Vertical 1000(2) gallon tanks DYI

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I am building my new house and doing 2 vertical 1000 gallon tanks on each side of the fireplace. Here are the details. I am designing and building myself so any input would be appreciated. I will be doing mostly cichlidView attachment 1368968 but community tank with other fish
  • 18" footing with #5 rebar also #5bar 8" o.c. through footing into walls
  • 10' tall by 48"x48" interior
  • using 48"x96" 2" thick acrylic
  • walls are 8x8x166 block with #5 (5/8") rebar every 8" horizontal and vertical
  • walls filled solid with 3000 psi concrete
  • header solid concrete with 4 #5 bars horizontal
  • has it own room in between for pumps and access with ladder and walkway, behind 7' fireplace
ideas on the rest
  • was going to use hydrostatic concrete inside with reinforced mesh then black pond armor
  • angle iron to hold acrylic on outside with 1/2" redheads into solid block
  • was going to have auto fillers with own reverse osmosis
  • water chiller of 200' pipe in refrig
  • access room has own HVAC system, mini split
  • 2 above ground ground sand pool filters each 3000 GPH
  • 2 backup fine filters 500 GPH
  • underwater LED lights
  • I have 2 2" pipes to exterior
Not sure what feedback you are looking for. If I was building my tanks into my home, I'd make sure they would never, ever leak. IDK if the hydrostatic concrete and pond armor would provide that assurance. Plus the window to tank seal... Seeping water would spell a disaster for the whole house and a major expense. I'd probably build the whole tanks out of acrylic. The walls other than the viewing window need not to be that thick, the 2", because the concrete walls will bear the water pressure, but all the seams I'd double or triple glue, using acrylic strips or angles.
 
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I am building my new house and doing 2 vertical 1000 gallon tanks on each side of the fireplace. Here are the details. I am designing and building myself so any input would be appreciated. I will be doing mostly cichlidView attachment 1368968 but community tank with other fish
  • 18" footing with #5 rebar also #5bar 8" o.c. through footing into walls
  • 10' tall by 48"x48" interior
  • using 48"x96" 2" thick acrylic
  • walls are 8x8x166 block with #5 (5/8") rebar every 8" horizontal and vertical
  • walls filled solid with 3000 psi concrete
  • header solid concrete with 4 #5 bars horizontal
  • has it own room in between for pumps and access with ladder and walkway, behind 7' fireplace
ideas on the rest
  • was going to use hydrostatic concrete inside with reinforced mesh then black pond armor
  • angle iron to hold acrylic on outside with 1/2" redheads into solid block
  • was going to have auto fillers with own reverse osmosis
  • water chiller of 200' pipe in refrig
  • access room has own HVAC system, mini split
  • 2 above ground ground sand pool filters each 3000 GPH
  • 2 backup fine filters 500 GPH
  • underwater LED lights
  • I have 2 2" pipes to exterior
Have you considered polyurea to seal your tanks?
 
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I didn't want to bring this up, because I didn't want to assume things were irregular, but if there hasn't been a structural engineer involved in this design I think you should get one before you regret the fact that you didn't.
 
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i'm disapointed this wasn't an older thread so i could see the finished product already! That is going to be an awesome setup. I could picture them being jelly fish tanks and falling asleep watching that.



Well it's gonna look lovely!
My only suggestion is maybe too late. I would never build a fireplace.

World's most efficient way to heat the sky.
Ben Franklin made them obsolete back in colonial times.

I haven't lit mine in nearly 25 years.
I'm converting it to an aquarium. ;)

Cheers!


I'm not the brightest bulb burning in the room, but i was guessing it was going to be a gas fireplace. Although, i do wish i had a wood fireplace in my lounge room, would be fantastic, i miss them.
 
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Just come across this thread. What an awesome build to watch develop into the finished article. Thing is, the guy posted what he was planning back in April and then seemingly disappears!

How dare he tantalise our taste buds and then vanish :duh:
 
Just come across this thread. What an awesome build to watch develop into the finished article. Thing is, the guy posted what he was planning back in April and then seemingly disappears!

How dare he tantalise our taste buds and then vanish :duh:

I know how this goes! Ive stopped flooding the diy section with zany idea threads due to so many of my projects being shelved due to time or financial constraints. Lets just hope this guy has been too busy working on it to post just yet.
 
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