pumping into a Tupperware container, and made that my sump. I bought the pump off of ebay for 50$. I already have an extra one, so all I would do is have to buy another one, and I would have two pumps pumping into the sump. so the water in the tank will recycle twice per hour, I might even go buy another one so it would cycle the tank every three times per hour.
 
depending on how heavy stock you might want a lot more filtration. i had 2500 gph (i know overkill) on my 100g
 
I have been told that before, but I have been known to understock. I like to understock because I like to know that the fish can grow into the tank, and even full grown, still have quite a bit of space to move around. I usually put about a third the amount of fish than I could if I stocked it full. And 2500 gph seems like it would make your 100g a river tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom