Wall tank

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Liam

Liam

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 30, 2007
1,173
2
38
Brisbane - Australia.
So I've got a idea, which I want to follow through with.

a tank that is roughly 450 gal, That's against the wall. What I want to know is, How thick the glass is going to be, Can the tank sit on the ground, or does it need a stand, and if so, it has to be under one foot high (can be made out of steal if need be), I also need a plan so I get the idea of the structure and build of the stand, because 450 gal is a heck of a water, and a heck of a lot of weight (a bit over one and a half tonnes.), and I don't want to waste lots of money on broken glass.

Also, is this idea practical, and what's more price friendly glass or acrylic?

Planning to stock plecos and snook :)


Also, I could even start building within this week (dad comes home from a mine in western Aus, and I bet I could influence him to help me/allow me to build this monster with the forum behind my back). :)

Wall fishtank plan.JPG
 
Ofcourse we have your back ;) As far as price on which is cheaper you would need to do some calling around to find that out for yourself as different areas have different pricing for each, usually Glass is cheaper but acrylic is lighter and more clear so it's a balancing of which one you want... cheap or spend the extra to save weight (half as much as Glass) and see your fish with no distortion. In your case your looking to have Plecs in the tank which I'm assuming your looking to get a decent size.. which means that they can actually "suck" divets into the plexi. What material are you planning to use to seal the tank?

technically you can get away with 1" think glass at that dept but having a higher safty rating would put you in the 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" range (worth the extra piece of mind IMO) Building on the ground would be fine if you have a level surface to build it on, always better however to build on some sort of stand so you can build the stand level instead of trying to do it with the tank itself.
 
basslover34;1606942; said:
Ofcourse we have your back ;) As far as price on which is cheaper you would need to do some calling around to find that out for yourself as different areas have different pricing for each, usually Glass is cheaper but acrylic is lighter and more clear so it's a balancing of which one you want... cheap or spend the extra to save weight (half as much as Glass) and see your fish with no distortion. In your case your looking to have Plecs in the tank which I'm assuming your looking to get a decent size.. which means that they can actually "suck" divets into the plexi. What material are you planning to use to seal the tank?

technically you can get away with 1" think glass at that dept but having a higher safty rating would put you in the 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" range (worth the extra piece of mind IMO) Building on the ground would be fine if you have a level surface to build it on, always better however to build on some sort of stand so you can build the stand level instead of trying to do it with the tank itself.
Click to expand...

Wow, 1" of glass.. I'm planning on sealing the tank with either just regular silicon or epoxy, I'm kinda lost in this (first tank build, and who doesn't want to say they build a 450 gal tank at age 14 :D).

Hmm, 1" of glass is pretty costy (I need to do this with as little amount of money spent as possible). Could I do the back with plywood (painted in a waterproofing paint or epoxy) and the sides and with glass?

The ground where the tank is going to be built has carpet on it, but I could take off the carpet where the tank is going to be, so would concrete harm the tank in anyway? I could prolly get steel (for the stand) for a low price if I got it second hand, My friend's and cousins dad's work as roofers and use steel regularly, and they could prolly get me some cheap steel from there suppliers. (My parents are already getting me new carpet, I ruined it with paint:nilly:)
 
You could build the typical box with a window tank which is prob the most price friendly way of doing it... however a 4' deep tank is going to cost more than your thinking I'm sure. Being your first try you might want to consider something alittle smaller... (not to burst your bubble but this is not a cheap thing to do!)
 
basslover34;1606950; said:
You could build the typical box with a window tank which is prob the most price friendly way of doing it... however a 4' deep tank is going to cost more than your thinking I'm sure. Being your first try you might want to consider something alittle smaller... (not to burst your bubble but this is not a cheap thing to do!)
Click to expand...

Shame is, My folks already think I've got enough fish tanks, and I don't need a bigger one, or any more :(

Umm, I'm thinking 800 smackers minimum for the tank if I'm patient and I can find a good glass supplier/plywood (I could prolly get some recycled stuff for a decent price) Not including epoxies/paints.


And I have a good idea for filtration that could be 50 bucks max, and I will share the plans in a moment when I get around to making it :)
 
It's just a pvc pipe, with a clear hose rapped around the inside of it, but in the hose is ceramic rings, and when the water gets down to teh bottom, theres bio balls up to the top, and a hose in the top of the pvc pipe, basically it's a better version of a canister filter, but with no mechanical filtration.

The water siphons in, then a power head pumps the water back into the tank.

And since I'm not going to have a very big bio load (3, 4 plecos and a pair of snooks and possibly a dat, or are dats a no no with snooks?) it shouldn't really be a problem.

Filter plans.JPG
 
An inexpensive way to build could be a fiberglass shell (bottom, back, sides) and a glass front, same as a "box with window" but fiberglass because it is lighter and you can make contours real easy to create a more realistic set-up.

I am not trying to be mean, but filtration for 450 gallons of water is going to be more in the range of hundreds to thousands of dollars. Quality pumps that you can rely on will cost in the hundreds alone. And you definitely do not want to eliminate mechanical filtration when housing large fish, esp. poop machines like plecos!

No, no harm in placing a tank on concrete - if the surface is level you are fine.
 
tank125;1606993; said:
An inexpensive way to build could be a fiberglass shell (bottom, back, sides) and a glass front, same as a "box with window" but fiberglass because it is lighter and you can make contours real easy to create a more realistic set-up.

I am not trying to be mean, but filtration for 450 gallons of water is going to be more in the range of hundreds to thousands of dollars. Quality pumps that you can rely on will cost in the hundreds alone. And you definitely do not want to eliminate mechanical filtration when housing large fish, esp. poop machines like plecos!
No, no harm in placing a tank on concrete - if the surface is level you are fine.
Click to expand...


Well, as I said, It's not going to be stocked with much ( Yeah, lol, My 4" bristle nosed pleco craps everywhere :D), So how fast should the powerhead/pump pump for the bare minimum filtrations required.

I was also thinking about a add-on to the filter, along the hose that siphons would be like a PVC cavity that could be filled with sponge so it does have mechanical filtration (Kinda like the thick part of your python, but instead of being in front, it in the middle, and instead of doing a water change it is filtering :) )

Tomorrow I'm going to call around and get some quotes on the acrylic/ply/glass.


And is there a thread or plans to the fiberglass idea, Thanks?


Thanks for your help so far, it's greatly appreciated :)
 
Also, how would I go about gravel vacing a tank that's 4' deep? :D
 
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