740 Gallon Plywood tank for Discus

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A3aan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 30, 2009
25
0
0
Enschede, NL
Hi to all MFK's :)

In the introduction thread I was asked to show some pic's of the construction of my 740 gallon tank. So.....here the story goes!

Currently I've got a 130 gallon tank (160x60x50 cm). It's a tank "Dutch style" so with lots of plants. Off course I always wanted a bigger tank (who doesn't?). Sooo..when I bought a new house, I made sure to buy one that allowed a new bigger tank in the living room.

The living room in the new house has a lowered area with a sloping roof above it with some large windows. Very well suited to place a large tank underneath it and make use of the available day-light.

aquakuil1.jpg


At first I looked for a tank made of glass. But the prices for a big glass tank turned out to be sky-high! More than 3500 euros for a 650 gallon tank. So what next?

Surfing the internet I discovered this forum and soon found out that a plywood tank would be a good and cost saving alternative.
The dimensions of the tank would be dictated by the available space and height and the standard dimensions of the plywood sheets. Then finally made the first step and bought four Okoume plywood sheets (2500x1250x40 mm). The tank dimensions are 2500x1250x1000 mm
In CAD it then looked like this.

woody1klein.gif


I wanted a water height of approx. 90-100 cm. Therefore I have no room for a sump underneath the tank. That made it necessary to integrate the filtering in the tank itself behind the background. The tank itself stands on concrete blocks. Man!! they were heavy! weighing about 80 kgs each!
Good fitness training lifting them in...:D

Cutting the plywood sheets was easier than I thought! one Saturday and the sheets were cut and could be loosely placed together. I hope the pic's give some idea.

woody2.jpg

In the pic you can see that because of the low roof line I had to fabricate some plywood boxes in the upper corners.
Sitting on the sofa, I can already dream how it will finally look :headbang2
woody1.jpg
 
looking good...keep us updated with pics...
 
subscribed I will be watching this one. look like a great start. so what are you going to be sealing the tank with?
 
Wow, that looks awesome!! I like how you've made it custom to fit into the wall :D
 
What typ of discus will you have in the tank?
At first I was thinking of Heckels. But now I think it is better to start with Alenquer or Tefe because Heckels are somewhat more demanding regarding water quality. When I've got that right I can always go with Heckels.

What are you going to seal it with and what are your plans for filtration?
A reef aquarium always has been a dream of me, but that would make the built a bit too expensive. So now I'm building the tank in such a way, that it can later be converted from fresh to seawater. Therefore it's sealed with glassfibre matting and epoxy. With pond liner the switch would later be much harder, although it would be less expensive now.

The filtration will be in the tank itself, behind the background walls.
Behind the rear wall I will place the main pump. This pump (8000 l/h) will then pump the water into a compartment behind the left wall. This compartment will be filled with kaldness (also used in koi ponds).
The right compartment, although smaller will also be used as a filter compartment with a smaller pump.
woody5.jpg


A look from the inside. The panels are glued with polyurethane glue. Gives a very strong bond! And the panels are also screwed together with 6x100 mm screws. Must be more than 300 screws in there at the end. Especially the screws in the bottom were difficult to get in, because of the restricted space available for me to get around. But a few saturdays and the job was done. Phew!!:nilly:
woody4.jpg


In the corners I've placed small beams cut in half (45 degrees).
This to make it easier to place the glassfibre matting.

dchwoody4.jpg


At the back of the aquarium you can see this wooden stiffening beam
Over the top of the aquarium there also will be some 100x40 mm beams to stiffen up things. An additional steel beam (60x60x6 mm) in the front panel should also help things stiffen up a bit.
dchwoody5.jpg
 
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