Found this forum and want to tell about my tank
Hi everyone,
I just foud this forum and I am very exited that there are other people out there building their own tank ! Mine is finnished now for 2 months (stage 1) and stage 2 is almost finnished. Stage 1 means the thing works at its most simple setup. Stage 2 is the filtration system with an UV and H2O2 cleaning system (instead of chloride) and computer control on the heating. The UV light is now installed and the computer control is testing right now. I did build a thermostat from some electronic components but the computer is taking over now so I can reculate te water tempreature more accuratly. It is also my goal to make the regulation more efficient (to use more current at night when it is cheaper) and to make a powerdown mode when I go away for e few days. Stage 3 will have the controls on a LCD panel next to the tank to control the pump and heating programs and also to play cd or MP3 while inside the tank.
The tank was a prefab packet that I bought second hand in the UK. The polyester pannels where in very bad condition and had osmossis. So I had to remove the toplayer of all the polyester surface and had to clean them with a high pressure steam gun. Next I let them dry for a month or so and did put a new top layer (4..6 layers of epoxy) of epoxy on it with the collor winter blue. The tank is heated with heating modules (3) underneat the tank. The modules are made of Al. made in a long shaped box. The heating is done by 470 ohm 25W resistors in a network inside the module. The water temprature is measured by a PT100 sensor that is put in the water. Inside the tank is a light that can be controlled by the user in the tank. The light is a halogeen light behind a round plexiglass window and is controlled by an air pessure switch (so no salt water can ever get in contact with power lines. The underwater audio is done with 2 car audio speakers made fit on the outside of the polyester tank. I bought a graphic equalizer to flatten the audio charakteristic inside the salt water. The pum is of the brand ITT Marlow and has a 0.45KW motor on it. It also has directly infront of the pump a coarse filter. After the pump there is a fine filter of the brand FPI (C25 or C250). In the original design there was a thing to mix chloride with the water after the fine filter. I did remove this and did put my own H2O2 mixing junction an a UV lighter in. The water flow can be controlled with valves to go around the extra cleaning part. I also have made connections to hook up an extra carbon filter to the system. This connection is also meant to experiment with a vortex to re-energise the water. The tank is quite high 2 meters (you can walk in it) an I was afraid of condensation on the ceiling so I build a floor heating system in the ceiling. In practice I never have any condensation (very good insulation) but I use it now to warm up the air inside the tank.
That is my tank more or less, and it turned out to be quite a bit more than $1000 and took me over a year to make. But I love it.
Are there any other tank builders in The Netherlands ??
Jep
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