So as I briefly let on in my intro thread I am in the design phase of my future house and with it the center piece tank in the basement. If all comes together as planned then hopefully the official start date will fall sometime in the next year, but as most people know anything is possible and especially with me going into the Coast Guard if I don't get my local assignment as I hope then it will be delayed longer, but with my field of study its a pretty sure thing im hoping. Anyway here are the rough plans for the tank. Any and all feedback is appreciated, both positive and negative as long as it is kept constructive and a learning experience for everyone.
At this point the preliminary design for the tank will be aprox 25 feet long 10 feet wide 5 feet deep. The rough gallonage at this point is 9350 but I say rough as it is hard to calculate because of the corners. On the outside it will be a rectangle but the corners on the inside will be round to ensure an easier swimming area for the sharks. To accomplish this I plan to use 1 of the many local saw and lumber mills to create my custom curved plywood for the corners.
Since it will be inside the house and in the basement I have decided to do a few things in order to make this as safe and enjoyable as possible. First I decided to sink the room that this will sit in aprox 1 foot. This will ensure I don't have to pay more then I need to when it comes time to pour the slab since this area will have a thicker then normal slab. It will also mean that since I plan to have 3 drains installed in this room that if there ever were a flood that it would not flood into the rest of my basement. 2nd the display wall as I call it will be sealed to the slab it sits on which will be the main slab for the rest of the basement. It will be sealed between the base plate and the concrete via a sealant and the remainder of the room will be sealed via a 2 layer plastic vapor barrier with spray foam insulation on the wall to create a temperature stable room or as close to one as possible. Fresh air circulation will be provided either by high flow bath fans or attic cooling fans mounted on the side of the house. this has not been decided on at this point because I am not sure of the exact amount of cooling will be needed and can easily be decided on after the house is constructed as this will be an unfinished area and new construction.
Below is the construction plan as I have come up with so far, but as I said it's a work in progress as I research more and more and find different options.
Tank Details
SIDE Walls - The sides will be made out of 2 x 8's with double plates to allow for interlocking the plates at the top and bottom on the corners.
INTERIOR - The walls will be wrapped with 3/4'' t/g plywood in 3 layers glued and screwed together to make a 2.25 inch thick surface of support.
Support Joists - I have a friend who is an engineer but since this is so far off we are still goofing around with a few things and working on it but as this point the joists will be 2 x 12's most likely. We just haven't got as far as figuring out centers. I am a notorious over builder so ill prolly shrink 2 inches off his centers to add a few more boards.
Display windows - This has been with out a doubt the hardest thing to figure out. Everyone has their own theories and practices on the different thickness' and materials. I found the acrylic thickness calculator on this website, but when I talked to different custom aquarium designers and installers them all suggested different sizes then what the calc suggested. At this point I've been told from 1.5 inch with minimal bowing to nothing less then 6 inches or bursting would happen. At this point after talking with many professional builders and the research I have done up to this point I decided on 2.5 inch thick acrylic. the tank will have 2 windows because 1 large display window as much as I wanted it was turning out to be a fortune cost wise because of the thickness range I had assumed on. If it turns out when it comes time to start the build that I can use a new age slimmer acrylic that is offered then I will go back to my original desire to have a single window. Dimensions will be 10 feet wide by 4 feet tall viewable with a 3 -4 inch over lap all around. I have not narrowed the overlap distance because once again some builders say 2 inches some say 5 so I picked the middle for now until I can gather more research on that.
Waterproofing - To water proof the tank I have decided that using a double layer of 45 mil fish safe pond liner would be the best and cheapest way to go. I also plan to order either 1/8 or 1/4 inch acrylic sheets and then wrap the edges in plastic to eliminate any sharp corners. I will then simply lay these in the tank around the sides and across the bottom. The sand will keep the bottoms in place and I will add c clamps to the top to keep the top in place. this will enable that they wont cut into the pond liner and the fish will not be able to run into or eat the pond liner because lets be real fish are crazy and will nibble chew and destroy anything they have available just like dogs
.
The hardest part will be to create that leak proof seal between the pond liner and the window display section. To illustrate this problem best essentially the display wall will be 2 x 8's if you remember but the acrylic will only be 2.5 inches or slightly larger or smaller. It will not be centered in the wall but if you can imagine a 2 x 6 inch wide board that is framed into the opening and flush with the front of the wall if you were looking at it. This will create the ledge that the window will be forced against by water pressure. Depending on the required overlap this could become multiple 2 x 6's bolted together to provide the thicker ledge for the overhang. After talking with many of the same builders I have figured out 2 options at this point. The first is that I will be able to use a fiberglass component and epoxy to create this seal between the wood and the edge of the pond liner. the second option is that I run the pond liner into the ledge overhang area wrapping the 2x6's and stop it half way down the ledge. Then apply a generous amount of silicon that will cover the remaining say 1 -2 inches of the overhang and cover the pond liner to create a water tight seal. This how ever people are not so sure about as they do not know how the pond liner will react to the silicon. So the best way to say it is at this point I am at a fork in the road that has 3+ paths and I only got 2 options mapped out
and I am looking for the rest of said maps. Ideas?
Tank Cover - I plan to build gang planks that will be aprox 1 foot above the water level, if you will call them that. Essentially they are areas to walk on above the tank to use as access points to service the tank change lights etc. These will also act as supports for the front to back and middle areas of the tank to decrease any likelihood of significant bowing and provide additional strength to the overall tank. The gang planks will be in the shape of a lower case t over the tank. On either side length ways will be 1 additional joist over the tank for additional length ways support. There will then be aprox 12 fronts to middle joists connected from the front window header to the center gang planks and then 8 in the back. The sections in-between those gang planks will have ledges built inside them and acrylic covers lay on top with holes drilled into them to allow for air exchange and some evaporation. They will prolly be in the 1/8'' range for thickness and hinged on 1 side and a latch on the other. This is solely to prevent anything from jumping out. I originally thought about window screen but decided it was to easy to break and a larger fish jumping out could easily go through it and a larger netting might catch or hook a fin and cause damage to the inhabitants of the tank.
Equipment
Sump - will also be wood built and pond liner and acrylic lining once again to not let warm pumps come in contact with it and potential melting over time. Dimensions at this time are looking like 8 x 3 x 3 potentially.
Skimmer - I am looking at getting 2 commercial line MRC skimmers at this point they stand 8 feet tall which was really important cause I wanted tall skimmers and not stubby and wide and are rated at 8500 gallons each. There is also a good chance I will have them modified to allow for ozone injection.
Return pump - at this point I am really up in the air on these. Some people have suggested pool pumps but I just have not got past the fact they have metal in them. So for now I am planning on 3 reef-flow gold commercial 2 hp pumps. Each is rated at 11k gph and I figure I will have 1 feed the left side and left back, 1 feed the middle back and 1 feed the right side and right back.
Lighting - this will be decided once the tank has been filled with water. It will most likely be either 400 watt metal halides, 160 watt vho strips or a combo at both. Since there will be minimal corals prolly just mushrooms xenia and other fast growing carpeting style corals it won't need to be light saturated like reef tanks. Which every light penetrates to the bottom the best will be what gets used. a 3rd option is to use high power sodium lights that can be gotten at home depot cheaply but I haven't done much research especially to see if they promote algae growth or any potential negative side effects. Size of their mounting units may also be a problem.
Natural filters - the tank will have a 3 -4 inch sand bed seeded with some natural sand and will have at least a few hundred pounds of live rock put into random piles and zip tied together through out the tank.
UV - the tank will have UV filters connected to the sump to help make sure the water is extra clean and parasite free.
Water movement - at this point I am not 100% sure but if the maxi jet sure mod kits get an improvement to their impeller shafts in the next year then I will prolly go with many of these to provide mega flow inside the tank as they are cheap and powerful. If the modded maxi jets aren't much better then they are now then I will prolly go with an all korelia setup. Much more expensive but provide the same gph or better rating wise as the modded maxi jets.
Water changes - water changes will also be a breeze as I plan to have the sump directly connected to a floor drain to allow for easy draining for water changes. There will then be a 500 gallon storage container of pre made saltwater to allow for instant water changes. There will also be another 500 gallon container in the garage of all freshwater to allow for easy top off of evaporate. The biggest problem I am having is locating any sort of mass salt provider, but I have found 2 recipes online for making your own salt water. lucky for me my soon to be wife is majoring in chemistry so between her and the local Baltimore and Washington DC aquarium I should be able to figure out how to make my own by buying bulk chemical supplies and just putting them all together instead of buying say 200 bucks of instant ocean.
That's the plan for equipment at this point and I don't see it changing that much because I have used similar setups on other tanks with great success, but I am always open to new ideas. There definitely will be no bioballs or similar filter media in this setup
.
Only other thing of note at this point is because of the sunken fish room floor by 1 foot the tank will appear level with the basement floor and will allow easy and relaxable enjoyment from a couch or lazy boy so you can sip on your beverage of choice while relaxing to a great scenic view
.
anyway I don't think I am allowed to add pictures for a few more posts, but I have also designed a rough sketch of our house we plan to build using better homes home designer suite and have pictures of the tank and fish room so I will post those up for people to see including a view from the couch towards the tank
. I look forward to any and all input especially in relation to my salt and acrylic thickness problems.
Thanks Justin
At this point the preliminary design for the tank will be aprox 25 feet long 10 feet wide 5 feet deep. The rough gallonage at this point is 9350 but I say rough as it is hard to calculate because of the corners. On the outside it will be a rectangle but the corners on the inside will be round to ensure an easier swimming area for the sharks. To accomplish this I plan to use 1 of the many local saw and lumber mills to create my custom curved plywood for the corners.
Since it will be inside the house and in the basement I have decided to do a few things in order to make this as safe and enjoyable as possible. First I decided to sink the room that this will sit in aprox 1 foot. This will ensure I don't have to pay more then I need to when it comes time to pour the slab since this area will have a thicker then normal slab. It will also mean that since I plan to have 3 drains installed in this room that if there ever were a flood that it would not flood into the rest of my basement. 2nd the display wall as I call it will be sealed to the slab it sits on which will be the main slab for the rest of the basement. It will be sealed between the base plate and the concrete via a sealant and the remainder of the room will be sealed via a 2 layer plastic vapor barrier with spray foam insulation on the wall to create a temperature stable room or as close to one as possible. Fresh air circulation will be provided either by high flow bath fans or attic cooling fans mounted on the side of the house. this has not been decided on at this point because I am not sure of the exact amount of cooling will be needed and can easily be decided on after the house is constructed as this will be an unfinished area and new construction.
Below is the construction plan as I have come up with so far, but as I said it's a work in progress as I research more and more and find different options.
Tank Details
SIDE Walls - The sides will be made out of 2 x 8's with double plates to allow for interlocking the plates at the top and bottom on the corners.
INTERIOR - The walls will be wrapped with 3/4'' t/g plywood in 3 layers glued and screwed together to make a 2.25 inch thick surface of support.
Support Joists - I have a friend who is an engineer but since this is so far off we are still goofing around with a few things and working on it but as this point the joists will be 2 x 12's most likely. We just haven't got as far as figuring out centers. I am a notorious over builder so ill prolly shrink 2 inches off his centers to add a few more boards.
Display windows - This has been with out a doubt the hardest thing to figure out. Everyone has their own theories and practices on the different thickness' and materials. I found the acrylic thickness calculator on this website, but when I talked to different custom aquarium designers and installers them all suggested different sizes then what the calc suggested. At this point I've been told from 1.5 inch with minimal bowing to nothing less then 6 inches or bursting would happen. At this point after talking with many professional builders and the research I have done up to this point I decided on 2.5 inch thick acrylic. the tank will have 2 windows because 1 large display window as much as I wanted it was turning out to be a fortune cost wise because of the thickness range I had assumed on. If it turns out when it comes time to start the build that I can use a new age slimmer acrylic that is offered then I will go back to my original desire to have a single window. Dimensions will be 10 feet wide by 4 feet tall viewable with a 3 -4 inch over lap all around. I have not narrowed the overlap distance because once again some builders say 2 inches some say 5 so I picked the middle for now until I can gather more research on that.
Waterproofing - To water proof the tank I have decided that using a double layer of 45 mil fish safe pond liner would be the best and cheapest way to go. I also plan to order either 1/8 or 1/4 inch acrylic sheets and then wrap the edges in plastic to eliminate any sharp corners. I will then simply lay these in the tank around the sides and across the bottom. The sand will keep the bottoms in place and I will add c clamps to the top to keep the top in place. this will enable that they wont cut into the pond liner and the fish will not be able to run into or eat the pond liner because lets be real fish are crazy and will nibble chew and destroy anything they have available just like dogs
. The hardest part will be to create that leak proof seal between the pond liner and the window display section. To illustrate this problem best essentially the display wall will be 2 x 8's if you remember but the acrylic will only be 2.5 inches or slightly larger or smaller. It will not be centered in the wall but if you can imagine a 2 x 6 inch wide board that is framed into the opening and flush with the front of the wall if you were looking at it. This will create the ledge that the window will be forced against by water pressure. Depending on the required overlap this could become multiple 2 x 6's bolted together to provide the thicker ledge for the overhang. After talking with many of the same builders I have figured out 2 options at this point. The first is that I will be able to use a fiberglass component and epoxy to create this seal between the wood and the edge of the pond liner. the second option is that I run the pond liner into the ledge overhang area wrapping the 2x6's and stop it half way down the ledge. Then apply a generous amount of silicon that will cover the remaining say 1 -2 inches of the overhang and cover the pond liner to create a water tight seal. This how ever people are not so sure about as they do not know how the pond liner will react to the silicon. So the best way to say it is at this point I am at a fork in the road that has 3+ paths and I only got 2 options mapped out
and I am looking for the rest of said maps. Ideas? Tank Cover - I plan to build gang planks that will be aprox 1 foot above the water level, if you will call them that. Essentially they are areas to walk on above the tank to use as access points to service the tank change lights etc. These will also act as supports for the front to back and middle areas of the tank to decrease any likelihood of significant bowing and provide additional strength to the overall tank. The gang planks will be in the shape of a lower case t over the tank. On either side length ways will be 1 additional joist over the tank for additional length ways support. There will then be aprox 12 fronts to middle joists connected from the front window header to the center gang planks and then 8 in the back. The sections in-between those gang planks will have ledges built inside them and acrylic covers lay on top with holes drilled into them to allow for air exchange and some evaporation. They will prolly be in the 1/8'' range for thickness and hinged on 1 side and a latch on the other. This is solely to prevent anything from jumping out. I originally thought about window screen but decided it was to easy to break and a larger fish jumping out could easily go through it and a larger netting might catch or hook a fin and cause damage to the inhabitants of the tank.
Equipment
Sump - will also be wood built and pond liner and acrylic lining once again to not let warm pumps come in contact with it and potential melting over time. Dimensions at this time are looking like 8 x 3 x 3 potentially.
Skimmer - I am looking at getting 2 commercial line MRC skimmers at this point they stand 8 feet tall which was really important cause I wanted tall skimmers and not stubby and wide and are rated at 8500 gallons each. There is also a good chance I will have them modified to allow for ozone injection.
Return pump - at this point I am really up in the air on these. Some people have suggested pool pumps but I just have not got past the fact they have metal in them. So for now I am planning on 3 reef-flow gold commercial 2 hp pumps. Each is rated at 11k gph and I figure I will have 1 feed the left side and left back, 1 feed the middle back and 1 feed the right side and right back.
Lighting - this will be decided once the tank has been filled with water. It will most likely be either 400 watt metal halides, 160 watt vho strips or a combo at both. Since there will be minimal corals prolly just mushrooms xenia and other fast growing carpeting style corals it won't need to be light saturated like reef tanks. Which every light penetrates to the bottom the best will be what gets used. a 3rd option is to use high power sodium lights that can be gotten at home depot cheaply but I haven't done much research especially to see if they promote algae growth or any potential negative side effects. Size of their mounting units may also be a problem.
Natural filters - the tank will have a 3 -4 inch sand bed seeded with some natural sand and will have at least a few hundred pounds of live rock put into random piles and zip tied together through out the tank.
UV - the tank will have UV filters connected to the sump to help make sure the water is extra clean and parasite free.
Water movement - at this point I am not 100% sure but if the maxi jet sure mod kits get an improvement to their impeller shafts in the next year then I will prolly go with many of these to provide mega flow inside the tank as they are cheap and powerful. If the modded maxi jets aren't much better then they are now then I will prolly go with an all korelia setup. Much more expensive but provide the same gph or better rating wise as the modded maxi jets.
Water changes - water changes will also be a breeze as I plan to have the sump directly connected to a floor drain to allow for easy draining for water changes. There will then be a 500 gallon storage container of pre made saltwater to allow for instant water changes. There will also be another 500 gallon container in the garage of all freshwater to allow for easy top off of evaporate. The biggest problem I am having is locating any sort of mass salt provider, but I have found 2 recipes online for making your own salt water. lucky for me my soon to be wife is majoring in chemistry so between her and the local Baltimore and Washington DC aquarium I should be able to figure out how to make my own by buying bulk chemical supplies and just putting them all together instead of buying say 200 bucks of instant ocean.
That's the plan for equipment at this point and I don't see it changing that much because I have used similar setups on other tanks with great success, but I am always open to new ideas. There definitely will be no bioballs or similar filter media in this setup
.Only other thing of note at this point is because of the sunken fish room floor by 1 foot the tank will appear level with the basement floor and will allow easy and relaxable enjoyment from a couch or lazy boy so you can sip on your beverage of choice while relaxing to a great scenic view
. anyway I don't think I am allowed to add pictures for a few more posts, but I have also designed a rough sketch of our house we plan to build using better homes home designer suite and have pictures of the tank and fish room so I will post those up for people to see including a view from the couch towards the tank
. I look forward to any and all input especially in relation to my salt and acrylic thickness problems.Thanks Justin
