building a bigger better fish tank........

[bell]

now that i'm settled in my new house it's time to start building a new home for my Oscars.....currently 3 tigers and one albino, 2 are 12" and 2 are 8", so they need more room. the 2 big oscars i bought when they were only 2" long, got to 12" in less than 2 years and they both have individual personalities........oscars are like dogs

1.5 years ago they got a new 75 gallon....they were only about 3-4 inches long.....but took to eating live food well and were proud of their work.


now that they are 12" long and probably around 5lbs they NEED more space, they get into territory fights in the 75 gallon, they get separated frequently when they get too aggressive, but get along at times.

here they are recently.....


their new tank will be right around 700 gallons which will simulate a slow moving river (they're natural environment is the amazon).
the tank will be constructed of wood (ply and lots of support), then coated with fiberglass matting/resin, for added protection i'll probably use a potable 2 part epoxy, this stuff hardens like the garage floor epoxy.

the tank is going to wrap around 3 walls, with the viewing windows on the inside of the U. outer dimensions are 8ftx10.5ftx8ft, it will be 2 feet deep and 3 ft wide with about 6-8" above the water level.
the filtration will be hidden behind the middle part of the U in the utility room behind the wall, we are installing separate electrical tomorrow, it will also be plumbed so water changes/maintainance will be a breeze.

once the tank is done and leak-free i will be using a fish safe expandable foam on the rear walls/floor to carve out their environment, make caves etc.
it'll also be used to narrow up the center section so a faster current will occur, i'll be using 2 pumps rated at 3500gph, removing the water from one end and returning it to the other will give me my current.

this will probably take about 3-4 months before it'll have water in it (my 911 is apart too right now ), but it's one of those things i have to do......gotta keep the fishies happy

i'm starting monday with 16 2x4's and 6 2x6's for the framing

[RoninLB]

just a wild thought.

many homes are built to carry 55-65# sq ft.

A cu ft of water is 64# or 64# sq ft load. 2' of water is 128#

ask water bed lovers what happens.

[bell]

it's in the basement which has a concrete floor

[javadog]

I have no idea what your design will be but just be aware that the lateral load on the walls, at the bottom of the tank especially, will be high.

JR

[bell]

i've been researching this for months, it's all about the transfer of the weight. there is a guy on the cichlid-forum which just built an 1100 gallon tank using similar methods, http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=103294
pics of his finished tank in on page 60.

i'm going to need to rig up some tarps/hose/fan to evacuate the fumes from the tank when i get to the fiberglass/epoxy stage.....but i'll worry about that when i get there

[gassy]

I may drive to Akron to see it when it's done! Good luck!
Christian.

[Dave L]

Originally posted by bell
it's in the basement which has a concrete floor

Is the basement floor capable of carrying that kind of weight? I would think of creating a thicker footing around the base. arent basement floors only a few inches thick?

very cool project, good luck.

[bell]

it'll support it, the frame will be totally boxed will spread the load around the outside perimeter. there will be verticals made from 2 2x4's every 2ft, these will tie into each other with horizontals throughout which will assist in the spreading out of the load.
everything will be held together with 2 large bolts at every joint.
my dimensions were a little off when i started the thread, it will be 2 feet deep and 2 ft wide....not 3ft wide, brainfart
water and tank weight will be about 1300lbs every 8sq ft........i'll see if i can tell how thick the floor is near the sump on the other side of the basement......gotta wrap up some electrical first.

[id10t]

Of course, then you'll have to add some more fish

[HardDrive]

PLEASE post picks when you are done. A little video would be even cooler.....

[Willem Fick]

Excellent project Bell!

I bought 4 Oscars in December, and they have grown to the point where I have exactly the same problem as you do, not only with territorial fights, but also with maintaining water purity. Am busy renovating my house at present, and part of this project involves constructing a new playpen for the Oscars.

I can't quite go as big a you are planning, but got "permission" for a 600 gal (2 cubic meters) in the living room. Mine will be all glass, with a filtration dam set up outside the house, connected to a 1000gal rainwater catchment tank, which will be dedicated to the fistank, and provide for regular automated waterchanges.

It'll be good to learn from your experience though, so please keep this thread alive with updates!

Also, for more on tankbuilding, you could do worse than vist www.plantedtank.net. Not exactly the place for Oscars, but home to a couple of keen DIYers with lots of construction info.

Cheers!

Willem

[vash]

wow! sell the oscars and get fish and game to allow you to keep largemouth bass! hahaha. that is going to be slick.

distribute the weight dude.

[livi]

I am envious. As soon as I get settled in a new home of my own, I will get started too. I have kept fish since I was six. Had to give it up when I met my (now separated) latest spouse. She argued it was to messy, dirty, smelly and took up too much space.

Had to sell over ten years of Discus breeding and all the equipment.

This thread is great motivation ! I will go with approximately 1500 liters for my main tank and start all over with Discus.

[austin552]

Fantastic project! Reefcentral.com can help with any questions or problems that you may have. Can't wait to see the pics.

[id10t]

vash - depending on location, keeping a bass may already be legal. Here in Fl, you have to have a valid fishign license, and catch the bass in a legal manner. Basically, if it is legal to take home and cook, you can take it home and put it in a tank. Oh, and tank kept fish count against daily/posession limits.

[bell]

arowana's are cool fish.....they get along with oscars theoretically....but i haven't tried yet.

today was pretty nice out, after running some errands early afternoon i decided to go play 9 holes, i got out twice last year......today was a nice break.

i spent the rest of the evening doing math and getting a "level" line on the wall so i can cut my legs accordingly.

[bell]

first steps were taken today......

i tell ya......lowes/hd are both way to pricey for hardware, i found a local store (real little place owned by an old man) which had racks of nuts/bolts for $2.39/lb, ended up spending a little under $40 for what HD would've charged $80-$90 for.....so support you're local small businesses Smile


all the heavy load bearing pieces will be held together with 3/8" carraige bolts, angle braces etc....

being the floor isn't perfecty level (3/4" difference over 8ft) i started by screwing the main 2x6 to the wall and got it level with....you guessed it, a level.
then i cut the vertical supports to the floor....every one is a different legnth, the center angled pieces were needed due to a wierd bump in the concrete, they will be boxed in heavily to ensure the load hits them evenly.

the corner is pretty heavy duty, you can see the 2x6 on the outer perimeter, there is also a 2x4 running the inside perimeter, it is in multiple pieces so the cross braces can load on the same verticle 2x4, there are 2 2x4's every 2ft front/back, they will be bolted together.

[jyl]

My grandfather had the ultimate fish tanks.

He had two cylindrical, open-topped concrete tanks sunk into his front garden. Each was appx 10' diam by 10' depth. The idea was to raise fish to eat.

Big failure. The fish ate each other until he had only a few, large fish.

The tanks sat dry for years.

Then he used to make us kids swim in there. Lowered us down w/ ropes, filled tank w/ water. Not so fun, really.

For awhile they were the neighborhood's deepest water lily ponds.

Finally they were covered up and eventually the next owner will fill them up - they are a hazard.

Hope you have better luck!

[bell]

update....framing is about done, still need to cut the angles for the corners and the supports for the middle section.

i ended up not wanting to build dirrectly over the water meter (hidden on the left), so i shortened the tank on that side a bit, however i am going to build a "dump" chamber above that end of the tank for water entry.
i'll then make some cabinet doors below to house some electrical and my mack daddy ph anylizer.
once i get the last pieces cut i'll drill and bolt everything together. then i can start on the actual tank which will sit on top of this frame.

[DonDavis]

Subscribed! Can't wait to see how it turns out!!