120 gallon plywood/acrylic tank

hey guys after lots of designing and reasurch i finaly started my build. the tank will be housing a juvinile red eared slider turtle and a few other fish such as a 9" albino pleco 2 rainbo sharks, 2 small 1" cat fish, 1 bala shark an 3 gromies. i will be doing a slight modification to the design by adding two side windows. tanks dimensions will be 24x48x24. i will also be building my stand which will be 26" tall. last there will be an above tank basking area added to the build. to assemble the tank i will be using 3/4" bc plywood for the back and bottom of the tank and 1x3 red oak for the front and sides. the front and sides will be assembled using 2" pocket screws then attached together with 2" exterior grade screws. i will be sing 1/2" acrylic for the windows and GE silicone 1 to install them. the tank will be sealed with epoxy and fiberglass in the seams.

i will also be building this tank with a 35 gallon wet/dry sump.

so far i have started the stand.

what do you guys think of my project?

on a side not i dont mind if the fish dont last long with the turtle i will be adding lots of hiding places for the fish that the turtle cant get into.

for my stand my plan right now is to just set the tank on the 2x4 frame of the stand but i will be adding 3 more stringers to the top of the stand. is this ok or should i add plywood to the top?

i will be adding them in, still working on it. also i will be adding a 1/4" ply shell to enclose the entire stand and adding doors at a later time

here are some more pics of the stand it is now complete except for the plywood skin, doors, and trim

i was very careful to get all of the top joists strait and flush with the surface this way the tank will sit flat on the stand.

and now the fun begins lots of drilling pocket holes and cutting as i start assembly the front and sides.

i will be gluing all joints with tite bond III then screw them together. after it is all built the outside will be stained and clear coated

the last pic is where the tank will go once complete currently there is a 45 gallon bow front sitting in its place. my plan is to move the current tank durring a water change, then position the new one and get it all ready to go and then transfer all the water and fish from the old tank to the new one and finish filling the tank. i am hoping that i will get a jump start on the tank cycling that way


i am pretty sure i over built the stand but i feel over is better than under in this case. should i change anything on my build?

more progress. drilling pocket screw holes takes a while lol

well here is the progress report for the day bought the wood yesterday and started the stand. got up today and finished the stand and started on the tank. lots of screws and holes and about 16 hours later the tank and stand are constructed. the tank is ready for epoxy and fiberglass. i still have to order my acrylic and i will do that later. i wont have much progress this week due to work but next weekend i plan on getting more work done i may get the fiberglass done so that it has time to fully cure before acrylic gets here.

next question what would be a good color for the background i was thinking a shade of green or white

also i am toying with putting another layer of 2x4's on the base to give it a bigger foot print do you think it is necessary or am i trying to over build things again

well guys not much progress today did some sanding and some repair work on the edges. if any one decided to use oak for the frame pre-drill and counter sink the holes before adding screws or the wood will split. i also started coating the inside. i decided to put some 6 oz fiberglass cloth in the corners and then an overlay of .5 oz cloth on the bottom it takes a while but it will yield a nice flat surface to work with. i am using a 2 part epoxy finishing resin to seal the inside edges. once this coat dries i will do up the sides and back with fiberglass in the corners only and possibly a layer of .5 ounce on the back as well but not on the sides. then i will add at least one more coat over everything and the final coat will be tinted. i think i will go green with it or black what do you think?

on another note i ordered my acrylic and some of the stuff needed to get it running. i will be using 1" pipe all around and the tank will be fed by a quiet one 4000 pump that will enter the tank in two places, at the top via a spray bar and at the bottom via under gravel jets