Help me design the perfect 96"x48"x24"!!!

[sonofgaladriel]

I've found that I miss the swimming room of a long rectangular tank, but that I absolutely must have the 4' depth for aquascaping of my current cube. So, best of both worlds is an 8'x4'x2' tank. This size also uses materials efficiently. There should be no waste.
I am wanting a completely open top, no Euro brace if possible, and it will be viewd from all four sides.
I could use some opinions on optimum overflow placement. I already know that I don't want it in the corners or directly in the center. I want to keep the center field completely open.
I'll most likely be using 3 sequence Darts as closed loop pumps, two 8 way OMs and one 4 way OM. Return pump will probably be another Sequence Dart. Love those energy/high flow pumps!
Any suggestions and opinions welcome. Thanks.
Here's my first plan:

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Sorry, can't get the picture from my paint program to enlarge for some reason.

 

[MAthU]

jeilous.!

im planning a tank 96*36*24....hoping to get some ideas off this thread.

 

[kentrob11]

Sorry but it won't be perfect unless you go 30" tall Seriously though, If there's anything I can possibly do to talk you into going taller, I would do it...The extra height gives the tank a MUCH larger presence and gives your fish a lot more room to move around in....

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I'm concerned that at 30" tall, there would be no way to avoid a Euro brace around the top. I'm hoping that at only 24" I could go without the need for one. Plus, reaching the bottom of the acrylic to clean a 30" tall tank would be a pain.
My arm very comfortably reaches down to 24" without the need for any step stool or leaning into the tank.
Plus, at 30", there will be quite a bit of waste. A 4'x8' sheet split right down the middle length wise gives me two full sides and half a sheet gives me the ends. The half sheet left over can easily be used for another 24" tall tank and not go to waste.
Otherwise, I'd love the extra height.

 

[Untamed12]

I'm on your side concerning the 24". My tank is likely to be the same dimensions as yours...cleaning 30" deep is just too difficult.

Given the 24"H, can you make that out of 3/4" acrylic? Without braces...I don't know. Certainly, 3/4" acrylic would save you a bunch of money.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I'm sure I'll have to go with at least 1 1/4" material due to the 8 foot span, if I am able to get away with no Euro bracing.
I currently have 1" on my 4'x4' cube and I have 3/8" deflection on all sides.
I can only imagine that over the 8' length, the deflection of 3/4" or even 1" would be too much.

 

[viggen]

I agree with the going 30 inches tall & this is why

24 in tall tank minus lets say 2 inches of acrylic (top/bottom) equals 22 inches. Then subtract lets say 1 inch for the substrate & another 2 inches for where the waterlevel would be (from the top of the tank) which gives you 19 inches of actual water/viewing window.

vs

30 in tall tank minus the same 2 inches of acrylic (top/bottom) equals 28 inches. Then subtract 1 inch for the substrate & another 2 inches for where the waterlevel would be which gives you 25 inches of actual water/viewing window.

& obviously if your substrate is more/less that could change the window that much more.

My present 240g is 24 in & I do not like it. It's way to short in the heigth area. I think having to reach a few inches more is a VERY small price to pay for having another 6 inches of viewing space, makes the picture window a LOT better Isn't a 90g 26 in tall?

Then again, this is coming from a guy who hopes to install a 8x3x3 tank in a few years

pump wise, would you be better off going with one of the larger sequence pumps to replace 2 darts? Then you would be able to eliminate at least one of the OM's.

looking forward to seeing the progress

 

[javatech]

Are you keeping the other tank

 

[sonofgaladriel]

24" tall would be the inside, true, height dimensions as the sides sit on top of the bottom piece. There would be no top piece and if there were, it would sit on top of the side pieces and again not affect the water level. My water level is only 3/4" below the rim of my current 24" tank. I have a smooth overflow box and I wanted the water as close to the top as safely possible. Works out very well. I would say that I have at least 23" of viewing space. I only have a 1/2" of sand on the bottom.
Here's a pic of my current tank, (sorry for the bad pic, I can't figure out the white balance thing):

As you can see, the water level is quite high and I have plenty of viewing space.
This 'dream' tank is at least a year or so away, maybe less. So, I'll be keeping this current cube for at least that long. Once the new one is built, I will be selling this cube. I promised myself that I would only take care of one tank at a time no matter how addicted I become to this hobby....I'm too lazy.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6409715#post6409715 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by viggen
pump wise, would you be better off going with one of the larger sequence pumps to replace 2 darts? Then you would be able to eliminate at least one of the OM's.

looking forward to seeing the progress [/B]

Actually, using two Darts is more economical and produces more flow than a single Sequence Hammerhead. Each Dart will produce 3600 gph in a closed loop and only use a max of 120 watts. Two Darts gives me 7200 gph at only 240 watts max total. A Sequence hammerhead pushes only 5800 gph at 340 watts I believe.
Plus, using two closed loops allows for two seperate OMs which I love and currently have now. To me, the more random current, the better.
I wish I could figure out how to increase the size of my drawing up above I think having 20 random currents and 8 static currents in this size tank would be ideal for SPS.

 

[Untamed12]

Yeah...8 feet with no bracing...not even a top band...Yup, that is going to have to be thick acrylic for sure.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I am wondering if a relatively narrow powder coated angular steel or aluminum frame across the top would help hold it all together and prevent any deflection with 1" acrylic?
I just don't want to have any Euro bracing around the top. It just looks bad when viewed from the top and I want this to be a canopy less design like my current tank.

 

[tomasz]

I don't think you can get away with out euro brace and I think 30" tall is a must. I'm finishing my tank 96*42*30t and would never change to anything less than 30" t.
Good luck.

 

[monkeyreefer]

well, i am having an acrylic 96*30*24 made as we speak, and it had to have top bracing, so you will most likely need at least eurobracing

 

[Vince]

I had a 600 gallon reef tank that measures 10X4X2 . I agree with you about the height. It is a lot easier to work with. The 4 ft depth makes a lot of difference. Go to www.webshots.com and do a search for tankmasters and you will see what it looks like. Hurricane Isabel wiped out the tank in 2003 after it was running for 4 years so I shut it down. My backup generator died after the first day without power.I am thinking of starting it up again since all the equipment is still hooked up and the 1000 lbs of Fiji rock is still in salt water. I used 2 200 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank for a sump and a Refugium. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

 

[viggen]

looks SWEET I must say!! Haven't really seen many pics of tanks w/o bracing b4. A tank like that is completely out of the question for me because my 5 cats would be doing laps 1st around the edge then probably inside the tank after they fall in

I didn't realize that on the pumps.... totally makes sence & I know some of the larger 8000+ gph pump suck a TON of juice

 

[moonpod]

sonofgaladriel, I have a 10x3x2h acrylic tank. 1" acrylic all surfaces. Powdercoated steel frame. ZERO deflection visible to the eye. I'm a short guy and I can reach the bottom. That being said, I use a light baffle that is 8" tall so that a bit of bracing doesn't matter. I also cheated and ran a small eurobrace to protect the underside of the powdercoat frame (the edge is sealed with a silicone bead)

 

[mwood]

This concept looks a little familiar.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Sounds like a fun project. My current 400 G tank is 3' deep. It makes for a interesting view but is a pain to clean the bottom 6" or so of the panes. But as for the swimming room, it's awsome.

As for the dart vs hammerhead, just remember that a hammerhead will have a lot more flow at the same static head pressure as a dart. And I think with a 4 way or 8 way, your going to have some static head from all of that plumbing.

A dart pulls 1 amp where as a hammerhead only pulls 3. so your looking at 2 amps vs 3 amps but with a lot more flow at the same static head on the 3 amps.