Building a Mega-Home Marine Tank (18,000 GA) Need Advice All Welcome
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How much experience does the OP have in saltwater aquariums? From his posts, it does not sound like much, especially since he wanted to mix three completely different types of habitats, which differ way too much. Maybe the OP should start off with a more 'feasable' tank, such as, a 1k gallon tank? If he's got money to burn, and even then, that'd still need a lot of planning, and would look delicious as well.
UGF? Does this mean under gravel filter?xtrememarinetanker;2462507; said:... Now the viewable tank will stand 15ft the filtration and life system will be an extended 3 ft however because of aluminum we can build into the tank system using UGF ....
I really enjoy the debate and the great advice and criticism this project is causing its exciting to know some are rooting for you too succeed and fail so I appreciate all who view and commit, especially those who are looking to help in anyway. Through the process I want to post updates, and answer question through the process.
To answer some of the common questions:
Q: Do I have the budget?
A: To me this is no different than someone investing in restoring a 68 Camaro, or building a outdoor workshop, it’s a passion, I enjoy doing stuff that is different and if done right what a sight it would be so more so when you have passion to do something spending some money from your savings to do something you love and are passionate about is why we all do right?
Q: Questions about the Acrylic?
A: Yeah trying to get a complete piece of acrylic would have been costly and harder to implement so I decided to break down to 15’ x 5.6 x 3’ thick and use 5 panels for the exterior and got a quote for about $14,500 per panel. Now we may have to adjust the thickness but it was a good onside bet. So it was more cost effective and a little more reliable to do so in this case as it would cost $72,500 and I was told if I place in a bidding process I could save money in the longer run because it is such a large project.
Q: Using Steel instead of Aluminum and Saltwater Affects?
A: Aluminum in or reinforced aluminum made in the extrusion process would be strong enough. Similar to what they made the Tesla Roadster out of it reinforces the strength; however we would have to use much more in braces and counter braces than expected to insure stability. Steel would be a option however steel and stainless still over time saltwater could cause corrosion and cut down the life of the structure. So our third option and more viable is Carbon Fiber. It’s lighter than steel, but stronger than steel, would not need the extra braces than if we used aluminum and combined with the steel reinforced cables that will be include would offer a really strong structure. Will cost a little more but it offers peace of mind knowing it want imploded on us.
Q: Making a Concrete Structure rather than in home?
A: To have something like this is your home just would be awesome so that is why I chose to do so. The structure would be assemble in the location where it will stand so that makes it doable, and the home foundation can support the structure so I don’t worry about that, I’m not putting this thing on a second floor or anything and in Texas we don’t have basements.
Q: Do I know anything about Saltwater Aquariums and Systems?
A: I have had a saltwater system before so I understand what need for the Life Support System etc is. Doing a project like this you gain interest from marine biologist and other people who would love to see this happen so I have people from University of Texas Arlington , Texas Christian University, and University of Cal Berkley who offer advice and consulting as I proceed, so that’s the cool part. Also technicians from the Dallas Aquarium have offered to come out and help and look at the technical issues if need be so that’s another reason why I wanted the excitement of trying to build it.
Q: How to I plan to power the aquarium?
A: This is one of the cool parts of the Aquarium, it will be supported by Solar Panel power structure that will aid in power supply especially during the day and at night feed off a storage system and of course the home but electricity cost are lower at night and I would only need four panels and a backyard shed to store the generator and power storage, and the cost aren’t that expensive either. I thought it would be a great way to go green and still enjoy the hobby. The tank would be completely off the grid.
Q: How do you plan to heat and chill the aquarium?
A: In the sides and base of the tank we will use a coil heating system that is being design to heat the aquarium. It would provide ample heat and temperature control. Also having a computer program writing that will control feeling, temperature, and tank life-support monitoring systems by computer. It will be done on a firmware –embedded system. This will also control the bio of the tank, and feeding. I know again costly investment but good one.
Yes we are going to include chillers as well but have not calculated all that is need yet.
I appreciate again the interest and hey if I have not thought of something feel free to commit I welcome good and bad commits the same anything that helps out. Thanks guys
To answer some of the common questions:
Q: Do I have the budget?
A: To me this is no different than someone investing in restoring a 68 Camaro, or building a outdoor workshop, it’s a passion, I enjoy doing stuff that is different and if done right what a sight it would be so more so when you have passion to do something spending some money from your savings to do something you love and are passionate about is why we all do right?
Q: Questions about the Acrylic?
A: Yeah trying to get a complete piece of acrylic would have been costly and harder to implement so I decided to break down to 15’ x 5.6 x 3’ thick and use 5 panels for the exterior and got a quote for about $14,500 per panel. Now we may have to adjust the thickness but it was a good onside bet. So it was more cost effective and a little more reliable to do so in this case as it would cost $72,500 and I was told if I place in a bidding process I could save money in the longer run because it is such a large project.
Q: Using Steel instead of Aluminum and Saltwater Affects?
A: Aluminum in or reinforced aluminum made in the extrusion process would be strong enough. Similar to what they made the Tesla Roadster out of it reinforces the strength; however we would have to use much more in braces and counter braces than expected to insure stability. Steel would be a option however steel and stainless still over time saltwater could cause corrosion and cut down the life of the structure. So our third option and more viable is Carbon Fiber. It’s lighter than steel, but stronger than steel, would not need the extra braces than if we used aluminum and combined with the steel reinforced cables that will be include would offer a really strong structure. Will cost a little more but it offers peace of mind knowing it want imploded on us.
Q: Making a Concrete Structure rather than in home?
A: To have something like this is your home just would be awesome so that is why I chose to do so. The structure would be assemble in the location where it will stand so that makes it doable, and the home foundation can support the structure so I don’t worry about that, I’m not putting this thing on a second floor or anything and in Texas we don’t have basements.
Q: Do I know anything about Saltwater Aquariums and Systems?
A: I have had a saltwater system before so I understand what need for the Life Support System etc is. Doing a project like this you gain interest from marine biologist and other people who would love to see this happen so I have people from University of Texas Arlington , Texas Christian University, and University of Cal Berkley who offer advice and consulting as I proceed, so that’s the cool part. Also technicians from the Dallas Aquarium have offered to come out and help and look at the technical issues if need be so that’s another reason why I wanted the excitement of trying to build it.
Q: How to I plan to power the aquarium?
A: This is one of the cool parts of the Aquarium, it will be supported by Solar Panel power structure that will aid in power supply especially during the day and at night feed off a storage system and of course the home but electricity cost are lower at night and I would only need four panels and a backyard shed to store the generator and power storage, and the cost aren’t that expensive either. I thought it would be a great way to go green and still enjoy the hobby. The tank would be completely off the grid.
Q: How do you plan to heat and chill the aquarium?
A: In the sides and base of the tank we will use a coil heating system that is being design to heat the aquarium. It would provide ample heat and temperature control. Also having a computer program writing that will control feeling, temperature, and tank life-support monitoring systems by computer. It will be done on a firmware –embedded system. This will also control the bio of the tank, and feeding. I know again costly investment but good one.
Yes we are going to include chillers as well but have not calculated all that is need yet.
I appreciate again the interest and hey if I have not thought of something feel free to commit I welcome good and bad commits the same anything that helps out. Thanks guys
look man, nobody is hoping you fail. we've all seen tons of threads start and then fizzle out before they ever got started. we've never seen someone come in with the idea of building a transportable 20,000gal aquarium and really not know how to do it. I'm all for you doing research first and imo, this is one of the best places to research.
so when you post pics of the first materials on property, we'll bite and be ready to help in anyway. dont think anyone here wants you to fail, because its not the case.
so when you post pics of the first materials on property, we'll bite and be ready to help in anyway. dont think anyone here wants you to fail, because its not the case.
You misunderstood when I said transportable what I mean if I needed to disassemble the tank we want to design it where it could be broken down and shipped or moved but I don't plan to take the tank on a road show lol.loogielv;2466919;2466919 said:look man, nobody is hoping you fail. we've all seen tons of threads start and then fizzle out before they ever got started. we've never seen someone come in with the idea of building a transportable 20,000gal aquarium and really not know how to do it. I'm all for you doing research first and imo, this is one of the best places to research.
so when you post pics of the first materials on property, we'll bite and be ready to help in anyway. dont think anyone here wants you to fail, because its not the case.
I love the concept and the dream but as others have stated a bit sceptical as I have seen many pipe dreams on here. it sounds like you are serious about this build. I had a dream of a floor to ceiling tank but the cost of the Acrylic was as much as my house. the bdget for this is higher than most of us could drem of. there are a select few who can do it and I hope you are one of them. this is MFK so true monsters do come by every now and then. keep us posted and drop some pics. this is what takes people from the dream to the reality phase. when are you planning to start construction? I would love to see this built but right now still seeing it as a dream
I saw a tank made out of those giant metal railway containers. That might work well with this idea. You can bolt them together, and ultimately, it would be disassemblable. (is that a word) And the pieces should fit nicely on a flatbed truck.
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