sump vac?

[Masta_Cheef]

Wait a sec guys, 3,000lbs is not 3 tons. Its 1.5. 2,000lbs = 1 ton. How did you ever get your parents to agree to such an idea, by the way?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

they only know the dimensions not the gallons LOL. if they knew the gallons they would freak. they said i could build a tank that big. they never set a gallon limit.

Edit: the gallon ammount is about 539 gallons so that is about 5,000 lbs, because of weight of water, substrate, and ornaments.

 

[Brack-Man]

Masta, the tank he is talking about building ='s about 700 gals, which in turn ='s about 6000lbs which ='s 3 tons

Edit: I just saw his new dimensions, 3'x3'x8'=538.6 gals=4,497lbs of water alone, not including decor, substrate, and tank

 

[Brack-Man]

Yahoo, if you make it out of plywood you can use acrylic for the front, just make a plywood front and install the acrylic in it like a window, sort of. look for sites on how to build reef tanks. there are a lot of examples of this type of tank when you google DIY reef tank

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

yeah duh... why didnt i think of doing an acrylic window? i was still gonna do glass!!!!! WAY more expensive. thanks for bringing that up! also, i was thinking of building a plywood frame just how you would piece togetker a box, except on the front where the window would be, that piece would have a hole in it where the acrylic window would go. what would i use to seal the wood, that would also be aquarium safe?

 

[Lotus]

I think several people have directed you to the DIY section on www.garf.com. You could have answered a lot of your questions by going there and reading

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

garf doesnt want me to build a tank this large except out of glass, and that wont happen. i tried for acrylic, ply and acrylic, and ply and glass, each time it says something about it being too big, and i'm not going smaller.

 

[seastaar88]

oh! i remember that thread! i wish i could remember who's that was...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lotus]

GARF does't want you to build a tank that big because it won't work. The pressure will be too much.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

pressure where? on the sides, front, or both? out of ply wood now, not acrylic.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

i just realized how off topic we are... does any one have any links to sites that sell a sump filter? i looked into building my own and i dont think i can or have the ability to, i barely inderstood the instructions.

 

[Orion]

The pressure will be on both the sides and the front, but it will have a greater effect on the front and the back because they are longer than the sides. You can do what you want to do, but when you end up with 500 gallons of water on the floor you'll know why.

It would seem that you want a three foot tall tank no matter what anyone tells you. So you would be better off forgeting about a DIY tank, and looking up some custom tank makers and getting prices from them. I'm sure that somewhere out there you will find someone who will make a tank like this for you. It would probably cost more than your collage tuition for four years, but I'm sure someone will do it.

Just about any online vendor sells different size sumps. Go to www.google.com and search to find some.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

thanks.... every one.