Looking to setup a 500+ gallon freshwater sump tank

[white specter crayfish]

aldiaz33 brought up an important point, a 40” tall tank is going to cost you. The taller the tank, the thicker the material builders have to use so price goes way up. Definitely talk this point over with them when getting quotes

I have little experience in making large tanks so I just want to know, if I have a 10 foot long tank that's only 2 feet high, how thick does the glass have to be? Can it just be the standard 55 gallon tank glass or do I need thicker glass, I was thinking take a 120 tank and take it apart and make it a corner tank so it is 6' by 6' by the normal height, but I'm unsure if that would work or not

 

[AquaJohn]

aldiaz33 brought up an important point, a 40” tall tank is going to cost you. The taller the tank, the thicker the material builders have to use so price goes way up. Definitely talk this point over with them when getting quotes

Yeah, makes sense. I configured several different builds on a custom website. On one build, by changing the height of the aquarium from 36” to 42”, it tripled the price. This gave me about 15% more water, but yeah, it tripled the price!!I don’t think it’s worth it. I was wondering why such a jump in price, so thanks for explaining. I may stick with a 36” height since that appears to be standard. A 120x36x36 is still over 600 gallons tho, closer to 700 actually.

 

[DN328]

Yes, I'm interested and seeing that. Can you post pics?

Sure, here are some pictures at different stages. Credit goes to my bro-in-law that came up with this idea...he had a lot of time to think of this stuff LOL. We're definitely amateurs but I think it turned out good enough for me.

Just metal stand:


Inside view of the panel around the metal stand legs:




This close-up shows how the end panel fit's together and overlay the edges surrounding the doors with the top and bottom of the length panel. I just push off both end panels first, then the longer panels can come off.

 

[AquaJohn]

Wow! That’s awesome. I like it. Wish I had the blue prints of your bro in laws idea.... especially since I have no idea what I’m doing. Your stand looks great. How do those work on a metal stand? Did you make those or did they come with the stand? Very nice setup!

 

[DN328]

Your stand looks great. How do those work on a metal stand?

Thanks man. I didn't follow your question about "how those work'?

The wrap was a lot of work...and I hated painting it. But if you are somewhat handy you can do it too. I wish I had blue-prints to even share LOL. What you could do is go the magnet route too. For the doors, just cut our the size you want and add door hinges. You can add additional wood trims to make it look a more finished. Since the end panel will then just meet up to the corner of the other panel, you could add a trim piece to cover any gaps. I have seen that done too, and, it looks pretty good too TBH.

Edit: Point being, every tank/stand will be different. But the point to all this was you could still get the metal/welded stand, and have a wrap where it would fit in your room and won't look out of place. Just take your time...I definitely found it was a marathon and not a sprint.

 

[taksan]

Yeah, makes sense. I configured several different builds on a custom website. On one build, by changing the height of the aquarium from 36” to 42”, it tripled the price. This gave me about 15% more water, but yeah, it tripled the price!!I don’t think it’s worth it. I was wondering why such a jump in price, so thanks for explaining. I may stick with a 36” height since that appears to be standard. A 120x36x36 is still over 600 gallons tho, closer to 700 actually.

A 120”x36”x36” from custom aquariums with their ( pretty fantastic actually) overflow system and sump on one of their nice modern style stands ... well let’s just say that as a absolutely turn key solution I don’t think you could do better.

 

[AquaJohn]

A 120”x36”x36” from custom aquariums with their ( pretty fantastic actually) overflow system and sump on one of their nice modern style stands ... well let’s just say that as a absolutely turn key solution I don’t think you could do better.

I am looking into them actually. Their tanks look nice and solid, but once you add their filtration system and stands /canopy packages, it gets pricey very quickly!

 

[taksan]

Anything turn key and bulletproof is going to be pricey.
Btw I once set up a 540g with 5 big canister filters.
You could actually just run 5 fx6’s or a couple of ultima 2 2000 filters.

 

[AquaJohn]

Anything turn key and bulletproof is going to be pricey.
Btw I once set up a 540g with 5 big canister filters.
You could actually just run 5 fx6’s or a couple of ultima 2 2000 filters.

Ha! Not sure if 5 FX6's is the most efficient setup. Now, the pond filter you mentioned, I can see that being an option. Those push a lot of water. The 6000 does about 7,500gph. The problem is those filters are huge!

 

[taksan]

Not all of them are huge .., check out Jk’s 600 thread ... he has two on it.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/new-build-600-gallon.684040/