Problems associated with very tall showtanks?

Out of curiosity where is this tank going to be installed? I assume the basement do to weight issues . . .

If so make sure you can actually fit an 8' X 5' piece of acrylic through your entrance to your basement. . .
 
the best place to find out lengths and widths and all the other measurements for building a tank is
garf.org! (it stands for something but i cant remeber)

go to the part for DIY tanks on the left hand menu and it will put up a little screen where you select the materials and the sizes and it will give you a design schematic and the thickness you need
 
There are a number of aquarium glass thickness calculators around -- try Googling it and you'll be surprised -- but many of the better ones seem to use the same formulae. Here's one that is in Excel spreadsheet form: http://members.shaw.ca/minireef/calculators.htm . When plugging in the length of the tank (8') and the depth (5'), it calculated that you'd need glass 1.53" thick. I haven't tried any of the other calculators, but it might be interesting to compare.

HTH,
Jim
 
Engineer

**** strait, RTR. I dunno about you Yankees, but 800G of water if I have my facts straight, is over 6-1/2 Short tons in your units. Just over 3T in our Metric units; if this is not resting on a concrete slab, you need some serious consultation.

I know a dude that made tanks of such dimensions (recently), we be talking 3/4" Lexan or greater to house sharks and such for rich people, and the tank design itself was not terribly difficult, though the structural modifications to support several tons of water (typically involving 6" Wide Flange structural beams welded to form a sub-frame) were not uncommon, though poured concrete was viable as well. Not a practical retrofit; He (acquaintance) only did jobs for new home builders as opposed to retrofits.

And the equipment never mind the water adds weight, but alas, that is an awful lot of water. Consult an authority.

DHM
 
Glenstorm, the tank will be in a basement, on a concrete slab. And not to sound ignorant, but how could you possibly not be able to fit a 5' x 8' piece of acrylic into a basement? All you need to do is carry it upright through the door. Right?

Thanks a lot, Demon and Jim. The Shark tank article is excellent. I will definantly be contacting that man to get advice.

Thanks RTR and D_Man, but I really don't think I will need to an engineer. As the tank will be on a concrete slab. Also, I've had a 500g in the same basement for nearly 2 years.
 
Originally posted by Rare Cichlids
Glenstorm, the tank will be in a basement, on a concrete slab. And not to sound ignorant, but how could you possibly not be able to fit a 5' x 8' piece of acrylic into a basement? All you need to do is carry it upright through the door. Right?
Click to expand...

Well... it should certainly fit through the doorway no problem. However in some homes with lower ceiling height, it can be a tad cumbersome trying to make it off the bottom of the stairs without hitting the ceiling when dealing with such large objects... but that tends to be more of a problem with solid furniture.
 
Originally posted by Rare Cichlids
Glenstorm, the tank will be in a basement, on a concrete slab. And not to sound ignorant, but how could you possibly not be able to fit a 5' x 8' piece of acrylic into a basement? All you need to do is carry it upright through the door. Right?
Click to expand...

Hey Rare,

My mistake was that I was looking at my couch and thinking "that is 8' long X 4' deep and it wouldn't fit down my basement." Obviously I was forgetting the 3rd dimension creates the difficulty.

My other thought about the basement was the fumes from the acrylic glue. It reminds me of my freshman year at college and my first experience with acrylics. One of the girls was doing another's nails with acrylic and it stank up the whole dorm. It was awful!!!
 
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