Floating Tank Design - For something a little bit different!

[WarbyD]

i love everything about it ... except the stand height haha... I personally would hate to have a tank as low as that.. looks like it's going to be a beautiful finished product though

As far as the base/chimney/hood goes I'm not sure I would be leaning towards plastic given the amount of weight that's going to be on that base, particularly given the unsupported area around it. Any flexing or warping of that plastic could spell disaster... Any reason you don't want to build it out of ply, mdf or even steel & skin it?

-Dave

[callummc1]

i love everything about it ... except the stand height haha... I personally would hate to have a tank as low as that. looks like it's going to be a beautiful finished product though

Believe it or not, the height of the stand is actually carefully calculated. Our living room has some very low couches and at this height the tank will be exactly at eye level when you are sitting down.

Having it at this height also means that you can enjoy looking down from the top of the tank. It provides a rather unique view as with most tanks surface movement would prevent you from getting a clear view downwards. The glass cealing on this means that you get to enjoy a crystal clear view from the top

The renders above are actually Nick's tank, mine is going to be a 5 footer . So I'll have a lot more length.... I just wish I had somewhere to fit a 10ftx4ftx2.5ft monster

As far as the base/chimney/hood goes I'm not sure I would be leaning towards plastic given the amount of weight that's going to be on that base, particularly given the unsupported area around it. Any flexing or warping of that plastic could spell disaster... Any reason you don't want to build it out of ply, mdf or even steel & skin it?

It's going to be around 300kg by my calculations. Well designed and reinforced plastic using the appropriate materials should be more than sufficient for supporting the weight. We had actually considered using a slab of acrylic for the base, the problem with acrylic is painting it

Overall plastic is being considered because there is an aesthetic look that we are trying to achieve in terms of "clean lines". We don't want any visible joins on the corners etc (like you might get with laminex etc) and we are struggling to think of any other way to do it. I'd be seriously chuffed if someone could make some recommendations in this area.

I'll try to get a couple of shots of the existing Fluval hood posted today to show the effect we are looking for.

Thanks for the kind words! It's feedback like that that gives you the motivation to keep going with this type of thing (sometimes it all seems a little too complicated).

[WarbyD]

Could a thin layer of vinyl/acrylic or similar be heated and bent around a solid base to achieve the same look? I get what you're going for I'm just concerned about the strength over an extended period with the weight on top of it...

Either way it's extremely well thought out and I'm sure you won't go ahead with any design unless you've been reassured that all is going to work.. you've not rushed in to anything else in this without adequate deliberation so I don't see this aspect being any different

-Dave

[callummc1]

Could a thin layer of vinyl/acrylic or similar be heated and bent around a solid base to achieve the same look? I get what you're going for I'm just concerned about the strength over an extended period with the weight on top of it...

I hear you, I'm fairly confident it would be ok, but I'm completely open to suggestion as my initial investigations have indicated it could cost some serious $$. I'd prefer to spend on livestock really

Either way it's extremely well thought out and I'm sure you won't go ahead with any design unless you've been reassured that all is going to work.. you've not rushed in to anything else in this without adequate deliberation so I don't see this aspect being any different

-Dave

Thanks for the vote of confidence - I hope you are right

[fightingfish]

I’m drooling with anticipation………

[mattgreen]

i would realy like one of these tanks!. being able to look down through crystal clear water would be amazing

[fightingfish]

i would realy like one of these tanks!. being able to look down through crystal clear water would be amazing

As long as the glass is kept clean

[mattgreen]

i would realy like one of these tanks!. being able to look down through crystal clear water would be amazing

As long as the glass is kept clean

magnet scraper should be able to do that without an issue

[WarbyD]

I had lots of trouble keeping my glass lids (when I had them) free of algae with the water level reasonably high... personally I think it will be a bit of a nightmare keeping them clean (unless you don't mind pulling them off every day to clean)...

Have you ever tried to use a magnet cleaner on lids matt? Unless you've got some way to secure the lids it will drive you insane :P

[mattgreen]

the top glass is secure its not lids. the waterlevel is up higher that glass your thinking off. have another look at the renders.

(its completly sealed except for a small opening thats taller in the middle)