1600 Gallon Bioshock Octopus Aquarium!

[Karlotious]

Hello! So I started building my aquarium a week ago and wanted to share my progress. Ive always had a passion for saltwater tanks and love the absurdly large so here is my take on it! The actual framing was done using stacked 2 x 4's, 1/2 thick plywood over the frame, will continue with fiberglassing mat and resin, then finish with a solid marine paint epoxy. Originally, when i drew up the plans, i wanted one of the windows to look like an airtight door but decided it was much easier just to make the same sized panels. 2 - 5' x 4' panels and 1 - 3' x 3' panel. Feel free to share any suggestions or shots as i progress!

 

[Karlotious]

and yes the beam is in the tank. A Frank Lloyd Wright design i wanted to incorporate

 

[deeda]

How do you propose to seal that brick support post in the tank for both water infiltration and structural integrity?

How are you planning on accessing the inside of the tank for maintenance, decorating and livestock with the tank being so tall?

Interesting plan and design though!

 

[Karlotious]

I'll be fiberglassing and sealing the column. The tank itself does not put any directional pressure on the support so other than appearing to be submerged it is independent and sealed There is about a foot and a half space between the top of the aquarium and beams. I'll more than likely completely finish the tank and decorations before placing the panels in. The sump is being designed to limit how much maintenance I have to do on the actual tank

 

[spiff44]

That's what I'm talking... love it! How deep are you planning?

 

[mscamp02]

well this could be one to watch. Interesting

 

[Karlotious]

Its approximately 6 1/2 feet deep, 8 feet long, and 4 1/2 feet wide. Half of the tank will just have a sand base (so i can have a stingray, etc) while the window directly in front of the column will be stacked coral, etc. It seemed alot easier to concentrate coral lighting in one area than over the whole tank.

 

[wednesday13]

This may be crazy enough to work, i like it lol... Nice to see someone doing fiberglass and not just epoxy... At 6' height what type of glass/acrylic do u plan on using for the windows? Id recommend 2" acrylic...

 

[spiff44]

So the water is going to be 6.5 ft deep! That's awesome! You'll definitely be pushing some limits there. In fact, that might be the deepest I have seen on this site except the guy with his 9ft 50,000 gal and similar solid concrete builds. I would plan on some external bracing to spread the pressure so that all that bottom pressure isn't on a single board for your window sill It might hold initially, but wood tends to do funny things when exposed to massive force, humidity and time.

I had my tank up to 6ft and its built with 6x6's and the sounds it made at one point (think standing on the deck of a wooden ship) gave me the willies. I could have left it and it might have stopped once things settled in place.. but then again, it might not have either. So I backed the water down to a little over 4.5 feet and was happy with that.

 

[Karlotious]

good notes! I was planning on using 2" acrylic since i can get a pretty good price on it here in Pittsburgh. As far as the bracing goes, the CAD program i used to suggest pressure has it working like a web. The structure of stacked 2x4's (approx 2000 screws) coupled with the plywood and fiberglass shell, then topped with a layer of ACR Epoxy, and then finished with the marine paint will solidify it. I hope haha. I actually got the idea from the 2500 gallon stingray tank on this site. Granted that tank was not as tall as this.