4300 Gallon Plywood Build (3600+ Take 2)

The bottom board of the front wall is already anchored to the slab. I screwed into that board.

The whole floor is tied into the walls, so there's no need for any diagonal bracing. The whole floor is one big brace of 4.5 x 5.5 beams (3 2x6s stacked on flat). There are 2x6 tabs on 3 sides that the floor braces tie into and the back wall is tied in with 8" x 3/8" lag bolts.

There's 5 lag bolts from inside the tank through the 2x6 that runs the length of the back wall with flat and lock washers. There will be 5 staggered on the outside wall of the same level board. I used 5/16 spade bit to drill the pilot hole then ratcheted the lag bolts in. They aren't coming out and have a 2.5" bite into the opposing board.

The diagonal bracing on top is not really needed, but as with everything added insurance doesn't hurt.

I wouldn't use the heated floor due to the unknown response from the tank coating bond. Heated from the underside may cause separation from the wood. Maybe not with Pond Armor, but who knows with the Pond Coat liquid rubber.

My heating will be from a tankless hot water heater. Thin wall pvc will be the heat exchange. It will be hidden from view by that corner that jogs over. Still working on the details, but I'm confident I'll have no heating issues.
 
foolishfish said:
Stress wise consider the physics involved in above ground swimming pools. Medium guage sheet metal with a sectional track and caps screwed together with little #6 screws holding back 6-8-10,000 gallons of water. The whole thing depends on the integrity of a 20 mil. piece of vinyl.
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Actually, it doesn't rely on the the liner. It relies on the strength of a circle or half circle unbroken. Round structures are the strongest since every part of the wall is pulling against the other. That's the reason the diagonal bracing will work so well; far superior to cross bracing.

If you notice any pool that isn't round relies on outside bracing to shore up the walls. Only the round pools are self-stabilizing. That's why the flimsy kiddie pools are so durable even with kids jumping in and out of them.

We had a 24' round aluminum wall pool for at least a dozen years growing up. It was over 13K gallons and I used to let it turn green in the winter and breed goldfish in it. We'd empty and clean it in the spring and you'd never know it was a winter pond.
 
Partly so. Yes to the round being self stabilizing, as long as it's kept round, but the ovals don't just use diagonal braces along the straight section of wall. They rely quite heavily on the corresponding bottom flat straps that connect the opposing sides. My only point was the relative structural accomplishment of containing 1000's of gallons of water with a hundred or so pounds of metal is impressive. By comparison your tank structure is a veritable bank vault.

Thanks for the effort and inspiration. Not only have the pics and updates been interesting but it's great to have someone I can point to and say, "see honey, at least I'm not as crazy as..."

Just kiddin'. Thanks again and best of luck! Maybe next project could be a small submersible so you can give tours.
 
We are here whenever you are ready to update , lookin real nice Pete .:popcorn:
 
I actually have two more projects in the works; a 2500 gallon indoor pond in my garage and a 5000 gallon outdoor pond. They'll be connected. More details in another thread sometime soon.
 
Nolapete said:
My heating will be from a tankless hot water heater. Thin wall pvc will be the heat exchange. It will be hidden from view by that corner that jogs over. Still working on the details, but I'm confident I'll have no heating issues.
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What brand of heater are using? I work in a plumbing warehouse and we sell a few different brands,and none of them are recommend to be used in this way.For reasons that are slipping my mind right now.:duh:
 
Now I remember.They are not designed to be continually used,24/7.And PVC is a poor heat conductor.
It will wear out the heat exchanger. Just wondering if you had found one that has elimented this problem.
Rinnai,Navien,and Rudd are the brands we carry.
A commerical one may solve this problem,but I'm not sure.
 
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67chevelle said:
To not use them to heat spas and pools.
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That's if the water from the spa/pool is going through it. I'm not using it that way. I'm only heating the water in the heat conductor which will be distilled water.

I could use PEX or however it's spelled. I think that's the stuff they use in heated subfloors. I haven't done much research on the tubing, but TheFishGuy used it on his big tank and it works fine. His is off of his primary hot water heater, but mine is on the other side of the house, so I have to go with the tankless.
 
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