2700 Gallon Indoor Reef Lagoon HELP!!

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Reefwrasse

New member
Hello Everyone,

I am building an 2700 + indoor reef lagoon. It will start on an upper 2" raised floor and waterfall into the lower tank on the regular floor. I really need help! Should I use cinder block or plywood ? Can I do it without top bracing? I have attached a sketch. I would appreciate your help.

Thanks
Megan
 

Attachments

most larger ones are done with pored concrete and cinderblock and sealant. What are you doing for humidity?
 
I have several other open tanks, so I invested in a commercial dehumidifier. Do you know how I could get information on the pouring of concrete(with rebar?), thickness needed and general bracing/renforcing needs based on height, depth, length of tank?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10589257#post10589257 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefwrasse
Do you know how I could get information on the pouring of concrete(with rebar?), thickness needed and general bracing/renforcing needs based on height, depth, length of tank?
Click to expand...

Look in the Yellow pages under E for engineer. Seriously, if you find yourself asking questions like this on a project of this scale, you might want to let someone with a degree or two to figure it out for you.
 
I second that. You need some professional help. The pouring of a reinforced concrete tank is much more complicated than it appears. If done wrong a complete tear out may be your only fix- very expensive. Good luck.
 
I could hire someone to pour the concrete ,but I am looking for information on the the thickness, type and other bracing needed if I go the concrete method. I highly doubt the local concrete guys will be able to help me with that. I would like not to hire an engineer. If I was working in acrylic I would not have a problem with this. I have never worked with these materials in a system of this size. I would really like to get this going soon and that is going to take my involvement in the understanding of the concrete method. If anyone can give me some specs on this I would really appreciate it! I will try to put some pictures up shortly. I also have detailed cad drawings of the Lagoon, I just can't figure out how to put them in a file type that will upload.
 
I understand the impulse to save the money on engineering, but recommend spending it. I put in an inground a concrete sump (500 gallons) for my 1200 gallon reef. The floor is 9 inches thick and the walls are 6 inches thick and it is laced every few inches with a complicated web of rebar. The walls were formed with no ties, thus no metal protrudes to the surface. I told my engineer that I never wanted to have a leaking tank as it would be a disaster and to engineer protectively. If you think about a tiny crack that salt water seeps into, coming in contact with rebar, corroding, expanding, and spalling the concrete. If it could be fixed without replacment you would still have to tear down the tank for repairs. My engineer costed about $2000 for this he provided detailed drawings including soil compaction specs, footing specs, wall design, joint design, exact rebar pattern, sealing recommendations. I needed this info because the tank was not something my concrete contractor had ever done before, and would not warranty without stamped plans. It helps me sleep soundly knowing my sump will not settle or crack.

Good Luck, either way.
 
My tank was designed into an addition. A mechanical engineer did the specs for the tank. A mechanical engineer could also give you some valuable HVAC recommendations on managing your humidity issue. I imagine a waterfall would evaporate loads of water. My tank loses 25 gallons a day and it is less than half the size with no waterfall. You will probably need a heat recovery ventalator to vent the humid air efficiently. On the up side you may not need a chiller with all that evaporation.:)
 
Call a Gunite pool maker. They have in house engineers and will know what you are talking about. Since they work with this stuff everyday your fees will be much less and if you get their company to do the actual work the total at the end of the day will be much easier to swallow.
 
Blueroof is right about the need for a professional. I work for a civil/structural engineering firm and this is something we do on a regular basis. Your best bet would be to contact a firm in your area which will deal with residential design. It should only take them a few hours for the actual design so it really shouldn't be to expensive.

Also,... I really like the idea of the lagoon. Good luck with the design.
 
hire someone to build it for you if you are unsure... that thing is toooo big to have any mistakes...
 
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