building your own tank

Hey everyone,

I have a bug thats been bothern me for years, When I was 18 yrs old I met a guy that live a few doors down from me in Baltimore ,MD. When you enter his home in the corner was a huge fish tank it was 4x5x5. this thig was huge. I've always wanted to build somthing like that. Though not that big. I asked him where did he get it he said he made it out of acylic. This stuff was 3/4 to and 1" thick. he said he and a freind was gut an old store down town and the used this stuff between the and the custmer as a form of protection. (glad i never lived there).
Any way what I'm trying to do is build my own large tank but mine will be 4x4x30". Now I have access to 1/2 thick and 1/4" thick. My question to you is witch size should I use? Also would like to hear about some of your tanks that you guys or gals have built. Would like to hear about flow tanks (tanks with currnt in them). How do you get enough flow?
I hope this helps other like me who have questions about this subject.

Thanks, P.jenkins

This forum isn't really the best place for these type of questions. You may be better off going to one of the large fish keepers forums and asking there.

I agree. Most of the general interest aquarium fora have a DIY section.

I will say that you will definitely need thicker plastic than that for such a big tank, probably in the 1" to 1.5" vicinity. There's a thickness calculator at http://www.sdplastic...m/aquaria1.html near the top of the page. I had to right click it and save it to my desktop to use it. I also urge you to try some smaller tanks first if you are not an experienced acrylic fabricator.

http://www.monsterfi...ers.com/forums/ focuses a lot on big fish and big tanks. I'd imagine there is probably plenty of good info about building acrylic tanks there.

I'd agree with Newt that you should start with something quite a bit smaller to gain experience. You're talking about 300 gallons for the tank you describe, and that's a lot of water in the case of a catastrophic failure...

I have a 300 gallon plex tank (store bought) that is 96 inches long 24 inches front to back and 30 inches deep. The sides and bottom are all 1/2 inch plex and the top is several layers laminated to make it 1 1/8 thick. You need to suppost the whole surface of the bottom unlike glass tanks where you just support the edges.

I have a 300 gallon plex tank (store bought) that is 96 inches long 24 inches front to back and 30 inches deep. The sides and bottom are all 1/2 inch plex and the top is several layers laminated to make it 1 1/8 thick. You need to suppost the whole surface of the bottom unlike glass tanks where you just support the edges.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your imput. It was interesting and helpful. I did not mean any harm but I thought this would be okay. Thought this was and open forum. To talk about all aspects of our hobby that we love and care. Thought building an inviroment (large tank)For some large fish would be okay. I mean we build eco sysems for our fin-friends all the time. Why does everything have to be store bought? Why not build one if you have the chance to? No disrespect.
Thanks again,
Pjenkins

Edited by pjenkins, 18 March 2010 - 08:21 PM.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your imput. It was interesting and helpful. I did not mean any harm but I thought this would be okay. Thought this was and open forum. To talk about all aspects of our hobby that we love and care. Thought building an inviroment (large tank)For some large fish would be okay. I mean we build eco sysems for our fin-friends all the time. Why does everything have to be store bought? Why not build one if you have the chance to? No disrespect.
Thanks again,
Pjenkins

There is no harm in asking, but we just don't get into a lot of tank building here. Other forums talk about it a lot more, therefore have more information. Certainly the folks who keep big fish need big tanks for them to thrive. We're all agreed on that.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your imput. It was interesting and helpful. I did not mean any harm but I thought this would be okay. Thought this was and open forum. To talk about all aspects of our hobby that we love and care. Thought building an inviroment (large tank)For some large fish would be okay. I mean we build eco sysems for our fin-friends all the time. Why does everything have to be store bought? Why not build one if you have the chance to? No disrespect.
Thanks again,
Pjenkins

I don't think anyone thought your post was a problem. It's just that we don't often really get into building big tanks here, and with all the stuff out there, there is likely a forum/website with stuff that would be much more helpful. I don't get out much but I imagine there must be some people out there that really get into it. People on this forum might have good links, though, and asking is not a problem at all. They are just telling you that the best answers might not come from here.

I don't think anyone thought your post was a problem. It's just that we don't often really get into building big tanks here, and with all the stuff out there, there is likely a forum/website with stuff that would be much more helpful. I don't get out much but I imagine there must be some people out there that really get into it. People on this forum might have good links, though, and asking is not a problem at all. They are just telling you that the best answers might not come from here.

Thanks,