Interesting Thought

darkwolf29a · Post by **darkwolf29a** » 05 Nov 2007, 17:07

I'm starting the thought process of building a tank, strictly for catfish. Obviously, I'd rather have it shallower, since catfish don't use the top part of the tank anyways.

I'm thinking 2ft wide, 3ft long, and 12in high. Such a tank should hold about 45 gallons of water.

Has anyone built a tank? Have any suggestions on where to start? I'm thinking the glass would need to be tempered, but I'm not sure where to go with this one. LOL

Any Thoughts, etc would be greatly appreciated.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 05 Nov 2007, 17:40

I have built many similar aquariums. I and many others call them "breeder tanks" The high surface area to volume ratio favors high stocking levels.
When I had a large hatchery I use a somewhat smaller tank as my standard tank and they were all 25 gallon tanks made entirely from 3/16 inch thick glass. The LXWXH dimensions were: 30X16X12-inches. I had 100 of these. I have built one that was 60X20X16H-inches, 83 gallons. I used 1/4 inch plate, 2, 2-inch wide stiffening strips and a 6 inch cross brace attached underneath the longitudinal stiffening strips. These added structural elements were all cut from 3/16 inch glass.
I would not bother with tempered glass because it adds unnecessary expense where normal plate glass is perfectly adequate. Either use all 1/4 inch thick plate or 1/4 inch plate for the bottom and 3/16 inch for the sides. The shallow height of 12 inches means the stresses involved are low. I would consider reducing the width to 20-inches.
I do recommend a 1 or 1-1/4 inch wide strip of 3/16-inch glass at the top of the two longest sides as a stiffening element.
It is important that the tank be well supported and a layer of styrofoam or neoprene sheeting will remove small irregularities present on a supporting shelf that can cause "point loads." The entire bottom should be supported in this design. Not just edge supports like those an angle iron stand provides.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 05 Nov 2007, 18:57

You can probably find a company relatively close-by that can custom make tanks, which if you are not already handy with a glass-cutter and silicon-gun may take a bit of stress and frustration out of your life (in replacement for some dollars of course, no such thing as a free lunch).

Jools (the web-master here) has custom-built tanks that are 18" tall and 30" x 48" floor. Nice for catfish, indeed.

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 05 Nov 2007, 20:29

I had a custom 48"x18"x15" made and it was no more expensive than a standard 48"x15"x18" as the glass panels are of regular size, i.e. they don't have to make them up specially.

Your panels are of standard size so, it should be pretty cheap, providing you don't need 10mm+ glass.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 05 Nov 2007, 21:31

To the best of my knowledge, a "standard" sheet of glass in the USA is 4X8 feet.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 05 Nov 2007, 22:04

To the best of my knowledge, a "standard" sheet of glass in the USA is 4X8 feet.

What I mean is that, as the factory will certainly make regular sized tanks, it will have all its machines set up to to cut out standard size sheets e.g. 36"x12".

They will not have to change the machine settings in order to make an odd sized sheet, as they will have some lying around or just make it as per normal.

This is what I've been told anyway.

Colin Keightley · Post by **Colin Keightley** » 05 Nov 2007, 22:43

I buy in glass to glaze doors and I'll think youll find that it doesnt matter if it is standard size or not if they can get it out of a standard sheet (which are very large) then they charge per square metre or part there of, then charge for how many cuts which is usually 2 per pane.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 05 Nov 2007, 23:47

I buy glass at independent glass shops and they all operate similar to the way Colin described his glass buying experience.

The important issue is that we can build custom sized glass aquariums. The cost seems to be roughly equal to buying a manufactured tank. I used to be able to buy scrap/salvaged glass but that doesn't seem possible anymore from my local shops. I could never have afforded to build all of my old hatchery tanks out of all new glass.

Post by **Birger** » 06 Nov 2007, 00:22

I'm thinking 2ft wide, 3ft long, and 12in high

I would still go a little deeper, say at least 16 inches high, it gives you a little more room for wood, stone terracing etc.It would also give more room if you wanted to go with some midrange schoaling cats...for ex. Pareutropius buffei, even a pleco only tank I would go for the higher volume of water.
Is this tank to be used for display or for a specific breeding purpose?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 06 Nov 2007, 09:57

Birger makes a good point - and a further consideration on the theme is that both internal and external filters tend to "like" taller tanks - that is, internal filters for sure are often tall enough to barely fit in 12" of water [and a 12" tank will not have 12" of water], and external filters will need some water depth to stick into - this is perhaps less of an issue than the internal filter.

--
Mats

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 06 Nov 2007, 11:46

I got a few 30 cm (almost 12 inches) tanks (12), all with internal filtration. Thre filttration is, however, custom made friom glass, and operates by a mini pump, pumping 400 - 1000 l/hr (I have 4 diffeent types, depending on the size of the tank)

one tank, 160 * 50 * 30 cm, was used for high current fishes. Thus I added an eheim pro II (pumping 100 l/hr) to the existing pump of 800 l/hr.

I did not have any problems with this pump.

30 cm hig tanks are - in my eyes - perfect for growing out fry, but not for a display tank.

darkwolf29a · Post by **darkwolf29a** » 06 Nov 2007, 13:10

Birger wrote:
I'm thinking 2ft wide, 3ft long, and 12in high
I would still go a little deeper, say at least 16 inches high, it gives you a little more room for wood, stone terracing etc.It would also give more room if you wanted to go with some midrange schoaling cats...for ex. Pareutropius buffei, even a pl*co only tank I would go for the higher volume of water.
Is this tank to be used for display or for a specific breeding purpose?

It would be both, actually. I live in an apartment. Currently, I a 20L with just Albino Corys and Otos in them, a 75 with an Oscar and a common Pleco, 1-40 for Convict Cichlid breeding and a 20Reg grow out tank for the babies, plus some 2.5, 5, and 10s for guppies. But...I'm not going to be doing much with the guppies, so they'll be moved in the 20 regular once the latest convicts move out. I guess, I'm in the process of changing from guppies, which are ok but not my favorite, to catfish. I'd like to be able to get a decent size grouping going, with breeding potential, with the idea of seperating babies and Moms to be.

snowball · Post by **snowball** » 09 Nov 2007, 12:59

As others have said I'd go higher than 12", in practice 16" to 18" is easier to manage and more workable for the fish. I have a 4' x 2' 18" hight that works quite well.

Post by **Birger** » 10 Nov 2007, 06:04

It would be both, actually. I live in an apartment.

That makes it a little more difficult, I am guessing there are tanks spread all over the apartment, I find getting all your tanks in one general area makes maintenance easier and more enjoyable with a display tank or two being the exception, so if this would be a start of a compact stacking process I would say go for it(with the 12 inch) if not I would still go with the higher tank.

darkwolf29a · Post by **darkwolf29a** » 12 Nov 2007, 14:41

I have a rack, a metal bookcase, that I put tanks on. It's 3ft wide, of variable height, and about 16 to 18 inches deep. It fits most things just fine.

As long as I keep to the smaller side of tanks. ;) Anything bigger and I have to find a place to put it.

I've simplified maintainence as much as possible, with the addition of a Mag 3 pump and a homemade hose for pumping water into tanks.

No more carrying 5 gallon buckets around.

Of course, I don't have half the issue my girlfriend does..she likes Bettas, and has gotten into 3 different tail types, so we have 5 gallon tanks of single male bettas everywhere. LMAO