Make or buy a 500 gallon tank? What's cheaper?

I'm going to have to acquire or make a big tank within the year, one that is at least 300 gallons and maybe 500 for my spotted gars. I know the price rises exponentially as tank size increases due mainly to the need to have thicker glass. I don't think it would be that hard to make a big tank with the use of large furniture clamps, but does anyone have any ideas on materialising a big tank like this for less than thousands of dollars? Suspect

I don't know which is cheaper, but it sounds like it could be a fun project. I found this site and think you will find it very helpful. It's plans for a 140 gallon tank, but it also shows a 500 gallon that is used as a reef tank. It has material break down and costs, not sure if the costs are current, but should be close.
140 gallon tank and up
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I think you should just make one, as the prices for a tank that big are outragous, and way over your budget. Are you going to get a cylinder tank or just a regular rectangle tank? Go with cylinder, your gars (and your wallet) will thank you. You should start by finding a glassworker that can make a tank like that, and trust me, there are some pretty good glassworkers out there. Then build a pretty strudy wooden stand, and make sure it is solid and not hollow for most of the stand. Stain it if it is not stained already, it will make it look a lot nicer. Get a cover that has a spot for the lights, then again, stain it. Finally, get about 3 canister filters, 3 heaters, and then decorate the tank, then fill it with water. This should come to about 1.3 grand, just a bit over your budget. I have been in the same situation, but I found out the hard way of not having a solid stand pale

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

HTH
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

A cylindrical tank? Wouldn't a 300-500 gallon cylindrical tank be really hard to make? That's like taking about 12-15 feet of thick glass, bending it around a cylinder and welding the ends. Maybe plexiglass? I would think this is more costly than a rectangular tank. No? It sure would look nice though.
Thanks also Celticwraith for that link.

Actually, cylindrical tanks are slightly cheaper as the glass doesn't need to be that thick because the water would have more room to expand out, creating less pressure thus making the requirement for thick glass diminish. With that being said, you need about 2 1/2 to 3 inch thick glass, and that would be fairly easy for glassworkers since it is all one piece. In my opinion, cylindrical is the best and cheapest way.
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

Damn that's thick glass! When you say the glass doesn't have to be that thick and 2.5 inches isn't that thick I think that's insane! I'd need a crane to get it to a second floor for sure!. I'd say an inch thick with a cylinder is enough considering the structural strength of round shapes, but I'll probably go with a 300-500 gallon wide rectangular tank say 3-4 foot wide. 3 feet would fit through a door. My 100 gallon has a center brace and the glass all around is 0.5 inches thick, so going to an inch for a tank 3-5X this size seems about right with a rectangle. It won't be that long, maybe 8-10 by 3 by 3 feet and I'd probably place a center brace in or two to strengthen the front and rear panes at the top. I think bending 15 foot or so length of glass would be much more than you think and even one piece this size before the custom bending would be quite costly. I still can't see why smaller pieces put together or even following the directions on the link where all but the front pane is plywood for a rectangular tank wouldn't be a lot cheaper. Anyway, thanks for the advice all. It'll be at least 6 months before I do this so I'll get back to this post at that time. Garman Suspect

I guess an inch would be okay with cylindrical tanks, but only if you had a brace on the top and bottom of the tank. You could always go acrylic, its lighter and cheaper and doesn't break as easy as glass. If you did go acrylic, it would be less costly, but its your call on how you wanna do this....
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

I was thinking of acrilic. That's what large public aquariums use.

Exactly. I think you should get a cylindrical tank. Maybe bring it in in two pieces of acrylic, then sealing it together with silicone.
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

Do you know how much things like this cost or are you guessing? If cylindrical tanks were so cheap compared to the classic rectangle there would be more in use. I think it's a lot harder to accurately bend a huge thick sheet of glass than to blow a beautiful glass pipe or something.

Im just saying that I have had better budget experiences with cylindrical tanks. Its your choice, not mine. And yes, I am fully aware of the budget for these things, as I have had a 250 gallon cylindrical tank, but it smashed to pieces because my stand was not sturdy enough...
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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

I have seen some big tanks that where glass that I can stand in and I'm 6'2. The glass was at least 1/2 inch thick, not sure of how many gallons, but I'm thinking less than the tanks you are planning. If I was going to build a tank it wouldn't be any where near the size you are talking about and if I was I would purchase plans, so that I would have a parts list and got the proper materials. If I where going to get it built for me I would go and get someone who has done large aquariums. I have found some prices, but I'm not saying Fish_Genius is incorrect about the price range of a cylinder tanks cost, it maybe less to find a crafts person to build you the tank than to buy it online or from a retailer that can get that type of tank. I did a quick search and grab a couple prices from a couple of sites that sell aquariums, an 80 gallon cylinder tank made of acrylic was $4,304.00 with stand and canopy and a 150 gallon was $1,112.00 just for the tank, so it's most likely $2,000 with the stand, now that is marked up so that they make money. I think that it's going to be a very expensive project no matter how you do it. Also I always thought glass was cheaper than acrylic, it's been 20 years, but I use to frame large pictures. I always thought it would be better to use acrylic and safer on very large pictures, but we always used glass, because it was less expensive. I should mention that the place I did this for was a none profit charity, so money was always an issue. I do realize that over time it may have become cheaper. I just thought I would throw this at you, and I'm sure there are holes in my small bit of research.
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Well FG, if you've done it you should know! A cylindrical tank would be very cool but I doubt I'll have a house within a year and probably need to make this apartment friendly, so it'll probably need to fit through a door 3 feet wide. I like the plans on the link Celticwraith provided. I actually had to Google the plans for the 140 and 500 gallon tanks as I couldn't seem to get there from that link. They show a tank built partly with plywood. I've got a lot of thinking to do. I'll start this forum up again when I'm going to start this project and let you guys know what I do. Thanks for the help.

I actually have done this, but its only because my 250 gallon cylindrical acrylic tank was used before I got it, so it was about $350. I do agree with Celtic, but those are new cylindrical tanks. I guess we all have our opinions, and im sorry if im pushing the limits with you garman, thats just the fish maniac in me Smile

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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

I believe you if you say you've done it. I just have to think of what can fit through a door as I will probably still be in my apartment in a year from now. Even a 3 by 3 by 7 foot tank would be a chore to get in and out of my place. I guess I could build it inside my apt, but I'll want to be able to move out with it as well. Suspect

Just wondered are you in an upper apartment or lower and will the floors support that kind of weight? I have read that people have had to reinforce there floors for very large tanks.

I'm currently in an upper floor apartment. I guess that's worth looking into. I'll try to find out from people in the area or from the owner how well the floors are made. I know the building is pretty sturdy because I've been in quite a few and you can tell when you jump on the floor if it's relatively sturdy or not. Maybe I can reinforce the top of the floor if it's necessary. I worry more about earthquakes! Maybe I should build some kind of shock absorbing foundation for it too.

I haven't been in an earthquake since I was small, but I live in Burlington, Ontario, and the closest fault line is in pickering, about a 40 minute drive from here. I still do worry about earthquakes, and I think the cheapest way is just pure luck. I don't know about building a foundation for earthquakes, but styrofoam under the glass bottom absorbs quite a bit when military planes create sonic booms at 4 in the morning afro

I had a tank that fell over when a sonic boom happened, and thats why I always have styrofoam under my tanks Wink

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I have been keeping aquariums most of my life. I have kept both fresh and salt water, cichlids, catfish, loaches, clownfish, wrasses, and everything in between. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Visit my blog at http://fgaquarium.blogspot.com/

That's some sonic boom! I've heard the space shuttle sonic booms and it was because I used to live just about where the shuttle breaks the sound barrier before landing at Edwards Air Force Base in CA and I thought it was a bomb going off. The windows sounded like they almost broke! Los Angeles where I live now is expecting a BIG quake at any time. Maybe I can get some of those air shocks that are in truck suspensions. I think they're like big donuts of thick rubber. I could put a bunch of them under a piece of thick plywood the tank would be on top of. I live in the "valley" too where the ground jiggles more than on the rocky hills and it would be a disaster if my 100 gallon tank broke let alone a 300 gallon or bigger.

Rank2 Member Age : 33 Joined : 20 Jan 2008 Posts : 63

If I was living in an apartment and going to build or have built a tank that big, I would go with the rectangle. It could be built to fit through the door. A cylinder tank IMO would have to be really tall just to keep the diameter to a size that would fit through the door. To get to the original question what is cheaper, I would say from some of the stuff I have read that for tanks 100 gallons and up is that it is cheaper to buy the tank. All the things I have read were all about glass tanks, so acrylic may be cheaper, but in the end it may be the same in cost or more.

I hope if you get to do this that you let us know how it goes or even as you start to price out material for the project you could let us in on the material cost.