900 gallon plywood

[millerkid519]

It's only 9000 pounds of water, wood shims should be fine lol.

 

[gzeiger]

What I'm going to do is use wood shims to level the interior frame that will support the tank bottom, and then pour more cement under/between the framing. It will end up "shimmed" with cement, but it has to be leveled before the cement can be poured. This stuff is far too viscous to be "self-leveling" as advertised.

Here are some pictures of the built-up framing in the front and the failed "self-leveling compound."

 

[HumanBean]

This can actually hold about 1000 gallons, depending where I end up putting the water level. I'm building the tank into the wall of a shed, using the existing floor and walls as the main support for the bottom and two sides. The remaining unsupported corner will be 2x4s screwed and glued into a 4x4 which is connected by several 2x4s in the end wall to the wall of the building. These pictures are a week old now I think. I'll get some new ones up soon.

My intention is to fiberglass the corners and seams (this is longer than a sheet of plywood, so there is a seam in the floor and back wall). The front wall will not contain a plywood seam, but will have two vertical beams and three windows each about 32x36 inches. I'm thinking Zavlar for the waterproofing, but haven't decided yet.

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Kudos mate.

I wish I have some skills in wood work.
Looking forward to the next phases

 

[gzeiger]

No skill in woodwork is required, just patience. Every step, re-measure everything and think through where everything is going to go (again), then add one more piece and repeat.

In the next picture I have the bracing down for the floor, and added cement to hold it there. I've since added plywood over the top. Pictures will follow when I get around to it. I think I'm ready to start fiberglassing this weekend.

Last picture is a potential inhabitant. I might have over-fed him

 

[gzeiger]

Forgot the fish:

 

[gzeiger]

Dang, why do the pictures always rotate when they get posted?

 

[gzeiger]

Started fiberglassing last weekend. Going to work on it more tomorrow. It takes longer than I expected.

 

[stempy]

It's also one of the most important steps. it stinks because as soon as you mix the resin the clock is ticking but you have to take your time to make sure you press out all the bubbles to prevent delamination. It was certainly the most challenging part of my build, mostly due to nerves of inexperience. Build is looking good so far Best of luck to you!!

 

[gzeiger]

I definitely have a few bubbles to go back and fix. Overall it came out pretty well though. The fiberglass is about 80% done now. As I said before, I left the area immediately around the windows. The glass arrived this week and was set inside the frame, and over the weekend I've added the final framing. I've got some driftwood soaking in a stock tank, but I need to get at least one more good piece - hopefully a nice stump. I'll probably let it sit like this, or maybe just work out my mistakes in the fiberglass, for the next week while I think it over to make sure I haven't done anything stupid so far, before I make it irreversible . I've found that to be a good practice.

 

[gzeiger]

Fiberglass was finished about three weeks ago. About half the tank, including the window area, has received an overcoat of West Systems epoxy. Here's the first window set into place. Using 3M 5200 as the adhesive. After this cures I'm going to go back and add a bead of silicone around the edge of the glass for a redundant waterproof layer.