how to make a 300 gallon tank

[clownman_1988]

hi every body well im getting a 55 gallon tank set up and im a****ted to salt water and im going to save and build a 300gallon tank when im done with my 55 gallon tank aand ill be able to home my skills a bit better with my 55 before i get the 300 set up im 15 so i dont have bills and im soon going to get a job so im going to save my mone and build it in my parents house and take it when i move well i have no idea how to build a tank especially a 300 ga well i was woundering what i need and what would the dementoings be for a 300ga tank i have no idea i know some of you probly think im a stupid kid daydreaming but im going to follow through with it well thanks and you can post here or pm me or you can email me at clownman_1988@yahoo.com thanks bye

[mjc]

you really should put some breaks between your sentences because its difficult to read and follow you know what I mean but if you want a 300 gallon then good but making it requires skill and practice perhaps you could start small by building something smaller to determine the level of effort before attempting something that large but i know the owners at truvu and other manufacturers and building a tank is simple provided you have the forms and jigs in place

[rememberme]

I went to a glass shop and asked how much it would cost for glass to make an 80 uk gallon tank (48x24x18 I think)... They quoted me £80, all I would need to do then is glue the glass with some proper glue and maybe make corner brackets to keep it secure. Big tanks need thick glass. I'd recommend over 10mm thick glass for anything more than 180 US gallons.

Place the tank on padded base to make sure any uneven parts are supported. Make sure sure the sides are at 90° angles and can hold water under pressure!

Get someone old to help you.

Remember it would way a load! I bought a £15 tank from my lfs showroom and it was 30 gallons but needed almost 3 people to carry it!!

Keep the dreams going. Better than spending money on drink and clubs and stuff!! :) Make yourself a deal that you'll have it by the age of 20 and you'll do it!

[jman785]

Well...heres the deal.

I made a 150 gallon glass tank. With an aluminium frame, that was acid washed, and a 2 part epoxy paint was used on it...the process isn't too hard, and I can go into detail about it, if you'd like.

[clownman_1988]

i desided aginst building a tank im going to do my sump my self im going to get a 125 or 225 could you guys tell me places where you get you big tanks im going to look around for a good while im looking for cheap but sturdy thanks

[robertgiants]

Maybe you really were daydreaming :badgrin: That didnt take you long to change your mind. What happened? :hmm2:

[mjc]

There are a number of places that manufacture and sell large acrylic and glass tanks. I believe Tenecor is one company that's close to you, check them out at www.tenecor.com.

Additionally, if you subscribe to FAMA, or pick up an issue, you'd find a few additional places.

Economic options would be to peruse reef boards that have used items for sale and consequently, great deals.

[winnona15]

i built a little 20 gallon aquarium out of glass and well ... it leaked when i put the water in it if your in high skool take shop class or woodshop if they offer it there and you can build yourself a nice stand. but you should take classes a 300 gallon tank is a BIG jump from a 55 gallon. but im 16 so what can i say!
good luck !!!

[winnona15]

I DID SOME RESEARCH FOR U. U SHOULD USE TEMPERED GLASS PRBLY
1 1/2" THICK TEMPERED GLASS TO BE EXACT EITHER GLASS OR ACRYLIC WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO :hmm2: U CAN ALSO ORDER CUSTOM MADE TANKS FROM DIFFERENT WEB SITES LINKS ARE IN DIFFERENT FORUMS BUT UD PROBABLY BE BETTER GETTING A CUSTOM MADE TANK RATHER THAN BUILDING ONE WITHOUT CLASSES BUT IF YOU HAVE YOUR MIND SET ON BUILDING IT AND YOU REALLY WANT TO THEN GO FOR IT

Okay....I hate to come off like I am beating up on you but maybe a big tank at that age isnt the best idea. Hear me out on this....


I have a 300, 240, 135, 75, 65, 55, 24, 4 x 10 gallon tanks. Big tanks are definitely cool to be sure. Let me assure you that the 300 and the 240 are HUGE when your face to face infront of one. Even acrylic ones that size are heavy! More than my 135 AGA and that baby aint no joke! May not be thinking about that but...sooner or later you will have to move it and doing so will score high on the "Top 10 Sucks List". They take up some serious space! I can barely get into my 12 x 12 spare bedroom - there is hardly anyplace to walk! This makes maintence even more of a chore, read that as it gets old fast. Bigger tanks need more equipment, a lot more equipment and can easily surpase the money needed to support a 75 gallon tank by several times over! More on that later... Then there is the load bearing ability of your floor...a 240 will weigh in at about 3000 lbs in a best case senario! Thats really pushing the weight capacity of even newly built homes unless your on a slab foundation. Even then if that foundation heaves any at all...the chances of your tank being unevenly supported becomes a very real issue and a catastrophic failure is a very real possibility if the crack or shift is under your tank.

My 240 for example...will take about 270 lbs of sand to cover the bottom with about 2 inches deep. At 20.00 a bag thats starts adding up. It is going to take about 300 pounds of live rock. Even with cheap budget grade non cure hom hum Fiji on sale thats about 7 x 45 lbs boxes at about 700.00 buck plus fedex shipping cost on top of that. I am seeing a minimum of a $1000.00 here on that issue alone. That will take at least one bucket of salt just to fill plus another bucket possibly two by the time you finish cycling this tank. Lets consider 4 x 400 watt haildes and 2 x daul 160 watt VHO fixtures and your looking at another 1500.00 for just retrofits plus what ever bulbs cost and that would be about another 380.00 or so depending on your lighting preferences. We aint even gotten to Skimmers, stands for this monster, Filtration, sump, heaters, refugium, pumps and a whole host of other things I am not yet mentioning. I can assure you it will take a good 6 grand before the first fish or coral hits the water when its all said and done. Dont forget about maintenance cost either. I go through about 100 galons of salt water a month! About another 100 in just fresh top off water a month! 10 X Halide bulbs a year minimum, I would have to think too hard to figure out how many VHO tubes I go through a year but I am sure its a good 25-30 or so. Carbon...I buy in bulk on line becuase it would kill me to get it at even wally worlds prices much less the LFS. How much Kalkwasser and additives do I go through? I couldnt tell you and I am sure that I dont want to know either, but its alot! As heavy as my 240 is empty...I will never have a glass tank bigger than 180 gallons in my life time or any other for that matter.

Making a tank this big or bigger? Trust me while its intirely possible to make a large tank yourself...do yourself a favor and have a custom maker make it for you. That way when it leaks - you make a phone call to the tank maker who calls his insurance agent not to your homeowners insurance carrier! What you save by building you will give up quickly if you ever have a problem. The is just too much liabilty riding on the deal to take an un-neccessary risk.

Lets face it, as a teen your going to go away to college one day, it will be hard to take a monster tank with you! Why not get something a little more reasonably sized that you can take with you? For what it would cost you on a big tank for a bare bones set up you could have a jaw dropping 75 gallon tank!!!

Like I said I dont mean to beat you up. Aspirations and goals are a great thing to have. This has been one of the most enjoyable hobbies I have ever had. Other than racing cars...its been the most expensive too! If you can do it that big then do it! But I think you would be much better off if you graduated in sizes a few more steps before going that big! Just a suggestion.

Before I part, Yes I am still jonesing for that 1500 gallon semi-cicular in wall tank, but it unfortunately will be a while in the the future if ever before I get there. So I am most definitely "feelin" your vision here! Irregardless, good luck and hope things work out for the best for you. :)

[CoreyB]

[insert long post]

All I can say is...HOLY COW :shock: :shock: :shock:


*thinks to self "Do I really want to get into this hobby?"*

Well see how my 18 gal goes I guess :-D

For the first year or two I would stay under 75 gallons untill I built my knowledge and experience base up. This will still give you plenty of tank to have fun with but not get to expensive on you. After that the newness of it all has worn off and you can decide better then if this is really the thing for you or not and then you can go to a bigger tank like a 120-180 gallon. Once that gets to small for your needs and you got lots of "fun dollars" then go get one of those big stupid sized tanks. This way its not as bad going this route because you can use the previous tanks contents usually in the larger tank...ie...rock and sand, lights maybe. That will help keep the cost of upgrading down a bit. If your skilled with your hands you make things like a protien skimmer, Calcium reactor, sump , refigiums, stands, canopies, and wire up your lights and what not. You can make your own live rock too just need some real live rock to seed the DIY rock thats all. So it doesnt have to be all that expensive but it can be that way really fast!

I do a lot of coral fragging on the side and this funds my new tanks for the most part or at least a good chunk of it! That way the new tank aint as painful to the ol' wallet....

[creepingdeath086]

i built a 100 gal out of coated plywood, for freshwater, its doable, i did it in about a month for about 400$ for everything, look at this if you have any questions email me, if goin saltwater note your expenses too, with someting that big it can be real steep...anyways http://martysdomain.bravehost.com/newtank.htm are some photos :D