Final questions before i undertake building my 1500g+ tank.

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legendaryfrog

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2007
89
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arlington heights, il
HI everyone. I've been thinking about building a monster tank, and i came to the decision that this would be the least time and money consuming.

I'd like to do the same thing as Joe salvatori did with his 1700 gallon shark, with 1 big difference.

(heres the 1700 gallon shark tank)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_1700g_tank_4.php

Instead of coating the plywood with Epoxy/resin, I'd coat it with 2-3" of concrete. I'd also seal the concrete with a pond sealant to prevent ph changes.

See the picture-

Will it work?

untitled.JPG
 
I really hate to be a pessimist but here goes,

The reason that people use fiberglass is because that it is incredibly strong and FLEXIBLE. Concrete is a great product but in your application I think it would be prone to failure, I would be afraid that the concrete would release water to the plywood and it could possibly cause it to de-laminate, swell and pop a joint or cause a void between the plywood and concrete, also your design is using wood to supply structural support to the concrete. All that concrete will make the tank so much heavier than it needs to be.

what you have designed is not to far off from forming and pouring a 4" - 5" thick walled tank. you would want to use foundation wire in the walls and re bar. But concrete blocks would be far easer and probably cheaper.

I would advise anyone who is considering putting a large 500 gal + tank in there home to consult a structural engineer. Just the water in a 500 gal tank weighs 4150 lbs that does not count the tank, filter (probably 100++ sump), substrate, etc. Not counting water damage, I would think that if a 500 gal tank failed you would probably have structural damage in almost any home. this proposed tank is 1500 gal, the water weighs 12450 lbs don't cut corners with something like that.

my 2 cents
 
You make a good point......im just confused on how to build a concrete block tank, particularly how to attach the acrylic to the concrete.

With concrete tanks, I'd rather not use stainless steel angles and stuff like that; they're very expensive.

Any alternatives??
 
rottbo;717772; said:
actually it would work but you would need a pretty thick coat of concrete or a bomb proof frame to hold the frame solid so it wouldnt bow at all... as for the concrete you can get waterproof concrete and you can also have them add a special fiber to the concrete mix that will strengthen the concrete
Click to expand...


:iagree:

Building with block, you start with special footer blocks on a foundation (concrete floor or poured footer) and build one row on top of that with inter-connected rebar (walls to floor), instal the drains (plural) then pour the floor and and fill the second row of blocks with concrete, add another row of block and fill...etc/ etc. interlocking the corners. the front wall where is glass is will end up being a 'hole' or 'frame' for the glass. This should be a poured frame (with a ledge deep enough to hold the window), tied to the walls and all the way around the front 'frame' with rebar.

The window will need to be supported after sealing with steel bolts either set in the wet concrete frame or holes drilled thru it later. These should be Stainless Steel, because steel they will rust/corrode in the concrete (seen bridge repairs).

After the tank is cured it should be coated witha a swimming pool coating or Sani-tred / Pond Armor or simular product.

Oh, don't forget ot put in the bulkhead connections for the filter stuff.

Ok, what did I miss?

Have you calculated annual energy cost and upkeep on the little monster?

Water changes (what to do with 300g-400g of fishy water)

My 1.5 hp and 1hp pumps cost $125.00 a month to run, plus HID lights for depth and surface lighting.

Ok now lets get cracking.

Dr Joe

.
 
fill the second row of blocks with concrete, add another row of block and fill...etc/ etc.
Click to expand...

Actually, you want to build the block wall full height, then fill the cores with concrete so that it's a monolithic continuous column inside the cores of concrete, which tie all the blocks together.

This should be a poured frame (with a ledge deep enough to hold the window), tied to the walls and all the way around the front 'frame' with rebar.
Click to expand...

If you're going to use glass, you don't want glass in contact with concrete. Even a silicone gasket might cause glass failure. Reason is that any little imperfection in the concrete could cause the edge of the glass to crack if there is movement.

I agree with the concerns of "skimming" the walls with concrete. I thought about doing this. You'll find out that doing that is going to end up being about 5x more expensive due to the treatment of the thin concrete. As stated, the concrete would need to be a special mix to hold up at that thickness. I think you'll find out that a wood frame will be more expensive than block. If you're set on wood, I'd suggest using some other type of lining other than concrete. The Fish Guy (on the cichlid forum and here) used a sort of concrete panel called hardiboard and coated that with drylok, although sanitred would work as well.

Don't let this stuff scare you away from the project though!! You're going to get lots of comments here from the folks that like to over think things and suggest over building to an extreme. I do suggest consulting a structural engineer first though.
 
I've calculated the cost for a concrete block tank, and its not that far off from an all acrylic tank.

How bout this for an acrylic tank:

10*10*3

2 viewing sides are 1" think, bottom is 1/2", and 2 back sides are 1/2" reinforced with either concrete or wood. The tank would have some major bracing on top as well.

This sort of tank would give me 2x the viewing area, plus, would look a lot better.
 
legendaryfrog;718216; said:
I've calculated the cost for a concrete block tank, and its not that far off from an all acrylic tank.

How bout this for an acrylic tank:

10*10*3

2 viewing sides are 1" think, bottom is 1/2", and 2 back sides are 1/2" reinforced with either concrete or wood. The tank would have some major bracing on top as well.

This sort of tank would give me 2x the viewing area, plus, would look a lot better.
Click to expand...

I find it hard to believe that an all acrylic tank is close to the same cost as a concrete block tank. for example, a 450 gallon all acrylic from aquariumsource is $9,730.00. I've got about $3500 in my 1200gallon concrete block. where did you find pricing on an all acrylic at 1500 gallons for close to $3500? even just the Acrylic you're talking about is going to cost more than $3500.
 
If you can get 1" acrylic cheaper than block you have a good supplier

Laying block isn’t easy especially if you are new at it
Acrylic same thing

So whatever you do start small or pay someone how knows what their doing
I know this goes against the DIY idea but if you don’t have a working knowledge of the materials you will be working with you are setting yourself up for failure
 
i think you will need 1.5 inch thick for the front.... see

http://cyro.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cy...nMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1












legendaryfrog;718216; said:
I've calculated the cost for a concrete block tank, and its not that far off from an all acrylic tank.

How bout this for an acrylic tank:

10*10*3

2 viewing sides are 1" think, bottom is 1/2", and 2 back sides are 1/2" reinforced with either concrete or wood. The tank would have some major bracing on top as well.

This sort of tank would give me 2x the viewing area, plus, would look a lot better.
Click to expand...
 
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