TODD BUILDS HIS 2500 GALLON CEMENT AQUARIUM FOR STINGRAYS IN THE BASEMENT

[carolinafishkeeper]

nice

 

[Anythingfish]

Congratulations on a job well done! I have a similar project coming up in about 6 months together with a new house. The plans are being looked at by a structural engineer now. There will be some minor differences (I’m using a single long piece of glass, I’m using a swimming pool sand filter as my tank will be mainly for plants with a low fish load) but I have decided on the same type of construction. I will be getting the concrete pumped (mixing it like you did and carrying it in would have been a marathon effort!) but will be doing my own formwork and overseeing the pour.
I have two questions which I’d greatly appreciate if you could answer regarding your 2500G tank:
1. How long do you have to wait after pouring the walls before the concrete has firmed up enough before you can take away the “barriers” and pour the floor?
2. Did you use mild steel or stainless steel snap ties (I’ve heard you can get them in stainless but very pricey)?

Answers:

1. The pour was continuous, walls first then the floor. If you do it in two stages, you will most certainly have an opening between the walls and floor, which will be very difficult to seal. The cement must be just the right consistency, water and aggregate. If there is too much water it will pool on top of the floor and cause checking on the floor’s surface when curing. Concrete experts know all about these things.

2. We used mild steel snap ties. It might have been advisable to use stainless as over time moisture will creep into the cement and cause the mild steel to rust. The rust will cause expansion around the portion of the snap tie remaining in the wall. The cement will likely crack away from the snap tie rod; however, this could take years. If you went with stainless then it would be advisable to go with stainless or Monel rebar. In the early 1960’s the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco rebuilt many of their concrete aquariums as the expanding iron rebar caused large chunks of cement to break away. They replaced the old aquariums with new ones built out of cement but substituted Monel or stainless rebar.

We are fish keepers, not concrete experts; you should get a professional to advise you. I hope this helps.

 

[shround]

Nice one Todd!

Great to see the photos of the stingrays, I am a fellow fanatic.

I have a Tiger, flower and Motoro rays, 10 in all.

When I've got my head around the site I will post some pictures of my 4,000 gall tank or see me in practical fishkeeping UK mag, Dec issue.

 

[shround]

I'm glad to know that there are more bonkers and enthusiastic fihkeepers out there. My next plan will be to build a house aroung a tank......my girlfriend doesn't know yet!

 

[shround]

Great to see another stingray enthusiast doing the best to make a better space for their fish.

Love it!

 

[anythingfish.com]

Thanks, I am in the process of planning a 10-20, 000 gallon tank that will hold up my front porch, but it is slow going. The ray tank is one of the easiest tanks I have ever cared for, there are no surprises & the rays love it. I had to move most of my males to a friends because I was getting too many babies... Most of the rays are about 5-7yrs old & the arrowana is about 9 yrs old & is well over three feet long & close to 11 inches tall (without his fins elevated). Kosh the arrowana if a very mellow fish who loves human interaction, I can lift 3/4 of his body out of the water & he loves it. My black rays would also let you lift them out of the water with your bare hands when I had them in pools. I would NOT recommend this to any ray keeper....ever, in my case I have had almost all my rays since they were about three inches & I have spent a ton of time playing with them.

 

[jamespr]

I have been planning my own basement monster bin, but have been unable to find any hard data on thickness versus hieight and width and psi and all that for various materials. I'd love it if anyone could provide a pointer to this kind of data or formulas or whatever.

 

[anythingfish.com]

Yes, my friend has a thickness calculator, what are your dimensions or pm me & I will email you the calculator.

 

[johnptc]

see http://cyro.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cy...nMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1

I have been planning my own basement monster bin, but have been unable to find any hard data on thickness versus hieight and width and psi and all that for various materials. I'd love it if anyone could provide a pointer to this kind of data or formulas or whatever.

 

[Pumpkinate]

Answers:

1. The pour was continuous, walls first then the floor. If you do it in two stages, you will most certainly have an opening between the walls and floor, which will be very difficult to seal. The cement must be just the right consistency, water and aggregate. If there is too much water it will pool on top of the floor and cause checking on the floor’s surface when curing. Concrete experts know all about these things.

2. We used mild steel snap ties. It might have been advisable to use stainless as over time moisture will creep into the cement and cause the mild steel to rust. The rust will cause expansion around the portion of the snap tie remaining in the wall. The cement will likely crack away from the snap tie rod; however, this could take years. If you went with stainless then it would be advisable to go with stainless or Monel rebar. In the early 1960’s the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco rebuilt many of their concrete aquariums as the expanding iron rebar caused large chunks of cement to break away. They replaced the old aquariums with new ones built out of cement but substituted Monel or stainless rebar.

We are fish keepers, not concrete experts; you should get a professional to advise you. I hope this helps.

Thanks very much for the info... trust me, it will definitely help. Steve