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Author Topic: New tank concept - need input!  (Read 3496 times)

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Offline guynamedfleck

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New tank concept - need input!
« on: March 13, 2017, 18:12:41 »
Hello all

While you good people were enjoying your weekend up north at the frag swap, I was cruising the Ohio countryside collecting unwanted tanks. I managed to get my hands on a pair of 55 gallons, a 20 High, and a 20 bow front.

Now the 55's have seen better days, both have broken trim and could probably use a resealing. I got to thinking, if I need to tear these down and reseal anyway, why not go big and design a unique main display tank? This build is a little ways off, but I thought I'd reach out to the group for critique and thoughts on the design, and equipment layout.



The general layout would be the lovechild of a 29G, a 55G and the 20G bow front. The base and back panel would be constructed of plywood. The 55 shortened to 17.5" on one side of the bow front, and the 29G's front and back panels being turned on end to make a drop off on the other side. The idea being that the bowfront breaks up the necessary seams on the front of the tank.

This gives an overall footprint of ~7' x 18". Roughly 150 gallons volume.

For lighting, I'm thinking (x3) Arctic T247-B's. Do you guys think this would give enough coverage?

The hope is to run the sump and life support in the basement, piped up to the display on the main level.

I'm at a total blank on where to locate the overflow (perhaps a full length skimmer across the top of the back panel?) and # of powerheads/placement, especially given the drop off.

Putting this out asa challenge to the group and if we are just crazy enough to figure it out, this could become a reality sometime in 2017!

Offline Steve

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2017, 21:32:25 »
Looks ambitious to me. The drop off would be unique to say the least, do you have a designated purpose for it?

Offline joelbegt

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2017, 22:57:48 »
Water pressure increases with the length and height, so using these thinner glass aquariums to make something that long may not be structurally sound.

If you took the four 55g long panes you could probably do a large cube

Offline guynamedfleck

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2017, 10:48:07 »
Looks ambitious to me. The drop off would be unique to say the least, do you have a designated purpose for it?

No particular purpose, dropoff tanks seem to be the up and coming thing. It allows you to do some pretty cool things with your rock work and I figured why not push the boundaries if going for a custom tank.

Water pressure increases with the length and height, so using these thinner glass aquariums to make something that long may not be structurally sound.

More so from the increase in depth, than length, but it does raise some valid concerns. Between shortening the 55g panes to 17.5" tall and using a plywood back and bottom, there shouldn't be too much stress for the 1/4" glass to handle. The drop off section may raise some concerns running 30" deep. Perhaps it would be a better idea to run 55g's to either side of the 20 bowfront. I'd end up with a 9'-8" long tank. Run that 2' wide and 17.5" deep and it would be ~210 gallons!

I had thought about combining the two 55G tanks, but at a 4' x 4' square, that really takes up an odd space. Perhaps with a dedicated fishroom this could make a fun side project, or goldfish pond/tank.

Offline Miles

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2017, 14:40:31 »
My concern is the two seams that you would have on the front. I am no expert here, but wouldn't those seams be weak points since they are in the middle?

Offline guynamedfleck

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2017, 16:25:15 »
My concern is the two seams that you would have on the front. I am no expert here, but wouldn't those seams be weak points since they are in the middle?

Most definitely the weakest points in the build. My thought however would be to construct a solid plywood top brace around the perimeter. If you can imagine my thought process, I would essentially cut a full panel to cover the top of the tank (plus about a 1/2" offset), then router a 1/4" dado along the path of the vertical panels. From there lay out the necessary bracing in key locations and router out the unnecessary material. This would effectively create a comparable 1 piece design to the traditional plastic top brace rims on a standard tank. A similar process for the bottom plywood panel and you should end up with a ridiculously sturdy design. The bowfront panel helps a lot too since it acts as a stabilizer. I definitely wouldn't recommend this method of build with all flat glass panels.

Offline guynamedfleck

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2017, 16:27:57 »
P.S. thank you everyone for the input! it always helps to have fresh eyes on a project. I had progressed so far into the setup of the build that I may have overlooked some of the practical.

Keep it coming!

Offline Miles

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2017, 08:09:03 »
I'm excited to see how this turns out. Especially the plywood part... I've seen people make them online, but never actually seen on in person. Good Luck!

Offline guynamedfleck

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Re: New tank concept - need input!
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2017, 18:40:53 »
Got a little work done over the weekend. I spent some time breaking down the 55G tanks. I learned a good bit about reclaiming the glass. Turns out upon further inspection, one tank was made entirely out of tempered glass, so no shortening the panels.

I also think I am going to go a different direction and allocate this glass to a new goldfish tank as well as another frag tank. I'll probably do a 48"x 40" x 20" tank (plywood bottom) for the goldfish. Then use the side panels and bottoms to make a 48" x 20" x 13" frag tank (plywood bottom) with the scraps.


 

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