A plywood tank that can be disassembled without destroying it?

Quo Vadis

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
912
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Wisconsin
Is it possible? I have room in my basement to make a decently large tank and I will be building a plywood one in the next couple years. BUT... I have a very narrow staircase, that has a tight 90 degree turn and my doors are only 30in wide (old house). I hate the idea of having to leave the tank I built when I move (hopefully not for several years, but we will at some point), but if I build it so it can fit through the doors I will limit myself to 300g max. If this makes a difference, I will be using pond/pool liner, not epoxy.

So it it possible to to disassemble a plywood tank and put it back together somewhere else without destroying it?
 

Quo Vadis

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
912
21
18
Wisconsin
Ok, great! Anything I should know when I make it, to make it easier to take apart? (but obviously still needs to be strong.)
 

coolkeith

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2005
403
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Detroit
I'm currently building a portable 2 piece FRP plywood epoxy resin tank, that will be about 10 ft long x 2 ft wide x 2 ft high. Each side of plywood tank will be about 5 foot long, each being lined with 4 feet of FRP paneling using FRP adhesive to permanently hold them in place, leaving 1 foot at the ends for a FRP patch to connect the tanks during final assembly. The exterior will be braced with 2x4 framing and plywood, which will be screwed into place, and removable when I take apart the tank. That interior center seam will be patched with a small pieces of FRP siliconed into place, so that they can be removed later on. The bottom of the tank will have two layers of 3/4" plywood. The interior FRP panels will be sealed with 2 coats ACR MAX Epoxy resin also. The FRP patch will be sealed with Epoxy Resin separately, once again so that the patch can be removed later.


I'm about half way done building the stand right now, but when the tank is done and holding water in my garage, I'll probably start a new thread with lots of pics. After that I'll be taking the tank apart, and moving it inside my house into the fishroom.

Here's my design: (you can see where the FRP patch will be inside the tank)
FRP Tank and Stand.JPGFRP Tank and Stand2.JPG

FRP Tank and Stand.JPG

FRP Tank and Stand2.JPG
 

justarn

Arapaima
MFK Member
May 24, 2011
8,732
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Kent UK
i thought about building a plywood tank that bolts together before buying my 300... it is doable, like you say use liner and silicone the edges as in normal tanks. the timber need to be massively over engineered to avoid any flex at all though! good luck my friend keep us posted. a concrete shuttering carpenter could probably build it in a day if you write up a plan and get all the wood.
 
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