Wanting to build my own custom aquarium

I want to build a custom extra large aquarium to house some extra large freshwater fish. I was woundering if any one had any suggestions on doing so. I want to make it 8x4x4. I already have a start for a stand to put it on. According to the thickness chart i found it stopped at 3 ft tall using 20mm(.79) thick glass so i was thinking of at least an inch, if not thicker. Would rather use archrylic then glass but would have to check the pricing and availability on it. I already know this will not be cheap. After i get the structeral end figured out i have the plans for everything else in my head. The stand so far is an old 4x8 woork bench with 6 4x4 legs on it and 2x6 running down the side connecting the legs. also has 2x6 cross beems in the middle. Really need to now if that would be enough to handle the weight of an aquarium that size. i will add 3 more 4x4 legs to it for sure.Will add pics of my stand plans by this week end. Also know this will be no easy little task to acomplish and it will take a lot of time to finnish but that is ok with me.

Have you thought of maybe doing plywood back, bottom and possible side to the tank to reduce cost. I've seen one with frames for the front and side which reinforced the strength of the corner stress. I don't know if you understand that I'm not making it very clear brain dead> . If you use the framing method where the glass is attached to a wooden framework 1" should be okay but thicker is always better.

I was thinking of framing the tank to help support the corners that is a lot of water for to hold back. I was already planning on using a piece of plywood on bottom to help support the bottom piece of glass. Or are you talking about using the plywood in place of the glass?

Gudam!!!!! is this thing gonna be a for sure thing??
if so im subscribed to your thread!!!!!
you should name the thread "THE BoHEMOTH" lol
try bracing the tank from the top!!! that way the tank has a cleaner look to it! weres this thing gona go?
just to be safe i would make the stand SOLID!!!!! lol
1" thick glass ..........i honestly dont know if it would hold.....seriously idk lol
but im sure acrylic would!!!! its way stronger than glass! BUT!!! i know for a fact that its not cheap!!! your prolly looking at more than 700$ a sheet!! 8'x4' prolly Way more than that!
unless your good buddies with a persone who worx with acrylic

wooooow id like to see this ... wooooooow

Just plywood without glass use marine sealant and marine paint on the inside of the tank.

perrone1214 wrote:

wooooow id like to see this ... wooooooow

Keep me posted

Yeah keep us posted, that looks to be the project of the year!!

actually I was just thinking about how to build a sturdy 8' long tank and if you can somehow do a decorative center brace and use 2 four foot pieces of glass that is a lot less pressure on the glass! Now see what you've done my mind can't stop thinking of building a big tank! This is not good for my MTS!

I want to see pics also!!!

FishVixen wrote:

Just plywood without glass use marine sealant and marine paint on the inside of the tank.

I was thinking of what to do if i did use plywood instead of glass or achrylic. I know fern used a liner when she built her sump, i wasn't shure that wood work ae how to do it with the wood. That will be something to check out before i start the tank part of the build. I was thinking of adding a brace in the center but still use one 8' peice of glass/achrylic to keep from having another seem. I wounder if using quikrete method on the bacgrounds would work on the plywood. Aslo thinking of how to use a liner like fern did for the bottom back and maybee part of the side. some how glue it to the plywood, cut out where the glass/achrylic will go and glue them in from the inside of the tank when i am done with the bacground.

alkomist wrote:

Gudam!!!!! is this thing gonna be a for sure thing??
if so im subscribed to your thread!!!!!
you should name the thread "THE BoHEMOTH" lol
try bracing the tank from the top!!! that way the tank has a cleaner look to it! weres this thing gona go?
just to be safe i would make the stand SOLID!!!!! lol
1" thick glass ..........i honestly dont know if it would hold.....seriously idk lol
but im sure acrylic would!!!! its way stronger than glass! BUT!!! i know for a fact that its not cheap!!! your prolly looking at more than 700$ a sheet!! 8'x4' prolly Way more than that!
unless your good buddies with a persone who worx with acrylic

I knew it wouldnt be cheep. I found some on graigs list one time for $300 for a couple of full sheets and some half sheets. thats cheaper then new but would have to look to see how scratched up they were before i used them as an aquarium face. And yes it is a sure thing once i figuer what i will have to do to hold all the water in it with out leaking. Lets just say i have no room in the house. (wouldnt this be a great salt tank,lol) The stand i have is solid and well braced, but not sure if it is enough for the weight, so i plan on adding some more legs and cross braces to it.

good luck hope it turns out how you want it

Liners will deteriorate quite a bit quicker then marine sealants with marine paint. It's the paint used on boats. Yes Quickscrerte works on plywood but you still have to seal the plywood first.

lgsasquatch wrote:

alkomist wrote:

Gudam!!!!! is this thing gonna be a for sure thing??
if so im subscribed to your thread!!!!!
you should name the thread "THE BoHEMOTH" lol
try bracing the tank from the top!!! that way the tank has a cleaner look to it! weres this thing gona go?
just to be safe i would make the stand SOLID!!!!! lol
1" thick glass ..........i honestly dont know if it would hold.....seriously idk lol
but im sure acrylic would!!!! its way stronger than glass! BUT!!! i know for a fact that its not cheap!!! your prolly looking at more than 700$ a sheet!! 8'x4' prolly Way more than that!
unless your good buddies with a persone who worx with acrylic

I knew it wouldnt be cheep. I found some on graigs list one time for $300 for a couple of full sheets and some half sheets. thats cheaper then new but would have to look to see how scratched up they were before i used them as an aquarium face. And yes it is a sure thing once i figuer what i will have to do to hold all the water in it with out leaking. Lets just say i have no room in the house. (wouldnt this be a great salt tank,lol) The stand i have is solid and well braced, but not sure if it is enough for the weight, so i plan on adding some more legs and cross braces to it.

^^^subscribed!!!!
AWW man it would be awsome as a SW tank!!!!!! i would literally take a road trip to your house just to see it!!!!! lol
how the uff you gonna light this thing???
and what are you gona do fo filtration and water movement! have you calculated how many Gals this Bohemoth will be?

and what type of fish you gona throw in their since you literally can with a tank that huge! lol

if the acrylic is scratched it can be resealed...ask a plastic guy near you....they also make monster acrylic tanks might be worth looking into...by the time you buy and build it might be close to the same amout of money.

Sounds like this tank is going to be a long weekend project and let us see the final project.

Some plan big some plan bigger some plan an 8 foot tank for the bathroom

^^lol

Alk, I used to have a black belly pacu(he was 26"l x 13"t x 4" thick). I wantanother one, only have to feed twice a week. I also had a shovel nose redtailed catfish that can get about 4'. As far as lighting, I am Installing a few sky lights in my roof, lol just kidding. I'm not sure yet not to that point. Filtration will be simple, I am using one 900 .ph power head with a sponge filter to clean a 100 gallon pond with goldfish, and a turtle. I was thinking of starting with a few larger ones and see if that will work. If not I have two overflows planned to be built in so I can do a custom dump if need be.

Show us some pics.Can't wait to see them.Maybe I'll just drop by a see it in person.

so you want to build a supersized tank................ well my buddy Pete from New Orleans did just that... there is a 250 page thread on Monster fish keepers explaining and detailing everything that he did on that 4300 gallon set up....

check it out:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275939

he has been having a leakage problem.. so he decided on using a liner and its not installed yet>>>>

i took pics when i was there a few months back but cannt seem to find them, i will post them when i do...

I was going to check out monsterfishkeeper.com tonight. Maybe I could tiger out the stand and acrylic issues so I can start my pricing. I found some acrylic (8x4x1) for $833.79 a sheet. Also waiting on a price for a custom aquarium the size I want. I was thinking of building half with plywood, seal it then cover with fiberglass, making the bacground with the fiberglass as well.

BFinley wrote:

Show us some pics.Can't wait to see them.Maybe I'll just drop by a see it in person.

I will when I start to build. All I have now is a work bench I,need to modify for the tank. Your more then welcome to come look at a work bench if you want. Lol

here is another link for Petes plans on extending exiting tanks with plywood to make them biggerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!1 check it out ... awesome information...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296341

GOOD LUCK.... AND HAPPY FISHING!

Thanks,cajun

wow check out those post cajun 103 pages that is a massive build on the 4300