1800 Gallon Tank

InJuxHurYlem said:
What you need, my friend, is transparent aluminum.

scotty-767813.jpg
Click to expand...

I about choked on my lunch when I read this because I was thinking the same thing!! LOL!! My first thought when I saw 1800 gallons was "What is he going to keep, a whale?." Then I thought of the transparent aluminum thing because that movie was on this weekend. It's my favorite Star Trek movie because it's so funny.
 
Finally got around to do some drawings.
Mind my skills in CAD, it's not all that great and just a quick sketch to visualize it.

3 shots, tank, returns and pumps & overflow.

Never mind the returns to the tank, that's just a quick draw to make it easier to understand.
Overflow will of course be covered to avoid fish splashing over the sieve-plates.
Likely acrylic with a thousand holes in it.
The drain in the bottom is connected to a valve for cleaning and 2 lines that end in the overflow. Pressure of the tank-water will ensure that the water flows up. So small and medium size rubbish would go up...bigger parts might not and need to be cleaned out manually. I don't expect much debris that's too big or blocking, but you never know.

Overflow.jpgPumpReturnDetail.jpgNewFilterDesign.jpg

Overflow.jpg PumpReturnDetail.jpg NewFilterDesign.jpg
 
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Just so to be complete, the window in the filter-section will be acrylic or glass to be able to check the condition of the filters. Front will get an access-door. The bottom of the filter will be above the level of the tank-floor to place the pumps and keep access to the bottom-drain.

Did not put in extra valves yet for external polishing/UV/Carbon and other subsystems I might want to run every now and then. Those would be placed just below the window through the concrete front of the filter.
The 'gate-valve' mentioned in the previous post will of course also serve as a drain for the tank. Will put in a T with a reducer to a tap with a normal garden-hose quick-fit just before the gate-valve. This would allow me to snap a gardenhose on and start spraying the plants. Open the tap at the same time to fill up the tank and it's perfect reuse of water.

And by the way, got 6 Juvi Discus. 10 more on the way. The 6 I have are eating like pigs, chasing each other and looking good. For the sake of it, they're in the 80 Gallon, 10 more tomorrow will go in there as well. Don't scream at me yet, they are about 2 ~ 3 inch, so they still got some space for now. Doing daily water-changes of 25% and feeding them 3x p/day.
They are fat, I tell you.
If the tank is not ready in time, I'll just have a good excuse to buy one more tank for them... :-)
Nah..serious though, if too big, I'll start selling some to avoid any trouble. Any good looking 4 inch goes for 1500THB or more, which is about USD 50.00 ... Not bad when you buy them at USD 3.00 p/piece.

Anyhow, enough for today...can't wait for comments and for the 10 Discus to come in tomorrow.
 
Wow, what a great deal on Discus you got, where I am a 4" discus can go for between 75 and 100 easily . . . perhaps I may have to try and get some discus shipped from Thialand when I set up a discus tank (someday . . .)

But on a side note, if you are going with a bottom tank drain make sure you build it really really strong and completely leak proof. The pressure of the water on that drain is going to be immense, and if it were to fail for any reason there is really nothing you can do to stop it, for smaller tanks (say 100 gallons) a bottom drain will be stressed but should hold up, but at 1800 gallons that drain better be strong.

Just a reminder, I have seen or heard of several horror stories involving bottom drain pipes.
 
Hello e5anderm, thanks for the comments as always...appreciated...
For the Discus...there's quite some breeders here in Thailand who fedex it to you..check the web on it.
If there's anything you like to check 'on the ground' I can try to help with some calls and checks over here. There's some pretty good fish-farms here, not only for Discus but any other tropical fish as well, but it's the shipment that typically makes it quite expensive after all. Anyhow, let me know if there's anything I can do.
Will make some pictures soon, need to get a camera, current one's charger gave up.

Anyhow, for the bottom-drain, yes, that needs to be a sturdy and fool-proof design. I could go with a pond-drain, but need to check if that would work with concrete...most of them are Liner-based designs. Other options to check are pool-drains. Got a friend here who's business is in design and construction of water-filters/pools and stuff, so might check with him on it. 4 inch PVC pipe and 90' elbow no problem, just lay it before the concrete goes in. After that seal the bottom and make sure that there's no leak between the pipe and concrete. Not sure yet on how that will be done...maybe some kind of flange with silicone after the concrete is dry and sealed... I've attached a picture... If I can find a male threaded and use a female threaded elbow, I'll have it pretty much settled. Just put silicone around the drain...screw the flange in and let it dry.
Plastic Flange.jpg

That is a tricky part of course, but quite sure it can be done...Final part is to just put a cover on it with openings for the waste & water to be drained off to the filter......

Plastic Flange.jpg
 
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nice plans so far
 
House almost finished...so in a couple of weeks the 2 small tanks get a new home...to get that finished in detail, it will take about 2 months I think. Then start with groundwork for the big one... First off will be quite some visits to the weekend market to check on parts, supplies and prices.
Always nice day out, there's some amazing tanks there and any type of fish you can imagine...
 
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