Large Aquarium Design. Help Tips Etc Req.

[ALW]

Any chance of an update!

 

[Gun]

What a great read this thread is. Hope everything is going well with the project, Arachnidzone

Your circular sitting/aquarium design right at the begining of the thread blew me away and is still my personal favorite. I also love the idea of different levels of water with various habitants in each area. Those two ideas rolled into one: keeping the circular shape with those levels/different habitants going on would look awesome, imo

Good Luck

 

[Arachnidzone]

Hi all! though an update was needed as been on site and got more plans, details etc etc...

We are now going for a full concrete ground floor floor and yes the bedrock can be build on for the pond and aquarium area.

Pond, maybe in an entrance area where you sit to read books, take your boots off on arrival etc.

Tank in the house, possibly in a library area.

I will be going for shallow and/or slim tanks due to lighting restrictions and water clarity problems. But for this reason I think an long tank may be needed! I am redesigning the house as we speak so once thats done i will know the new areas for the tank and pond and also a cylindrical tank for Annes goldfish which will be a curved end of a kitchen unit.

NEW PLANS COMING SOON! Thanks for all the input so far, great help!

 

[Arachnidzone]

OH, and went into a pet shop in Miri (the city closest to where we will be). Very cheap, acceptable quality. USual fish and some extra, clown loaches, neons, arowanas, all fancy goldfish, angel fish, redtail catfish, shovel nose catfish. A 36"x18"x18" with hood and light was about £50 brand new in glass. I would prefer acrylic but at that price i may opt for glass still but just buy ready cut and ground planes and assemble in situ. Should travel reasonably well as panes. I do prefer the security of acrylic though, an accident would be disastrous for an aquarium in the middle of the jungle. If its just 12" deep and wide but very long, glass may be fine. It will very probably be in a wall from the front which minimises the possibility of damage anyway.


Singapore is only about 3 hours away and theres a few good fish farms there so any fish is available! Then theres expiditions around Borneo to collect my own non-protected species!

 

[Arachnidzone]

What a great read this thread is. Hope everything is going well with the project, Arachnidzone

Your circular sitting/aquarium design right at the begining of the thread blew me away and is still my personal favorite. I also love the idea of different levels of water with various habitants in each area. Those two ideas rolled into one: keeping the circular shape with those levels/different habitants going on would look awesome, imo

Good Luck

Gun, i liked that idea too, a very very heavy design though, like tonnes! concrete floor would be fine but cost would be great due to curved and very thick acrylic. I will try and keep it aesthetic and good looking though. Gonna be having a pond area now in the entrance part of the house, considering a curved viewing panel on the front with the inside and surround being all natural with rocks, plants etc, it will be conservatory-esque and maybe even incorporate the circular seating again. Lovely area to sit with a book or cold beer. this would be around an 8ft crescent shape, either for fancy goldfish or just a few large local fish specimens.

When is all this happening?

I estimate 18-24 months. I like to plan ahead!

 

[Arachnidzone]

Design seems to be changing rapidly. Thing that struck me with some of them is the sheer weight, and that on a wooden floor?

External filters do not use much power, they only need pump a very small head, not like open sump type pumps.

Lighting those deeper designs is going to be very difficult and use a lot of power. High power LEDs waste a lot of energy as heat, if you are thinking about them, you should use a current controlled power source as the additional load of current limiting resistors on the LED's will waste even more power. Fluorescents with modern electronic starters are more efficient. At depth for good plant growth you will probably want halides.

Yea, solid concrete floor and reinforced with hardcore from bedrock up where tank is. Should be fine. I like to go as overkill as possible so long as its doesn't waste money so will be extra careful here.

Will probably opt for a shallow and/or slim tank. I like the idea of about 24" tall but just 8-12" deep depending whats in it. If small fish maybe a long 12" tall, 4" deep tank so lighting can be very minimal and even murky water will look clear.

Remember we will be on solar power. Normal LEDs can be used with dimmers, sensors, produce little or virtually no heat, last much much much longer than incandescent or fluorescent, even the energy saving compact fluorescent are not as good as LED. Also easy to waterproof, 12v so safer to wire and use. Plant growth wise LEDs are untested-ish, you can get cheap UV LEDS now and im more than willing to test these on a larger scale, i had an article on the use of red and blue LEDS in unison too for plant growing. I wouldnt use the huge high power LEDS with heatsinks, just regular lines of lil ones. One places every inch all the way along the top of the tank would look great. I may use a day/night dimmer timer so i can have 2 modes of lighting, fading the day/night cycle which would look cool as well as be maintainace free and more natural for the fish instead of lights flashing or flickering on and off! LEDs are cheap here and even cheaper in Asia. I will have to rig up my own fittings for them so for a cheap LED system your taking more electrical experience and set-up time. I will experiment before setting up. 1 LED per inch for a 6 foot tank would only be about 12w depending on brightness etc so for shallow or lower light tanks thats great!

All that said, admittedly there are better choices for NORMAL home aquariums where budgets are larger and electricity if less of a premium. LEDs are just right for me as i am happy to experiment etc.

 

[Arachnidzone]

Anyway people, i need more ideas... you all have a pen and paper, mspaint, google image search, or some way of posting ideas so please do.

• Rear accessible so no need for cupboards and flaps at front.
• not too large! Max dimensions about
• optimise lighting
• optimise pump and filter through shape.
• Large, easily maintained, efficient filter
• No chance of overflow
• No chance ow water level dropping below pump inlet.
• LOW MAINTAINANCE to allow 4-5 weeks abandoned with just feeding while away so able to loose 20-30% of water and pose no problems.
• Integrated into seating/dining/breakfast area so your looking at the aquarium

So need to think beyond aesthetics here and go further into how the pump/filtration will work. Definitely a multi section sump style BUT on a level with the tanks not below which makes plumbing easier.

Come on people... Ideas! The more ideas suggested the more perfect and appropriate the designs get.

just thinking aloud here for my notes...

If i opt for a river style, the paladarium area with waterfall IS acceptable as the idea is separate species in a continuous looking set up.

If a river set up, wide deep sections for ponds, shallow and narrow sections will naturally be fast moving for rapids so allows natural behavious of different species.

 

[ALW]

[*]not too large! Max dimensions about

What are the max dimensions? LxWxH

 

[Arachnidzone]

[*]not too large! Max dimensions about

What are the max dimensions? LxWxH

Andy, Im actually thinking of going for an assemble on site project now, glass would be very cheap, acrylic would be more expensive but not to bad if i can assemble on site.

If i think glass for now i would say the largest glass panel safely transported via plane would be 5ftx3ft. IF we opt for road transport it would require a heck of a lot of packing, a wooden crate with several glass sheets, its a very rough ride so not sure if this would even be possible but then maybe a similar size sheet.

Acrylic would be pretty easy as it will take vibration, thudding and quite a bit of flexing so maybe 8ftx 3ft sheets?

I am willing to think about joining 2-3 tanks into one on site as described earlier in the thread but pressure would be an issue then as it would for any assemble on site aquarium, thats what's making me think about long, shallow, narrow tanks, low pressure, lower flow rates would still have a good effect on the circulation, better visibility if water isnt crystal clear etc.

IF biotope tanks then the water there is naturally very brown, like black tea due to clay and peat, very acidic too which im unsure of the effects on acrylic. Will have to test the water.

 

[ALW]

Depends on how thick the glass is i suppose, to take the bumps. If it were say 15mm+ is should be ok shouldnt it!

 

[Arachnidzone]

Depends on how thick the glass is i suppose, to take the bumps. If it were say 15mm+ is should be ok shouldnt it!

Probably, but weight becomes the issue then. Something e will have to work out nearer the time, design wise we can continue but acrylic vs glass will be closer to last minute. the plane is weight mainly as its costly. The car is really really really rough drive, im talking bite your own tongue off by accident kind of bumps! Obviously with a load of glass in transit you would drive more carefully but could still be disasterous. I may even take on that adventure myself if possible so its only myself i can blame if anything brakes as this isnt a courrier service with insurance!

 

[Arachnidzone]

Silly me forgot about another option. More work but most definitely a much safer method for transporting etc!

A plywood aquarium with acrylic or glass frontage! If anybody has experience of making a wooden, sealed aquarium let me know! Also if you know of any articles on here get the builder to post here as i think its well worth consideration.

EDIT: Been thinking about and researching a wood/resin tank and beginning to think its the way to go. SO now need someone involved in the build who has either positive resin aquarium experience OR someone highly experienced in resin in a non-aquarium way. I have worked with resin in the past so know the basics so no blaggers. Need real experience! The volunteer will be accommodated, fed and watered as well as get a great, long holiday in Borneo. Fish-collecting expedition at the end to top it off!

 

[Arachnidzone]

Right, currently thinking a 20ft long, plywood and resin paladarium probably aimed at Arowanas, Check this out! Glass is 8ft x 4ft but the water is only 18" x 18" so pressure shouldnt be a problem so im thinking 1/2" would do, in reality though i will get as thick as practically affordable as only the 2 sheets needed. Possibly another 8ft x 18" for Annes pond frontage too.

 

[wreckster]

This link might help. Its the construction of a 10ftx3ftx2.5ft plywood tank with 15mm plate glass front.

Edit... Wont let me post the link

Its on Monster Fish keepers forums - thread id is 126297

 

[Arachnidzone]

This link might help. Its the construction of a 10ftx3ftx2.5ft plywood tank with 15mm plate glass front.

Edit... Wont let me post the link

Its on Monster Fish keepers forums - thread id is 126297

Cheers Wreckster. I did read the huge 8000g 12ftx12ftx4ft one which is just insane! Will have a gander at that one too!

I tried the link too, think it may be due to it being a similar forum, maybe blocked?