15,000 Gallons of Fun - Stocking

[Ocean Railroader]

Building a 100,000 gallon dream tank is not out of the question compared to Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon tank in that a 100,000 gallon tank would only be a few feet deeper and a few feet wider then Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon. This is due to the square cube law. Such as a 180 gallon fish tank is only two feet longer and six inches wider and six inches deeper then a 75 gallon tank.

Oh my god, 100,000 gallons? That's double arapaimag's setup, that's a HARD goal to achieve. How did he not think someone would catch him?

Oh, to answer your other question I'm majoring in biology. I'm a junior, haven't been accepted into any medical schools yet but I want to go to Duke.

 

[Mikegoeshard]

How many tanks do you have righg now?

 

[butchie]

I would not recommend you set up any large tanks right now. If anything you need to downsize your life and focus as your goals are pretty heady. If you don't get into duke, then you will move to God knows where for med school if you get in. Then 3rd and 4th year you will rarely be home and mostly living in temporary quarters a month at a time during rotations. Then move again for residency, maybe again for fellowship, then probably a starter job for a year or 2 then maybe you find a good fit with a hospital and settle down. So i would say you've got 10 years to plan it. I did move a 55g with an African lungfish in it for all of that. That was doable (barely.) Best of luck to you though it is a fun journey

 

[Freshwater4Life]

Building a 100,000 gallon dream tank is not out of the question compared to Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon tank in that a 100,000 gallon tank would only be a few feet deeper and a few feet wider then Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon. This is due to the square cube law. Such as a 180 gallon fish tank is only two feet longer and six inches wider and six inches deeper then a 75 gallon tank.

Oh my god, 100,000 gallons? That's double arapaimag's setup, that's a HARD goal to achieve. How did he not think someone would catch him?

Oh, to answer your other question I'm majoring in biology. I'm a junior, haven't been accepted into any medical schools yet but I want to go to Duke.

Lol. Dude it would be twice as big. That's like saying a million dollars only has a couple more zeros than a hundred.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Building a 100,000 gallon dream tank is not out of the question compared to Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon tank in that a 100,000 gallon tank would only be a few feet deeper and a few feet wider then Arapaimag's 50,000 gallon. This is due to the square cube law. Such as a 180 gallon fish tank is only two feet longer and six inches wider and six inches deeper then a 75 gallon tank.

I'm sorry. Was going to pass but then decided to reply. I don't know the exact dimensions of the 50,000 gallon tank, but I think 36 x 19 x 9.5 is a close approximation.

Let's clarify to how easy it is to add a "several feet" feet here and there to that tank. Let's use 4 feet = several.

A tank that is 4 feet extra on all dimensions (LxWxH) from the 50,000 gallon tank is:

1) 100% more expensive for water, electricity and mediciation
2) 100%+ more expensive for feeding (assuming it's larger to hold more or larger fish)
3) is 55% more expensive in concrete, tiebars, construction labor since it uses 55% more materials
4) is 34% more expensive in real estate since it uses 34% more land area

None of this addresses the biggest issue. If the tank is 47% deeper (14 versus 9.5 feet) then it's either 4.5 feet deeper into the water table which is ridiculously more than 47% more cost OR is 47% higher which requires virtually a purpose built house since buildings are not typically built with 14 foot ceilings. Moreover, the "extra" 4.5 feet is either farther below the viewing panels (which makes it's extreme extra expense a dubious gain) or the panels are taller which multiplies their cost by many, many times over the cost of the original panels.

Purpose built houses are extremely expensive because they are not desirable to most buyers and use materials that are rarely if ever made. 8 to 10-foot ceilings mean that manufactures make 8 to 10-foot items. 14-foot ceiling means you are likely looking at special orders.

Of course one could get around the added depth issue, by moving the tank dimensions from 36 x 19 x9.5 to 52 x 27 x 9.5, but then again, that would require double the floor space and again likely require a purpose built house. The other problem is getting a zoning license.

One could of course build an add on, or at least try to. The problem is that getting a zoning approval to add on 684 square feet (36x19) isn't remotely the same as adding on 1,404 square feet (52x27)

There's a reason we don't have 12-foot tall ceilings, 10-foot tall refrigerators, 3,000-watt microwaves, gas ovens that can hold 3 turkeys at once and TVs that are 7-feet long that cost just $400. It may seem like an extra few feet is no big deal, but it is when you have to pay for it.

 

[Ocean Railroader]

The tank would not cost a 100% more in medicine or water or electricity or food for fish. If I did built it. In fact the bigger I build the tank the cheaper per gallon it would be.

A example is I had a fish tank company quote me $1000 for a 269 gallon tank $2200 for a 560 gallon tank. It would be $3500 dollars for a custom L shaped 700 gallon tank. The same fish tank company quoted me $13,000 for a 2300 gallon hexagon tank. They quoted me $40,000 a 7500 gallon tank. Now all of these tanks are solid acrylic. If I wanted to convert a swimming pool into a fish tank or build a giant cement fish it would be cheaper in that I would only need viewing windows on one side. While the rest would be cement.

I'm currently in the process of trying to have a 269 gallon tank built. If I wasn't limited politically in terms of buying a giant tank I would have gone after the 560 gallon tank.

In terms of building a custom made house. My current plans are to build a industrial warehouse building http://armstrongsteel.com/gallery/ on some land next to a runt house and then convert it into a house. That way I would have all steel and cement floors and that could hold as much water as I want. But when I build the steel building. I could ether have a giant fiberglass tank brought in or pore giant cement walls for a colossal swimming pool sized fish tank with windows.

What I mean to say is that when you build a fish tank bigger and bigger depending on what you use to build it the cost per gallon goes down.

In terms of me building a 100,000 gallon tank if I wanted to go after it I could. But I kind of think building a giant tank out of cement might be kind of messy. But lately after getting quotes from this fish tank company I think I might be happy with a 2400 gallon hexagon tank or a 7500 gallon giant acrylic tank that I could put in the main room of my steel building. The 7500 gallon and the 2400 gallon tanks one of them would be over 18 feet long and 8 feet wide while the Hexagon would easily be 15 feet across. And I think if I got one of them in my life I would be happy with it.

 

[Drstrangelove]

The tank would not cost a 100% more in medicine or water or electricity or food for fish. If I did built it. In fact the bigger I build the tank the cheaper per gallon it would be.

A example is I had a fish tank company quote me $1000 for a 269 gallon tank $2200 for a 560 gallon tank. It would be $3500 dollars for a custom L shaped 700 gallon tank. The same fish tank company quoted me $13,000 for a 2300 gallon hexagon tank. They quoted me $40,000 a 7500 gallon tank. Now all of these tanks are solid acrylic. If I wanted to convert a swimming pool into a fish tank or build a giant cement fish it would be cheaper in that I would only need viewing windows on one side. While the rest would be cement.

I did notice that the 7,500 tank was THREE times as expensive per gallon as the 2,300 gallon tank.

Anyway, it's swell to simply refute something by saying "no." It will be twice the water. In most parts of the US, twice the amount of water costs at least twice us much. Indeed, in Cali, it's much more as a means to get people to cut usage. But ummm....maybe if I call the City of SF and say "no" they will reduce my bill.

Twice as many fish will cost twice as much food, unless one is planning on feeding them less because one can't afford to feed them. Or maybe , one can say "no" to the fish.

And what about the issue of digging into the water table or getting zoning permissions. Going into the water table will dramatically increase the cost. That's one reason homes don't have 2 or 3 levels below ground. It's one reason, homes aren't built with basements in most of the world.

As far as building an industrial warehouse and then converting it to a house....not in the US. Maybe in some other country. Areas zoned for industrial aren't converted to residential because the owner of the warehouse wants to. Land for warehouses are zoned and developed by counties and states, not by homeowners or private citizens. Partly this is because a warehouse in a residential area would drastically reduce property values which makes voters angry and costs real estate revenues to the state, and partly because the building code for a warehouse is significantly different from the building code for a residence.

Besides when one buys the warehouse or land zoned for a warehouse, one would be asked to explain to the county the plans---those types of property purchases require that. (Before you dispute that, I was a controller and my company bought several properties.) It's what is done whenever non residential properties are sold. You would have to purger yourself just to buy it. Then there's legal feels and prison time after the neighbors complain you are building a warehouse or making it into a home.

Not a plan that's viable imo.

 

[Ocean Railroader]

The warehouse would be a metal building kit that I would buy form Armstrong Steel http://armstrongsteel.com/gallery/

This model of warehouse comes as a boxed kit everything included and you build it on your land. This means all you need is land and cement and you can put up a giant sized steel building for a low cost.

In terms of feeding the fish I only plan to keep maybe a dozen big fish in it. The reason for not keeping tons of fish is that if I had the giant tank full of fish it would need tons of cleaning. By having a low number of fish in it it would need less cleaning.

In terms of the cost of these tanks the 7500 and 2400 gallon tanks are giant solid acrylic tanks. I could build the tanks out of cinder blocks or pored concrete as a DYI project. But I might jest get a pre made fish tank instead.

The fish tank as if now would be built on a minimum of one acre of land in the Richmond Virginia area and would not be built in a suburb or the city of Richmond. In fact there is a clear possibility of it being built on five or even ten acres. I did talk to the local county zoning department and they have no trouble with me wanting to build it. In fact they said the only think they could think of it behaving like from a zoning stand point is it being viewed as a swimming pool. But I would be clear to built it in my area if I wanted to.

In terms of water well I would dig a very deep well and pump in ground water. There would also be a lot of ponds and lakes in my area along with creeks so there would be tons of ground water to pump in. I would have drainage area to let the fish tank water flow back underground.

I don't plan on digging the tank down into the earth ten or sixteen feet. Instead I plan to build this tank set up into the side of a hill. Where the viewing window would be on the part not in the hill while the other three sides would be in the side of the hill. Or if I build the building on flat land it might be a cement wall box with viewing windows in it.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Interesting. You have done some work on this and I applaud that. I've looked at a similar idea so it makes immediate sense to me.

First, I think we can agree that most people can't build super large tanks within cities or residential most suburbs. Your idea is correct in that you will likely need to be far enough away from a city where you can buy a large property (1 more acres.)

Second, most of your plans are feasible, but there are a couple potential hurdles:

1) adding a large concrete slab (foundation) on a property will be definition change run-off and ground water absorption for a large area. There is a chance there will be restrictions unless you are in an unincorporated area or far from a residential area. The larger the lot you own, the farther away it is from other built up properties, the easier. For example, I was denied the ability to have an above ground pool on my quarter acre lot (even though the neighbor had a concrete basketball court) due to grandfathering rules.

2) Numerous -- probably all -- states severely restrict water usage when it's "new", i.e., not grandfathered. One might not be able to simply put a well down and begin drawing off groundwater beyond what the ground was used for before or what is reasonable. A home might be able to justify a new well. But, again you will likely have to tell them your plan is to draw off 20,000 gallons or more a week and that might kill the project. That's assuming a well can produce 20,000 gallons a week, which I have no knowledge of, but groundwater albeit in the ground isn't like the air. It's regulated except in some rural or unincorporated areas. People for example can't take all they want to the detriment of neighbors and businesses.

3) Taking water is one thing. Releasing it back to the water table is certainly not going to be allowed except in the most unincorporated or rural areas, if at all. You can't send fish pathogens, fish medicines, dilute fish food products into the ground water that neighbors use for their own drinking water. Beyond the legal ramifications, it simply is unethical. I'd plan to run the water as discharge through a public waste system where the water can be sterilized and cleaned. Dumping 100 gallons of tank water in one's yard where people use public sourced drinking water is one thing: dumping 20,000 gallons where people use wells for drinking water is another. I think you would want to plan to run the tank water through the public sewer system. If not, I don't know what the alternative is (septic?)

 

[Ocean Railroader]

I see that your in San Fransisco I have a degree in Urban Planning from my local collage. And the zoning in the rural areas of Richmond VA is very laid back. Having a giant fish tank from a zoning stand point is nothing compared to what people can try and do out in the other suburbs of Richmond.


The water in the fish tank would go into a leeching tank for toilet water. Also the fish in the tank would be common Goldfish and Koi that have grown over two to five feet long. This would mean there would be no tropical fish waste or exotic pathogens to worry about. In fact I could even use the water to fill a outdoor goldfish pound.

But when I build the tank I don't have plans of emptying out 20,000 gallons of water all at once. In that the fish tank would behave more like a swimming pool or Koi pound where you don't dump most of the water out.