4,000 gallon reef tank!

[dave121]

I hope to set up a 4,000 gallon reef sometime within lets say the next 20+ years.lol now seriously how would I go about building, aquascaping,lighting, fitering, and stocking this big of a tank. I was thinking concrete with a 3 inch acrilic panal on the font side of the tank (If you can consider this a tank. Some may call it a swimming pool! lol)I thank you for all your imput.

[Fishguru]

there is 1 person that can help you with that, but his story doesnt have a great ending. Mr 4000 had a similar setup, but had over 10k just into tank construction/plumbing/sumps and half of his rock. Not too mention the 200+ Corals. needless to say I think the $$ ran out, as I heard he is tearing it down. Check out his website if it is still up, i believe its www.mr4000.com might give you some ideas on where to start-Guru

[dave121]

i already looked at his site. i e mailed him and am waiting for a reply.

[ssgibbons]

Based on what I have heard, he broke it down because the condensation was trashing his house.... BUT, thats just "What I Heard"

[tgrupert]

if you want to save THOUSANDS of dollars plan on making a very long tank that isn't very high. I made a program that figures out what glass thichness would be need for different tanks and you will save a lot of money on glass/acrylic this way and you will have a lot more glass to look through. try thinking of 20' long x 8' width x 3 feet deep. That is like 4700 gallons. You could do it in 4 sections of 5'x3' panes. The other HUGE advantage of a long tank is you will need MUCH less pump power to create a large amount of water flow. Another advantage of a tank thatr is shallow is that you don't have to constantly put the scuba suit on.


You will save a lot of money if you heavaly insulate the sides and make a thermal pad to cover the glass overnight. you can also save a lot of money if you make all of your rock and culture it over several years. also stay away from electric heaters. use a gas heater with a stainless steel heat exchanger. or you could get an aluminum radiator and place it in a duct system where hot air flows.