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

[necrocanis]

You're so funny I forgot to laugh. hehehe. That bug was like 6" with that tail. Looked like a wasp with an extra long stinger. The dog was a test subject. If she doesn't start behaving she might end up living there instead of the fish lol.

 

[fobrinkle]

Yikes!! THat bug is scary big.

 

[necrocanis]

The insect in the picture is a Megarhyssa macrurus, or common name Ichneumon wasp. It is a female and apparently they lay eggs deep in softwood trees and their larvae eat wood boring insects. They are very benificial insects. So it's a good thing I didn't kill this one, just hopefully she didn't lay her eggs in my new tank lol. I think the wood has to be soft and wet for them to lay in. The long tail is an ovipositor for boring up to 4" into wood to lay eggs. They can sting you, but it's unheard of. Probably no work on the tank today.

 

[basslover34]

The insect in the picture is a Megarhyssa macrurus, or common name Ichneumon wasp. It is a female and apparently they lay eggs deep in softwood trees and their larvae eat wood boring insects. They are very benificial insects. So it's a good thing I didn't kill this one, just hopefully she didn't lay her eggs in my new tank lol. I think the wood has to be soft and wet for them to lay in. The long tail is an ovipositor for boring up to 4" into wood to lay eggs. They can sting you, but it's unheard of. Probably no work on the tank today.

Damn... sounds like your getting into some Monster Insect Keeping as well

 

[ALLafricancichlids]

please more and more pics

 

[cvermeulen]

Looks like you've managed to keep it pretty straight and square. I can't imagine that's been very easy.. how are you keeping it so straight as you add the rows?

 

[James0816]

I really like the addition of the middle window. This is going to be one extremely nice tank!

 

[basslover34]

Ok Necro,

While looking at that pic of the tank at around 9 3/4 feet again it looks like the next big window is going to much closer to the end of the tank than the first one...right?

Have you thought about mounting your Filtration up on the top at the back and allowing for a gravity feed back into the tank? you could also box it in (with some door on top for cleaning and repairs) Which would allow for less heat loss and provide just alittle more reliability IMO... and save alittle floor space which ofcourse is ALWAYS a consideration

That dead viewing corner would be a good place for the return if you keep to your orginal plan though... I hate it when I'm trying to look at a specific fish and thats the one that is always in the corner that is hardest to see... which is why I usually put the filter returns in the harder to see corners which keeps blowing the fish out of hiding

I just ran into a road block for my Big Tank I think I'm going to have to go smaller than I had planned as I hadn't realized that with my plans that I would cover the Sump for the house and I need access to it during the Heavy rain storms we get here it gets backed up from run off from the driveway (4ft slope towards the garage door). There is still a small glimmer of hope though... I just need to "relocate" the water heaters

 

[necrocanis]

please more and more pics

Be patient my friend. I can't work on it every day. lol, even I need some real time off.

Looks like you've managed to keep it pretty straight and square. I can't imagine that's been very easy.. how are you keeping it so straight as you add the rows?

I've made a jig that I use to keep it fairly straight. It's not 100% straight though and will have to be adjusted some when the ply and top rails are added. I will also have to trim some of the boards to get an even top to it. I plan on just adjusting the boards by trimming a board down the the desired inside width, and jamming them in there to bring it flat for the plywood. As I've said before anyone attempting to make a tank like this should definitely use jigs, and maybe more than I have. It'll keep the tank square for sure. I had thought about turning the boards parallel to the floor, but then I realized that they would be more prone to bowing outward that way. This way there is less length in the board for it to bow. Put a 2x4 up on blocks and stand on it. It will bow in the middle at 8', then cut it in half and do the same thing. That's the principal behind this design. Hope that makes sense.

I really like the addition of the middle window. This is going to be one extremely nice tank!

Thanks, I thought it might look nice and be a lil different.

Ok Necro,

While looking at that pic of the tank at around 9 3/4 feet again it looks like the next big window is going to much closer to the end of the tank than the first one...right?

Have you thought about mounting your Filtration up on the top at the back and allowing for a gravity feed back into the tank? you could also box it in (with some door on top for cleaning and repairs) Which would allow for less heat loss and provide just alittle more reliability IMO... and save alittle floor space which ofcourse is ALWAYS a consideration

That dead viewing corner would be a good place for the return if you keep to your orginal plan though... I hate it when I'm trying to look at a specific fish and thats the one that is always in the corner that is hardest to see... which is why I usually put the filter returns in the harder to see corners which keeps blowing the fish out of hiding

I just ran into a road block for my Big Tank I think I'm going to have to go smaller than I had planned as I hadn't realized that with my plans that I would cover the Sump for the house and I need access to it during the Heavy rain storms we get here it gets backed up from run off from the driveway (4ft slope towards the garage door). There is still a small glimmer of hope though... I just need to "relocate" the water heaters

The window will be in the same position as the last one in comparison to the next side. This tank might be slightly over 18' when finished, but not by much. It's about 11' to the end of the last pic. Another 1' til the next window. Measurements stated before might not have been 100% accurate, but close. I've not been measuring too much on the actual tank, just been going by the number of 2x4s. Need about 20 more to finish up.

The filter is still planed at being mounted behind the tank, and will be gravity fed into the filter and then pushed back through the side with a pump of some sort. One of the pumps might be ran over top so that it can push down through the water like a waterfall adding some oxygen to the tank. The other return will go through a rugf as previously stated. I am trying to hide all the returns as stated earlier. They will be on the sides where there is no viewing window. I think the center back will be my dead spot which will make for good viewing of the fish as they will probably gather there while resting. Substrate will be sand, 3" rocks, and a few large rocks. Still many logistics to figure out on the filter, but it will be boxed in as you suggested, and will have doors on top for easy access, and will also have a valve that runs outside on the first chamber(55gal drum) for rinsing the settling chamber. Still need to figure out the size of pipe I will need to run for a 5-10,000 gal per hour return rate. There will also be a few powerheads in the tank, but not sure what size yet.

As for your tank just make it U shaped lol.

 

[basslover34]

Be patient my friend. I can't work on it every day. lol, even I need some real time off.

no you don't

I've made a jig that I use to keep it fairly straight. It's not 100% straight though and will have to be adjusted some when the ply and top rails are added. I will also have to trim some of the boards to get an even top to it. I plan on just adjusting the boards by trimming a board down the the desired inside width, and jamming them in there to bring it flat for the plywood. As I've said before anyone attempting to make a tank like this should definitely use jigs, and maybe more than I have. It'll keep the tank square for sure. I had thought about turning the boards parallel to the floor, but then I realized that they would be more prone to bowing outward that way. This way there is less length in the board for it to bow. Put a 2x4 up on blocks and stand on it. It will bow in the middle at 8', then cut it in half and do the same thing. That's the principal behind this design. Hope that makes sense.

I'm interested to see how 35K pounds of water will hold up against this design

Thanks, I thought it might look nice and be a lil different.

What Necro actually means is that he realized that he was building a monster tank and wanted more window space at the last min (while building) and figured that it was a good place to be able to see his Monsters

The window will be in the same position as the last one in comparison to the next side. This tank might be slightly over 18' when finished, but not by much. It's about 11' to the end of the last pic. Another 1' til the next window. Measurements stated before might not have been 100% accurate, but close. I've not been measuring too much on the actual tank, just been going by the number of 2x4s.

I bet if you throw out the tape messure you'd see that you prob not as far as you think since those Ply sheets are 4' and a 2 X 4 is actually only 1 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches I'm judging that you were only just under 10' at the time of the photo

Need about 20 more to finish up.

The filter is still planed at being mounted behind the tank, and will be gravity fed into the filter and then pushed back through the side with a pump of some sort. One of the pumps might be ran over top so that it can push down through the water like a waterfall adding some oxygen to the tank. The other return will go through a rugf as previously stated. I am trying to hide all the returns as stated earlier. They will be on the sides where there is no viewing window. I think the center back will be my dead spot which will make for good viewing of the fish as they will probably gather there while resting. Substrate will be sand, 3" rocks, and a few large rocks. Still many logistics to figure out on the filter, but it will be boxed in as you suggested, and will have doors on top for easy access, and will also have a valve that runs outside on the first chamber(55gal drum) for rinsing the settling chamber. Still need to figure out the size of pipe I will need to run for a 5-10,000 gal per hour return rate. There will also be a few powerheads in the tank, but not sure what size yet.

True you mentioned that a few hundred pages ago... I guess it slipped my mind.

As for your tank just make it U shaped lol.

Don't think that I havn't thought of that already LOL but the Cost would go up to much to make it worth while and I'd lose to much space anyway... I'm more for Relocating the water heaters