Advice needed for tall tank

[BILLYZ]

I am planning on a 96"lx36"dx48"tall planted tank. I understand through reading other posts that this will be difficult. Lighting issues as well as well as accessablity will make for a challenging daily routine. I'm up for it. I'm looking for advice on set up. I was thinking I could raise the substrate up about a foot in the rear 1/2 with rocks and or drift wood acting as a retaining wall and plant there leaving the front half pebbles. I am planning on adding fish after the plants are established. I have had my mind on this size tank for quite a while and really want it to work. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[djlen]

Just curious....are you building or having this tank built for you? Also, why do you want such a tall tank?
You are correct, lighting and maintenance will be real issues in a tank that tall.
The substrate will, unless constantly managed (this will not be easy) revert to level without terracing it with foam, stone or glass. IME, just driftwood or rocks will not keep it from leveling.
My suggestion would be to thoroughly research ways to keep the substrate in place for the long haul before filling the tank with water.
Also, MH or CF lighting will be a necessity to get a penetrating light down to the depths you will have.
Lots of luck with a tank that deep. I couldn't even consider it. My arms are just too short.

Len

 

[Kyohti]

I imagine you could craft a terrace to create the grade you're wanting out of class or perhaps even sealed cement? Terracing would keep things in place more permanently and could be hidden with the plants, driftwood, and stones to give the effect your looking for, perhaps?

 

[Mgamer20o0]

my tank is 24in tall. i am a tall guy with long arms and i still find it hard to clean in spots. i would never do a tank taller then 24 inch unless it was a monster tank.

 

[djlen]

Below are some communications via PM that Billy and I had regarding this topic.
I wanted to post them because this is kind of a unique topic and I thought more feedback would lead to more information being dispersed.

Re: large tank help

Quote:
Originally Posted by BILLYZ
Thanks for repyling. The terracing idea with glass is great. I was actually going to retain the wall with black plastic border you can buy for outside gardens. I think the glass idea is much better.
I have been getting bids from some aquarium manufacters. Tenacor seems to have given me the best help and price so far.
The reason i want it deep is to allow for more fish. I can't have It longer or deeper due to space. My only option was to go up. I am hoping to find supplies that will help me reach the bottom. I am having trouble locating any tonges longer than 30".
Thanks
Billy

Would it be OK if I copy and pasted this PM onto the original thread to continue the discussion? If not I will reply here, but would prefer to make it available to some of the other members.
It's an interesting topic and one that I think a lot of folks would find interesting.

Len

Sure, go ahead and post it. I reallly would like as much feed back on this as possilbe.
How many watts per gallon do you think i would need to grow plants effectivly on the "terrace" if it was only 36" tall. I was reading about some of the plant types in the forum and Java Moss requires low light. Could i plant low light plants at the 48" level and moderate to high at the 36"?
Billy


First I have to say, and I hope I am wrong, that you may come to regret building a tank that tall. Even assuming that you find a way to distribute plants according to light-neediness (is that a word?), you will almost certainly need pressurized CO2 to deal with the abundance of light needed to penetrate that depth. This, along with a strong nutrient regimen, will push plants and require a lot of attention with regard to pruning. And that's going to be a major issue, IMO.
I'm trying to figure how you're going maintain the lower reaches without actually getting into the tank to do it. Most folks advocate a weekly 50% water change when dosing heavily, and that would be the time to perform maintenance on the lower areas because you wouldn't need a snorkel and/or flippers to do it, but pulling, trimming and replanting should require more than a long set of tongs.
With good penetrating light you could use E. tenellus or similar on the low area which would require less maintenance, and then terrace up with different widths of glass set in at various, random angles, fronted with bog wood, rock etc.
The depth (front to back) allows for a variety of CF lighting which will do the job from a penetration perspective. I'm not a big fan of or as familiar with MH lighting as some, but they penetrate very well if you like that look and have a way to deflect the glare that they create.

Please don't mis-interpret what I'm saying here. I would like to see you make this successful and applaud your enthusiasm. I'm just pointing out some of the drawbacks to building a tank that tall.
Hopefully more people will chime in with more ideas on this topic.

Len

 

[ergo sum]

I recall reading years ago a book about the adventures of a fish keeper in New York. One tank he worked on was so large that he in fact did get into the tank. Anyway....

I have grown java moss literally in the dark with very little ambient light. But given the depth it would be difficult to maintain as it gets clogged with debris all the time. I would look for other choices among the low light plants. Perhaps at that depth some driftwood with java fern that you could remove for maintenance. Just pick up the whole piece of wood. With maybe just enough gravel to cover the bottom.

I am wondering about the plumbing??
Perhaps you could fashion some undergravel filter plates in the deep area and plumb a return pipe to suck out that area continually. Also I would think you would need some flow through the foot or so of gravel behind the wall.

The glass partition sounds like a great idea. Perhaps you could glue together some thin stone to cover it. One drawback would be that you are filling in a large area of the tank with gravel. Maybe a horizontal shelf would be a better idea. I suppose that would be harder to maintain. Though you could get light to it from behind the aquarium.

Just some scattered thoughts.

 

[Ransom]

You say you're making it (718 gallons) so tall so that you can house more fish in the same area.

Just keep in mind that you can't automatically keep twice as many fish in a 48" tall tank as a 24" tall tank because the surface area (for gas exchange, etc.) is the same. Even with additional aeration, your fish won't be able to use the additional space well, i.e. you won't be able to have any more bottom or top dwellers than in the shorter tank because it has the same amount of bottom/top space, and the mid-water fish may not decide to spread out evenly.

You may also not be pleased with your aquascaping efforts as the proportions between 36" tall plants in the back to short plants in the 36" from front to back may look odd or it might look really good - I don't really know. In either case you won't have many examples or people to compare notes with that have your proportions. You won't get many replies to "What's a good mid-ground plant that grows 3 feet tall?"

How tall is your stand going to be? Will you be looking up at the bellies of your fish? Will you need a ladder to reach the top? (^_^)

 

[Hound]

If I'm remembering right there was another member about 6 months ago doing a 4' tall aquarium for a client I believe it was. The member in question had posted pics durring and after set up and such. I kinda searched around the site, but cannot locate the post atm. If someone else remembers that post and has it marked the info from there would probably be helpful here.

 

[BILLYZ]

Thank you all for the input. I hope more comes along.
I'll answer some of the questions and thoughts. The stand is planned for 30" high and the top will be 26" from the ceiling. I am planning on using a ladder and was hoping (maybe foolishly) that I would be able to maintain the further reaches with a long set of tongs and and extension on some sissors for trimming. I was also going to hook up a manual vacume system similar to the type they use for cleaning the bottom of swimming pools to suck the ugly stuff from the far corners.
Regarding the surface area:
It was stated that the middle zone fish may not spread out evenly in the space. Is that a may not or a firm won't? I didn't really think of that. I just assumed they would share the space. I was thinking of putting in South American fish that can survive around 80 degrees. Discus, Tetras, Cory's ect.
Regarding the terrace:
I was thinking that I could put a shelf at about 9" up leaving 3" for gravel so i wouldn't have the whole 12" filled with gravel. So i'd have a 12" terrace wall in the middle of the tank and a platform at 9" on the back of that wall that goes back to the rear wall the the tank. This will allow for 3" of gravel and not the whole 12". Hopefully that makes sence.
Please keep the thoughts coming. I need as much input as possible. I have been planning this in my head for about 8 years. I am still doing research.
The best thing is that I haven't purchased it yet. It is only mine in my head.
I really want to try and make it work and i'm always up for a good challenge, but I don't want to fail at the impossilbe. I'm not trying to invent anything i just want a huge tank with lots plants and fish.

Thanks again,
Billy

 

[Mgamer20o0]

so your leaving just over 2 feet to get in and clean the tank. i would have the tank resting on some wood. its going to be hard to clean putting it higher in the air isnt going to help much.