3,000 Gallon Indoor/Outdoor Aquarium DIY Build

[spllbnd2]

Very nice. You shouldn’t be giving all of us ideas. Look forward to seeing how the tank progressed to how it looks today.

cheers,
Alex

 

[Joem820]

That tank is absolutely stunning and is the sort of thing that most of us mere mortals could only dream of having

 

[MartinWaite]

Reminds me of another tank I read about 30 years ago that was built outside and had only the inside viewing window. If memory serves me right I'm sure that it was near London in the UK but any maintenance had to be done from outside although he could open the window and lift a feeding hole cover to feed them. It looks like you went a bit further and smashed it out of the park.

 

[NashobaTek]

Wow! My dream tank!
Welcome to the party.

 

[Lazydayz]

Welcome to R2R! The tank is stunning!!!!! Cant wait to read more about it.

 

[dummyknuckles]

how the ground/foundation was prepped for the weight?

Just curious - what kind of prep would be needed for the ground/foundation?

 

[chrisletize]

amazing build! Does the outside of the tank get a lot of direct sunlight? How have you overcome the challenges that exterior exposure can create? Can’t wait to see more!!!

 

[Fezbearer]

I’m in awe.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I hope you are watching this... dude you’ve had more than 250 people watching this thread for ....hours....hours... now. You’ve got our attention : )

Please start that build thread : )

 

[Anchor]

I could fill a tank with the drool I am getting. just not sure anything but bacteria or virus could live in it.. NICE tank and Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Ferrell]

Nicely done and Welcome

 

[mdbronco]

I'm sure this has a lot of headaches but this makes me so happy that someone out there is doing what I've always wanted to try.

 

[Jackcarp]

How do you keep the tank warm enough in the winter??

 

[Arabyps]

Amazing!! Can double as a swimming pool!

 

[Bestshooter]

Hey guys, new member here, but I have been addicted to the hobby for 14 years now. Over the years my dad and I have built several tanks, the most notable a 600 gallon and 2000 gallon tank and have encountered many things that work and even more things that don't haha. A couple of years ago we were doing some major renovations to the backyard and we decided that an aquarium that can be viewed from both outside and inside would really take the yard to the next level. I have been meaning to create a build thread for some time now so I am finally going to put together a thread from the very start of the project to where it sits today.

I wont bury the lead any more, here are some recent pictures of the tank

-inside view

-outside view

I also made a video that kind of takes you behind the scenes lol


The actual tank's dimensions are about 9 feet by 9 feet and about 54 inches deep

I am still scrounging up and attempting to get all the photos and details in chronological order of the build, but I will be posting shortly. Hopefully this build can inspire others to build even bigger and better tanks!

Wow gorgeous

 

[Jarvisffc]

Amazing

 

[Ippyroy]

Welcome! Awesome tank. Following along.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Awesome idea! Love the big French!!!

 

[TheWildWillauers]

Very nice! I’d love to have a tank large enough for a group of Naso tangs ..... particularly unicornis. My 450 isn’t big enough lol.

Thank you! I absolutely love all the species of Naso tangs, one of the main reasons for wanting to go huge with this build to be able to have a school of them. Currently there is 1 male blonde naso, 1 male blue spine unicorn, 1 vlamingi and 6 naso sp.? that I go back and forth on what the actual species is. The LFS I got them from only had them listed as "Unicorn Tangs" and were just maybe 2 inches long for only 15 bucks so I had to get them. They grow like weeds, the largest ones are pushing 8 inches now. My guess is Naso hexacanthus? I will post more detailed pictures of them to see what you all think.

That's pretty sweet, I would've never thought of that living in Illinois, LOL.

Thank you! We are in southern Michigan so it would be no problem for you too!

how thick is that glass panel outside!

Both inside and outside panels are 1.5" thick. I haven't had any issues keeping the tank at a stable temperature even in the cold Michigan winters!

That was quite a big endeavor...impressive. Where are you located? Do you have issues with heat gain or loss in different seasons from that exterior side ?

Thanks! We are located in southern Michigan, no real issues with heat loss in the winter really, when it does get into the single digits which lately is fairly uncommon, I put up one of those 2" thick 4x8' foam insulation panels if we aren't outside viewing just to save on energy, but the 1000watt heater has no issue keeping the temperature constant! The panel is super light which makes it very easy to move around.

Now - THIS - is my kind of tank !!

Haha thank you!

Indoor/outdoor I may re think my current tank Build plan. Thanks for the idea. Now how do I convince the wife that I should cut holes in our walls?

lol I say it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission

Please more info

I promise Im going to start sharing more info tonight! I got a little tied up yesterday lol

Is this a plywood, cement, other meterials build? Those are the things im really interested in. Look into mini split ac/heat units. They are available as diy precharged units that will fix the heat issue of the room, possibly help with stability of water temp too

The frame of it is of treated wood and treated plywood. I contemplated cement / fiberglass as I think it would be more aesthetically pleasing / cleaner than the pondliner we used, but we had used this same method with pondliner previously so we went with what we knew would work. We didn't want to risk failure on such a large project. Im going to post more detailed information on the construction tonight for those that are interested! I have tried using an AC unit, but it barely put a dent into it. Surprisingly what works the best is positioning floor fans at the tanks surface allowing for cooling via evaporation. Drops the temperature several degrees quickly which is surprising considering the volume of water. My only issue with this method is it's pretty loud when they're on.

Really enjoyed seeing that! Awesome job

Very nice!

Welcome to the forum. You make quite the entrance to the forum with your tank. Now we need more pictures of your setup.

Awesome build! Welcome to R2R!

I am sooooooo following this! Awesome tank design!!

Wow, very impressive

This is so nice !! Welcome and let’s see more!!

Wow! My dream tank!
Welcome to the party.

Welcome to R2R! The tank is stunning!!!!! Cant wait to read more about it.

I’m in awe.

Nicely done and Welcome

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I really appreciate everyone's enjoyment of this project!

Count me among those who want to know what materials this is made from. And can I add how it was plumbed and how the ground/foundation was prepped for the weight?

The frame of the tank is made from treated lumber and lined with pondliner. I will show more details of how this exactly was achieved tonight!

Absolutely, positively, over the top!! Besides, any tank that has a Unicorn Tang gets my vote. Thanks for sharing!

Haha thank you! I love unicorn tangs, something about their subtle features makes them appealing to me, I am surprised we dont see them more often in the hobby.

Very nice. You shouldn’t be giving all of us ideas. Look forward to seeing how the tank progressed to how it looks today.

cheers,
Alex

Lol I know right!? That's why I have to limit myself from forums sometimes, my mind starts racing of all the things to do!

That tank is absolutely stunning and is the sort of thing that most of us mere mortals could only dream of having

lol thank you!

Reminds me of another tank I read about 30 years ago that was built outside and had only the inside viewing window. If memory serves me right I'm sure that it was near London in the UK but any maintenance had to be done from outside although he could open the window and lift a feeding hole cover to feed them. It looks like you went a bit further and smashed it out of the park.

Haha thank you! Go big or go home right

Just curious - what kind of prep would be needed for the ground/foundation?

Luckily my father is in construction and has a lot of know-how and equipment! We dug the area out to allow for us to stabilize/strengthen the foundation to support the immense weight, I will post a lot more details tonight!

amazing build! Does the outside of the tank get a lot of direct sunlight? How have you overcome the challenges that exterior exposure can create? Can’t wait to see more!!!

The outside panel faces east so it does get direct light in the winter when all the trees are leafless, but in the summer it only gets maybe an hour of light which works perfectly as it helps maintain heat in the winter and prevent heat buildup in the summer. It does pose an issue with quick algae build up though!

I hope you are watching this... dude you’ve had more than 250 people watching this thread for ....hours....hours... now. You’ve got our attention : )

Please start that build thread : )

Haha I know, I have been slacking! I promise Im going to post the beginning of the actual build tonight!

I could fill a tank with the drool I am getting. just not sure anything but bacteria or virus could live in it.. NICE tank and Welcome to R2R!!!

lol thank you!

I'm sure this has a lot of headaches but this makes me so happy that someone out there is doing what I've always wanted to try.

Thank you! It absolutely comes with headaches, just like every other aquarium lol that often makes us question why we bother with this self-induced stress haha, but somehow we just keep coming back!

How do you keep the tank warm enough in the winter??

The tank utilizes a 1000 watt titanium heater which has no problem maintaining a stable temperature, the greenhouse effect keeps the ambient room temperature in the 60s even when the outside temps are in the single digits! I think the large volume of water helps in keeping the temps stable.

Amazing!! Can double as a swimming pool!

Haha, in the summer it actually does! The algae grows in overdrive so much that I cant keep up with just a magfloat, I actually have to get in and scrub the panels!

 

[Mark Bradley]

wow!