What Did it Cost to Build a 33 Foot Long, 4500 Gallon DIY Wood, Fiberglass & Epoxy Aquarium?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Find out the cost to build a DIY 4,500 gallon wood, fiberglass and epoxy aquarium. I break down each section of the build with exact costs for each stage of the build. I also give some insight into my material selections and show how an average person can build the aquarium of their dreams!
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That's a lot less than I thought it would be... less than $2.50/gallon... right in line with a 10 gallon aquarium price of $21.50... minus the massive amount of labor you put in to it, of course! lol Excited to the the rest of the new builds as they happen! Thanks.
Yeah the massive amount of labor is the part that makes this type of thing only suitable for some folks 🙂
@@AquariumDomain.yeah that’s a lot of labor but the enjoyment of looking at something you built with your own hands is euphoric
This is an incredible build! I have a new lifelong goal. And that's...actually an attainable price, if I start saving over time. I also really appreciate that you went with a wetland filtration system. I see so many people make huge custom plywood tanks and then try to filter it with sumps and cannister filters. It makes me cringe when they brag about doing 50% water changes every week. I have 2 outdoor ponds and I can tell you washing out the cannisters every week was annoying and time consuming. I decided to build a wetland filter that feeds the waterfall, and I saw an improvement in water quality OVERNIGHT. Crystal clear, and I only need to clean out the filter 2-3 times A YEAR. Its an incredible investment that saves you so much money and stress over time. And it grows plants at an incredible rate as they pull nutrients from the water. More people in the fishkeeping hobby need to get into it!
You nailed it 100%! Filter technologies all have their limits and sweet spots and putting a bunch of canisters on a multi-thousand gallon tank, and then having to do constant water changes just means the filtration is insufficient. I have also had the same experience as yourself where the wetland filter is just a powerhouse of a filter that truly excels at both biological and mechanical filtration....worth the upfront extra work 100 times over. 😊
Very nice brother, keep up the good work.
Thanks 👍
FYI 7% will double after 10.3 years. At 5% it takes 14.4 years to double. Love the tank. Imagine what the labor cost would be?
😄😄
7% inflation means twice the price !
same math as a guy who can't fill a high school gym with people gets 80 million votes......
also my wife not home right now, sooooooo could you make another video explains how the 4500 only cost $500 total and you're actually going to make income off of it monthly?.......and I'll get her to watch that one.
Lol...that would be funny...special series of videos only to be shown to wives 😄😄
This was way more reasonable than I expected. Thanks for taking us on these journeys with you, Jeremy!! #savetheknees
#savetheknees that is priceless lol 😄😄
Absolutely impressive! I’ve enjoyed this series very much definitely one of the most interesting things happening in fish keeping on TH-cam. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you! 🙂
Being the real King of DIY is an earned title and you my friend are slaying that other king. You build a 4000 gallon masterpiece and he makes a sump out of a home depot bucket.
Lol 🙂🙂
He made a 2,000g. I like both these guys. Don’t put the other one down. He does good work also.
This breakdown speaks volumes about efficiency. For context... in 2014 when I inquired what it would cost to buy a 300 gal ATM acrylic aquarium I was quoted $6000. I purchased a used one for $1000 and spent $600 on delivery etc etc etc. Average large aquarium is unobtainable these days but using a 75 gal aquarium as reference... even at 50% off thats $1.73 /gal just for the tank itself. If my math is right your $pg is $2.10 with equipment and everything. That is very very commendable. That being said... once you start building your other 3 tanks in the room... getting camera angles will be very difficult so it is something you would have to think about. Using Ohio Fish Rescue as an example... they have all these giant tanks that do not feel giant anymore because every tank is giant so sense of scale is off.
Great comment. Yeah it will effect some of the camera angles, but I think the tanks in the room will be different enough from each other in size that 4500 will still look as massive as it does right now. 🙂
❤ the explanation the praice isvery good for the size only ?
Houw many hoars in bilding
I didn't keep track of all the hours put into it, but it was a lot! 😄
Great job, great price, as a dyi guy im curious how many sweat equity man hours are involved in this colossal effort
I didn't keep track, but a lot for sure. The price on a build like this is great, but the "catch" is definitely the sweat equity that goes into it. 🙂
This is one of the best channels on TH-cam! Wish more people saw that. Keep the videos coming. Have you ever thought of doing mangroves in the wetland filter or baskets?
Thanks! 😄 Mangroves would grow too tall for the area I have above the wetland or the river bank.
Wowwww. Thought 30 k dollars, minimum...
Thought the Pond Shield was gonna cost almost what your tank total is..
What is next? An Air BNB vacation rental with motorized bed on rails by the tank!?! 😆😆😊
Lol...no Air BNB's for me, but I am going to start on building those 1500 gallon builds 😄😄
I can go back and watch some of the older videos and find out, because I'm sure you've said a 100 times but in the interest of time, what are the interior dimensions to that beast? I'm contemplating, though I seriously doubt ot will ever get off the ground, the idea of building something 96x36x30 or 96x48x30. I imagine, that will still be up over 3 grand, yes? Just based on your numbers, assuming I get things my build mirrors yours and all the material is close to the same price.
Hey Whip! With the wetland filter the inside length would be 32' or 28' without the wetland filter, 4' tall and about 52" front to back. I am going to be kicking off a 120"x60"x36" build pretty soon, which is much more comparable to what you are looking at building.
Just curious how heavy one piece of the tempered glass is? Did you have any help getting those placed?
Unfortunately I had to move them and set them myself, which was only possible with the suction cups. Each glass panel was about 175 lbs, which was pretty close to what I could manage by myself...it wasn't easy 😄
Simply amazing... but I think I'll just keep watching your videos and living vicariously through you!! Looking forward to seeing where this goes!! :)
Hehe...my back says that you have made the right decision 😄
What did it cost to get your wife to allow this?😂
Fortunately she doesn't watch my videos and since she only sees me buying a few hundred worth of boards here and another container of screws there...she doesn't get hit with any one huge number 😄😄
It's incredible to look at this and truly understand the insanely cheap cost, discounting sweat equity, that this ends up being. Yes, its a lot of money, but for the size and scale, its a steal compared to getting something built that's 1/3 the size.
You know next Tuesday I am going to have to ask you on your stream how you would stock a 33 ft long aquarium 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. Oh my guy. I couldn't dream of something like that, but I'm in!
I can't believe you were able to build such a humongous tank for less than $10k. I was thinking the cost was going to be 5 times that. Now just waiting for more projects to come. Muy bueno.
I was a little surprised to with the costs of everything seemingly always going up these day. But even if you add a couple hundred bucks for any little things I could have missed, you are still under 10K which for 4500 gallons is amazing. 😊
Maybe in the near future I will be able to build a 150 gallon or so for a reasonable price without having the wife get really upset. 😆
That's impressive, though it was WAY more expensive. Nice work.
Yeah, ended up less expensive than I had feared. 😊😊
Please, please, please do not block any view of this beautiful aquarium dude!! I know you want the 1500 gallons in front of it, but, When you get this 4500 stocked and your able to stand back and view the beauty of it, hopefully you change your mind on those 1500 gallon builds and place them else where. The 4500 looks absolutely gorgeous!! The hard scape, the roots, the greenery, the lights, the viewing panels just look so nice. I can't wait for the fish stock videos and the feeding videos on this specific aquarium. Great job bro.
Well the view will still be there from the open area in the middle of the room, but the 20ft away view will be gone. :-( Price I have to pay to be able to have all 4 tanks I want and not just 2 🙂
Have you heard of Kevin Novak Anoxic filtration system? BCB basket? Lowers nitrates.
Yes I have. 😄
Man I love these videos and you have such an awesome display! That 4500 gallon aquarium is amazing how thick is the glass on that??
Thanks! It is 1/2" tempered glass on the 4500 gallon.
The total cost of this build was very affordable. Considering the immense size of the tank. Very well done. 👏 looking forward to watching you stock it. 😊
Thanks Rogue! I can't wait to get the big boys moved into their new home...hopefully next video! 😄😄
And now how Much for the fish and the plant?😂😂, anyway really Amazing
Great journey. Thanks for taking us along ,I enjoyed each video. If I was playing the Price is Right ,I would have been way over. Did you track the hours?
I hope you get years of enjoyment and videos😊.
Definitely one heck of a journey. In regards to hours I didn't track it, but there was a significant amount of sweat equity put into this build. If you assigned a dollar figure to the labor hours put into the build it would double the cost at a minimum. 😄
You aren't kidding about the price for a good sump. I have a hamali platinum sump under my 300 gallon reef tank. Price one of them from brs. It is an amazing sump though.
The only acrylic thing I have ever built was a sump for my old 500 gallon reef aquarium because even 15 years marine sumps were crazy pricey 😊😊
before the vid i was guessing $12-15K but in CAD so this came in around my expectation. You didnt include plants and stocking yet so this overall cost will rise. How much did you spend with ROD? Those are some pricey fish.
12-15k was my guess as well before I totaled everything up. I took advantage of PF end of the year sale PF20 to save 20%, but still the order was around 900 bucks :-)
This vid has truly been an inspiration! Thanks for sharing precious information and can’t wait to see what’s next! Ur channel is a valuable addition to my fish bible😭
Awesome! Thank you!
i know your adding some big fish but you should try adding some small fish that can breed, i have a Oscar pond and i have some native purple spotted gudgeons that breed.
I love the idea of smaller fish coexisting, but I have seen the big boys smash through aquascape trying to get to the smallest of meals 😄
Wonderful and inspiring. Would love to see electricity requirements to run this in a typical day.
Not too bad considering the size of the tank. Main pumps 4 x 90 watts (360), Powerheads 12 x 8 watts (96) and Lighting 10 x 80 watts (800). Temperature is controlled by the room temp, so no heaters.
You really kick that tanks ass. That tank would have had me all beat up. You could make big money building tanks for people and making videos of it.
I think I out lasted it lol 😄
2:05 already too expensive!
😂
One of the big reasons birch and wood products in general went up so much (I'm an artist that makes birch panels, and it tripled in cost) is the embargo on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world's largest birch exporter- all those giant siberian forests. Now other lumbers went up to fill the hole in the demand.
Ahh, thanks for sharing that. I had always wondered why it seemed like all of a sudden 3/4" birch plywood went from the 38-45 dollar range to the 68-80 dollar range. 😄
Thanks for the cost breakdown. All part of the picture, even for diffetent countries people can price it lovally based on tye quantities. I see you had a second inspector on the job..
Hehe yep, normally he is my wife's shadow, but for some reason he decided to spent the evening in the basement with Dad 😄
Reefer MAX S-1000 G2+ System - White
210g tank is almost 12 thousand dollars!! This is by far so much better!!
Hehe...yeah once you get into the world of premade saltwater systems the price goes straight up (cough cough RedSea, WaterBox, etc.) lol 🙂🙂
A great project. And good break down of cost. But up here in canada you have to add another 30% cause our dollar sucks.
Hell even here I could have built this for half of the price like 5 years ago. 😄 I built the 3k gallon for 6k and I used stacked lumber build on that one lol 😄😄
No knees were injured in the making of this video Ray Ray😂....
LOL 😄😄
Genius, artwork, manpower knowhow, be proud of yourself
Thank you, too kind 😄
Why are you building tanks in front of it? Surely that blocks the view?
It obstructs the view from 20ft away, but if you are in the middle of the room there is still a great view. Going to make it harder to get those full tank shots for thumbnails though 😄😄
Those split cross braces stress me.
Don't stress...they are holding strong 😊
$1000 for a filter is a great price. I paid $650 cad 5 years ago for a 102 gallon sump
$1000 bucks and a lot of sweat equity 🙂 but yeah still a bargain in the long run.
ok great. now I gotta build a huge aquarium. thanks a lot!! no really. thank you....
Hehe 😊😊
I could t of been more off wow , I feel so stupid now about how much I spent on my 300 acrylic with sump 😢
Don't forget to factor in the 4 months I spent building it....a lot of my time and energy went into this build as well...in addition to the money. 😄
If it's ok, I'm going to live through you! All things considered, the cost was reasonable. Besides the money and effort, my excuse is I'm too old and lack the health to even think about such a project. Thank you for sharing your dream - it seriously really means a lot to me.
Thank you! 🙂 I hear you on the effort part...I made the decision 2 years ago that it was now or never to do all these builds as I was getting older and knew a day will come eventually where I won't be able to build these sort of things anymore. 🙂
I would be the kind of guy to get a 33ft long aquarium and put two common gold fish in it
You would drive the Internet crazy if you did that 😊😊
That’s a great price for a tank that probably cost 💲 up to a million dollars 💵 nowadays!
Definitely something that would cost a lot more for anyone not doing the work themselves, a lot of my time and sweat went into this build for sure 😄
Thanks for the inspiration im definitely making one in my house
Sweet! 😊😊
I think this guy blows joey out the water!! Cant wait for the fish
Hopefully the next video will be moving the monsters over from the 3K gallon...woot! 😄😄
I've spent less at lap dancing clubs 😂 money well spent!
Lol, classic 😄😄
Can you go over on camera how you address humidity?
I have been thinking about a video of the most common questions asked and humidity control is right up there 😄
What’s your plan for humidity issues?
I use lids on my tanks and sumps to limit evaporation. Ductless mini-splits to condition the air including humidity and for a couple of months in the summer I will run a dehumidifier.
You got some really good deals for your set up. I over spent for my 700 gallon and I'm not finished. I was charged $2,100.00 for 1 sheet of 3/4"x34"x92" low iron glass with polished edges. $750.00 of that was for shipping! And I have to pick it up at a FedEx terminal.
Lot's of factors come into play with glass/glass shipping. Going from 1/2" to 3/4" doubles the price. Shipping 1 sheet of glass or 4 sheets costs the same and anything over 72" they won't deliver to your house...have to pick it up at the freight terminal 😄😄
Where did you buy your glass from?
One Day Glass .com
This is such a cool project! Have to say that the costs are way less then I thought. I mean, it's still not pocket change but what you got for it is just amazing. And it looks great, it cleared up really nice from the looks of it! Can't wait to see it when there are more fish in it. I really wish I could do a project like this (not as huge as this!) but the price of building materials and energy (heating/electricity) where I live are so insanely high, that it's just not worth it ☹
One thing I didn't really mention about the cost is that it was spread out over the 4 months it took me to build the tank.
Can’t wait to build mine. Just got to find a giant garage for it
That is the first step, I bought this house for the big walkout basement 😄😄
I expected the double so that price is really good
12-15k was my guess as well before I totaled everything up, so I was pleasantly surprised 😊
How long does it take for a water change ? And how often ?
I shoot for 2-3 water changes per year for each tank. 40% partial water change on the 4500 would probably take 3-4 hours.
For something like that - it's not a bad price. But wow that is crazy... if you sell that house you better sell it to a fish keeper LOL
Definitely not moving! 😊
@@AquariumDomain. LOL
What a bargain!
Agreed! 😄
what is your plan for window cleaning?
Same as my other tanks, Flipper magnet scraper for day to day cleaning and my big razor blade on a stick for really good cleanings. 😆
You didn't introduce us to the new fur baby 😢
He is only new to being in a video, that is our 6 year old Westie....who is normally my wife's shadow, but for some reason decided to hang with me in the fish basement that day 😆
If I had $10k I wouldn’t have the balls to even try this lol. If I could build a 12x3x2 though and not break the bank. I might try 😎
The last tank I am building for the annex is going to be a 12'x2'x2' 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. that’s going to be pretty close!!!! lol I’d love to have something like that in my basement for my clown loaches.
Haha you forgot to mention the cost of building the entire building the tank is sitting in, which was built specifically for the tank!
Seriously brave of you to post this. Fingers crossed that the mrs. doesn't see.
Hardly seems fair to assume everyone else thinking to build a tank like this has the disease as bad as I do and has already filled up their existing basement LOL 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. Oh, I don't know... I feel pretty sure that anyone who is as...enthusiastic... as you are about the hobby has probably already filled their available space with tanks.
Can literally buy a brand new small car 😂.
Ehh..I like my pickup truck 😄😄
Thanks for sharing, it was cool to see the step by step again too.
Thanks AquaticMoose! 🙂
2 min in and i like the cut of your jib.
😁😁
This is pure 100% awesomeness
🙂🙂
Reaction wive 🤬 - reaction followers 😍
Classic lol 😆😆
Good ass price....❤💪 I was thinking maybe like 20k so damn guud price
Not too bad at all considering the size, but it was a ton of hours of work for me....so a lot more than just the money to make it happen. 😄
@@AquariumDomain. I was looking at a 600 gallon acrylic tank and the total was coming out to 8k with the stand so damn man I never thought about a plywood build but mann 🤔.. honesty I don't even have the room for no 33foot tank but I think I'm gone look into going this route to see the price difference on maybe a thousand gallon
@@darrellle4967 If you have the skills to build a tank, it is definitely the most cost effective method. It is a lot of work though 🙂
I built a 330g for about 750$. plywood tanks are great value for money 😁. Plus: They need less heating power than glas tanks. Your aquarium is absolutely gorgeous 😍
Thanks! 330 for 75 is amazing bang for the buck! 🙂
Thank you for the update
Any time! 😄
I only need one half that size so let’s call it five grand ,when can you start? 😳
Remember the part of the video where I said having someone build something like this would be 10-20x the cost lol 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. surely it would be mates rates are we not mates?😁
Where did you get the glass
From onedayglass.com
It would cost €40-50k if you got someone else to do it. Amazing value! Now all we need is Father Fish to review!!😊
If you assign a cost to my time then the price would go up a lot, as I put a ton of work into this beast 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain.True! Probably way more then! Loving this setup👍
@@DashDrones 🙂
I need your career :)
😊😊
Very impressive! I can't wait to see this tank with fish in it. Thank you for the down to earth approach. This build is just colossal. Much respect 🙏
Thanks! Hopefully the fish will be moved over in the next video! 😄
Why not Use concrete?
Not my preferred method, but it can certainly be built with concrete by those with experience with that type of construction.
Ok but how much did it cost including the addition to the house to hold it all ? 👀
The addition, including the deck above came to about 45k....so call it 55k all together for nice round numbers. Plus a whole bunch of my time and energy for both the addition and the tank build 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. Good deal, and you get equity out of it.
Respect to the man!
😊
Beautiful job!!!
Thank you! 😊
I was guessing 15k
That would have been my guess too 😄
Love the build!!!! You have inspired me to design a tank with a similar design but just not as long. I do have a question about the glass. I would like to have two glass 4’ panels at 1/2” thick tempered. Could I go 42” tall with a 3’’ border on the top and bottom of the glass for a 3’ viewing window or would you recommend going 36’’ tall with 3’’ border on the top and bottom for a 30’’ viewing window?
You will have a good safety factor with 1/2" tempered glass up to 36" of water pressure. So if you wanted to go 42" tall of water with a 3" frame border, you would need to start the glass 3" off of the bottom of the tank. If you look at my 4500 Xingu River or 600 Reef Slope builds both of those the glass starts 12" from the bottom of the tank, so that the water depth is 48", but only 36" of water pressure against the glass. Hope this helps.
Ok thanks a lot. So if the total height of your glass on the 4500 is 36’’, what is the height of the viewing window? I’m guessing this is different because of the frame you built to set the glass in. @@AquariumDomain.
@@bonesque The glass area that you can see through into the tank on the 4500 is 31.5", rest of the glass is against the framing.
Thank you, that helped me out a lot. I really appreciate it!
Money
🙂
Who is this rayray guy? Whats his channel?
Just someone that commented on one the build videos for the 4500 gallon build where he seemed convinced that my design or workmanship or something wasn't up to snuff and the glass windows were going to blow out and hit me in the knees...he worded it in a weird way and I just found it funny 😄
@@AquariumDomain. hahahaha thats gold mate 🤣
I’m going to be honest, knowing what all of the material used costs I think you may have your number low and I’m assuming because someone was told it would not be over 10k. All that aside also knowing the amount of work you put in BY YOURSELF! You have my utmost respect, a new subscriber.
There are hobbyists out there that I thought are crazy but you sir 100% are at the top, and the love you have for your fish completely genuine. What an accomplishment and a big thank you to your wife for allowing this craziness.
I promise you that I get every receipt and didn't soften anything to not get in trouble with the misses. She has access to all the joint accounts, so she know this is all from my personal account. 😊
I will be keeping your channel on the backend of my mind for when I save enough to build my own. Had a vision of doing a 16'Lx8'Wx4'H (Roughly 3.1k gallons after measurement cuts) aquarium for under 10k and your build makes me know it's possible. I probably wont even have to spend as near as much and would have some left over to buy my dream fishes without future savings. Thank you for this video!
That's awesome...16x8x4 is a really nice size! 😊
Nice
😄😄
bravo !
Thanks! 😄
Ridiculous build. Thanks for sharing this journey. Content like this keeps me dreaming big
More ridiculous builds to come lol 😄😄
That would be such an enjoyable background during Zoom meetings 😂
Congrats man, I absolutely love the tank
Definitely! 😂
This is an amazing cost for what this is. A single 240 with a stand can run $5000.00. So yes great cost. Congratulations on your successful build.
Thanks! 🙂 Sweat equity goes a long way to lowering costs 🙂
10k is not bad at all! Are you SURE you want to build more tanks that block your view of this masterpiece?!?
They will block the view from 20 ft away where I take those photos from, but if you are standing in the middle of the room there is still a perfect view of the whole tank. End of the day is I am a hobbyist first and TH-camr second so I am really looking forward to having all 4 tanks in the annex! 😄😄
This guy and Joey needs to do a collaboration but over all he got the bigger DIY tanks on TH-cam I would say
I always thought it would be fun to do a video where a bunch of aquarium diy builders show up at an aquarium keepers house and build them a mega diy aquarium...something like one of those extreme room makeover shows 😄😄
@@AquariumDomain. Something tells me you would be taking the crown.
Pup Inspector at the end approves this message. Really great information. I'm crazy, but not that crazy to ever build a tank that big but I support you in your craziness lol. Take care.
Thanks Phil! Living vicariously through my madness is probably the smart decision lol 😄
I feel like the river bank baskets don't sit low enough in the water you could have routered a grove into the two by to let it sit deeper.. plus just a little afraid of something dying in the cave system and not being able to get it out it happens..
And that's all I have to say awesome friggin build, can't wait to see the fish in it.. and what else you get. I'm looking to build one similar but only twenty one feet of space available. And now thank you I have an idea of what it's going to cost. But my wife actually sitting next to me while watching oops LOL. So now she knows how much too
Lol 😄 Get a quote for a custom builder to make you an acrylic tank the size you are looking to build...once your wife sees that quote she will prefer the DIY build 😄😄
Very happy to see that you finished this tank, it's amazing in all aspects, it's very beautiful, when you put the fish inside at well look fantastic, very nice from you informing how much it cost to you, I haven't made comments to yr video, but I always left my like to yr channel.
Now let's see it with the fish.😊😊
Hey Wagner, great to hear from you! Yeah it was a monster project for sure, but it feels great to have it done. The fish are coming soon, probably this weekend! 😄😄
Awesome I’ve been waiting for this video for months and finally got to see it! Now for the stocking lol
Stocking coming soon! 😄😄
Amazing , love your videos , and your drive. Can’t wait to see you stocking it.
Thank you! I can't wait to move the big boys into their new home...hopefully that will be the next video! 😄😄
The video we've all been waiting for (even more than the stocking lol). I'm surprised by how CHEAP you managed to do it for!
Probably the most fair way to asses the total costs would be to factor in all the hours of work I put in on this beast....because it was a lot of work lol 😄😄