Wooden Tank

[Mourinho18]

Okay, here's the deal, I'm building a 350 gallon plywood/wood tank. I'm going to fit it with pond liner and divide the tank into three sections. 50 gallons, 125 gallons, and 175 gallons. It's going to be 7' x 4' x 2' but I'm only going to fill it up to 20 inches.

Today is day one and it basically just involved purchasing some of what I'll need to build it.

3 pieces of plywood which are each 8' x 4' and approximately 3/4 inches thick.

Also purchased 16 pieces of 2' x 3'.

The actual building will take place this friday and I'll def. post some pics. Speaking of which, how do you post pics :screwy: .

Wish me luck.

[guppy]

I hope it works out for you, measure twice and cut once as the saying goes. I like 2"x12" myself because when you cap it with 2"x6" laid flat it can be safely sat on. Materials, just the wood, for a 2'deep x4' wide x8' long set up runs around $90 at someplace like Lowe's or Lumberman's. Do you have Lowe's stores there? They sell liners plenty big for two of those for around $60.

To post pics into a thread just download into your computer's picture or document file then after you have started a post go below the message box to where it says "go advanced" and click there, that will open a window where you can scroll down to where it says "manage attachments" click there and it will open a little window where you will see several slots that say "browse" click one and select your picture then click "open" then "upload", repeat for more pics then close that window and click "submit". that should do it. Make sure they are jpeg files and it is best if the pics are only 400 or so pixels on a side. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[rayman45]

pics pics pics


:)

[Mourinho18]

Thanks for the advice there guppy. Me and my pops are basically making a project out of this. We purchased the wood at Lowe's for $67 after a 10 dollar discount which is pretty decent. What we're gonna do is get some cheap liner and have one layer of that underneath the pond liner for extra support in case of a rip.

Thanks about posting pics. Gonna put it all together friday since it's my only free day and I want to make it a one day project since I've already got some little buddies I want to move in. :headbang2

[guppy]

One thing I havused as an under layer is the heavy clear plastic sheets used by builders to cover openings in walls and such. I also put a couple of inches of sand or fine gravel inside on the bottom which helps to hold down ant bubbles that might form beneath the liner and IMO improves the looks. Lowe's also carries 1300gph pumps for about $99 and a reasonable filter can be made from a 20g rubbermaid tub that sits inside the tank. add a few potted water lilies and you are set.

[Sixx101]

I would test fold the liner in each seperate compartment several time before even attempting to make a cut.

[guppy]

I would test fold the liner in each seperate compartment several time before even attempting to make a cut.
Very good idea Sixx101, by the way, Welcome to MFK. Is that a bounty hunter from Cowboy Bebop as your avatar, I love that show.

[Mourinho18]

Let me just add that (guppy), I'm using your advice on the diy tank dividers using the egg crate. I've been looking for something to use where I can divide my tank but still have the water flowing freely about. It also works out perfectly with the sizes since the tank is 4 feet wide and 2 feet high :D .

Just thought I would mention that I'm going to keep

2 red terrors in the side with 175 gallons

4 Geophagus abalios
4 heros sp. rotkeil
4 caquetaia spectabile

and hopefully
4 caquetaia myersi in a 125 gallon section

and

4 cichlasoma oblonus in the 50 gallon section

:headbang2

[guppy]

very nice, it should make a great display. How are you going to hold the dividers in place?

[Mourinho18]

to be honest I havent really decided how I'm going to do that. I'm hoping it can hold with rocks but it'll probably need more support when the fishies get a little bigger. How large are the holes in , theegg crates, because i dont want absolutely any fishies swimming from one side to another freely, including future possible fry.

[mbierzyc]

fry can definitely get through holes in egg crate. if you're only filling water to 20", you can attach something on each side of the egg crate near the top to hold it in place, and use rocks near the bottom.

[guppy]

I use aquarium silicone to glue two plastic rods to the glass far enough apart to let the eggcrate slide between them, then do the same on the opposite side and just slide the eggcrate down into place between them. this is very secure and it is easy to remove the sheets for cleaning, and it is not hard to remove the rods and silicone if you don't want the dividers anymore. Average size on the smaller grid egg crate is 1/2" which is good for most cichlids and medium to large fish, (it it sturdy enough to withstand a determined attack from a 14" rpb or a 36" american eel.) If you get fry or very small fish get some appropriately size plastic screening an d silicone it to the grid. That will reduce the water flow a bit but a lot less than those white plastic perforated sheets the lfs sells (which an 8" oscar can break through), again when you no longer need the screening the silicone can be removed with a plastic window frost scraper and white vinegar.
As an aside has anyone ever used white vinegar to adjust ph?

[Mourinho18]

pics soon :grinyes:

[Mourinho18]

finally, some pictures of the current project :grinyes: :feedback:

[guppy]

The plywood going on the inside of the studs?

[Mourinho18]

no no, its going on the outside

[Mourinho18]

you mean the foundation, yeahhh, plywood on top of the studs, thought you were asking about the rest of the setup

[ShadowVengance]

looking amazing, I wish you a lot of luck.

[rayman45]

nice looking


bigger pics

[Mourinho18]

nice looking


bigger pics


sorry, i wish i could post bigger pics, but i had to use a web cam, andddddd its really old so the pics arent really big to begin with. :( . Tomorrow, we're gonna put the plywood surrounding the frame and add in the pond liner.

[bluedempsey]

looks like it's coming along great

[Mourinho18]

This here is an update of the setup :woot: :feedback:

[mbierzyc]

so is it more of an indoor pond really? or am i looking at it wrong?

[Mourinho18]

yeah, basically an indoor pond. call it a plywood tank though :D

[fishnthings]

wow, thats nice...... looks like it came along great!

[guppy]

Just an idea here but you could use styrofoam panels between the 2xs to insulate it then face it with paneling and cap the top rails with 2x6or 2x8 laid on their sides so you could sit on the edges. Just varathane the outside of the paneling to weatherproof it. the seating rails would also hide and protect the upper edges of the liner as that is a common wear spot., looks good.

[Mourinho18]

thanks for the ideas there guppy, we might try to insulate it with styrofoam since we have some laying around. I'll post pics once i get the whole thing setup and the fishies in there. I have a seperate area of 50 gallons which i used egg crate to seperate for my cichlasoma oblongus. The water is a little cloudy from the newly added pea sived gravel and sand. It's not filled up really high




On a side note. I think my abalios is starting to get popeye. The reason i think he got it is because my heater died on me during the night. It was on 86 degrees when i went to bed and it was 70 today. So its become obvious with him. The others seem fine though. I treated them with pimafex and got a new heater for the temporary setup. :( . I also have quite a few of these juv. in a 16 gallon setup. :(

Really really hope they make it. poor guys.

[Mourinho18]

just moved the little guys in today, filled it up only about halfway since theyre still juvies, somehow the oblongus are making it past the divider, pissing me off to put them in their spot and to see them escape every ten minutes or so :swear: