My 3665 Gallon Lined Plywood Tank Build Log

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sploke said:
The problem with ponds is that they very rarely have nice square corners and straight, flat edges. I know when I did mine, due to the shape, it was necessary to have many smaller folds to fit the contour rather than 4 large ones. The smaller ones are much more difficult to keep folded down flat...pond liner doesn't crease like paper. Think of it as folding a bicycle tire....you can fold it in half, but its going to want to unfold it as soon as the pressure is off.
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I completely get what you're saying. I'm hoping you're not right. I'm banking on a couple things. The triangle fold of the liner in each corner will be sandwiched between the inner liner wall and the plywood. The fold across the top is then sandwiched between 2 2x6s to secure it. The folded liner can't escape because it has nowhere to go. As I said, we'll see if my theory is correct in practice. You'll be the first to know if I succeed or fail.
 
DrVader said:
This is going to be epic Nola.

Question for you and those with monster tanks in general re: access. What happens when you need to service areas that are central tank? Don waders and walk in? I'm assuming its essentially the same as an above ground pond.
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Pretty much. My friend doesn't even don waders. He just gets in the tank and does what he needs to.
 
I think you'll be fine, for a few reasons - one, your folds are much longer than in a pond - most of the folds in mine are 4-6" deep. If yours go 6-8' back behind the inner layer, thats a lot more material (and a lot more water pressure) pushing on them to keep them flat. Also, securing that length of material flat along the top (which you should be able to do fairly tightly with a flat, square surface) will go a long way. I was stuck trying to hold down a 4" fold with pieces of travertine tile. It stayed flat at the top, but sticks up more the further it gets away from the weight holding the fold down.
 
that will be really awesome but what are you goin to put in it
 
Sploke, the folds will actually be 48x60x76 (on the diagonal), so not quite 6-8', but close.

gratleop, the end stocking is planned to be arowanas and freshwater stingrays primarily. I'm getting 15 4-5" silver arowanas to start growing out in a couple weeks. They'll start off in the 210 while I'm building the big tank.
 
After I get the fish room emptied, I'm going to build a pvc skeleton of the tank and hang plastic or cardboard to test my room dynamics. I don't want to get into real construction and have a logistics nightmare.

Next steps:

Empty Fish Room
Remove Ceiling Fans
Tear Out Ceiling
Raise Ceiling
Install Ventilation Ducts And Route to Roof Power Ventilator
Install Hardware to Suspend Lights and Pully for Raising Them
Sheetrock, Float
Remove French Doors Then Close In Wall.
Install Small Ventilation Windows On Closed In Wall
Remove Baseboards
Tear Out Sheetrock on Front and Side Wall
Move Electrical Outlets Above Tank Height
Build 24" Retaining Wall with Sealed Concrete Board Then Caulk
Create Seal on Door To Laundry Room
Install 3 4" Drains To Outside

Build Tank
Build Filters
Install Liner
Lower Front of Liner and Bring in Front Glass/Acrylic
Raise Liner and Temporarily Secure
Mount Front Glass/Acrylic
Wait Forever and a Day for Dow 927 to cure
Test Fill Tank (Pray Like Crazy It Doesn't Leak)
Drain Tank
Cut in Bulkheads
Plumb Risers on Bulkheads to Tank Height
Refill Tank
Test for Leaks (Pray Again More Than Last Time)
Plumb In Filters
Test Run Primary Filter Subsystems
Watch For Leaks
Add cycled gravel and sand and huge cycled sponge filters
STOCK IT!
 
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