My 12x4x4 1400 gallon cichlid tank

[coolkeith]

Nope not true. I can actually unplug my heaters and it will hold the temp of the tank above the room temperature for several days,( I tried this just to see what would happen). If it were the same thickness as glass or acrylic I'm sure it would be a much poorer insulater but at 8" thick it quite good.


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That's because the concrete stored some energy/heat. Good insulating is when there is very little energy/heat transfer. Two completely different things.

For instance, if you put a ceramic dish in some hot water and let it sit for a minute, then removed that dish from the water, that dish would be about just as hot as the water and it would stay hot for quite awhile.
Now do that with a styrofoam cup instead. The styrofoam cup won't transfer much heat at all. It will be back to room temperature within seconds. That's what insulation is. Something that doesn't transfer or store energy/heat.

 

[trace]

That's because the concrete stored some energy/heat. Good insulating is when there is very little energy/heat transfer. Two completely different things.

For instance, if you put a ceramic dish in some hot water and let it sit for a minute, then removed that dish from the water, that dish would be about just as hot as the water and it would stay hot for quite awhile.
Now do that with a styrofoam cup instead. The styrofoam cup won't transfer much heat at all. It will be back to room temperature within seconds. That's what insulation is. Something that doesn't transfer or store energy/heat.

Ok good points and I will go along with that. You also have to take into account the 10mm ( and more like 20mm for me) of pond armor that waterproofs the concrete. It cures to a very dense smooth solid coat that I am sure helps trap the heat more so than the concrete it self. What I do know is this tank didn't really affect my power bill that much and all I took down once it was up was an acrylic 240 and a 55. It doesn't take much to heat it either especially now that 3 of the 5 300w heaters are in the sump. I can raise the temp of the tank at least 8 degrees ( the farthest I've had to since first filling it) after very large water changes. I also do plan on insulating the tank as well when I frame it and the room. But for now it is far cheaper to run than I even anticipated and am more than happy with it. When the DIY bug hits again I always look for ways to improve to functionality of my setups and they all are ever evolving.


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[trace]

Nice!

I'm surprised that your water heater is able to keep up. Aren't your incoming water temps pretty cold?

A 45% water change on that beast is over 600 gallons. How long did it take you to refill?

It takes a little over an hour to fill it from that point. No big deal, it just gives me that much more of an excuse to sit in front of it


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[coolkeith]

Ok good points and I will go along with that. You also have to take into account the 10mm ( and more like 20mm for me) of pond armor that waterproofs the concrete. It cures to a very dense smooth solid coat that I am sure helps trap the heat more so than the concrete it self. What I do know is this tank didn't really affect my power bill that much and all I took down once it was up was an acrylic 240 and a 55. It doesn't take much to heat it either especially now that 3 of the 5 300w heaters are in the sump. I can raise the temp of the tank at least 8 degrees ( the farthest I've had to since first filling it) after very large water changes. I also do plan on insulating the tank as well when I frame it and the room. But for now it is far cheaper to run than I even anticipated and am more than happy with it. When the DIY bug hits again I always look for ways to improve to functionality of my setups and they all are ever evolving.


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The front and side walls of tank shouldn't waste too much heat/energy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you used the basement's concrete floor and the exterior wall as part of the tank. If so, then those would be the main concerns. When winter comes, you'd be heating those along with the tank water. It's probably too late to insulate those things, but I can't really tell if that's how you built the tank. I guess it also depends how cold the floor and wall get during the coldest part of the winter. Hopefully the pond armor helps.

 

[aldiaz33]

It takes a little over an hour to fill it from that point. No big deal, it just gives me that much more of an excuse to sit in front of it


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That's actually not bad at all; you must have good water pressure. I get about 5GPM out of my hose, so refilling 350G takes me about 1 hr 10 min. I look at it the same way...just an excuse to veg out in front of the tank. I prefer not to multitask too much while I'm refilling because I don't want a flood on my hands. I've had a couple "oh $&#%" moments.

I think since you are keeping the room warm, that's going to really help maintain temps; hopefully the concrete won't suck the heat out too badly as it gets colder and colder this winter. In regards to concrete conducting heat, versus insulating it, I once slept on a concrete floor and was amazed at how it sucked the warmth right out of me. I was in a sleeping bag rated for -10F, but since I didn't have a sleeping pad (thermal break), the amount of conductive heat loss had me freezing. I think the same principle applies here. The challenge is how to build a thermal break into a tank's bottom while making it strong enough not to flex, which could cause leaks.

This guy insulated his concrete block pond with 2" rigid insulation: build thread here.

He wrapped the exterior and even used the rigid insulation on the bottom; the tubing is radiant heat that runs off of his water heater.

 

[Box car willy]

Hey guys as promised here is the beginning of my now completed concrete aquarium build. I have a video downloading to YouTube that will be up on here as soon as it publishes.
View attachment 951129
This is how it looked right after we laid the block. Sorry I didn't take many pics of the build in progess. Fell free to ask about any part of the build I'm happy to share.
I sealed the block with pond armor to make it fish safe and water tight. I applied about 4.5 gallons of it. Spendy but worth it.
The window is a custom 3/4" piece of acrylic from glass cages. I used scs2000 to seal the window and love the stuff.
The window butts up against a wood frame that we j-bolted into the block. This gives it a flush surface to adhere to.
I will fishing the outside of the tank with tongue and groove when I finish the surrounding room. Thanks for reading and be sure to watch for the video later todayView attachment 951130


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[Box car willy]

Hey guys as promised here is the beginning of my now completed concrete aquarium build. I have a video downloading to YouTube that will be up on here as soon as it publishes.
View attachment 951129
This is how it looked right after we laid the block. Sorry I didn't take many pics of the build in progess. Fell free to ask about any part of the build I'm happy to share.
I sealed the block with pond armor to make it fish safe and water tight. I applied about 4.5 gallons of it. Spendy but worth it.
The window is a custom 3/4" piece of acrylic from glass cages. I used scs2000 to seal the window and love the stuff.
The window butts up against a wood frame that we j-bolted into the block. This gives it a flush surface to adhere to.
I will fishing the outside of the tank with tongue and groove when I finish the surrounding room. Thanks for reading and be sure to watch for the video later todayView attachment 951130


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Can you please email me pics if you have ? Did you just use regular grout ? I'm in the middle of deciding on how to build a monster tank I want like 3 to 4 thousand gallons on a concrete floor of course , im a very handy guy build houses , do brick tile etc I'd just like to know a little more specifics no one in Winnipeg is really into the monster tanks and the one person who is , is pretty tight lipped my name is Ryan and email is squirlly@live.ca please and thanks

 

[Box car willy]

What did you use to cover up the insulation and the water tubes ? Can u explain the process please

 

[JohnTr]

T trace thank you for your build. It is almost similar with my planning. I'm designing 12 ft long 5 ft wide and 3 ft height. And i have few questions for you.
1) where did you get pond armor from? $550 for 4.5 gallons? It's a very good price. The cheapest price i can get is $300 a gallon from home depot.
2) where did you get the front view windows? $1000 is good for 12ft long view.
3) how is your house over few years? Any problems with it? Any cracks? And where are you at? I'm at Detroit aera, and under the basement floor is muddy and water.