2100 gallon monster tank build- advice needed

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Predator Fish UK

Predator Fish UK

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2011
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England
Change of plan now.
Im going to build my own aquarium in the basement of the new house im buying.
The aquarium will measure 14.5ft x 5ft x 4ft ( length x height x depth)
The tank will have 2 x viewing windows-prob 6x4ft. This will prob work out cheaper as i am in the building trade and im sure the end product will look far superior than a tank on a stand
my calculations work the volume out to be 2100 gallons. im sure this will be sufficient to house the gatf and other fish i have.

Just need advice on :-

1- best filtration system? pond filter or sump
2-what type/ thickness of glass to hold 2100 gallons (2x 6x4ft viewing windows) or acrylic a better choice?
3-Uv filters- are they necessary? and what size
4- Pump size?
5- substrate or no substrate?- allot of the monster tanks ive seen have bare bottoms?- is there a reason for this?
6-filter and return pipe size 50 or 63mm?
7-back and side wall materials and sealant-1" marine ply? but what sealant?

Im trying to keep costs down to a minimum without doing a nearly-right job!so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Am going to look at past aquarium build posts on here to get info also.
 
I should have the new house in a few weeks but busy with work so start on the project might be delayed.Im a property developer/electrician by trade, my 2 brothers are builders and my best 2 mates is a joiner and plumber so between us we should be able to do any works as cheap as poss- without cutting corners. ive got time on my side to design ,plan and build a aquarium that is visually spectacular, economical and creates the best possible conditions for all my predators to live.
One thing i will have to do tho is have a movable acrylic divider as i have 5 different sizes of predators
Tank 1 - fish between 12 to19"- including black wolf, peacock bass, giant snake heads etc- also want large catfish and other monster preadators
Tank 2- fish between 5 to 13 "- including jardini arowana, dorado, armatus, peacock bass,tiger shovel nose.
Tank 3- fiish between 3-4 "- Peacock bass
Tank 4 -fish between 4-5"- gatf, brevis atf and african pike
Tank 5- fish between 5-7" gatf and brevis tiger fish.
My idea is tank 1 will go in one side of the new tank with a few other monsters and tank 2 and 5 will go together in the other side once ive grown the atf up a bit.(only collected them today!)
The rest will go in a 5x2x2 until they are at a size to introduce to the main tank.
the divider can be placed anywhere in the new tank according to which side needs the most space
Im thinking of running the tank on the concrete floor and having underfloor heating along with a large radiator to do most of the heating. but will use a in-line heater to give it a extra boost when needed
 
What size pipe would be required for feed to filter?
all the filter/ sump uv etc will be housed in a side room.Space is a issue and going on the 1/3 size sump which is suggested in other posts i wont be able to accommodate that.
so a sump is out of the question.
would a pond filter and pump be sufficient for my situation, bearing in mind all my fish are predators and messy eaters.
What volume pump would be suggested for a 2100 gallon tank?
6000 gph or do you need to have 5 to 10 x volume of tank which would be 10000 to 20000 gph??
 
I know some of my tanks may look overcrowded -i know they are.This is only temporary though as soon they will have 2100 gallons to swim around in!
Even so i manage to maintain levels of:-

PH- 7.2-7.6
NO2- 0
Ammonia-0
Temp-27-29
NO3- about 40ppm

I do weekly water changes of 30% on all my tanks religiously as i want my fish to live in best possible conditions.

The 10 GATF and 5x Brevis are already feeding well on frozen whitebait, the day after i bought them!! top result- amazing fish!!- cant wait till they are in the big tank and 10"+.
 
I am builing a 2700 gallon tank now.

Here are my answers:
1- POND FILTER
2-1" glass or 1.5-2" Acrylic (I would go acrylic do to the clarity issues of green tint in thick glass)
3-Never used them and never had a need to
4- 6000 GPH
5- I always use sand
6-2" pipe in and out of filter
7-Make sure you use Epoxy and Fiberglass cloth in all the corners and seams. Sealant I used Max ACR and Pond Armor.
 
VLDesign said:
I am builing a 2700 gallon tank now.

Here are my answers:
1- POND FILTER
2-1" glass or 1.5-2" Acrylic (I would go acrylic do to the clarity issues of green tint in thick glass)
3-Never used them and never had a need to
4- 6000 GPH
5- I always use sand
6-2" pipe in and out of filter
7-Make sure you use Epoxy and Fiberglass cloth in all the corners and seams. Sealant I used Max ACR and Pond Armor.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice

Ive had some quotes for the glass and for a 6x4 ft piece of glass holding 2100 gallons they advised using 32mm plate glass and estimated the price would be £5000 pounds a sheet!!!
So ive reduced the size to 14x4.8x3ft which gives me 1500 gallons,and only need to use 25mm plate glass.Ive had a price per sheet at 6x4 @25mm would cost £450- which is a big difference.
I might even go with 2 sheets at 5x3ft or 5x3.5ft which will be cheaper still and you will still get a good effect.

My main concern is constructing the front wall?.Considering the back and side walls are already in place and made of stone.
Would it be best/economical to use a combo of steel and wood, or concrete blocks and steel?.The exterior will be plastered and painted regardless.
 
I was thinking of using 2x 2" pipes to feed a large pond filter . Then using a single 2" 6000 gph return pump back into the tank via a uv filter.?
Would this work?
can anyone think of any better solutions/ ideas?
My revised tank size will be 1500 gallon. so 600 gpm is 4 x turnover per hour- or would more be better.
All my fish are meat eating messy predators so that is something to bear in mind

Max
 
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