plywood and acrylic tank idea

C

camrsz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 16, 2007
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MN
im just wondering why i do not see many people putting together a plywood and acrylic tank the way I built mine. For the most part its assembly was the same as building a plywood tank when using fiberglass or epoxy to seal the inside. Instead, on the inside I had 1/8 acrylic sheets cut to the inside demensions of the plywood box. put them in (bottom,back,sides) used the acrylic cement to bond them together at the seams. then put in the 1/2 inch thick viewing window and bonded that on the sides and bottom. thats was pretty much it. It was easy didnt have to mess with chemicals. 1/8 acrylic is cheap. heres some pics

tank.jpg

fishroom.jpg
 
Dan F

Dan F

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2007
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Oregon
Looks great! How many gallons?
 
C

camrsz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 16, 2007
71
0
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MN
Thanks its just under 200. I should have noted that i completed this about 3 and a half years ago. I had no problems with it. I dont remember the exact cost it was cheaper then the epoxy and fiberglass methods. Also cheaper then an all glass or acrylic tank as well.
 
F

FishDog

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2008
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B.G. KY
I really thought hard about making a tank the same way that you made yours. If you look at pics of my tank in the DIY forum "custom 200 gallon tank" you can see that I can only view part of the right side of the tank. I was thinking about doing 1/2" on the front and right side and then using 1/4" for the bottom, back, and left side. I think you don't see a lot of people doing tanks this way because it is a lot more labor intensive. You also have to have the plywood portion of the tank tight fitting to keep from having too much stress on the thinner seams. It would of saved me about $120 if I did it with the plywood.
 
A

arl

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2007
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Saskatchewan Canada
I dig you Dude!!:headbang2:headbang2. A lot easier to do and harder to screw up! I used the same method on my 700 G but instead of acrylic I used a cheaper ABS sheet 1/16". ABS sheet is about half the price of acrylic, but tougher. My joint sealing is also a bit different, I used Goop.
 
I

ITHURTZ

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 11, 2007
1,841
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Antioch IL
I think the reason is, your cuts have to be exact to not having a blow out with plexi/ply where as with just plywood you just have to paint it. Paint will run 50/100$ for a big tank. Id rather paint it myself than cut and glue plexi, then cut plywood and make sure its 100% the correct size
 
C

camrsz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 16, 2007
71
0
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MN
arl;1534827; said:
I dig you Dude!!:headbang2:headbang2. A lot easier to do and harder to screw up! I used the same method on my 700 G but instead of acrylic I used a cheaper ABS sheet 1/16". ABS sheet is about half the price of acrylic, but tougher. My joint sealing is also a bit different, I used Goop.
Click to expand...
i think my next one will use ABS. ABS is very tough stuff.
 
C

camrsz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 16, 2007
71
0
0
MN
ITHURTZ;1535178; said:
I think the reason is, your cuts have to be exact to not having a blow out with plexi/ply where as with just plywood you just have to paint it. Paint will run 50/100$ for a big tank. Id rather paint it myself than cut and glue plexi, then cut plywood and make sure its 100% the correct size
Click to expand...
You need more then just paint to seal the tank.
 
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