18' x 9' x 3.5' catfish tank build in progress.....

[nolapete]

Pool heaters are EXPENSIVE to run and not efficient at all.

Necro, initially I thought that was a great find, but thinking about it you really don't want any kind of storage on it. That makes the heater have to work to keep that water hot. The tankless are on demand and instantly heats the water as it comes through.

It would be easy to plumb it to do both like greengiant said and might be a good idea to refresh the water being recirculated through it once in a while when you do water changes.

 

[necrocanis]

hmmm, it does make sense this way. BTW greengiant nice drawing....Mother of all Catfish tanks? lol, nearly p'd myself!!! Makes sense though. I have my eye on a heater! Just need the money. That's what it always comes down to is money! Think I'll put a tip jar in so that people that come to look at my tank can donate to help feed the fishies!!! lol

I have most of the heater and filter issues worked out in my brain, now I just need to save up enough to do it. I'll be finishing up the main tank first though as planned. Then I have something special planned for a temporary filter until I can get the big one up and running. I'll be using an internal 55 gal drum as a filter until I can get the big one finished. Should be interesting. Not much to plumb on a filter that drops right into the tank.

 

[Eric A]

1. if you're buying!
2. on the list already, but you're talking catfish now.
3. maybe, and have thought about it for sure.
4. Should have been on the list, just overlooked it
5. Now Brachyplatystoma platynemum, and on the list already
6. Illegal!!! But if I move to Canada


Tandanus tandanus
Max published size=90.0cm (or 35.4 in)
Max published weight=6,800 grams (or 14.991 433 829 lb, lbs)
Hope this clears up some confusion. Great fish on that list that I really hope you will get to see in my tank one day, or maybe even one of your own someday

perhaps you're thinking of Neosiluroides cooperensis?

I thought you did live in canada. Oh well, I guess thats why you got a transportable tank .

How expensive are lince catfish in the US? L.pati are awesome fish! I can't wait. I'd still like to see a picture of a tandanus tandanus over 30".

I'm not mistaken. I've caught tandanus catfish on numerous occasions to know which is which. Either way it's not me who has the end say.

I can't beleive you overlooked the Lophiosilurus alexandri. I hope to see a pair in there in the end.

I may well get a Tandan cat one day, but for the time being i'll be happy with P.ornatus.

 

[cvermeulen]

Necro, WRT heating the tank... do it the cheapest way you can. The only thing you really need to be concerned about with the wall mount jobbie would be recirculating water through copper or aluminum or whatever the metal is that makes up the heat exchanger in the heater. TFG's system uses Pex, so no leaching potential. Running the water through the exchanger once when it gets heated up to go into the tank is one thing, but recirculating it continuously, you'd have to make sure you did your homework on the metals.

The reason I say do it the cheapest way you can is... heating is 100% efficient no matter how you do it. The only way you can waste energy when heating something is to throw the heat away somehow, like running uninsulated piping from your externally plumbed heater, or something like that. Heaters are possibly the only electrical device that is 100% efficient... because inefficiencies in other electrical devices result in heat, but in a heater you just create a dead short, where 100% of your energy is "wasted" as heat. So anyways, the discussion about "efficient" heaters is moot. The only discussion to be had is what's the cheaper source of energy - gas or electric? Since you don't have a gas line in your garage, that choice is eliminated. Go cheap on your heating, just make sure you have enough watts, and your heating circuit is fish safe.

 

[nolapete]

cvermeulen see TheFishGuy's thread for an example of the heating we're referring to. There's no aluminum or copper in contact with the tank ever. You're essentially running the hot water through a reinforced rubber non-toxic hose which in turn radiates the heat in the sump.

It follows the same principles of a refrigeration coil, but is turned into a heat exchanger. Instead of the external water being cooled by the coil, it adsorbs the heat and in doing so cools the water (every so slightly) in the hose. The water in the hose recirculates back to the tankless water heater already somewhat hot, so the efficiency is increased.

It only runs when the thermostat in the tank signals a temp drop which in necros case should be not very often with the thick walls.

 

[TheFishGuy]

Hey now... no private pictures......

As for the last statement with the gas -vs- electric and efficiency issue.... To heat this pond with electricty weather it's a tankless W/H or an element is going to be rediculously expensive. I know this from experience.

Listen, if you plan on running a hot water line over to the tank for filling or for a drip fill, all you need to do is run two instead. Doing it in pex at $40 for 100 feet you don't get much cheaper than that. Simple compression fittings allow you to change from copper to pex and then back to if needed, it's a very simple, very effective design. I cannot take credit for it but I will take credit for simplifying it. It also helps your water heater to run more efficiently by returning water that is warmer than out of the tap the water heater doesn't have to work as hard to heat your water. It's a win win... If you're wondering... Yes, I'm tenacious

 

[TheFishGuy]

 

[gfaduck]

This thread is awesome! WOW to the tank!

 

[nolapete]

Jonathan, if you substitute the tank hot water heater with a tankless one you wouldn't it be much more efficient because you don't have to keep the tank heated?

The on-demand tankless hot water heaters are extremely energy efficient, so with the low demand of this application I'd think it would hardly ever run.

Also, with the thermostat in the tank instead of the sump, wouldn't you get less on off cycles? Granted they'd be longer, but it generally takes more energy to start than to run.

 

[basslover34]

Actually I don't think that the Tankless heater would work as well in this case... The preheated water that is in the tank would be easier to heat than new cold water... Jonathan... is this a closed loop or are you using this with the rest of the house as well?

I have also considered this for the Megatank but I was thinking of a closed loop which it doesn't look like you are using... Perhaps there would be even MORE efficiency in that.

Pete it doesn't matter where the Thermostat is because the water is running the same temp in the sump as the tank