Parts list

1. 2 metal dowel rods
2. 1 drill bit that makes a hole large enough for the metal dowel rods
3. 10 large plastic clamps and 1 or 2 large metal clamps
4. a containment tank. I have a 8’x5′ 325 Gallon Poly Open Top Containment Tank … it needs to have a nice wide lip so you can drill in it.
5. a tarp (10′ x 12′). The thicker and more heat-reflective the better. But I have just a medium weight one with no heat reflection.
6. TARARIUM 660GPH Aquarium Fish Tank Filter – not ideal. A filter with 1500gph or 2300 to 2600gph aquarium/pond filter is preferred.
7. 1 1000w or 1300w AQQA submersible heater –
8. Heattrak snow melting mats or Thermal Guardian waterbed heaters. If you get snow melting mats then you need a temperature controller – Inkbird is cheap and effective and can control 2 heating units.
9. A bucket heater for the initial heating of water to 140 deg F so that salt dissolves easily.
10. a drip mat of some sort. I like diatomaceous earth mats

First things first – room considerations

The room you put the tank in has to have a level floor. Use a tool to insure that the floor is level horizontally and vertically. I used a mobile app for this purpose, but hardware stores have devices for the same purpose.

Next, put down insulation and your drip mats:

Then put down your under-tank heaters:

I think snow melting mats are the most amazing thing out there. But waterbed heaters held down the fort for many years before snow melting mats came into vogue. An inkbird temperature controller will work.

Put the containment tank on top of the heaters

the 8’x5′ containment tank must have a nice lip on it so that you can …

drill 2 holes large enough for the metal dowel rods to fit through

Use metal dowel rods to raise the tarp

take metal dowel rods and run them through the front 2 holes in the lip of the tank so that the tarp is raised. Raising the tarp achieves two things. First it allows water to run off (like an Oasis tank) instead of droplets getting in your eyes. Second it provides more breathing room, which reduces claustrophobia and eliminates the occasional sense of suffocation I experienced in the Ragtop DIY tank.

The reason metal rods are used is so that a metal bulldog clamp can form a door: when you pull up the door, it can magnetically clamp to the rod or the metal clamp

Use clamps to pull the tarp tight to the lip of the tank and to the dowel roads

Normal clamps are fine everywhere. But as you can see, a metal clamp is used on the dowel rod so that the magnetic bulldog clamp can attach to it… or the dowel rod… this reduces the accuracy needed when building the door.

Then build a door

Building a door was a rather random act of luck. I had looked at two-sided tarp zippers and considered using one but the standard ones were quite long. and they would need to be marine grade. And the person would need to zip them before starting to float.

I figured two slits in the tarp and then raising the tarp would be best.

But I settled on:

1. one vertical slit in the tarp
2. one magnetic bulldog clip at the bottom of the slit
3. the door simply opens up and the bulldog clip attaches to the metal rod

Here’s a video demo of the door.

Place your aquarium/pond filter into the far corner of the tank

you might also have a submersible heater so you dont put a lot of strain on your under-tank heaters.

Now, add epsom salt water

from Chapter 11 in “The Deep Self”

1. heat the water to 140 deg F – perhaps using a bucket heater. Note that most bucket heaters are good for pure water, not salt water. So they are fine for your initial feel
2. put in the salt – it dissolves easily at this high temp

Happy Floating!

Well that’s all.