L shaped plywood tank build

jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
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winnipeg
The original planning for this tank came from my geophagus tapajos seeming to not really have enough room to establish territories and what not in my 90g that they currently reside in. So thinking about how much bigger I wanted to go and balancing that against the limitations of apartment living I came up with this tank idea. Its relatively shallow, only 18" tall, and in an L shape with a width of 18" as well. One arm is 4' long and the other is 6'. Should be around 180g. I figured this would give me a large enough foot print for the geos to dig around in and would use the space most effectively. I would have made it deeper but I don't want it to be too heavy, I live in an old apartment building and I can imagine it crashing through my downstairs neighbors ceiling.
I considered making it out of glass but I've felt the fear of walking into a flooded room and thinking its a guaranteed eviction once before, so I thought maybe I'd try plywood just for the durability. Plus who doesn't love a good project.
 

jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
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winnipeg
I started collecting the supplies. Some things are new, others will come from tanks I hope to shut down after this is built. I used instructions from diy how to articles online. Pretty straight forward, screw the wood together, seal it, etc.
When screwing the sides a lot of people said use some wood glue, we decided to go with that construction glue stuff that comes in a caulking tube and put a screw in every couple inches. I'm pretty impressed with how solid it actually is. Flexes a bit in the front. There are two viewing windows so I can see the whole tank so there isn't much wood to be glued and screwed there but I will be putting a top on after the glass is installed and should be more than sufficient then.
 

freebyrd

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 6, 2010
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Virginia
Man that looks pretty awesome, great build. I got tapajos geophagus myself

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jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
192
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winnipeg
To seal it I was going to try to use zavlar because I had seen and read good things about it but I had trouble finding it in Winnipeg. I'm kind of lazy sometimes and I found a store that sells west systems epoxy so I just went with it. It was pretty easy to mix etc and I feel very secure. It was a good route as well because there seemed to be some problems with silicone sticking to zavlar from what I read and now I don't have to worry.
 

jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
192
51
winnipeg
Man that looks pretty awesome, great build. I got tapajos geophagus myself

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Thanks, I love them. I had 6 (one died recently) but they had spawned a few times for me so I have some fry growing out in another tank plus a couple survivors the are growing out in the 90. Here's a pic of that tank in its prime.
I had some problems with the design of the background so I had to rip that out. Looks crappy now comparatively. I recently picked up some wc l091 plecos that I will also be putting in the new tank, this is one of them. Only about 2.5" right now
 

jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
192
51
winnipeg
I painted the inside a dark tan color, don't know if I like it, might just spary some black overtop, we'll see. I bought a tank to tear down and use for the windows, it was a 5' long*20" high so plenty of glass to work with. Glass is 3/8" I believe. Had some trouble cutting it. We scored it and everything tried to tap it down the score line but when we flexed it to break it the crack ran off track at the end. Maybe we did something wrong. Decided we will just bring it in to a glass place to get it cut by a pro. While I wait to get that done I thought I would play around with some poplar branches I plan to decorate the tank with. Not completely settled with an arrangement but this is one possibility.
 
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jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
192
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winnipeg
Here's a pic of the tank standing up just for fun. I keep making coffin jokes with the fam (building it in dads garage) here you can kinda see the back and sides painted.
 

gutted

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2012
1,019
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Love the L shape design. I planned on building one in the future but every source I've found with info about it they abandon it because they say there will be to much pressure on the inside corner.

What kind and size of wood did you use to make it? It looks thin to me but I am no expert.

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jamntoast

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
620
192
51
winnipeg
Love the L shape design. I planned on building one in the future but every source I've found with info about it they abandon it because they say there will be to much pressure on the inside corner.

What kind and size of wood did you use to make it? It looks thin to me but I am no expert.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Wow I hope not, I didn't read anything that said that! I used 3/4" plywood. For this build I don't really expect it to have that much pressure being so shallow and all, I might think twice if it was taller. Also one of my dads buddies is a retired engineer and he didn't mention anything like that. With the top part on to brace it, as well as the glass. I don't expect issues and if it does bust I will have a very expensive lesson in physics to talk about.
 
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