Has anyone seen one of these tanks?

[kokosnood]

I'm getting a 405 gallon one to use as a sump. Will take a picture of it when I get it. I don't know where you live, but the company is in Florida, and while the tank is $951.00, I'm paying 494.11 in crating and freight charges to get the tank to CA. The tanks are made some place overseas. I've been waiting over nine weeks for mine (knew I'd have to wait when I ordered it) Ship should have come in this week, so now the shipment has to clear Customs. Of course, I had to have the one tank they didn't have.

Give the company a call and question them. I think it's a great alternative to the more traditional tank, and it makes a large tank more "doable" for some people. Some of the really large tanks (4,000 g) are fiberglass with acrylic on the front only.

Here's another company you can check out. Make sure you check on their warranty.

http://www.aquaculturetanks.com/2008-catalog.pdf

That site has some really nice configurations. I like the 3/4 round grotto aquarium. Unfortunately they are bit out of my price range.

Thanks for showing me that!!!

 

[Muni]

I'm getting a 405 gallon one to use as a sump. Will take a picture of it when I get it. I don't know where you live, but the company is in Florida, and while the tank is $951.00, I'm paying 494.11 in crating and freight charges to get the tank to CA. The tanks are made some place overseas. I've been waiting over nine weeks for mine (knew I'd have to wait when I ordered it) Ship should have come in this week, so now the shipment has to clear Customs. Of course, I had to have the one tank they didn't have.

Give the company a call and question them. I think it's a great alternative to the more traditional tank, and it makes a large tank more "doable" for some people. Some of the really large tanks (4,000 g) are fiberglass with acrylic on the front only.

Here's another company you can check out. Make sure you check on their warranty.

http://www.aquaculturetanks.com/2008-catalog.pdf

You ordered a 405 from aquatic ECo? The sight says 75 crating charge for the 405. Interesting.

 

[pacu mom]

You ordered a 405 from aquatic ECo? The sight says 75 crating charge for the 405. Interesting.

Yes, and the freight charges are $419.11. After I ordered the tank, I got this email:

"Your Customer Number is xxxxxxx and your Order Number is xxxxxxxx. The total freight charges for your order will be $494.11, shipping via FedEx Motor Freight.

Your order is currently on hold pending approval from you.

Please let me know if you authorize the freight charges and would like for us to ship your order. "




The confirmation email read:
"Thank you for your recent Aquatic-Eco Web order placed on Tue, 9/28/10
at 8:00 a.m. Your Web reference number is xxxxxxx. When your order is
confirmed by our representatives you will receive another email with
your order number and additional details."


I guess the "additional details" was the freight charge.


Seems a little high. My approx. 1800 gallon acrylic tank, much heavier tank shipped from Florida for 1690.

 

[Muni]

that seems a bit ridiculously.

They don't charge by weight normally after its on a pallet. i order car body parts and engines which are very large or very heavy and get "palleted". The normal shipping charge is 100-200 bucks for cross country ground freight.

 

[kokosnood]

I woudn't stop there. I would google "aquaculture tanks" and other search terms and see if you can find something closer.

Really any fiberglass place with a chopper gun can build you something like this. One public aquarium I visited had a bunch of sumps built from large plywood boxes sprayed with a chopper gun. I think they just found a company that made shower inserts and they sprayed them for them. I've even heard of tanks being sprayed by a company that made fiberglass racing shells or something like that.

So if I find a fiberglass shop with a "chopper gun" they would be able to spray whatever form I present them? Is there a special type of fiberglass they need to use for an aquarium?

 

[Muni]

So if I find a fiberglass shop with a "chopper gun" they would be able to spray whatever form I present them? Is there a special type of fiberglass they need to use for an aquarium?

It's not so much the fiberglass as the resin they use.

Some resins dry rock hard and are not good for aquariums because they will crack if flexed. Some flex.

I believe polyester resin is the one that is able to flex a bit and is most commonly used. Don't quote me on that though.

 

[kokosnood]

It's not so much the fiberglass as the resin they use.

Some resins dry rock hard and are not good for aquariums because they will crack if flexed. Some flex.

I believe polyester resin is the one that is able to flex a bit and is most commonly used. Don't quote me on that though.

I am realizing that DIY will be cheaper than buying a fiberglass tank constructed for the aquaculture industry; but I don't like working with fiberglass and resin. I'd like to build the frame and have a local fiberglass shop use their chopper gun to seal it.

Is this a feasible plan?

 

[CJH]

So if I find a fiberglass shop with a "chopper gun" they would be able to spray whatever form I present them? Is there a special type of fiberglass they need to use for an aquarium?

Obviously I can't say for sure any shop would be willing to spray any form you give them. To some it may not be worth the trouble. And I'm sure some shops would want to have some input in the design of the form.

There is no special resin that needs to be used for plywood fish tanks. I have known of tanks that held water for years and they were sealed with nothing more than cheap mat and the basic polyester resin you can buy at your local hardware or auto supply store.

Almost all of the shops that do this type of work use decent quality orthophthalic resin. It will be better than the quart of polyester resin you can guy at your local Auto Supply store.

I believe some boat builders use isophthalic polyester resin which is higher quality than orthophthalic. Generally thought to be more resistant to moisture penetration, stronger and I believe slightly more flexible.

A step up from that are the vinyl ester resins. I have not worked with these myself and have no idea if they can be used in a chopper gun but they are said to be the best of the less expensive resins used to wet out fiberglass.

Epoxy can also be used on fiberglass and again, I have no idea if it's used in chopper guns. With the VOC regulations in parts of the US I would guess it is. It's the most expensive but marine versions are more flexible, stronger and the least susceptible to moisture penetration.

And BTW, chopper guns are not the only way to layout large amounts of fiberglass reinforced resin. In some cases fiberglass is laid out dry in a mold and then activated resin is sprayed over that and then rolled out. Or the resin is sprayed down first and then the cloth is rolled into that.

A chopper gun mixes activated resin and "chops" of fiberglass cord that rolls off of a spool as the gun is used.

There are examples of both of youtube.

BTW, I mentioned moisture penetration but I wouldn't worry about this too much. All of these resin types have been used to build successful tanks. And while some are more brittle than others, this can be worked around as well.

Sorry to have written so much. Just wanted to give you some background before you call around to local shops asking if they can do this sort of work.

 

[CJH]

double post

 

[kokosnood]

Obviously I can't say for sure any shop would be willing to spray any form you give them. To some it may not be worth the trouble. And I'm sure some shops would want to have some input in the design of the form.

There is no special resin that needs to be used for plywood fish tanks. I have known of tanks that held water for years and they were sealed with nothing more than cheap mat and the basic polyester resin you can buy at your local hardware or auto supply store.

Almost all of the shops that do this type of work use decent quality orthophthalic resin. It will be better than the quart of polyester resin you can guy at your local Auto Supply store.

I believe some boat builders use isophthalic polyester resin which is higher quality than orthophthalic. Generally thought to be more resistant to moisture penetration, stronger and I believe slightly more flexible.

A step up from that are the vinyl ester resins. I have not worked with these myself and have no idea if they can be used in a chopper gun but they are said to be the best of the less expensive resins used to wet out fiberglass.

Epoxy can also be used on fiberglass and again, I have no idea if it's used in chopper guns. With the VOC regulations in parts of the US I would guess it is. It's the most expensive but marine versions are more flexible, stronger and the least susceptible to moisture penetration.

And BTW, chopper guns are not the only way to layout large amounts of fiberglass reinforced resin. In some cases fiberglass is laid out dry in a mold and then activated resin is sprayed over that and then rolled out. Or the resin is sprayed down first and then the cloth is rolled into that.

A chopper gun mixes activated resin and "chops" of fiberglass cord that rolls off of a spool as the gun is used.

There are examples of both of youtube.

BTW, I mentioned moisture penetration but I wouldn't worry about this too much. All of these resin types have been used to build successful tanks. And while some are more brittle than others, this can be worked around as well.

Sorry to have written so much. Just wanted to give you some background before you call around to local shops asking if they can do this sort of work.

Very helpful, thank you!