[WoodWinds]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, and I have never floated. But the idea intrigues me and I can only foresee benefits in it. I frequently wake up with back pains behind my shoulder blades. I know my problems are a combination of things; poor posture, lack of exercise, and not having the ideal mattress being chief among them. I am going to focus on fixing those issues, and those are off-topic so I will get back to the topic at hand.

I am considering making a floatation tank. I know pretty much nothing about salt-water pumps, and next to nothing about heating systems employed in flotation tanks. Other than those very important issues, I have some ideas and more than a few questions for any out there who have experience in floatation tank design.

I guess I will start by asking if aluminum is corroded by (or reacts with) salt water. I can readily buy sheets of aluminum and have the means to weld the aluminum to make a watertight 'tub'/liner in which the salty water (and I) can go. Or I could attempt to get sheets of an alloy of stainless steel that doesn't react with or corrode in the salt water, if such exists and is affordable. As a person who has the means to work metals, I would prefer to use metals for the water-tight tub/liner, but if those are out of the question, I suppose I could get sheets of PVC and seal the seams with a really good RTV/caulk. By all means if anyone has any input regarding these matters, please comment.

For the framework, I don't see a reason why I couldn't try using plywood. I would just want to treat the surface of the wood that was going to be exposed inside the chamber with some marine epoxy to waterproof it. I guess another option, which might be prohibitively expensive would be to use kitchen-countertop laminate sheets; this could be applied to the inside and outside surface for aesthetics maybe?

The plumbing could be PVC I guess. I'd want to design a circuit which utilized a microcontroller and have a control panel for inside and outside the tank, allowing the user to make adjustments to the thermostat temperature, to turn the interior light on and off, increase/decrease ventilation fan speed, and perhaps other options.

Well, I guess that's all I have for now...especially since the last post I think this forum had was in 2006. I'll wait and see if there are any others out there.