Extra-Large Tank Upgrade Project to begin

sixxer

sixxer

In Memoriam
I hope to have a digital camera over at my house Friday when my new tank and fishroom construction begins so that I may do a photo timeline of the process.

Dimensions 132" x 40" x 48" (the only variable right now is the depth of 40" which could be reduced to 36")

Tank is going to be constructed of concrete(in my basement)

Walls will be approx. 5" of 5000 PSI concrete reinforced with 1/2 rebar thru-out (Thank god for friends who work with concrete for a living!:D )

Viewing window will be 1" Acrylic sheet 120"x48" (ordering monday)

All equipment with exception of the closed loop pumps (two Ampmaster 4700's running two OM 8ways) will be located in the garage.

As of now the plan is to pour the concrete and after it has cured, do all the drilling of the drains, returns and closed loops.

Drains - Right now I am thinking four 3 inch drains
Returns - 2 inches
Closed Loops - 2 inches
Sumps/Refugium - 2 150 gallon rubbermaid tubs, a 3rd 150 gallon tub for a refugium

Still debating on which epoxy I am going to go with, but this
http://www.sanitred.com/ looks very promising.

Fishroom - The walls of the room are going to be covered with a vapor barrier(plastic sheathing), then I will put up the Greenboard, and will finish it off with waterproof paint, to keep the climate in the fishroom seperate from the rest of the house.

Will also be installing an exhast fan from the fishroom that will vent out thru the garage.
 
Congrats :)
I would however, re-think the the thickness of the acrylic window. I personally would use 1.5" minimum, but it's JMO.

James
 
James,

Do you think the 1" acrylic will not hold up in the long run?
I didn't price out 1.5" and would have to make sure our local company can get it.

Is it possible to put in one 3/4" sheet and then another 3/4" sheet behind that one and still have a clear view?

Thanks for your input.
 
sixxer said:
Do you think the 1" acrylic will not hold up in the long run?
I didn't price out 1.5" and would have to make sure our local company can get it.
Click to expand...
Depending on how it's being installed, there are two potential problems as I see it anyway:
1) While the material itself will not break due to load as acrylic is very flexible, it will bow more than I'd want to see and I'm sure more than you'd want to see. IMO 1 1/4" would be a minimum.
2) if the panel is being installed using a pressure gasket, the deflection in the material may be enough to break that seal. A pressure gasket is a layer of silicone or some other gasket material between the acrylic and frame (concrete in this case). Water pressure in the tank is pushing the acrylic panel against this gasket to make the seal. If there is too much deflection (bowing), the seal can be broken as the center of the panel pushes out, the outsides push in making the contact area of the seal smaller.

Is it possible to put in one 3/4" sheet and then another 3/4" sheet behind that one and still have a clear view?
Click to expand...
not really, the two panels together will not be as strong as one monolithic sheet and you'll have the potential for condensation between the sheets causing odd looking bubbles and then there's the reflection thing :) where you get the front side of the second sheet reflecting light into the back side of the first sheet. Kinda like have two mirrors face to face and you get that "infinite" reflection thing.

What is the proposed viewing area of the panel?

BTW, Cyro & Polycast make 10' sheets of 1.5" as well as many other companies. Either or both are available through just about any plastic distributor in the country. It will cost more up front, but I think will be worthwhile in the long run.

James
 
Cyro is the brand acrylic our local company gets, I will check with them today about going thicker.

The proposed viewing area would be approx. 114" x 42".
 
I've never done this but would it be better to install pipes for drains and returns when the concrete is being poured? I would think drilling concrete will not give a clean hole and not be sealable. Just a thought.
 
KenT,

That was my original plan, but my friend who works in concrete for a living told me that drilling afterwards would be the safest way to do this, he said something about trying to form the holes for the drains and what not could "possibly" compromise the strength of the concrete around the hole if it does not cure perfectly.

To me installing it during construction would be much easier, but I would rather be safe than sorry.
 
I have seen 2 concrete tanks and they both had the PVC pipes put in place and the concrete poured afterwards. After the concrete was cured for weeks, they just cut the PVC and put some fitting to fit their needs. By the way, I would forget about OM units in something this big. You will need 5-6 very large pumps with 1.5" pipes to move some water.
 
dgasmd,

You don't think the OM's will provide very good circulation running off of 2 Ampmaster 4700's? Keep in mind this is not an SPS tank.
 
sixxer,

PolyCast makes a 6'x10' sheet in 1.5" but, it may take a while for your distributor to get it. It all depends on where PolyCast is on their run on that thickness of material.

The Cyro brand I have seen 4'x10' sheets and that may be your better bet to get sooner. 1.5" material though in general is not a normally stocked item in the oversized sheets. I wouldn't go any thinner than 1.25" for the same reasons that Acrylics mentioned and if you can bump up to the cost of the 1.5" then do it for sure. The price almost doubles when you go to that thickness. Man that stuff is a pain to move around as well.....LOL!!! Good Luck!!
 
I guess I should have asked what this was for, FO or soft or SPS corals. Either way, I would overdo what you can now so in the odd and inforseeable circumstance you ever feel like upgrading, the worst part is done. Even for a FO tank, I would seriously consider getting more circulation there. You'll be amazed how little circulation even the larger pumps will provide when the body of water increases. Also, if you don't care looking at them, the Tunze streams are a very good option. Put several of the larger 6200 model aimed in every direction.
 
Ok, should have camera here tommorrow to take pics. of the room as it is right now.

Picking up first supplies (Greenboard, Plastic for vapor barrier, and 1/2' rebar) tommorrow after work.

First step will be insulating the three existing walls, and the ceiling, then putting up the vapor barrier and covering that with the Greenboard, followed by a yet to be determined waterproof paint (have had a few recommendations to use Killz?)

Also will be using hammer-drill to install 1/2" rebar sections in the concrete floor, upon which the walls to the tank will be poured.

Luckily I am off work for 8 days starting this Monday, so I look to get quite a bit done next week!!!!

Question on Pumps!!!! - What does anyone think about Jacuzzi pumps??? It seems that they would put out quite a bit of pressure considering how many holes they have to push water thru in a typical jacuzzi! Any thoughts?
 
Dolphin makes some pretty powerfull pumps. I think Champion Lighting has a list of all their pumps and output ratings.
 
Given my experience with Dolphin pumps, I would avoid them like the plague. Jacuzzi pumps are not the best choice for aquariums because they ar eloud, tend to run hot if used indoors (designed for outdoor use), and run quite a bit of electricity. Look into the Sequence 1000 series pumps. They are worth their weight in gold.
 
dgasmd,

I have seen all kinds of positive feedback on the Ampmasters, what happened with your pumps?

I will be checking into the Sequence series, as well as a few others, luckily I have about 30 days or more before I would really even need to have them anyways.

QUESTION??? Has anyone had experience with the insulation that is blown into existing walls? My wife would rather I go this route rather then tearing down the existing walls and ceiling in the basement (and we know how important it is to keep our wives happy during this type construction!!!;) )

I'll post some pics. later this evening or in the morning!!!!

Thanks for all the input.
 
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