DIY PLywood tank costs.

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kwantz

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2007
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Ontario
I plan on building a 300 gallon ply wood tank, I am curious, after its all said and done, how much have you guys invested in just building the tank, not including the filters, pumps etc???

wood, screws, epoxy, silicone paint etc.... does it work out to be cheaper than buying a new glass tank?
 
i am also curious to this, exept i can get any wood, screws, silicone etc, for free. so how wuch would it cost if all i had to buy was the glass and the epoxy/liquid rubber/drylok?
 
Matt724;3966381; said:
usually, from what i've heard and seen, it does come out to be slightly cheaper 300+ gallons, but then again, you're sacrificing longevity for a couple hundred dollars. you're choice.
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IMO I am not sure that you are scarificing longevity. A well built ply tank using quality materials should last 20+ years. Aside from a few good buys that I never call on early enough on craigs list, I figure I am saving at least 1/2 building my ply tank. And I have no doubt that it will last for a lot of years. I will be walking away for appx $300

Ply $45 7 ply cab grade
Epoxy $80
Glass $120ish
Built by me ... Priceless :)
 
If you can get small materials free (screws, silicone, etc), your main cost will be lumber, glass, and of course water. Another big factor is sealer. Are you using epoxy, rubber, concrete, sheeting? From my experience 300gal is about a $500 build. Here is a basic breakdown of tanks I have built, minus small materials.

glass - 200
plywood (4 sheets ac exterior $30 a piece) - 120
liquid rubber (tank sealer) - 60
TOTAL - 380

Tank sealing varies. I've had liquid rubber at $60, $150, and epoxy at around $150. So plan for 150 on sealing if you haven't figured out what you want to use yet.

As for longevity, I have never had a tank leak from age because I used plywood and not glass/acrylic. In fact I have had 3 smaller glass tanks leak where as the plywood tanks I have built have yet to leak. Oldest tanks I personally built are 15years old and still going. One was sealed with liquid rubber, one with epoxy. These tanks are 280 gallon and 325gal. My dad has a 300gal plywood tank he built in the late 80s early 90s that is still holding fish and water. This was sealed with epoxy. As for framing I have only used that on larger tanks, like an earlier post mentioned. With 300gal you are fine with butt-jointed plywood, screws, and sealer; as this is the method I used and never had a problem yet.

IMO i prefer to go the liquid rubber route because of the flexibility and cost. I have nothing at all against epoxy other than the mess. But I have learned if you have a plywood tank that you plan on moving around a lot, I would recommend liquid rubber over epoxy...just because of the flexibility. I've dropped a tank down a flight of stairs and it still held water after taking quite a beating. Downside is color. With liquid rubber you are pretty much stuck with black, brown, and blue. I like black tanks so it works. Also liquid rubber sticks to about anything. Wood, metal, glass, plastic, foam, you name it. So if you make 3-d backgrounds with foam, the rubber will seal the foam as well. I have seen people posting about liquid rubber and silicone not bonding together. As long as your silicone has cured completely, the liquid rubber will stick to it just fine. Bascially the only concern is making sure the liquid rubber you purchase is fish(eco)-friendly. Cost-wise rubber is cheaper route to go.
 
Oh and my material cost did not include a stand for the tank. As for filtering, it varies, I've built DIY sumps for around $100 depending.
 
scottswald;3966441; said:
i am also curious to this, exept i can get any wood, screws, silicone etc, for free. so how wuch would it cost if all i had to buy was the glass and the epoxy/liquid rubber/drylok?
Click to expand...

For my 300G tank, glass was $210 and the liquid Rubber was $235. for 5 gallons
 
Zombie11b;3968038; said:
If you can get small materials free (screws, silicone, etc), your main cost will be lumber, glass, and of course water. Another big factor is sealer. Are you using epoxy, rubber, concrete, sheeting? From my experience 300gal is about a $500 build. Here is a basic breakdown of tanks I have built, minus small materials.

glass - 200
plywood (4 sheets ac exterior $30 a piece) - 120
liquid rubber (tank sealer) - 60
TOTAL - 380

Tank sealing varies. I've had liquid rubber at $60, $150, and epoxy at around $150. So plan for 150 on sealing if you haven't figured out what you want to use yet.

As for longevity, I have never had a tank leak from age because I used plywood and not glass/acrylic. In fact I have had 3 smaller glass tanks leak where as the plywood tanks I have built have yet to leak. Oldest tanks I personally built are 15years old and still going. One was sealed with liquid rubber, one with epoxy. These tanks are 280 gallon and 325gal. My dad has a 300gal plywood tank he built in the late 80s early 90s that is still holding fish and water. This was sealed with epoxy. As for framing I have only used that on larger tanks, like an earlier post mentioned. With 300gal you are fine with butt-jointed plywood, screws, and sealer; as this is the method I used and never had a problem yet.

IMO i prefer to go the liquid rubber route because of the flexibility and cost. I have nothing at all against epoxy other than the mess. But I have learned if you have a plywood tank that you plan on moving around a lot, I would recommend liquid rubber over epoxy...just because of the flexibility. I've dropped a tank down a flight of stairs and it still held water after taking quite a beating. Downside is color. With liquid rubber you are pretty much stuck with black, brown, and blue. I like black tanks so it works. Also liquid rubber sticks to about anything. Wood, metal, glass, plastic, foam, you name it. So if you make 3-d backgrounds with foam, the rubber will seal the foam as well. I have seen people posting about liquid rubber and silicone not bonding together. As long as your silicone has cured completely, the liquid rubber will stick to it just fine. Bascially the only concern is making sure the liquid rubber you purchase is fish(eco)-friendly. Cost-wise rubber is cheaper route to go.
Click to expand...

you say that butt jointing using screws should be fine for anything up to 300g. i would imagine this is more to do with height rather than volume??

if it is above this, would it just require a simple internal framework round all edges using 2x2 or something similar?
 
BadOleRoss;3968105; said:
For my 300G tank, glass was $210 and the liquid Rubber was $235. for 5 gallons
Click to expand...

did you use all of the liquid rubber? how many coats did that get you?
 
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