Building a new aquarium

[Frankie]

Hey everyone.
I am thinking about building a new aquarium. I have inquired with a lot of retailers out there and came to the conclusion that whats holding me back is not the prices but the quality and my DIY frame of mind. Actually Jack beat everyone out there when it came to price. Thanks Jack.
I built my current tank and am finding it hard not to build this one.
What i want to do is build a 300 gallon 96x24x30 acrylic tank. the style will be way different from my current set up. It will be open on top with pedants. All the filtration will be piped out into the garage allowing me to do pretty much anything i desire.
My current tank is great but my fish are out growing it and it is crammed full. i need swimming room!
I am searching for the cast acrylic right now and anyone with info on where i can get it please let me know. I am not in NY anymore
Well i just wanted to let you all know whats up with me. Wish me luck!

[ragvette]

Sounds like a nice setup. good luck

[sasquatch]

A grand undertaking Frankie! wow, trying to soak in a 300gal acrylic, how much bow will there be in the viewing pane(s) ?

[Frankie]

None with 3/4 cast and a 4" euro brace. trust me when i say i do my home work

[tbittner]

Plastic Tanks, Plastic Buckets, Plastic Bottles, Labware, PVC Pipe - United States Plastic Corporation ®

Excellent folks to deal with. They will cut it for you too.

[Frankie]

Thanks Terry!

[zy112]

If you going that big I would say go 30" deep for that extra dept...just a thought

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Frankie

What i want to do is build a 300 gallon 96x24x30 acrylic tank.

Thats what i said.

[tbittner]

I think that if I was going to build a tank that big and spend that kind of money on the acrylic, I would spend a little extra and get the abrasion resistent to almost eliminate the chance of scratches.

Or you can go all out and get bullet proof acrylic.

[mps9506]

Hey Frankie, quick thought here. Does your garage stay cool in the summer?
My buddy had his sump and frag tank in the garage for his 180, and ran into some serious heat issues during the summer. He had to go way oversized on the chiller and when his chiller pump failed he lost a lot of livestock.
It wasn't unusual for his garage temps to be around 100-120 F in the summer.
I know in SC the summers probably got just a tad hotter than in NC.

[JoJo]

Good luck on the planning and building Frankie. Cant wait to see the outcome of it.

[cracker]

Frankie, do You have a ball park figure on how much the acrylic would cost?

[Frankie]

About as much as buying a tank made cracker.
Yes mike i would have to run an ac unit in the garage in the summer. It is insulated and has a place for a window unit. I could also branch off the central unit and cool it off that way. Were not even sure this will be our home after May.
My main focus for now is getting material and building the tank. I am not even to sure if i will be setting it up in this house. We have been considering a move. I really want to get the tank before i relocate. I don't want to move the one i have. It will be much easier to have a tank up and running at the new location. If we move. If not, I will do it here.

[cracker]

Understood, This way You customize the tank "exactly" how you want it.

[Frankie]

Change of plans. I got in touch with a guy who builds custom stuff and i am going to use him. It will spare me the stress of building it. I can get it built by him to my spec's for less then the material would cost me. I would be a fool not to use somone with this kind of experience and quality. thanks again Fish Wilson for the referral!