My 3665 Gallon Lined Plywood Tank Build Log

[Nolapete]

xsdbs, it's 12'x8'x5'. I could do a divider, but I have no interest in doing so. I'm also not interested in doing saltwater. Freshwater fish have much more interesting personalities. It's hardly miniature either. The festae male is 16" already.

ChrisK, I'm about to head back out there in a few minutes. Most of the stuff I have to go through was put there after Katrina while I was working on my house. I just haven't had time or motivation to do anything with it. I get sidetracked very easily too

Luc, yes they will be PART of the filtration, but I'll only be putting about 1000 gph through them. Most canisters don't use super high flow. Check the flow rates on popular canisters like Rena xP3, Fluval 403, etc. I'm going to be using some aquaculture technology for some of the subsystems.

 

[Phatboydime]

Holy sweet mother of aquariums. Pete you fell of the chicken truck and hit your head didnt ya...

 

[Nolapete]

Nah, I just finally realized what I had sitting right in front of me since I change the office into a fish room after Katrina.

Phase 1A - clear space in garage for fish room tanks - COMPLETE

I'll post final pics before moving tanks in on my next post.

Phase 1B - move smaller aquariums out of fish room

- repair stand and canopy for 210 then paint black
- move racks into garage
- move 75s out of dining room on to racks
- move 90 into living room
- move fish out of 210 and empty it
- find place for 50 marine tank
- move 210 stand and canopy into living room

Sounds fun right? I know this part of the build is boring, but it's part of it and I think it should be documented. I guess I could just do the build then post everything at once or just wait until I start building the tank. I don't know.

 

[Buckdog]

I love it. I'm staying posted on watching this one. Have fun!

 

[jpappy789]

*jaw drop*

 

[Phatboydime]

Do not....I reapeat Do not, NOT post progress pics.

 

[Nolapete]

Here's my seamed liner idea. I'm still waiting on an email back from a pond liner company to see if it can be done. The Firestone QuickSeam is 6" wide and used to join one liner to another. It clearly indicates that it is not for indoor use, so I'm also waiting for a response as to why that is.

 

[Matt101905]

This is going to be a great tank....one question though? What happens if another big hurricane hits New Orleans and you have a) no power b) no generator/gas for generator c) structural damage? I guess that equals dead fish?

You were talking about different sub-systems...what would be cool is a like a FW Refuge you had hooked up to the tank to help with nitrates and stuff. Have you ever thought about that? I'm sure you could turn one of your current tanks into one. Just get some nitrate sucking plants and pack your aquarium with them. Shouldn't be to hard to plum in right? Anyways good luck with your tank! Can't wait to see the rest.

--Matt

 

[Luc]

Really curious about your filtration systems.
You have some ideas written up in basic terms already? Or you gonna keep us waiting?
I mean, I really don't mind waiting but no longer than..say...another 2 days or so...lol.

 

[Nolapete]

Matt, I plan to have some sort of algae scrubber to remove nitrates. I'll probably run a line outside and use a natural sunlight one. Still considering that thought. Plants will be out of the question because of my stocking choices (constant digging) and I can't afford to provide enough light, ferts, CO2 for a tank that big.

Luc, I haven't worked out all the details yet, but along with the canisters there will most likely be a filter that resembles a giant Aquaclear 110. My focus is on nitrate control as I'll have a lot of biological filtration and on clarity. I don't want to have a bunch of particulate matter in the water column. I may do some water polishing with gradually reducing micron filter screens.

I have far too many ideas to document here, but you can see a lot of my ideas by going to aquaticeco.com. I have a printed catalog from them and have known about them for at least 20 years or so.