Where to buy large fish tanks?

[Steven Tracy]

I found a company that appears to have what we want but we are in Colorado and they are in Florida so it would be nice to find something closer to save on shipping. Anyone know of another good source or have experience with this company,

Dolphin Fiberglass Products, Inc.  http://aquaculturetanks.com/index.html

Thanks,

Steve

[Averan]

I'd add that it doesn't have to actually be portable, but plan to have to break down your system into portable parts some day. This could mean building with screws instead of nails. Heck, there are a LOT of locations where you might want to grow food that don't have easy level access via forklift and the only way to get materials in/out is in small pieces!

This is one reason why I prefer to build my own tanks. Giant one-piece tanks aren't going to fit in a lot of homes. The other reason is it is so much cheaper to build your own! Use wood and pond liner. You can even insulate with foam board. And it is much easier to transport all these parts than it is to move a big molded tank.

[Mark Hall]

Hi Michael, 

Probably I agree with you in most circumstances, but in my case I'm building for the long term (at 61 years old I don't plan to move) and also designing a passive cooling house where thermal mass is huge in the design consideration. Therefore I'm building my fish tank out of concrete as well as my raft system, and perhaps my media beds. Folks I know with hoop houses have high energy bills and high water consumption. I hope to use my life experience as a general contractor and solar greenhouse consultant to make some small advances in passive cooling at an affordable price. I believe thermal mass is the key to cost effective passive design.

Michael Silberstein said:

One word of advice. any tank you get or build should be movable. this is because at some point you will have to move it...  if your not planing for the future then you are living in the past

I know someone will disagree with the moving aspect but in reality we move homes on average 8 time in our lives. So we all should plant for this to happen at some point in our systems life.

[Cecil Dale Baird]

It's call the Assman Corporation in Garrett, Indiana.  Sales rep is Michael Gamble. However I doubt it would be practical to ship them and they only come up now and then.

You may be able to find a manufacturer not far from you that will sell you rejects at discount.

[Cecil Dale Baird]

Michael Silberstein said:

One word of advice. any tank you get or build should be movable. this is because at some point you will have to move it... If you are commercial and rent what would you do if your lose you lease or buy property. if you own the property what are you going to do when you outgrow your location. at some point (even if it 10 years down the road) you will have to move your system or at very least rearrange it. I personally have move location once and rearranged position as i get better equipment a few times. And at some point i will be buying property and will have to move everything again. SO i would keep it to a size that can be picked up and moved easily. If you designed your system well you should be able to move the whole system to a new location over a weekend without losing any crops. well that is the ideal plan. so grow beds that can not be moved with media and plants should be avoided. all of mine can be picked up with a forklift and put into or on a trailer to move. I even made sure there is access for the forklift to get to each and every one. if your not planing for the future then you are living in the past

I know someone will disagree with the moving aspect but in reality we move homes on average 8 time in our lives. So we all should plant for this to happen at some point in our systems life.

Excellent Points Michael! I also use fernco couplers to be able to easily dismantle my plumbing of the tanks.  It's not just for moving through as I keep coming up with new ideas and therefore changing things. I will be going with 12 foot tanks in the future for trout culture but they will be the portable Intex swimming pools. We have shrimp culture folks in the state that love them. I bought one and tried it out at a conference for a demonstration and thought it would do the job.

[Cecil Dale Baird]

wes said:

Hey Cecil could you give a llittle more info about how you found this source?? Also what would a fellow look for in another city to hook up with this same type of offer???

I found them on the Internet. You should be able to find all plastic tank manufacturers on the Internet.

[Cecil Dale Baird]

Makes sense Michael although I don't think 61 is that old. I'm just getting started at 54. Always been a late bloomer!

Mark Hall said:

Hi Michael, 

Probably I agree with you in most circumstances, but in my case I'm building for the long term (at 61 years old I don't plan to move) and also designing a passive cooling house where thermal mass is huge in the design consideration. Therefore I'm building my fish tank out of concrete as well as my raft system, and perhaps my media beds. Folks I know with hoop houses have high energy bills and high water consumption. I hope to use my life experience as a general contractor and solar greenhouse consultant to make some small advances in passive cooling at an affordable price. I believe thermal mass is the key to cost effective passive design.

Michael Silberstein said:

One word of advice. any tank you get or build should be movable. this is because at some point you will have to move it...  if your not planing for the future then you are living in the past

I know someone will disagree with the moving aspect but in reality we move homes on average 8 time in our lives. So we all should plant for this to happen at some point in our systems life.

[George]

I bought a tank from Dolphin and they were pleasant to deal with.  Shipping a tank is rather expensive.  

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I found a company that appears to have what we want but we are in Colorado and they are in Florida so it would be nice to find something closer to save on shipping. Anyone know of another good source or have experience with this company,

Dolphin Fiberglass Products, Inc.  http://aquaculturetanks.com/index.html

Thanks,

Steve

[Cecil Dale Baird]

Yes shipping can cost more than that tanks in some cases. A real deal killer for me.

[Justin Schaeffer]

Just look up poly tanks and your city name in a google search. In Saskatoon it's a company called poly west. There are lots of companies that make poly tanks. They do often blow out the junk ones for cheap. People usually buy them to make redneck hot tubs. Also you could try an agricultural supply place or post an add farmers tend to break these loading them on and off of trailers.

Michael Silberstein said:

where? what is there contact info.

Cecil Dale Baird said:

 I get 4 to 5 foot circular plastic tanks for my fish from a local water/ chemical tank manufacturer. They are rejected for minor flaws and I get these tanks for around $100.00. They are taller than what I want but the manufacturer cuts them down to whatever height I want.  Could build rectangular tanks but other than raft tanks for plants I prefer the circular tanks because I can put a center drain in and make them self cleaning. Also don't like the way IBC tanks look. Just my opinion of course.

 

Personally can't justify fiberglass tanks or the cost of shipping.

Here's one of the tanks:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a169/CecilBaird1/IMG_0652_zps7236...

[Larry Collins]

Steven if you are still looking for tanks check out http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=2 They have all sizes and will custom build.