Large Project on the Mind!

[Seriak]

Okay, believe it or not my soon 2 b wife has said I can work on a larger tank in the basement as funds come in to do so. Now I was thinking of setting up a Panaromic fish tank across one wall in the basement. I believe it is about 12' long. I was going to use 3 separate 4' fish tanks and build them into a custom stand so it looked like part of the wall. (Along an outside wall, not see through) I would hide the joints with the custom stand. I could then make the center tank, fish only, and the outside ones reefs and sort of bring everything together but not really. Anyone see possible problems or have any comments. This will take a couple of years to accomplish, of course

[Quinn]

Sounds like a great idea. Would they all run off the same sump or would you do completely seperate systems?

I just happen to have a complete 150 gallon (48x24x30") tank coming up for sale this spring... :razz: Three of those would be a hefty 450 gallons.

[Canadian Man]

The only negative I see to that is you limit the type of fish you can keep because your still dealing with a 4ft tank. I think 2 x 6ft tanks would be a cool way to do this.

[Quinn]

That's a really good point. I didn't think of that.

[UnderWorldAquatics]

personaly I think its interesting, but at the same time i would save up a little longer and just get a 144"x30"x30", you can keep way more fish, allows for schools, impressive, easier to clean,easier to light, easier to plumb, easier to dose, and feed. And wouldnt really cost that much more than 3 x 4' tanks. JMHO

[StirCrazy]

I would never trust a glass tank that was 12 foot long.. what you could do is buy 4" bulkheads and conect each tank with two of them. this would allow water flow between the tanks so you only need one set of equipment and such.. also it would still alow you to insert a screan in the bulkhead if you wanted to prevent some fish from getting in to another section but still alow for easy water maintinance.

Steve

[UnderWorldAquatics]

on a 12' tank I would have no prolem with laminated layers of glas, but personally I would use acrylic...

[eposer]

If it was me I'd go with one 8' main tank and one 4' (refugium/whatever won't be happy in the main 8' tank) tank with a bulkhead between the two(from the back of one to the back of the other so you can butt the tanks right up together). You'll be able to create 2 very different ecosystems that way. drain to the sump from the end of the 8' tank and flow the return back into the 4' fuge so you don't have to worry about micro bubbles at all in the 8' and you'll keep a steady flow of copepods coming that way too...

Just a thought :biggrin:

Evan.

[UnderWorldAquatics]

^ cool idea!

[Seriak]

The Only Problem is my size restriction on getting a tank to my basement. Also I like the Idea of getting some fish that would not be normally in our reef tank but make it look like it is in a reef tank. I was also going to treat them all seperately except only one sump. That way I could turn one off in case it cracked and the others would still run. That way I could add tanks as I get the money.

[Quinn]

If it's an unfinished house or a basement that needs renovation anyways, maybe Mitch and the boys would be willing to build the tank in the basement. You wouldn't even have to lift it into place. :cool:

[Delphinus]

FYI, add a grand for that (I asked him that question not two days ago!).

He actually was a bit taken aback at the question. He was like ... we haven't done that in years. Sounded like they'd do it though..

[Seriak]

I don't know guys. It sort of kills my Fish Only Tank then. I really don't want a huge tank. Instead of a 60" Plasma I think I will go for 3 20" hooked together. I think that would still look cool. I will make them as tall as possible and raise the stand to give it a really cool effect. A little difficult for aquascaping, but I am tall. Although I really haven't firmed anything yet.

[BCOrchidGuy]

You're possibilies are almost endless. You could do some work with acrylic fronts and plywood, or.. glass, or.. well. I envy you in someways.. and in others.. better you than me.

Doug

[kris]

Hey, Just thought i might be able to help. If you are unsure of what you want and would like to look at a few ideas with ought building it. I can actually build you sevral 3d models (CG) of your room. THen you can take a look at it, see how it all fits in and what not. If you want that is.

[Seriak]

with ought?

Sorry, had to type it.

I don't think a model would help me at this point. If you could build a 12' section out of plastic or cardboard so I can see the immensty of the project it might. :biggrin: :biggrin:

I like Canadian Man's Idea idea, but I just do not think I can get a 6' tank down my stairs. And I would rather not put something in that I cannot take out later.

[kris]

i can do sevral models on the computer with fly throughs fro you in an afternoon. To do a foam core model will take a few days and cost you money. if you change your mind let me know. I did this for my tank. I want as far as to do a closed loop water flow simulation.

Cheers!

[Seriak]

I assume you work in the business of model making. Thank you for the offer, I will keep it in mind.

I am thinking I should just pay Canadian Man a monthly fee to come over and stare at his tank everyday to save myself some money.

[Delphinus]

Why do you think it wouldn't fit? Is your stairwell much tighter or turny than Canadian Man's?

Worst case scenario, knock out a wall and build it back afterwards ... (hey as long as we're talking theory/future here, you can do whatever you want! :biggrin: ) If you're building walls and whatnot anyways, it's not that much marginally more work for yourself.

When I had sort of talked out my dream tank with Mitch this week .. he was like ... you should have told me this months ago so I could have had it ready before they started framing your house ... we could have just boomed it into the basement and left it there while they frame around it. I'm like ... yeah ... good point .... too bad the house is already framed. D'oh!!! Oh well it's not like I would have been able to afford it anyways but that's a totally different issue altogether. :lol:

BUT, hey, if mojoreef/powerreef could have maneuvered HIS tank into the house (that 8' x 8' "L") then I think it shows that a little creativity/elbow grease can go a long way.

Boy would a 12' tank be one spectacular sight to behold. I can't imagine what kind of glass thickness you would need though ...

[Delphinus]

I am thinking I should just pay Canadian Man a monthly fee to come over and stare at his tank everyday to save myself some money.

LOL, I hear you buddy, I hear you... I'm in the same place. :mrgreen:

But I figure ... as long as you're dreaming about it now, dream big. You can etch down your expectations as you get closer to making it a reality, but worry about that later down the road.

[Seriak]

My Girlfriend will not be happy that you got me thinking about a 12' tank.

My stairs go down 3 or 4 steps and then they take a hard 180 and go down another 5 steps. The first set of steps go toward an outside wall about 4 feet horizontally, which will not be going anywhere. I guess technically if the tank fit vertically through the door it should fit down the stairs although that would be very akward to manuever and I am not too sure on how much stress it could take. I guess the only way to get a bigger tank down their would be to completely remove the stairs (both sets) and have it lowered through the door and down. That would be a PITA.

[UnderWorldAquatics]

a 6'x30"x30" can fairly easily be taken down the most ackward of stairwells, you just need to rent a fridge dolly, they work great! A tank can go anywhere a fridge can go, and a fridge can go down any stairs imaginable, even spiral stairwells. It looks impossible at best, but it is fairly easy to do with 2 people, more makes it even better... I have moved lots, they can take alot of abuse....

[kris]

Hey, you could say im the business of model making. Im visual effects artist. So when you watch a dvd of a movie like lord of the rings, and they show you a guy infront of a computer that hasa wire mesh of a chracter. Thats what i do. So my closed loop sim was all done on the computer. i went as far to creat the rock work to give me a more realistic look at how things will turn out. im curently working on an idea that will alow me to creat MH lights where i can take and plug in the par and such.


i know to much time on my hands!

[Buccaneer]

Another possibility to consider is to build the 8' and 4' tanks as Evan suggested but to build the 8' onsite ... you should be able to get a 8' X 30" pane of glass into a basement and then assemble after.

Cheers

[UnderWorldAquatics]

lol, while everyone is shooting off options, you could get a 7' and a 5' tank made and then you can move both the pre built tanks downstairs on a fridge dolly...

[StirCrazy]

BUT, hey, if mojoreef/powerreef could have maneuvered HIS tank into the house (that 8' x 8' "L") then I think it shows that a little creativity/elbow grease can go a long way....

um they tore out a patio door on the ground floor that the tank was going into to get it in.

Steve

[BCOrchidGuy]

Thank goodness for credit cards and low interest rates at the banks.....

Doug

[Delphinus]

um they tore out a patio door on the ground floor that the tank was going into to get it in.


That's what I meant by "a little creativity and elbow grease" ... sheesh Steve. :razz:

[Seriak]

Okay no more creativity talk. I really don't think I will be allowed to take out any doorways and walls. You guys can really get carried away. Although a 12' tank sounds appealing. And actually I think the wall that I am going to fill might be closer to 16'. I really should measure it. I am going to start the stand in early spring when I develope the basement. I will leave the tank size open for now. You have all got me thinking and I thank you very much.

[Canadian Man]

I am thinking I should just pay Canadian Man a monthly fee to come over and stare at his tank everyday to save myself some money.

LOL, I hear you buddy, I hear you... I'm in the same place. :mrgreen:

But I figure ... as long as you're dreaming about it now, dream big. You can etch down your expectations as you get closer to making it a reality, but worry about that later down the road.

Sounds good to me! :biggrin:

Even with out seeing your stairs I bet you can fit a 6" tank down then.
When my tank arrived I though "NO Way is that going down the stairs"
but with some heavy work and creativity and about 45Min it was down stairs.

[Seriak]

I'm just hoping that when I measure the wall it is 18' and I can put 3 6' tanks in there!

[Delphinus]

Don't forget you probably want a doorway to get in behind them. Or I suppose you could put a little hatchway underneath the tank to get in behind, sort of like a Star Trek Jeffries Tube or something ... :lol:

[Seriak]

I was thinking about that. However, why would I need to get behind them. My current tank is against a wall and I have never found it necessary to get behind it for any reason. Although it may be nice to have a sump room behind it, my basement wont allow for that. I will have to work from the front.