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Building a large corner
tank by Ronny Thomassen Ronny Thomassen lives with his whife and two kids in Skien, Norway. He has been keeping tropical fish since 1982. He has kept a large variety of cichlids in different sized tanks but has been thinking about building his dream tank for several years. Finally he has now completed the task. The Cichlid Gallery presents his own pictorial guide on how the whole thing became reality.
In the beginning In the beginning God created heaven and earth but I had to start clearing some space.
After the walls a ceiling was painted I started to place blocks of cement on the floor to se how things might fit together.
I decided to build the base from a type of cement block called Leca so I needed to reinforce with 2x10 millimetre iron in each block. The iron was drilled into the ground. I didn’t have a heavy duty drill so I bought a very cheap one for 30 dollars. I am pretty amazed over how well it has worked. I have since drilled huge amounts of holes in concrete and even granite. I have also mixed 15 sacks of cement with it and it’s still going strong.
The stand was made with 50x25x15 cm blocks of Leca. A sketch from above.
On top of the stand I put 22mm waterproof spon. And along the outer rim I welded iron.
Now it’s ready for reinforcement and the actual casting.
I hope I wont ever have to tear this down. I have used 10 millimetre reinforcement iron that I have drilled into the walls and welded it onto the iron frame. The iron is also bent into the holes of the Leca blocks.
I had to use 12 sacks of cement to cast the base for the tank. The finished cement board is 5 cm thick. In the far corner you can see the deep end of the tank. In that particular corner the depth will reach 110 centimetres.
In the window over the tank I plan to place a sump in which I will grow several types of plants to create a natural biological filter.
I used polyester paint and the fumes are highly toxic so be careful. Now the actual tank is starting to take form. Here you can see the window for the sump. It’s 10 cm deep.
In this photo you can see parts of the frame that is to hold the front glass. It is made by 25x5 cm flat iron that is welded and secured into the walls both at the top and bottom.
The bottom coat of paint is now ready and it’s time for the topcoat. I used a light shade of bottom coat to be able to see if there are any cavities.
I will now begin to build a 200-litre sump container out of stainless steel that is to be placed underneath the tank.
The plant sump in the window is also coming along nicely.
Another pic of the whole tank at this stage. It has been painted a little more.
Now the inside has been covered with the first layer of topcoat. It came out really blue.
Here is a picture of the window where the plant sump will be. As you can see it will not be very deep. In the rear pipe in the picture I will drill a large amount of holes. A power head pumping 3 000 litres an hour will be connected to it.
I was a bit worried that the metal halide lighting would be a bit concentrated in one spot but I thing the reflector will be able to spread it nicely.
Now it’s time for the glass. As you can see I will be mounting two glass plates at the front of the tank. I will be using 10 mm float glass. This glass had been used for a large fish tank before so it was a bit of a hassle to get all the silicone off.
However I did manage without breaking it…
Here is the stainless sump tank made from 2.5 mm steel plates. It only contains 200 litres of water so it wont be a total disaster if it leaks.
And now it’s time to say a prayer. I will now begin to fill her up. I start with filling up the filter tank and the water will be pumped up into the plant sump and then down into the actual tank.
It will take quite some time…
Looking good so far..
She’s finally filled up.
This is the very deepest section reachng down to 110 centimetres.
You need wading pants like these to work this tank. I actually have to stand on my toes to prevent the water from entering them.
Everything seems to be working well. Some information about the tank:
I will not limit my self to decorate the inside of the tank. The idea is to create a whole room. Since I am now sure that the tank is not leaking I can empty it out again and start with the room. Here I have painted the first parts of the rear wall.
I have placed some dead branches on top of the painted ones on the wall. Several types of plants will grow up out of the water and onto these branches. There will be several species of insects living here such as Walking sticks.
Now I have started to fill the bottom with sand. I use quite fine grain riverbed sand.
And also rocks from the nature around me.
A forest under water..
More rocks.
A larger view.
Filling her up again..
Roots.
No leaks.
Amazingly enough everything seems to be working like it should.
Inside the filter:
It’s not that simple to be able to see where you place the plants.
I’m afraid my camera doesn’t have a wider angle than this.
This guy seems to be happy with his new home.
So does this one. I thought this parrot could live in the room. How do you think his droppings will effect the water?
The water isn’t quite clear yet.
Some tank parameters:
From above.
The roots and wooden parts are all from the Norwegian nature.
The project isn't quite finished yet and there
will be some more pictures in the near future. |
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Text and Photo © Copyright 2004 Ronny
Thomassen. For further questions please contact the author at:
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