Parachromis1 Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 this is by far the sweetest design ive heard of. things like this inspire me to build, this is basically my dream tank. i hope everything works out and i wanna see it when its done. just a question though.. is the tank going to be in the corner of the basement or in the middle. i figured middle due to the teleposts..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 I suggest inviting eveyone over for a veiwing once it's completed? :smokey: That would be great!!!!!! But it's going to take till next year to complete... I try and do as much research as possible before proceeding to the next step...also I'm not rich ........ so I do it in steps..... But when its done I'll Def throw a party for all members!!!!!!!!! If you need some money for your project, figure out the automation system on a setup that large and sell it to me. I'm doing basically the same thing as you are in my shop, but I'm housing each species in a separate tank...likely around eight tanks 225 to 300 gallons. I'm in Edmonton at Aquarium Illusions tomorrow to start figuring out how its going to work. We had it figured out for a fishroom in my house, but then I decided to go a little bigger in my shop. The DIY forum on MFK has several drip setups that I just can't sem to get my head around. If you figure them out let me know. Water changes on that sort of gallonage need to be automated. Also, consider how you are going to heat that much water for the drip system. Some guys using electric hot water tanks have rather shocking electric bills monthly. Oh and also, be very careful building your smaller, thicker pad on clay. I can see you having severe shifting problems if you can't tie that into the rest of the basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrors r us Posted February 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 (edited) this is by far the sweetest design ive heard of.things like this inspire me to build, this is basically my dream tank. i hope everything works out and i wanna see it when its done. just a question though.. is the tank going to be in the corner of the basement or in the middle. i figured middle due to the teleposts..... Ya it will be sweet if it all works to plan....there are so many things that can go wrong .....the main thing is to try and prepare yourself for all unforseen problems..... the tank will be more or less in the middle of the basement with wall on each side... on the other side of one wall is a washroom and on the other side is a laundry room with sinks.... all the mechanical is 5 ft behind the tank.... did you know that tenecor/living color makes acrylic tanks with a background (on the back pane of the glass) that lets you change the look of it just by punching in stuff on your computer(I was afraid to ask how much that would cost!!!!!) So one day your background could be a tropical rain forest and the next day a fast flowing river bed etc etc etc........... he said they manufactor this membrain in between the pieces of arcrylic(whats next????) anyway this is not happening overnight....wish me luck... thanks Edited February 5, 2008 by terrors r us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrors r us Posted February 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I suggest inviting eveyone over for a veiwing once it's completed? :smokey: That would be great!!!!!! But it's going to take till next year to complete... I try and do as much research as possible before proceeding to the next step...also I'm not rich ........ so I do it in steps..... But when its done I'll Def throw a party for all members!!!!!!!!! If you need some money for your project, figure out the automation system on a setup that large and sell it to me. I'm doing basically the same thing as you are in my shop, but I'm housing each species in a separate tank...likely around eight tanks 225 to 300 gallons. I'm in Edmonton at Aquarium Illusions tomorrow to start figuring out how its going to work. We had it figured out for a fishroom in my house, but then I decided to go a little bigger in my shop. The DIY forum on MFK has several drip setups that I just can't sem to get my head around. If you figure them out let me know. Water changes on that sort of gallonage need to be automated. Also, consider how you are going to heat that much water for the drip system. Some guys using electric hot water tanks have rather shocking electric bills monthly. Oh and also, be very careful building your smaller, thicker pad on clay. I can see you having severe shifting problems if you can't tie that into the rest of the basement. I can't make it to illusions(next time)...let me get this going first.... when the house was constructed I had them install an extra large hot water tank ..........costs...... I know.... I might have to quite smoking!!!!!!! might have to open up a business for tax write offs...... we'll see... the automation (in detail) is my next step......your ahead of me..... I still belive(for large cichlids) that two very large rectangular(canister) filters(two pumps) are the way to go(with optional high pressure reverse flow into the drain for cleaning) I need to do more research on filtration........... Reguarding the pad shifting............. the contractor is starting work on Wed.(this week) I'll talk to him about that......also after talking to you, I am increasing the pad dimension so the pad will be wider and longer than the tank itself......I thank you all very much... I will check out MFK again...... Later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydo Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Great Project.......be sure to troll around Monster fish keepers for some idea's. I think you should do an Asain Aro comm it would be a site to be seen. Auto water changer is a must, drill your sump at the desired level and plumb to a drain then, constantly fill your tank from a RO/DI unit. If you cant find a drain close you can use a level controll float to operate a pump, and pump your waste water away. Consider Gas heat, as electricity will be very expensive, I have a gas heating system(tankless water heater) on my 550 gal and 230 gal and it has shaved over $100 a month off my power bill. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 What a monster project! When the house was built did you have extra drains installed in the basement? Might be something to do if it wasn't...if the tank ever blows you'll have a heck of a time waiting around for it to drain out of the one or two standard basement drains. Also, is your furnace on the ceiling...? I heard a horror story once of some guy whose tank blew and managed to wipe out the furnace while they were away in the winter... Without heat and with the amount of water involved the water ended up freezing into a nice big block of ice in his basement because it couldn't drain fast enough. Talk about major problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 I heard a horror story once of some guy whose tank blew and managed to wipe out the furnace while they were away in the winter... Without heat and with the amount of water involved the water ended up freezing into a nice big block of ice in his basement because it couldn't drain fast enough. Talk about major problems... I have an even better one about a guy that insisted that a 450 be delivered to the middle of his upstairs living room...where he set it up....it decided it wanted to be in his basement more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrors r us Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 What a monster project!When the house was built did you have extra drains installed in the basement? Might be something to do if it wasn't...if the tank ever blows you'll have a heck of a time waiting around for it to drain out of the one or two standard basement drains. Also, is your furnace on the ceiling...? I heard a horror story once of some guy whose tank blew and managed to wipe out the furnace while they were away in the winter... Without heat and with the amount of water involved the water ended up freezing into a nice big block of ice in his basement because it couldn't drain fast enough. Talk about major problems... Hey Shai......yup its a large project but I consider it my hobby..... I had extra drains installed when the house was built, the plumber was confused at first until I explained to him why the drains were in these locations....... Furnace, well it's on the ground in the next room... it's a high efficency type with all the controls up high and an empty chamber down below...... can't think of everything....plus it has a drain right in front of it....... I hope it never gets to that....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrors r us Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 I heard a horror story once of some guy whose tank blew and managed to wipe out the furnace while they were away in the winter... Without heat and with the amount of water involved the water ended up freezing into a nice big block of ice in his basement because it couldn't drain fast enough. Talk about major problems... I have an even better one about a guy that insisted that a 450 be delivered to the middle of his upstairs living room...where he set it up....it decided it wanted to be in his basement more.... Toiirtis LOL the way you said that is hillaries.......but seriously its pretty sad...... mine is already in the basement so that one less thing I have to worry about.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocker85675 Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 1800 gal? fully automated? sounds like a mickey-mouse operation. OBVIOUSLY, im kidding. your an inspiration to us all. just the fact you would even try such a feat says you have huge berries. do everyone a favour, pictures,pictures,pictures. you have us all intrigued with the size and technology behind your project. so document the hell out of the build. did you get any cost estimates on the tank itself? this is an undertaking of mamoth preportions, GOOD FOR YOU! :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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