My sister is graduating high school this year and has been wanting a nice large paludarium. SHe has a 30 gallon tank now with a few piddly fish here and there. Her boyfriend is also into fish and they have been researching plywood tanks aswell. I thought i would beat them to the punch and the money they are saving to build the tank they can then use to buy fish for it. Ive been dropping hints that they should look into some anableeps. you know four eyed fish. I had them when i was younger in a 130 gallon tank and love them really neat fish. My sister is interested in them and so im going to build this tank with them in mind more or less.
SO first let me start by apologising for my poor spelling and punctuation. dislexia and digraphia add up to if you dont like my writing dont read and or offer to correct it for me lol. also im prone to rambling but i digress.
have glass. 1/4inch 46 x 42 1/2 inch. will work fine as my water doesnt need to be deep .
bought plywood 2 sheets 34 inch plywood. cut into 2 48"x48" pieces 2 - 22 1/2" x 48" and the 24" x 48" top piece as well with a little left over. as i already had some 3/4 inch plywood on hand im using for the bottom piece.
water will be 15 inches deep and i will make a contoured fiberglass planter/ shore on the back of the tank. it should be around 75 gallons of actual water when im all said and done.
okay onto the pictures.
got my filter box planning on only using two drawers though. due to space constraints. will make first drawere mechanical filter so sponge. second drawer will be full of either scrubbies or army men as my bio matter. my mom had a big salt water aquarium running army men for bio matter so im kind of leaning that way. plus its cool to say youve got a whole army keeping your tank clean.
got my plywood frame starting to go up you dont really apreciatethe size of a 4'x2' aquarium until its in this kind of shape. my wife walked up and thought it looked a little big. She says its too big for a small room but i say a the room is too small for it.
am taking into consideration height though. shooting for a 24inch high stand. because im thinking ill wind up with another six inches of height on top for lights. making a six and a half foot height over all. my sister is 5'6" so shell be on a regular step ladder to reach in not a real ladder lol.
found some great bulkheads at the local hardware store. 5 dollars a piece. have 3/4 threads inside and about an inch and a half overall diameter. and best yet when tightened through the plywood will have three threads showing on back side of nut. they had them in larger sizes too but im thinking to run 1 inch pvc for my overflow so these are perfect.
once i got the box finished except for the front panel i got ready to cut out my land frame the idea is to create a nice structure to stretch my fabric and then fiberglass. similair to how you make a subwoofer box. i debated for a while on draping it with carpet instead for the added streingth once glassed but decided for this small a thing it will eb fine with regular glassing of about four layers. subwoofer boxes ive made like that are strong enough for my 230 pounds to jump on them. so to hold back 100 gallons or less of water should be good to go.
well thats as far as i got today. still need to put the actual glass mat down will do that tomorrow.
things still up in the air are pump size. im thinking 350gph or so so i can turn my water four times an hour. im still looking for the marine epoxy. ive found some of the oounter and bathtub refinish epoxies some have used but im wanting to stick to tried and true. living in a small town though has its downsides. will probably epoxy the whole box but considered only epoxying abotu 6inches abover the waterline then some other finish for the rest. but since the whole thing will eb very humid i guess its best to just cover everything with the epoxy. im also considering adding two more shelves or planters up higher on the walls aswell. and the plan right now is water to return via small waterfall on back right corner. water will drain through stand pipe in front left corner just out of sight of front glass. havent cut the front panel yet as im sort of undecided how much overlap of the glass there should be.
i was thinking of a 3inch overlap on all side but the top and having 2 inches up there any thoughts???
anyway am very open to input on anything im doing.
SO first let me start by apologising for my poor spelling and punctuation. dislexia and digraphia add up to if you dont like my writing dont read and or offer to correct it for me lol. also im prone to rambling but i digress.
have glass. 1/4inch 46 x 42 1/2 inch. will work fine as my water doesnt need to be deep .
bought plywood 2 sheets 34 inch plywood. cut into 2 48"x48" pieces 2 - 22 1/2" x 48" and the 24" x 48" top piece as well with a little left over. as i already had some 3/4 inch plywood on hand im using for the bottom piece.
water will be 15 inches deep and i will make a contoured fiberglass planter/ shore on the back of the tank. it should be around 75 gallons of actual water when im all said and done.
okay onto the pictures.
got my filter box planning on only using two drawers though. due to space constraints. will make first drawere mechanical filter so sponge. second drawer will be full of either scrubbies or army men as my bio matter. my mom had a big salt water aquarium running army men for bio matter so im kind of leaning that way. plus its cool to say youve got a whole army keeping your tank clean.
got my plywood frame starting to go up you dont really apreciatethe size of a 4'x2' aquarium until its in this kind of shape. my wife walked up and thought it looked a little big. She says its too big for a small room but i say a the room is too small for it.
am taking into consideration height though. shooting for a 24inch high stand. because im thinking ill wind up with another six inches of height on top for lights. making a six and a half foot height over all. my sister is 5'6" so shell be on a regular step ladder to reach in not a real ladder lol.
found some great bulkheads at the local hardware store. 5 dollars a piece. have 3/4 threads inside and about an inch and a half overall diameter. and best yet when tightened through the plywood will have three threads showing on back side of nut. they had them in larger sizes too but im thinking to run 1 inch pvc for my overflow so these are perfect.
once i got the box finished except for the front panel i got ready to cut out my land frame the idea is to create a nice structure to stretch my fabric and then fiberglass. similair to how you make a subwoofer box. i debated for a while on draping it with carpet instead for the added streingth once glassed but decided for this small a thing it will eb fine with regular glassing of about four layers. subwoofer boxes ive made like that are strong enough for my 230 pounds to jump on them. so to hold back 100 gallons or less of water should be good to go.
well thats as far as i got today. still need to put the actual glass mat down will do that tomorrow.
things still up in the air are pump size. im thinking 350gph or so so i can turn my water four times an hour. im still looking for the marine epoxy. ive found some of the oounter and bathtub refinish epoxies some have used but im wanting to stick to tried and true. living in a small town though has its downsides. will probably epoxy the whole box but considered only epoxying abotu 6inches abover the waterline then some other finish for the rest. but since the whole thing will eb very humid i guess its best to just cover everything with the epoxy. im also considering adding two more shelves or planters up higher on the walls aswell. and the plan right now is water to return via small waterfall on back right corner. water will drain through stand pipe in front left corner just out of sight of front glass. havent cut the front panel yet as im sort of undecided how much overlap of the glass there should be.
i was thinking of a 3inch overlap on all side but the top and having 2 inches up there any thoughts???
anyway am very open to input on anything im doing.