questions, concrete tank
- Thread starter tank90
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Good point about the filter line…. WOOPS!!!!!!!!
As for filtration; my folks neighbor/drinking buddy has an absolutely HUGE coy pond, I “think” it has a water surface area on the scale of .8 acres and I have NO clue how many gals, but a LOT… What he has done for filtration; (other than have areas dedicated to plants etc…) is pick up some used pool (community center pool) diatom filters ( big black spheres about 4’ across). As well as buy a few large water tanks (5000 Gals each) which he has filled with porous rock. He then built a shed around the filters and added insulation, heat etc…
Now I know this isn’t quite on the same scale but 500 or 1000 gal water tanks are pretty cheap, at least where I live. Depending on the climate where you are Id say just put it out back, and build around it, while the concrete people are there have them pour a pad for the filter too… For reference we just bought a new 2000 gal tank for drinking water for our cabin, I think it came to $1500.
NOW also if you already have a concrete truck coming, you could just have them pour another tank out back that you could use as a bio filter??? Keep it at the same height as the main tank, say 1/2 the size, then fill it with whatever media your heart desires… then just have a lid made for it; this way you can access the filter from the top, and clean/swap stuff out etc…
As for lighting, once again this depends where you live; but to cut down on power costs you may want to look into light tunnels…. Like a skylight but the sun is directable… Other than that your best bet is probably to go to a commercial solution like a stadium light I think they use mercury vapor and metal halide…. The only question I would have is what K ratings can you get for something that sized…. Also if your still doing your renos, my guess is a light that big probably wants 3 phase 220 (im assuming your in North America) so you may want to call up an electrician and price out getting a new service as most residential properties don’t have a 3 phase line…. And hey! If you DO get a big line in then you can park the Delorean in the garage as well and Dr Brown can power his flux capacitor when the lights are off
As for filtration; my folks neighbor/drinking buddy has an absolutely HUGE coy pond, I “think” it has a water surface area on the scale of .8 acres and I have NO clue how many gals, but a LOT… What he has done for filtration; (other than have areas dedicated to plants etc…) is pick up some used pool (community center pool) diatom filters ( big black spheres about 4’ across). As well as buy a few large water tanks (5000 Gals each) which he has filled with porous rock. He then built a shed around the filters and added insulation, heat etc…
Now I know this isn’t quite on the same scale but 500 or 1000 gal water tanks are pretty cheap, at least where I live. Depending on the climate where you are Id say just put it out back, and build around it, while the concrete people are there have them pour a pad for the filter too… For reference we just bought a new 2000 gal tank for drinking water for our cabin, I think it came to $1500.
NOW also if you already have a concrete truck coming, you could just have them pour another tank out back that you could use as a bio filter??? Keep it at the same height as the main tank, say 1/2 the size, then fill it with whatever media your heart desires… then just have a lid made for it; this way you can access the filter from the top, and clean/swap stuff out etc…
As for lighting, once again this depends where you live; but to cut down on power costs you may want to look into light tunnels…. Like a skylight but the sun is directable… Other than that your best bet is probably to go to a commercial solution like a stadium light I think they use mercury vapor and metal halide…. The only question I would have is what K ratings can you get for something that sized…. Also if your still doing your renos, my guess is a light that big probably wants 3 phase 220 (im assuming your in North America) so you may want to call up an electrician and price out getting a new service as most residential properties don’t have a 3 phase line…. And hey! If you DO get a big line in then you can park the Delorean in the garage as well and Dr Brown can power his flux capacitor when the lights are off
I have a small in wall concrete tank, **** that poisonous concrete... I have kept discus alive in it for about 2 years now and mbuna for several years before that. :joke:
I have an outlet near the bottom of my tank (I know 270g is not several thousand) and the pressure is actually less than you would think. It sure makes the filter pump run easy though. I would skip the drain and just mount the filter outlet near the bottom, the drain would just be covered by sand/gravel/decor and only being used to drain it which you could do with the filter outlet anyway.
I have an outlet near the bottom of my tank (I know 270g is not several thousand) and the pressure is actually less than you would think. It sure makes the filter pump run easy though. I would skip the drain and just mount the filter outlet near the bottom, the drain would just be covered by sand/gravel/decor and only being used to drain it which you could do with the filter outlet anyway.
chefkeith is correct, the pressure doesn't depend on the the volume, only on deapth. The 2.7 psi is whats important for the pump thing. The only thing with that is, 2.7 psi its that much less that the pump has to fight against. Probably not a huge thing though.
joephys said:
I can't recall how deep my filter outlet is mounted but the pressure sure helps the pump out. I tried my canister filter with the supplied "cane" pick up tube and used a 25 gallon container to measure the output, I then hooked it to the filter outlet on the tank and measured again. It's been a long time since I did it but the difference was pretty large. I know that when I measured using the filter outlet it actually exceeded the rated flow of the filter even though it had some pretty dense media in there. A friend of mine went and had all his large tanks drilled for filter outlets after our little test.
