Bruce has a very good idea, and is most certainly attainable.
I am a bit confused on the cone bottom tanks tho.
Cecil brought this up a while back and we were discussing the use of cheap swimming pools:
I have been looking for negatives about utilizing these and really have not found any. Many people do use them right out of the box, even a shrimp farmer. Some rinse them out, while others just fill them up and put their fish in. The material is quite durable, and some have reported 5 years of use, and still like new. Pretty cheap way to go. A couple of these in a Shelterlogic round top, if you don't have a building, or a huge wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket, would be quite reasonable.
Heating/cooling a room is probably a better way to go, with electric heaters for fine tuning. Keep in mind that you will need to ventilate any room on a regular basis because of C02. Water is a natural sink for C02 so if you gas it out, it can easily find it's way back in. Water also retains it's temp quite well, so an evacuation wont hurt much in energy. If this room is in a building that is not being heated, and is on a concrete floor, it will require more energy to heat/cool the room due to the surrounding concrete.
My starter plan is to build a couple small 12' x 16' buildings, well insulated, even the floor. Small vent fan, infrared or propane heat, air conditioner, all metal tanks, and a heating element before the biofilter. Looking into led lighting, but will probably go with fluorescent because I can get analog ballasts. And a few other gizmos and gadgets. Pretty much have everything now, just waiting till spring to build it. No, I am not using round tanks in this.
Reason for the small buildings is they are pretty much an environmental chamber, I can easily move them, and I do not need building permits.
