Isolation Tank Project - The Overview

This is the overview video of my isolation tank.
WTF is an isolation tank?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolati...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory...
Its been about 3 years in the making and is finally hitting the stages of completion! Here I talk about the mechanical and electrical control systems that maintain this giant tank and talk about its construction.
Thanks for watching!

[@stevepailet8258]

would be super if you had a list of all the components that you used in this build and possibly where you got them

[@taylorgarza4539]

I was gonna ask the same

[@Akshutiv22]

Isolationtankplans.com

[@sick_boi5023]

Nice build, a PDF installation guide would be nice

[@Ontariolabz]

I would love to see a parts list as well! Thanks!

[@stellardust6954]

Same...

[@kevinhamling4675]

G'day Kevin from Australia. No idea of what you were talking about. But my hat is off to you great job A+

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Awesome! Thanks for the kind words Kevin.

[@Gigatless]

Older generations are so nice. They don't understand what's going on but still feel happy for us. I wonder if we'll reach that level of wholesomeness someday.

[@urgencepc4563]

Beautiful job!

[@allenmcclanahan2229]

Super cool, great job in my opinion! I would grab some waterproof rgb strips, make the inside look pretty stellar. 😀

[@justinmedeiros7988]

Any updates on the tank? How well does it work?

[@bradbeining3341]

Nice build

[@SmittyWerb42]

Just stumbled upon your channel from the aluminum pen video so I was surprised to find this one. Very much appreciate the rundown of everything you've done for the tank! I would like to build my own tank sometime in the coming years once I've bought a house and the information you've provided is great.

[@SmittyWerb42]

Instant subscribe from me. Keep at it!

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Thanks for the kind words and the sub! Having the tank running for the last few months has been amazing!

[@rolandjollivet38]

Oh. I queried you on your older video. Anyway, I made one quite a few years back. Even though I had a sloping roof, the dripping was unpleasant. And you need a shower right where you get out, to get all that salt off. In the end I found that the body position was just too uncomfortable to relax properly, and broke it up.

[@ncruncher722]

Awesome tank! Thanks for posting. I’m floating for the first time in a couple weeks. If I like it as much as I think I’m going to, I’ll be building one too

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

I really enjoyed the experience (both in commercial tanks and in my rather terrifying tank)! Bring Vaseline for cuts or dry skin (most centers provide this) helps keep the water from stinging it too bad...or just don't have cuts in the 1st place lol.

[@ncruncher722]

@@CurtVanFilipowski thanks for the tip! Unfortunately I have psoriasis (dry skin), fortunately, it’s just a few spots.

[@theprobioticlife6015]

Nice build! Your work looks neat and tidy; I don't think you'll have any dramas with bacterial buildup.

[@FloatBuoy]

Curt - we salute you!

[@PlanetarySymbio]

Do you have the code posted somewhere already? Would be appreciated... I have got the structure done and now diving into the electronic set up....

[@levih5961]

Would love a list of your supplies to build my own!!

[@alynn333333]

From description - love your design! Do you have any kind of writeup up on it? I would _love_ to read more as i'm doing my info-collecting for a similar build. Thank you for sharing, regardless!

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

I based most of it on the plans that zen float tanks sold (wayy back in the day before they had a commercial unit). I think you can find the same plans online for free now...I don't have a link but I'm sure a little time with Mr.Google will sort that out.

[@azevedoplumbing]

I'm impressed . Nice work ! How much for a 2 hour float? :)

[@laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587]

woah this is amazing

[@Moonfloaty]

Great build! curious on a few parts: Which 1000 watt heating element are you using? I’m trying to figure a reliable one to utilize and could use your experience. Thanks and great work!

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Thanks! I actually had a hard time finding heating elements and eventually found a full titanium 1000W element on ebay that worked great. Another option I would probably look at if I built it again would be to use 2 heaters. I could then downsize to 500W units which are MUCH easier to source and give better redundancy. Eventually my 1000W unit failed after about 2 years of running so I replaced it with a 400W Hydor unit (had to bypass the stock temperature dial) and surprisingly that worked just fine. The duty cycle was a little higher but it had no issues holding the tank at temp for the next year or so until I decommissioned the tank :-). Hope that helps!

[@bwillpower]

wow impressive

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Many thanks!

[@stellardust6954]

Do you have a list of parts and programming?

[@mathewerven9]

Nice job man! How has it held up since completion?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Decently well, it was dismantled a few years ago with minimal signs of deterioration. Biggest issue was the UV sterilizer was slowly breaking down its housing (UV light damaging the plastic).

[@plantdaddy4072]

What should I start learing so that I can understand the technical side to this? Its super cool though you did such a great job!

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Thanks for the kind words! Any good intro to electronics (online, books, etc) would cover majority of the technical topics.

[@huzzdhuzz7713]

Hey ,how is floating in your tank? Do you float regularly? I also would like to build one for myself,but before that I just wanted to know was it worth it for you.

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

It's awesome. I tend to float in bursts, sometimes everyday for a few weeks...sometimes I go weeks without (like right now). Cost to run it is about $20 per month so it more then pays for itself and am super happy I made it!

[@huzzdhuzz7713]

@@CurtVanFilipowski awesome

[@michaelz6870]

Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. While I wish I had the time or interest to figure out the arduino piece of the puzzle, seems wise in my case to go with something off the shelf. As a point of contrast and to plant a seed for others that come across your video looking for ideas to do their own project, I think I'm going to go with a "tub" made out of aircrete, with a tadelakt top layer for waterproofing.

[@wcraft]

We're 3 years on since you published this build. How has this done over time? Any changes since then? Tnx for posting - this is a niche area for sure, but not everyone can afford $10k+ plus for even a used commercial unit.

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Thanks for watching! For what it was it worked great, there are a few things I would change if I built it again but I think you could build a great unit for sub $5000 and have it function even better than this did. This unit was taken apart after about 2 ish years (but still working at the time, moved houses) but here is what I learned: -EPDM is a fantastic material and I would make 100% of the interior out of it in the future. It showed zero degradation over the time and I had zero leaking issues. -The titanium heating element was great but failed after about 1.5 years. Probably the weak point of this system, replaced with a 500W unit which had no issue holding the tank at temp (enclosure was heavily insulated, would not have been possible without the large amount of insulation). Run 2 heating units in future to have redundancy. -Door is where all the leaking / water issues were, find a better door design or use more EPDM rubber in this area...minimize the seams here or design so water naturally flows away from area. -Passive air exchange works OK, added a very small active fan after a few months...little too stuffy inside during floats. -Hydrogen peroxide was used to help with water sanitation (35%), started using it early on (before any issues surfaced)...seemed to work well. Next build I'd increase water pump size to get even better filtration. Added about 1oz per day to keep ppms inline. -Make filter cleaning / changing easier, ideally just buy a secondary filter to always have a clean unit to swap in during deep cleans. -Mag drive pump worked without issues. Would buy again, double or even triple the flow rate to really agitate the water surface to aid in cleaning, worked fine but could be better. -UV filter worked awesome, ABS housing around UV light source started to degrade / breakdown from light source with time (which required more filter cleaning). Purchase higher quality unit designed for 24/7 use. Zero issues with UV bulb life. -Add slight slope to inside roof, flat worked fine but required wipe downs before floats to avoid drips, not a major issue but nice to change. That's all that I had noted, hopefully this is helpful to someone in the future!

[@roverman985]

Lost me on all the do dad's on the outside of tank. So I used my pickup bed with tarp in it. Then put my camper top on it. Filled with salt water. Heated using exhaust pipe from truck running into tank. That ol 454 big block warms water real fast. And some reason I get dizzy 🥴 in there also. Just joking. Cool tank project you've got there.

[@sebastienleblanc5217]

Update please! How is it doing? still using it? is the UV + ozone doing the job?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Still functioning perfectly well, soon after the completion of the build I started adding H202 to the water to help with sanitation as I didn't want to risk the water going south. It has never developed the "locker room" smell others have reported with other low budget tanks but I am sure the high concentration H2o2 is keeping that at bay (I keep my levels at 60-80 ppm constantly).

[@pacowang283]

Sensory deprivation?

[@HenrikSnu]

How do you calculate how much salt to put in the float tank By the way very nice belt

[@NWinnVR]

Based on a 200 gallon tank that's 8' x 4'. It's almost always 800-1000 pounds depending on how buoyant you want and given that tanks don't vary too much in size. (Can't be too deep, for obvious reasons and quickly you get diminishing returns from making it too long/wide) Realize that will be easily be over $500 for the Epsom alone... Typically it ends up being more like $800 with shipping, taxes and all that. But if that doesn't scare you then it's just a matter of getting a _hydrometer_ ($15-$20 on Amazon) and measuring the _specific gravity_ as you pour in more salt. It never ends up being exactly 800 (or whatever) So ordering more than you will need to hit 1.23~1.26 SG and then dialing it in with the hydrometer is the only real way to get consistent results. (Seems complicated but it's the same concept of taking the temperature of something, you use a device to get a number that only means something with further context.)

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Bang on, I used just over 800lbs of salt in this tank and it uses about 20-50lbs of salt per year depending on float frequency (you remove salt on your body with every float...the better you squeeze water off your body, the less salt you waste).

[@ryushogun9890]

Can you do it without water? Seems that is the hardest part from temperature and water spoiling, and salt.. so, could you just do one dry?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Probably...but it would be missing a large part of the 'sensory deprivation'. I did try laying in it once before I added all the water and salt, relaxing but nothing close to the real deal.

[@ryushogun9890]

@@CurtVanFilipowski I've been dreaming to make one since I was 7 years old, but I have no money to do it to this day xD

[@huyked]

Could you list all the personal benefits you've had from using the isolation tank?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

There is a host of them but the major ones for me are relaxation (physical and mental). Jumping in these things is like turning off the background music you never realized was playing, gives a super clear area to think or just blank out for a while.

[@huyked]

​@@CurtVanFilipowski Thank you very much for answering. That is a very informative description of it regarding turning off the background music. Hmm. Very cool. Does this aid to answering questions you didn't know the answer to, or perhaps made it strongly favorable to act in a certain way you may have been less decisive about?

[@cgdrummer234]

What’s the GPH of the mag drive pump?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

I believe its right around 600GPH, its a PanWorld 50PX-X.

[@penroseinspace]

What's the ozone for? Great video

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Thanks, ozone is a great oxidizer and works well for sterilization / disinfection (at appropriate ppms). I'm injecting it directly into the water which when combine with UV lights works very well to kill micro organisms that may be present in the water...as its also making contact with the air inside the chamber it helps to keep the air somewhat sterile (once again, I need a much higher concentration then I am able to generate but none the less it helps). I only run it after floating for a small fraction of time as you do not want to breath that stuff in! Smells great (like a thunderstorm) but also damaging to biological tissue!

[@NWinnVR]

@@CurtVanFilipowski Super pedantic but it doesn't actually kill microorganisms directly, (few things do) rather it damages their mitochondria making them incapable of cell division. (That is to say: It's not dead but also can't make babies meaning it's nearly impossible to harm someone with an uncompressed immune system)

[@bryc0115]

Sure u figured out the light situation in 6 years but out door LED strip. Put the remote in a plastic bag. I think Their Really low voltage.

[@melemesh5718]

Could you publish your designs and schematics? Also what was your total cost? It seems that you still spent about $2K?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Correct, total cost is right around the $2000 mark, you'd be hard pressed to get it under that price point without downgrading some equipment.

[@melemesh5718]

@@CurtVanFilipowski then this sounds like a good deal? seattle.craigslist.org/tac/for/d/puyallup-zen-float-tank-at-home-sensory/6825851365.html

[@Trump_y_Gore_Won]

It's a monstrous responsibility, having a White Elephant in the basement. Is dear old Mom there, too?

[@risunokairu]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. The basement is built under another part of the house??? What??

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Cant sneak anything past you :)

[@varunpai3435]

If you were building it in 2024 how would you do it?

[@alric2997]

I am trying to create an isolation tank for the lowest price if you have any tips you are welcome

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Don't skimp on filtration! Unless you have a very powerful ozone injection system (ie. commercial) you will likely have to use H202 has an additive ( I currently use 35% H202 to help with water care). I would shoot for 10 micron mechanical filtration as well as 20-50 watts of UV lighting power for sterilization. I've been running with these specs for over a year now with great water quality!

[@alric2997]

@@CurtVanFilipowski thanks you maybe i can join you on your mail to ask for tips ?

[@myotherusername9224]

@@CurtVanFilipowski Brilliant job ! What is it like to float in ? You should absolutely do a Kindle eBook on Amazon with pics and specs. Do you follow the floattank subreddit ? www.reddit.com/r/FloatTank/new/

[@TodoProto]

Damn he like El from stranger things

[@Friedolays]

5 foot ceiling?! How tall are you?? 3 feet?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Hehe, I was kneeling for most of the video.

[@alric2997]

How much it cost ?

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Probably about $2000-$3000 all in once you include the salt (so about $2000 in parts).

[@aNOMaly_..]

i just wonder... why add salt when ppl can float in the normal water too? 👀

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

It makes the floating MUCH easier...much being an understatement (lets you completely forget about remaining afloat).

[@briv_turnin_burnin1886]

Technically Epsom salt is not salt. It is magnesium sulfate and has many benefits including pain relief from inflammation. Also, not everyone can float. With this, it is effortless and you feel weightless. Best feeling in the world!

[@bubbarose3670]

So it's also radiowave proof.

[@brukernavnfettsjit]

Soooo what is it for? :p

[@CurtVanFilipowski]

Its basically for meditation without the influence of your external sensory system: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_tank

[@ajmw5322]

sorry you won't get me in there scary.🙂

[@Ian-nb9iw]

It's weird, you look like Dr. Who.

[@kleavenae]

Why do you need so much sanitization? Salt water should kill all bacteria, it's used in wooden hot tubs instead of other sanitizers. Maybe epsom salt is not the effective, I don't know. But your build seems like overkill

[@CuShorts]

Seems loud...

[@skateboardist1686]

I feel like you could die in there somehow.