plywood tank

turbo21

turbo21

Member
what do you think?
a plywood tank constructed out of 4x4's, 2 one inch thick sheeets plywood for walls, fiberglassed and epoxied,
construction would be the same as novice150 1700 gal shark tank
dimensions

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7 ft long 42 inches deep 6 feet high
front viewing window would be 4 feet high 6 ft wide
would 1 inch thick acrylic be enough???
i have only found 1 " thick available online, have yet to check locally, everything is still in planning
bob
 
reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
I love DIY projects. Wooden Tanks just never make sense to me. The tanks always seem counter-productive cost wise and inferior when finished..
By the time you get all the materials and so on just right you are almost as much as just going straight acrylic from the start. The price difference is indeed real money and not to be wasted, but by the time your set up and everything is growing. You have thousands and thousands in livestock in it. Do the math for your demensions for maximizing your materials and they cut it for ya.
Not trying to sound negative, maybe its just me. I just dont think the finished product is as high qaulity for the long term as a conventional acrylic custom tank. JMO
 
turbo21

turbo21

Member
just from my experience, if you would do a search for novice150 find his homepage, and read his article about how he constructed his 1700 gal tank, that has been running since 2002 with no leaks or problems, i believe his cost was under $3,000 including filtration,
i know that i have about $5,000 into my 240
imo i would rather have wood for the sides and the back, the are alot more forgiving than acrylic in the scratch department

we all have our different opinions, but i feel that a wooden tank, if constructed correctly, is just as strong as acrylic
do you have any idea on the thickness??
bob
you are also limited to a tank that is either 4 ft high x eight wide or eight high x four deep

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that is unless you want to pay big bucks for non standard sheets
bob
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
This tank was built rock solid and was structurally built to last. Im the one who disassembled it last month. The viewing window panel is a 4X8 sheet of 1.5" acrylic. The sides were 2 3/4 plys laminated together.
 
reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
I did see that tank and I mean no offense but it just looks Hooey to me. To each thier own I suppose but I just dont think its about price with the wooden builders. I think they just like to build for sake the DIY fun of it. They are dedicated and it takes tremendous effort to put it all together. Thats what makes me scratch my head. A few bucks one way or the other just seems like a strange reason to choose wood IMO
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
This tank was heavy duty, and heavy also. Over the past year for the cost Ive really began to research some of these plywood builds more closely. Your right, I like to DIY because I can do a better job than the MFG can and do it for less. Some tanks are flimsy boxes but others like Joes were bullet proof. Right now I have a choice to make. One tank 10ft long all acrylic or a 20+FT long monster made from acrylic and plywood. Since it will be against a wall only one side will be viewable, (like a public tank) so Im leaning towards the 20FT one. Sealing will either be epoxy/glass or Sanitred.
 
jj_harrison

jj_harrison

Member
What about pool paint they have some non toxic paint for $30. but I would suppose you would need some thing else if its not fiberglased.
My dream is to build a concretee pool about 10x10 and and 20x10 connected in like and L shape. the 10X10 would be where the sharks are and the 10x20 would be for snokeling/swiming. all inclosed in a green house.
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
This is the tank Im referring to. Because it was built so well it was not easy to remove.
JJ that would be a sweet tank. From what Ive learned swimming pool paint is marine epoxy, since wood is a living material it will expand and contract over time. The problem with using swimming pool paint over wood is that it that it will form cracks at the joints when the wood flexes. Concrete pools usually do not expand and contract as much so the coating is less succeptible to cracking (unles the concrete cracks) Using fiberglass with the expoxy like Joe did is the best method to stiften the box and prevent it from cracking. Sanitred looks to have some good potential also. Some of guys on other sites have used it with success to seal plywood tanks. So far I've seen truck bed liner, Drylock, straight expoxy, fiberglass epoxy and Sanitred used. And a few theories about acrylic or PVC sheeting being used as a liner.
The best ones seem to be the fiberglass/epoxy or Sanitred designs.
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Originally Posted by turbo21
phixer,
why did joe disasemble the tank???????????????
what did he do with his sharks??
bob
Because he moved, the sharks were rescued by a friend. I plan on resurecting this tank in a similar build, maybe next year. Have been so busy, it has been hard to find the time. Right now I have sketches of it, and am also working on a 20+ ft design in the basement. Am very excited about this and plan on documenting the build the same way. Have all the materials for the build but dont want to lead folks on until construction starts so Ive been doing a lot of sketching lately. :joy: Will be something like this:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/557828870HbMmny
 
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