Reinforcement on either on the inside or outside will have about the same effect structurally. It's just more waterproofing and more 90 degree corners to deal with if you add bracing inside the tank.
My idea for a DIY plywood aquarium
- Thread starter Big Fish Freak
- Start date
Reinforcement on either on the inside or outside will have about the same effect structurally. It's just more waterproofing and more 90 degree corners to deal with if you add bracing inside the tank.
Got it..that makes more sense. For external bracing, would I do so like framing a wall?
Could I put the initial layer of epoxy down, then screw in the supports and then coat over the supports?
Or what if I put the first coat of epoxy down, fiberglass the corners and seams, let it tack up for 10 mins, then put the support beams in and use the epoxy to glue them into place? That would put some extra strength in the build right?
Or what if I put the first coat of epoxy down, fiberglass the corners and seams, let it tack up for 10 mins, then put the support beams in and use the epoxy to glue them into place? That would put some extra strength in the build right?
You could. That's one way. A few have stacked the dimensional lumber, so that it's completely solid. Or you could build it like a shipping crate. Google image "shipping crates" and you'll get all kinds of ideas.
That's what I had planned for my current build. For the front window frame, I used 3/4" birch plywood and for external bracing used 2 layers of 1/2" birch plywood. For the rest of the tank, I was just going to glue and screw-in 6" strips of plywood around the outside edges, but I had extra 3/4" birch plywood from the window frames, so I doubled up the plywood on the sides. On the back I framed it out, so I could fit a panel of styrofoam insulation.
Bracing it this way also gave the corners a weave type of strength because the interior plywood panels were now being glued and screwed in from two different directions, from the front and from the side. I believe this type of exterior bracing is the equivalent to fiberglassing. So if you fiberglass the inside corners and do some simple plywood bracing along the outside edges like you'd see in a shipping crate, you'd have a very very strong tank.
Those are some decent ideas. It's extra work, but it could be worth it, if done correctly. It would add some strength and make it harder for water to escape the tank.
I've heard some people not liking interior bracing around the front window frame, since they had difficultly fitting and siliconing the window into place. That space shrinks after you fiberglass or epoxy it, then the window won't fit.
Then once that window is siliconed in, it's going to be extra difficult to remove. So if the seal leaks around the window, you'll want to be able to fit a putty knife around the window to break that silicone seal, if you ever need to remove the glass in one piece.
There are a few builds here you might interested in, if you haven't seen them yet:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?500989-500-gal-plywood-aquarium-update
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?523585-Upgrade-1-4x8x2
Hey, I think I gave you some bad advice about mixing batches of Max ACR and Max Bond Thixotropic together to thicken the Max ACR. Lately, I've been doing some pours with a combination of 75% Max ACR and 25% Max BOND and have just noticed a lot of micro air bubbles in the cured epoxy. The resins de-gassed fine, but the problem is the curing agents aren't. I even tried heating up the curing agents to 140F for a few hours without much success of de-gassing it completely. I didn't notice the air bubbles before, since the lighting wasn't very good where I've been working on the tank the last few weeks. It probably won't matter much for me either, other than appearance, as the tank was pretty much already waterproofed with Max ACR prior to this. Before I was using calcium carbonate to thicken the Max ACR resin and I didn't have this problem. There is a simple solution for thickening ACR with the Max Bond, but I don't really want to go there as it might create an issue down the line. I could just thicken the Max ACR resin with Max BOND resin, and not thicken Max ACR curing agent with the Max Bond curing agent, but then I'd run out of the MAX ACR curing agent before all the Max ACR resin is gone. I don't think I'm willing to let that happen. Hope that wasn't too confusing. So anyways, if you need to thicken the ACR just use calcium carbonate powder instead. You can probably find it locally or just get it from the same ebay dealer that sells the MAX ACR.
I may follow the shipping crate design..I will toss around the two ideas I have and then when time gets closer I will make a decision..What I want to do is the shipping crate design but from the inside..I would be fiberglassing all the seams so I would just put the first layer of epoxy with fiberglass down, and then either let it dry and then put the plywood braces in place or do it while it is still setting..I'm thinking I will put 2 or 3 layers of fiberglass down so I will probably be fine with not fiberglassing over the seams that the plywood braces create but I may just go over it with 1 layer just to be safe..I will make that decision when the time comes.
Thanks for the heads up on the max acr and thixotropic mixing.. I think I am just gonna stick with the epoxy and fiberglass. It should create a very sturdy bond and I am comfortable with just using those. And I understood. It wasn't that confusing. I may just go with the calcium carbonate..I'm assuming that you would mix the two of those like you would the acr and the colorant so it can degas?
Thanks for the heads up on the max acr and thixotropic mixing.. I think I am just gonna stick with the epoxy and fiberglass. It should create a very sturdy bond and I am comfortable with just using those. And I understood. It wasn't that confusing. I may just go with the calcium carbonate..I'm assuming that you would mix the two of those like you would the acr and the colorant so it can degas?
Okay, just for my own clarification, if a sealant has anything to prevent mildew/mold it is not going to be fish safe correct?
That is what I remember but it's been a while since that topic was fresh on my mind.
And I am not saying that is the only criteria that would make it not fish safe, but as a rule of thumb if you see something to be mold/mildew resistant you can throw it out as an option.
That is what I remember but it's been a while since that topic was fresh on my mind.
And I am not saying that is the only criteria that would make it not fish safe, but as a rule of thumb if you see something to be mold/mildew resistant you can throw it out as an option.
Okay, that's what I thought. Just wanted to make sure the guy at HD was full of it. He was trying to tell me that it was safe for fish because it had mold inhibitors..
I've had a minor setback that is preventing me from starting the build..I have too much stuff in my garage for a working space..the funny part is that 98% of the stuff in my garage isn't even my own...hahaha..I should be starting the build by the beginning of January, but if things change I may start in a week or two..I may just get all the wood cut and pre-drilled so that the process goes much quicker once I have all the space to get everything else together.
Flat pieces of plywood stack easy and don't take up much space.
I've had a minor setback that is preventing me from starting the build..I have too much stuff in my garage for a working space..the funny part is that 98% of the stuff in my garage isn't even my own...hahaha..I should be starting the build by the beginning of January, but if things change I may start in a week or two..I may just get all the wood cut and pre-drilled so that the process goes much quicker once I have all the space to get everything else together.
Flat pieces of plywood stack easy and don't take up much space.
