Salt water tank build advice

[Ilawis]

Hey everyone.
My wife has given me the go ahead to start planning the build for a tank in our lounge and there are a few "fun" things that i need some advice on to make it.

This will be my first salt water tank.

So to start dimensions are L 3655mm x W 700mm x H 900mm (144" x 27.5" x 35") with a but cut off one corner (where the mask is in the photo) (2300L or 600 gal)
Glass tank, concrete slab foundation (typically 75mm concrete on gravel or sand for my area (overall the weight will be just around 1ton per m2 so not worried about weight much)) walls around tank are brick but wont be used as any kind of support for the tank.

tank will sit at height of where the wooden ledge is in the photo 880-900mm up and will run from wall to wall on the 2 sides of the photo, top of tank will be just above the top of the 2 black book stands (which obviously wont be there anymore after installed)

tank stand will house a sump (I'm thinking saltwater refugium sump) stand is most likely to be wood but if steel is needed then that's ok too

Questions..

1. glass is not cheap i got a estimate for the bottom plate of glass at 10mm thick (0.39") of which i would put on Plywood or MDF for added flat support and that came to $750 AUD ($515USD) being that's only the first piece its made me rethink about doing it that way and possibly doing the bottom ends and the 2 parts behind the book case in Ply wood. Thoughts?

2.I've estimated 10mm thick sheets for the glass with supports 100mm wide every 500mm but i haven't been able to find a calculator online that deals with top of glass supports to modfy glass thickness.

3. Being the lounge i want the filtration to be as quite as possible (who doesn't want a quite tank!) so I'm thinking bean overflow however with a tank this size i don't know if its a good idea to have one outlet at one end (a bit worried about turning it into a indoor river!) or one at each end and where should i have the inlet being both sides of the middle of the tank is viewing panels or if there is something else i should be using.

4. is there somewhere i can get advice on how much support i need for the stand?

In regards to the sump ill have to build it into the stand with only the front panel being a viewing panel the other 3 sides and bottom will be plywood also thinking about making the refugium as pretty as possible and making the stand so you can see that part of the filtration (as it will be great for the kids to learn when they can see with the dirty parts still kinda hidden away of course (my wife would kill me if it didn't look clean!))

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[sikoko]

I would do a metal stand. Are you putting the tank in the doorway? Just curious

 

[Ilawis]

I would do a metal stand. Are you putting the tank in the doorway? Just curious

no the 70cm comes to just over half the width of the white wall, and the tank and runs all the way across the ledge to where the mask is from there.
the metal stand might be a good way to go im just wanting to spread the load on the ground as well as i can and i fell like ill get better ground support with the wood (its also easier to make the front paneling look nice.)

 

[sikoko]

Metal is sturdier and you can always throw a wood facade up

 

[DDK]

If your dead set on a metal stand go to a trade school that teaches welding and if ask they can make it for you. The instructors are usually very chill and would take this as a teaching opportunity for the kids at the school. You could probably just pay for the metal and they'll make it for free with the supervision of a weld master. Or maybe you'll get lucky and they'll have the metal and you can pay for it at a discounted price. The trade school I know of had plenty of metal donated or bought at a super discounted price from metal yards and fabricators.

If not, expect to pay some money at a metal fabricator. Metal and labor to cut/weld it definitely isnt cheap, and a side note no clue if schools are open again lol tbh so you might be out of luck lol

edit: And if you have a basement or crawl space, it might be a good idea to beef up the joists/floor. 600 gallons x 8.34lbs = 5004lbs without the weight of the tank, stand and filtration so beefing up the floor and making sure its level is a good idea.

 

[Backfromthedead]

10mm is way too thin for that tank ime. At 12' long and almost 3' tall, Youre gonna want 3/4"(19mm) for the bottom, front, and back and at least 12mm for the short sides.

 

[Ilawis]

10mm is way too thin for that tank ime. At 12' long and almost 3' tall, Youre gonna want 3/4"(19mm) for the bottom, front, and back and at least 12mm for the short sides.

With having bracing every 500mm across the top my understanding is that it drops the thickness required?

 

[Ilawis]

If your dead set on a metal stand go to a trade school that teaches welding and if ask they can make it for you. The instructors are usually very chill and would take this as a teaching opportunity for the kids at the school. You could probably just pay for the metal and they'll make it for free with the supervision of a weld master. Or maybe you'll get lucky and they'll have the metal and you can pay for it at a discounted price. The trade school I know of had plenty of metal donated or bought at a super discounted price from metal yards and fabricators.

If not, expect to pay some money at a metal fabricator. Metal and labor to cut/weld it definitely isnt cheap, and a side note no clue if schools are open again lol tbh so you might be out of luck lol

edit: And if you have a basement or crawl space, it might be a good idea to beef up the joists/floor. 600 gallons x 8.34lbs = 5004lbs without the weight of the tank, stand and filtration so beefing up the floor and making sure its level is a good idea.

I can weld myself but the stand will have to be made in the living room as it's too big to fit through my doorway hence wanting to make it from wood.
I know I could weld one up in parts but it would be too many parts and a trade school won't be a great option for a old dude who already knows how to weld (I don't have a welder myself at the moment since moving country's but I do have my woodworking tools).

In regards to the flooring it's a concrete slab floor (no basement just concrete on sand foundation)

 

[Backfromthedead]

With having bracing every 500mm across the top my understanding is that it drops the thickness required?

You would still need that bracing with 3/4" glass. 10mm is just not strong enough to hold that much water.

 

[Rhyno8]

Hey everyone.
My wife has given me the go ahead to start planning the build for a tank in our lounge and there are a few "fun" things that i need some advice on to make it.

This will be my first salt water tank.

So to start dimensions are L 3655mm x W 700mm x H 900mm (144" x 27.5" x 35") with a but cut off one corner (where the mask is in the photo) (2300L or 600 gal)
Glass tank, concrete slab foundation (typically 75mm concrete on gravel or sand for my area (overall the weight will be just around 1ton per m2 so not worried about weight much)) walls around tank are brick but wont be used as any kind of support for the tank.

tank will sit at height of where the wooden ledge is in the photo 880-900mm up and will run from wall to wall on the 2 sides of the photo, top of tank will be just above the top of the 2 black book stands (which obviously wont be there anymore after installed)

tank stand will house a sump (I'm thinking saltwater refugium sump) stand is most likely to be wood but if steel is needed then that's ok too

Questions..

1. glass is not cheap i got a estimate for the bottom plate of glass at 10mm thick (0.39") of which i would put on Plywood or MDF for added flat support and that came to $750 AUD ($515USD) being that's only the first piece its made me rethink about doing it that way and possibly doing the bottom ends and the 2 parts behind the book case in Ply wood. Thoughts?

2.I've estimated 10mm thick sheets for the glass with supports 100mm wide every 500mm but i haven't been able to find a calculator online that deals with top of glass supports to modfy glass thickness.

3. Being the lounge i want the filtration to be as quite as possible (who doesn't want a quite tank!) so I'm thinking bean overflow however with a tank this size i don't know if its a good idea to have one outlet at one end (a bit worried about turning it into a indoor river!) or one at each end and where should i have the inlet being both sides of the middle of the tank is viewing panels or if there is something else i should be using.

4. is there somewhere i can get advice on how much support i need for the stand?

In regards to the sump ill have to build it into the stand with only the front panel being a viewing panel the other 3 sides and bottom will be plywood also thinking about making the refugium as pretty as possible and making the stand so you can see that part of the filtration (as it will be great for the kids to learn when they can see with the dirty parts still kinda hidden away of course (my wife would kill me if it didn't look clean!))

Thanks in advance for your advice.


View attachment 1422379

Have to agree 10mm glass isn’t going to be enough, my tanks have all been glass the last 500gallon tank I had was 3metres x 1metre x 65cm high and that was 15mm bass 12mm sides and fully braced top and bottom. My current 600gallon is 3metre x 1metre x 1 metre and that’s just solid 15mm glass all round. The couple tank builders I know in Australia use 12mm to 70cm-80cm high then step it up to 15mm once it goes passed that. Have you scoped out the monsuta tanks from the great amazon? From a price point I doubt you’ll build one for what you can buy one of those units.