Out of Africa (picture intensive)

[kinlayan]

The big blue and all its magnificent creatures are my inspiration and passion.
From an early age I began to explore the wonders of our Planet's diverse aquatic life and ecosystems. I have been an Aquarist for around 25 years and am constantly learning so many new and wonderful things about life in our oceans and rivers. This planet should have been called water not earth anyway!
This current thread will show you my latest endeavour"¦"¦a slightly different take on a reef aquarium.
The Aquarium is 3 m (L) X 2m (W() X 1 m (H) and holds approximately 5000 litres of water and was the replacement for my old aquarium, which was the same volume but significantly different in shape and design.
The aquarium is concrete , fiberglass and one viewing pane made of low iron glass. My previous aquarium was also concrete and fiberglass and this current aquarium will be my third that I have built this way over the years.
The pictures are not always great quality, beacause they were taken with a cellphone and low resolution cameras, but you will get the idea .T
The Aquarium is built in an outside room . I drew up plans of where it was to be located and had to do substantial reinforcing as it was located above my garage and its total weight was going to be around 15 tons when complete with water.


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032598569/" title="02102007029 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4032598569_2a724f12c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="02102007029" /></a>

The front part where the aquarium front and supports are.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033352376/" title="04102007058 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4033352376_ca5d0f4638.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="04102007058" /></a>

The back of the Aquarium and the engine room for it. I had limited space so I had to use what I had and it wasn't optimal.

 

[kinlayan]

After demolishing some walls. We made the skeleton from galvanized steel and constructed the concrete shuttering.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032599907/" title="06112007061 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4032599907_19ccedee76.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="06112007061" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032600565/" title="26112007062 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2712/4032600565_1baf3f3d33.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="26112007062" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033354698/" title="26112007063 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/4033354698_2e0a7f3618.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="26112007063" /></a>

 

[Carlos Arouche]

Very nice poject... were are you from ?

 

[kinlayan]

Next came the concrete

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033355612/" title="05122007064 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2680/4033355612_7210422f77.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="05122007064" /></a>

The curing process took some time then the shutters came off!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033357118/" title="18122007069 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/4033357118_aa26f1d872.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="18122007069" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032603147/" title="18122007067 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/4032603147_f0af1e9cc6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="18122007067" /></a>

here is a video link of the complete concrete shell with shutters removed
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[kinlayan]

Then it was time to fiberglass the interior. Some piping was already installed in the shuttering and concrete moulding process. For the fibreglass i did 6 coats with matting to make sure i didnt have any pinhole leaks.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032604691/" title="18012008084 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/4032604691_c39921069e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="18012008084" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032732881/" title="18012008085 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/4032732881_2377bbc0ce.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="18012008085" /></a>

 

[kinlayan]

Carlos thank you i am from Cape Town, South Africa

 

[Carlos Arouche]

Uau !! I just visit Johanesburg once...

Very curious to see it running....

 

[kinlayan]

Then the glass was fitted in - it weighed about 350kg low iron glass laminated to 44mm with a water resistant laminate in between the panes.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032608031/" title="28042008166 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4032608031_00244930ce.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="28042008166" /></a>

 

[atty]

looks like its going to be a top project. Did you have to wait 3 weeks for the concrete to cure before taking the formwork out?

 

[kinlayan]

Once this was complete it was time for the décor and something a little different.
I am mainly a marine fish fan and so I'm much more experienced with fishes as opposed to corals and invertebrates . My previous aquarium was mainly FOWLR with a few anemones and almost no corals, but this time I wanted to keep a diverse group of creatures in one body of water so I divided the aquarium into 3 sections with fiberglass décor. The two side compartments are to be for small fish and corals similar to coral lagoon area , while the middle section is primarily like reef drop offs and would be where my main fish collection would reside. Many of my fish have been with me for along time - some 15 years plus so I wanted to give them a great home.
The two side compartments would have movable trap doors should I wanted to bring certain fish in or release others into the main section. These compartments would be refugiums, allowing me to keep sessile invertebrates and corals that some of fishes would undoubtedly decimate if they could get to them.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032606105/" title="15052008173 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/4032606105_e17b76fdc1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="15052008173" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032605429/" title="15052008172 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/4032605429_4c67ed5641.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="15052008172" /></a>

 

[kinlayan]

Yes atty i waited about 4 weeks, thanks for the compliment!

 

[kinlayan]

Then I clad the front of the aquarium with an access panel on the front and full access on the rear of the aquarium and started decorating the interior with barnacles and suitable materials. The base rock was ceramic manmade bio rock which would provide the skeleton for my liverock.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033359898/" title="22052008180 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2718/4033359898_01e83b2d36.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="22052008180" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032607289/" title="30052008183 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/4032607289_f6a5c7f0b6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="30052008183" /></a>

 

[kinlayan]

Then I had to fill to check for leaks anywhere

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4032765969/" title="02062008184 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3489/4032765969_5df8ebfcd8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="02062008184" /></a>

 

[boehm742]

Very nice job!

 

[kinlayan]

I added some liverock from my old aquarium which was still running as I built this one , so it started the maturation process and the first couple of months I used nsw from the research aquarium near my home in Cape Town.
Here is a small video clip of my old Fowlr aquarium with the fish, who are my pride and joy and my reason for doing all of this. I'm not a good photographer or videographer, so excuse the poor quality and shaky video with my cellphone, but it gives an indication of the old aquarium which while beautiful to me, was now already 12 years old and had numerous faults including a crack on the glass which had begun to spread, albeit slowly. It prompted me to build the new aquarium pretty fast!

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Stay tuned "“ more images to be loaded soon of the new Aquarium

 

[kinlayan]

Very nice job!

Thank you

 

[Elliott]

very creative build, thank you for sharing

I have a few questions...

1. how did you determine the thickness of cement and reinforcement required for that size tank?

2. did you have to use special materials that are safe for livestock? (cement, fiberglass, etc.)

3. how long must you wait for it to cure before adding livestock?

4. how did you secure the glass to the cement frame?

many thanks,

Elliott

 

[kinlayan]

very creative build, thank you for sharing

I have a few questions...
Sure ill try answer as best i can

1. how did you determine the thickness of cement and reinforcement required for that size tank? [I]The thickness and reinforcement were determined by an building engineer,the reason for so much steel and concrete was not because of just the water but due to the location of the aquarium it sits on concrete slab above my garage, so we had to design two support beams at the base front and rear which themselves were tied into other concrete supports in the house, the aquarium effectively sits on these concrete beams which also transfer the load to the other beams into which they were tied[/I]

2. did you have to use special materials that are safe for livestock? (cement, fiberglass, etc.)yes i had to do my homework, some fibreglass contains fungicides etc so i had to use one which didnt and then make sure it was properly cured before i filled it and i used neutral cure silicone dow corning 895 for the glass pane

3. how long must you wait for it to cure before adding livestock?i let freshwater soak in it for 2 weeks after it had dried for 4 weeks the 4 weeks were not for the fibreglass though(that had cured within a week) but for the silicone to actually start drying it is fairly thick and so while it made a skin it took a long time to cure all the way through, when i filled it with seawater(NSW) it was about another 3 weeks before the first fish went in although i started to fill it with liverock in the first week of filling it with seawater

4. how did you secure the glass to the cement frame?[I]A window frame made of 316 stainless steel and further coated in an epoxy was embedded in the concrete to create a frame into which the glass was fitted on Silicone spacers with shore hardness of around 80 on the base so that the glass was never making contact with the metal frame the gap was then filled with black neutral cure silicone[/I]
Here is picture of the stainless steel frame which has tails tied in to the concrete and then had a different epoxy from the rest of the aquarium applied to it , to make sure it would bond well with the neutral cure silicone.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4033580427/" title="13022008097 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/4033580427_335aa6f8b4.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="13022008097" /></a>



I also encased the entire glass in a gasket of neutral cure silicone to prevent any moisture from getting to edges of the glass, this was in addition to the slicone used to seal the glass into the frame.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4034334900/" title="11032008143 by Kinlayan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4034334900_1237f91f58.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="11032008143" /></a>

many thanks, [I]You are very welcome[/I]

Elliott

 

[byrdman81]

Awesome design and planning. I love the way you made those corners look with the rock and stuff attatched to it. Subscribed.

 

[serpentman]

Awesome design and planning. I love the way you made those corners look with the rock and stuff attatched to it. Subscribed.

Agreed. At first I was "what the...", however with the rocks adhered to it, it works. Definitely a unique build....also subscribing.