very large tanks

[Loverotties]

Go to your local public Aqurium.You'll need a lab too.Sounds nice but you'll need a lot of backer to help.I wish you,all the good luck.

[Doug1]

Seriously , you are looking at million or more, the upkeep on something like that is going to be SPENDY, saltmix by the rail car, the power bill to run all that, after the initial hit to build it, Marine Bio doesn't pay that well

[MJaquariums]

Thanks for the help everybody. I'm not too worrid about the money i'll find a way (actually i think i already know a way). but thats not the point right now like i said if i did do this it wouldn't happen for at least 7-8 years. right now i just want to get as much info on building a system that big, about keeping critters that big and just about everything. I still have a ton to learn, but i think the rewords are well worth it

any more help wold be greatly appreciated.

[MJaquariums]

by the way i live in MN and im not even sure if we have a public aquarium around here. Does anybody know of a public aquaruim around here

[Jrmass]

Well, you don't have one next to you persay... But, the mall of america has their MASSIVE aquarium. It's quite amazing if you are into the fish aspect of it and not so much the corals. If you ask me their reef tanks were very disapointing. But, that would be a great place to start as far as aquariums would be concerned. Also, as far as maintance and equipment goes... If you were able to make a trip out to Fosters and Smith in Rhinelander WI that would be where you could go to take a behind the scenes tour and see what they are doing to maintain their facility. The reason that I suggest them is because like you they do not have the access to "sea water" thus meaning they have to create their own at any given time. From the sounds of it you might be talking about running a fraction of what they have as far as volume goes as well thus making them a decient resource. www.drsfostersmith.com/

Hope this helped.

[MJaquariums]

thanks that helped alot, I'll definitly have to go to the MOA and see the tank.

Besides everything that i have said, i have one more question
What creatures would you really like to see in a place like this, i dont care what it is or rare it is.

Me personally would really like to see a great white shark even though i know that none have been kept successfully

[crvz]

Penguins.

[aquawolf]

I talked to the guy at the zoo aquarium on Saturday. He stated that how much does all of this cost is one of the first questions he is always asked. Unfortunately there is not a good answer for it. Their main large display is 50,000 gallons. They have a 4,000 gallon saltwater mixing station which is basically like a very large well, all concrete. They have pumping stations that can get fresh RO water or Salt water to every system they have when needed. They also have warm saltwater pipes and cold saltwater pipes.

They just received 2 brand new RK2 Skimmers. The bigger one for the 50,000 gallon tank has a 20 horse pump as a feeder and I forget the size of the recirculating pump. This skimmer is every bit of 8 feet around and 12 feet high, with a really cool self cleaning contraption for the collection chamber. The other one is about 4 feet around and 10 feet high. The cost of them together was $18,0000, which when you consider the price of a Deltec for home use is really not that bad.

Of course, all of their tank walls are concrete except for the viewing portals. The did have a tank with good size bamboo cat sharks in it that if you were not careful you could walk around the corner and fall in.

The guy also said that Marine Biology doesn't pay enough to set up a system like that.

I wish you the best in your future endeavor.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

The guy also said that Marine Biology doesn't pay enough to set up a system like that.

I wish you the best in your future endeavor.

Very few jobs do.

[david426]

Originally Posted by MJaquariums

Thanks for the help everybody. I'm not too worrid about the money i'll find a way (actually i think i already know a way). but thats not the point right now like i said if i did do this it wouldn't happen for at least 7-8 years. right now i just want to get as much info on building a system that big, about keeping critters that big and just about everything. I still have a ton to learn, but i think the rewords are well worth it

any more help wold be greatly appreciated.

You go guy!!! Think big, work hard and don't look back. We might be buying our livestock from you someday!

Oh and I've always liked barracudas; they look like dinosaurs.

[MJaquariums]

Thanks for all the input everybody, it all helps a ton.

I've been searching the net for a while, but i still can't find anything about setting up aquariums that size or keeping animals like that. (Kind of disipointing) I think i will take your guys advice and go to the MOA aquarium. Hopefully i can learn something there.

Keep all the info and animals coming please

BTW besides a shark i was also thinking a couple mermaids haha just kidding

[Jrmass]

Like I told ya I think the MOA is your best place to start (take the behind the scenes tour!) It's an additional charge but, I'm sure that for what you are looking at doing it'd be worth the additional bit of money.

[Kimberfish]

I was at the GA aquarium Friday and asked an employee there how many gallons constituted a w/c and how often did they do it.
He stated that they reclaim all of their water and it's a constant cycle, going thru a very xtensive filtration system at 6.3 million gallons per hour.
I'm not sure he fully understood my question... 6.3 million g per hour just sounds like too much to be possible. Besides they would have a lot of evaporation to account for daily and would still have to add new water even if they are reclaiming the bulk of it.

[MJaquariums]

Thanks Jrmass i will definitly go to the MOA aquarium!

Thats crazy if it really is 6.3 million gallons Do you know how much is in the aquarium total?? If you knew that you could maybe figure out if it is aproximitly 6.3 mil gl/hr just depending on how much percent they filtrate per hour. (Just a thougt)

thanks for all the input everybody

[raskal311]

Start at the bottom and get a job at a local aquarium or a company that is already doing such business. For something of this magnitude research isn’t going to be nearly as valuable as real world experience. … I wouldn’t take advice from someone without real world/hands on experience. Remember one thing about public forums; any Joe can give his two cent. We’re talking about big money with big liability… You’re going to have to hire a few engineers just to get permits for something like this.