Giant fish tank ~ Are my ideas possible & can i swim in it?

[mikeg]

Okay, so basically when im older and fished school with a job, family and house of my own my goal is to build a giant freshwater aquarium. I mean huge enough where i would have to jump in and swim to clean the algae off the glass.

No idea on how big it will be but im hoping at least 10 feet by 6 and 8 feet tall.

My questions are:

1) Where can i purchase fake rocks like the ones you see at theme parks used to make artificial mountains and is it aquarium safe?
2) What type of lighting would i use
3) What type of filter would i need, how do i cycle it
4) Would i be able to swim in it? Cleaning and just for fun (Kinda like snorkeling in my own house)
5) How much do you think it would be to maintain and do you thing the idea is even possible
6) Any suggestions?

 

[Sith the turtle]

Re: Giant fish tank ~ Are my idea's possible & can i swim in it?

Probably impractical. That water would take too long to cycle, the filtration would be impossible, and imagine how much water that would be! I would stick to something you can handle, like a 100-250 gallon tank, and if that is your dream, I would start educating so you can work at an aquarium, I know that they allow snorkeling in the GA aquarium...

 

[mikeg]

Re: Giant fish tank ~ Are my idea's possible & can i swim in it?

Probably impractical. That water would take too long to cycle, the filtration would be impossible, and imagine how much water that would be! I would stick to something you can handle, like a 100-250 gallon tank, and if that is your dream, I would start educating so you can work at an aquarium, I know that they allow snorkeling in the GA aquarium...

Im not entirely intrested in working at an aquarium to snorkel. I was just thinking of doing it during my spare time and when i feel like relaxing. When i go away on Vacation and i go snorkeling and/or subdividing i feel so relaxed and at peace. Besides the people who clean the inner glass in the aquariums there is no aquarium that allows snorkeling in their tanks here in Canada that i know of. Or at least no where close by.

How do the people at aquariums like GA aquariums in Atlanta and Rupley's aquarium here in Toronto filter and keep their tanks cycled?

 

[Sith the turtle]

Re: Giant fish tank ~ Are my idea's possible & can i swim in it?

Takes a long time to, a normal tank (10-45 gallons) typically takes up to a month to cycle

 

[Autumncrossing]

Giant fish tank ~ Are my idea's possible & can i swim in it?

I don't recommend it unless you really know what you are getting yourself into. My dad has a giant 600 gallon tank... As well as many others. I can tell you right now it's not very manageable for one person.. You need a team lol. When you get that large as well you need a lot of custom made parts, filters just don't come that big. Luckily he's an engineer so he built the tank from the bottom up, not without it's problems of course. I remember many storms that knocked out our power and his tank started guzzling out the bottom all over our kitchen floor. He basically had no life besides the fish tank when he came home it took so much upkeep between maintaining it and building it. Not to mention when they decided to re-tile the house it was a blast draining all that water, moving animals and then moving the giant thing. He kept a shark for a while that required live food, very similar to newts.. It was nearly impossible for him to go on vacation you can't find many pet sitters that want to dump in live fish or chop up that many worms for that matter. At the moment it's not in use anymore, he's been to busy to fill it back up, all of his critters reside in multiple 50 and 100 gallon tanks throughout the house now.


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[Molch]

Re: Giant fish tank ~ Are my idea's possible & can i swim in it?

friend, that sounds like a nightmare, both logistically and financially. My advice: start small, enjoy your fish, and go snorkeling at the local swimming pool

 

[Otterwoman]

So, Michael, it seems like everyone is shooting down your dream. I am sorry about that. It seems like a vast project with a lot of potential pitfalls. But if this is really what you want, think through these possible pitfalls and don't give up, and if you have troubles, try again; if it is something you really want, don't ever let anyone keep you from trying. Who knows, someday you may start a business or something from your attempts and what you learn. I am sure they laughed at the Wright Brothers.

 

[Chinadog]

The easiest way of achieving something comparable would be a raised brick/block pond structure with one or more glass viewing window. The method has been proven to work perfectly many times by Kol keepers so the expensive leg work is done. These kinds of Koi pools can be built inside, outside, or even half in and half out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALrfwICnFk0

 

[ChristineB]

Yes, and these days a lot of pool companies are doing faux stone. I bet you could get a faux stone pool with acrylic viewing window built for the price of a nice car. Not cheap, but doable as a life goal if it's your priority. I think it'd be easier to keep outdoors because of humidity, but (rich) people do have indoor pools.

 

[mikeg]

I took a look at that video. It is very interesting. One video that popped up afterwards was this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDen6S5DKq4


This is something more a long the lines of what i want to do just with more of a viewing window.



For cycling i was thinking of speed cycling by use the bio chemicals such as prime and stability. Thats what most people do here when ever we set up any type of tank. For the power situation attaching a generator to the filter shouldn't be a problem. For the filter its self i was hoping i could get one custom made by some sort of company. For the most part i guess i just want to know how to go about actually do this in the future. Money is not an issue so im not concerned how how much it will cost just curious how much it will cost. I will defiantly continue to think about this project and once im done my schooling in the next 4 years and get a place of my own i will defiantly be looking into making this a reality.


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[Margie]

I suggest you check out monsterfishkeepers.com. Especially the stingray forum. Many stingray keepers (myself included) have large tanks and/or indoor ponds. You might get some good ideas there.