Help with geometry? Any engineers?

[Charney]

I am moving into a new house next month. Due to hallway configuration and annoying basement stairs I am limited on tank sizes that can make it into the basement. I am looking to massively upgrade some of my tanks (ideally 1k gallon plus ponds) to accomplish this i am adding Bilco doors. The actual opening should be 67 inches long and 48 inches wide. The basement has roughly 7.5 ft ceilings. How do I determine the maximum dimensions of ponds i can get down there? Lets assume there are no stairs to make this exercise easier ? Anyone know rhe answers? I am eyeing a 1k tank about

12'6" x 4'6" x 3'1" inches or a 2k tank 15'1" x 6'0" x 3'3"

I am attaching a terrible diagram incase it helps.
thank you

 

[Midwater]

 

[Trouser Cough]

A 2k gallon tank of the dimensions you've stated will not work as two of it's three dimensions are too great to fit through the opening. That's out.

The 1k gallon tank @ 12'6" x 4'6" x 3'1" will fit through that door. The question is, would you be able to turn it around once you got it in the door.

If the door opening is 67" high and 48" wide you will need to flip that tank on its side in order to get it through the opening.

Once inside you'll need a minimum of 12'11" of clear space in order to spin that tank 90* (assuming you want full maneuverability once inside).

After you've spun the tank 90* you'd be able to flip it once again so that the tank were no longer on its side.

If you get it through the door and then flip it right side up again you'll need more space in order to spin the tank 90*. That would be @ 15'4.

So the short answer is that as long as you have 16' of clear depth and width on either side of that door you'll be able to get that 1k gallon tank in with a few guys help, some grunting and strong language. The absolute minimum would be @ 13' and the downside to that is some of your move crew may need to climb under the tank while others hold it in order to transition from outside that opening to inside.

The above also assumes that the space is flat on both sides of that door and Bilco doors often have stairs on the exterior. To calc that we'd need more info and it's possible then that the answer would be no as the top of the door opening may encroach on the 'flipped sideways' tank at somewhere around the mid-point of the tank. I'm not sure on that but info on the stairs would be critical and the further away any stairs were the better your likelihood of success. Would need to know rise, run, number of steps and how far from the door the first stair started. With that info we'd be able to calculate what the maximum size tank you could get in there might be.

If you have less than the req'd space inside you may be able to leave the Bilco door open and gain enough space that way to spin the tank depending on where obstructions might be inside the room.

 

[Charney]

A 2k gallon tank of the dimensions you've stated will not work as two of it's three dimensions are too great to fit through the opening. That's out.

The 1k gallon tank @ 12'6" x 4'6" x 3'1" will fit through that door. The question is, would you be able to turn it around once you got it in the door.

If the door opening is 67" high and 48" wide you will need to flip that tank on its side in order to get it through the opening.

Once inside you'll need a minimum of 12'11" of clear space in order to spin that tank 90* (assuming you want full maneuverability once inside).

After you've spun the tank 90* you'd be able to flip it once again so that the tank were no longer on its side.

If you get it through the door and then flip it right side up again you'll need more space in order to spin the tank 90*. That would be @ 15'4.

So the short answer is that as long as you have 16' of clear depth and width on either side of that door you'll be able to get that 1k gallon tank in with a few guys help, some grunting and strong language. The absolute minimum would be @ 13' and the downside to that is some of your move crew may need to climb under the tank while others hold it in order to transition from outside that opening to inside.

The above also assumes that the space is flat on both sides of that door and Bilco doors often have stairs on the exterior. To calc that we'd need more info and it's possible then that the answer would be no as the top of the door opening may encroach on the 'flipped sideways' tank at somewhere around the mid-point of the tank. I'm not sure on that but info on the stairs would be critical and the further away any stairs were the better your likelihood of success. Would need to know rise, run, number of steps and how far from the door the first stair started. With that info we'd be able to calculate what the maximum size tank you could get in there might be.

If you have less than the req'd space inside you may be able to leave the Bilco door open and gain enough space that way to spin the tank depending on where obstructions might be inside the room.

thank you this is very helpful. The fish room is 44 ft long but only 15.5 ft wide with a ceiling height of 7.5 ft

I am gong to call the bilco company this week. I think there might be some stair stinger options that make them completely removable

 

[Trouser Cough]

You're welcome of course. There's another option and it would be to disassemble the tank, strip the caulk and reassemble once inside. It's some work but the tank was put together by someone just like any of the rest of us. No reason it couldn't be done and probably reassembled better than the original factory job.

 

[Charney]

You're welcome of course. There's another option and it would be to disassemble the tank, strip the caulk and reassemble once inside. It's some work but the tank was put together by someone just like any of the rest of us. No reason it couldn't be done and probably reassembled better than the original factory job.

That is true. I have been really only looking at fiberglass and acrylic but i can look at glass
But do prefer fiberglass