so, I'm buying a house and closing is on march 20th. I have always wanted a massive tank and the most cost effective way to get a huge tank is to build it my self. and by massive, i'm thinking of doing it 96x36x36, so a little over 500 gallons. I have done lots of research on the plywood/acrylic aquariums and so i wanted to ask a few questions. who here has experinence with a 36 inch tall tank, please share the good the bad and the ugly about it. another thing, for any of you that have ever built an aquarium or have lots of experience, if this was your tank, how would you do it. I know i'm going to do a closed loop, and have a sump refugium. i guess i'm just looking for some opinions and advice on lessons learned from people with more experience. thanks.
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DIY aquarium (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter sbfuller
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bag151
Guest
Well the ugly associated with a 36in deep tank is that its going to be a major pain to get in the tank so you are going to have to be very conscious about how you are going to get in the tank. You will have to either dunk your head in the water or use tongs to reach the bottom of the tank and reaching the middle will be very difficult. What inhabitants are you going to be placing in the tank? SPS will require 400w Halides in this tank.
i think after talking with a few people, i'm going to do 30 inches tall. it will only be accessible from the back, since the front will be in the wall so access will still be done with tongs. i have 250 MH right now on my 135 but i am thinking about doing sun tubes eventually with a light blue filter to take out some of the yellow once i have the big tank. i have seen 18 inch sun tubes that equal about 750 watts for $300. i have also been debating a bare bottom tank but have never done one so i still need to do some research.
Check w/ Edward aka (invisible) in regards to closed loop. He had close loop in his tank. But he ended up not liking it. He went w/ tunze and vortech to have more flow. Go on reefcentral.com and check out the large tank thread.
bag151
Guest
I for one can't stand bare bottom tanks, its ugly to look at the crap settling on the bottom and you are removing a very large biological filter. I believe in a DSB, they work. You just have to be careful with flow so you don't disturb the bed.
30+ deep can be a pain, even with something to 'reach' down with... at 96" wide, some of the center areas will require something to reach with, or climbing in the tank to get it. 
good luck with the build though mon, and keep us updated with pics...
good luck with the build though mon, and keep us updated with pics...
the tank in my living room is 30" tall and, especially with the canopy on, it is a complete pain in the neck when you need to reach the bottom. I have a pair of those long grabby things but they are in no way a replacement for the strength and nimble ability of your God-given digits. When I change my setup it will be to something no taller than 24".
$0.02
$0.02
i was thinking the same thing... i know there will be no access from the front of the tank, all will be done from the backside/top. for that reason i have thought about putting some bracing at the very top that i can put something on top of and i can lay on top to access if it's needed. my tank right now is 24" tall and is a pain reaching the middle, but if i could lay on the top it wouldn't be so bad.Scott said:
Hurdicuss
Guest
I say go for it! I plan to build my next tank as well and it will be acrylic in the 200-300g range. 24" is a good depth of choice because if you get much deeper then you are reaching the breaking point for having to upgrade your lights (assuming it will be a reef tank that is). Personally, i feel that you can get away with 250w MH lights on tanks up to 30" deep.
Something else to consider is your water circulation (again, assuming this will be a reef). If you end up with a tank with the dimensions you listed, then you will need some serious flow!! I know you mentioned a closed loop but that will have to be one hell of a pump to get enough circulation in a 500g tank. I think it will have to supplemented with other devices.
I do not have any advice to share in the tank building dept. as i have not built any.....YET (aside from my 7.5g nano). However, i will be starting soon with acrylic sumps & custom nanos and once i am comfortable with that i will begin plans for my upgrade.
Hope some of this helps...good luck!
Something else to consider is your water circulation (again, assuming this will be a reef). If you end up with a tank with the dimensions you listed, then you will need some serious flow!! I know you mentioned a closed loop but that will have to be one hell of a pump to get enough circulation in a 500g tank. I think it will have to supplemented with other devices.
I do not have any advice to share in the tank building dept. as i have not built any.....YET (aside from my 7.5g nano). However, i will be starting soon with acrylic sumps & custom nanos and once i am comfortable with that i will begin plans for my upgrade.
Hope some of this helps...good luck!
SaltwaterSilly
Guest
WAY COOL... Hopefully you are staying in the area...
OK.. if you can remember my fowlr tank, it is 30" tall... a major pain. I can't reach the bottom, especially with the canopy on top, and I have had the center brase break both front and then later the back. If you look at most aquarium sizes offered by places like glass cages or something, anything over 24" tall is way more expensive.
The other thing to consider is the dimensions of the acrylic sheets. If they are sold in sizes similar to plywood... then it would be way cheaper to go with a 24" depth. When looking at my reef and my fowlr I really can't see to big of a difference between the viewing pleasure of the 30" vs. the 24".
Absolutely no experience in building... but would love to see the progress.. Keep us updated. Where are you moving to?
OK.. if you can remember my fowlr tank, it is 30" tall... a major pain. I can't reach the bottom, especially with the canopy on top, and I have had the center brase break both front and then later the back. If you look at most aquarium sizes offered by places like glass cages or something, anything over 24" tall is way more expensive.
The other thing to consider is the dimensions of the acrylic sheets. If they are sold in sizes similar to plywood... then it would be way cheaper to go with a 24" depth. When looking at my reef and my fowlr I really can't see to big of a difference between the viewing pleasure of the 30" vs. the 24".
Absolutely no experience in building... but would love to see the progress.. Keep us updated. Where are you moving to?
Hi, sbfuller.
Another thing to consider with a deeper tank is your aquascaping. One thing I noticed when I went on the northside tank tour last spring is the difference between the "rock wall" style of aquascaping that you get with the narrower and deeper tanks and the "reef crest" style that you can get with the shallower but wider tanks. Its purely a matter of taste, both can be beautiful. My tank is 24 inches front to back and 29 inches top to bottom, an Oceanic 140, so I have the rockwall style with my montipora's on the top and mushrooms and ricks on the bottom and various LPS in between.
Good luck,
Steve
Another thing to consider with a deeper tank is your aquascaping. One thing I noticed when I went on the northside tank tour last spring is the difference between the "rock wall" style of aquascaping that you get with the narrower and deeper tanks and the "reef crest" style that you can get with the shallower but wider tanks. Its purely a matter of taste, both can be beautiful. My tank is 24 inches front to back and 29 inches top to bottom, an Oceanic 140, so I have the rockwall style with my montipora's on the top and mushrooms and ricks on the bottom and various LPS in between.
Good luck,
Steve
ok, here's a coupla photos
center of the tank
right side of the tank - you can see the vertical nature of the aquascaping, there's very little room at the top of the rocks to put light intensive corals, but lots of places on the "wall" - the front of the rocks.
left side of the tank
Here's one of the best examples of a shallower tank with a "reef crest" or horizontal aquascaping
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-08/totm/index.php
HTH
Steve
center of the tank
right side of the tank - you can see the vertical nature of the aquascaping, there's very little room at the top of the rocks to put light intensive corals, but lots of places on the "wall" - the front of the rocks.
left side of the tank
Here's one of the best examples of a shallower tank with a "reef crest" or horizontal aquascaping
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-08/totm/index.php
HTH
Steve
i'll keep this thread up to date as the build goes. people are more than welcome to came see and/or help if they want. we close on the house march 20... at least we are supposed to, so the build will probably start once i get things unpacked and my current tank setup and running as a temporary home
alexmir
Guest
If you do a bare bottom 30" deep tank it would be about the same as doing a 33 deep with a sand bed. Serious pain to get to the bottom. I have to stretch to get to the bottom of my 22 "
ok, i've started on it and got the stand done, i'll post a few pictures this after noon. I plan on getting the plywood later and doing the actual frame work for the tank. i'm going to have 4 1/2" below the veiwing panel for the sandbed so the bottom of the acrylic starts at the top of the sand bed. the veiwing panel will be 24" tall. I'm still looking for someone that would like to split the price of the acylic sheet and they would get a 96" x 24" sheet of 3/4 inch. anyway, off to home depot i go
