12x4 plywood, few questions on design

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
mscamp02

mscamp02

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 13, 2011
604
163
61
Mt. Sterling KY
Okay so I have been seriously toying with the idea of a garage build and have so far come up with a quick sketch of what I think could work but still need some input from the ones who have completed one for design help.

I'm just going to bullet down some comments/concerns.


  • The plan is to skin the interior with 3/4 plywood all the way around, just left it open on the sides/rear to be easier to see everything.
  • The overflow/wall seperating the main are from the filtration area is just a guide right now but separates it off 10' and 2' for filtration about 100g area.
  • The floor needs some design work. I currently have just a 12x4x3/4 sheet there but obviously will have a seem at the 8' mark. This is bringing up a huge concern for me and I am thinking of overlapping two layers of 1/2 inch with the seems flipped. Any thoughts to this?
  • The glass is a 2x8x1/2 sheet of plate and I believe it should be plenty strong enough but the question is should I frame out the inside where it is held completely? or just leave the one brace at the bottom?
  • In between the support beams I will lay in some form of insulation to help minimize heat loss and skin the extior with possibly 1/4ply since that is just for looks.
  • Currently there is no top bracing but will be some, I am waiting on drawing it in until I decide how I will enclose the top, possible raised slanted hood with viewing windows or just straight across.
  • No ideas yet of the filtration design but I will work on that when it becomes more of a reality instead of just a design.
  • Still researching here on what people prefer for sealing the interior and have found a few good options but I have time for that.
  • Heating/Cooling will be a main concern. With a slanted hood type design I could try to mimic fishdog and use air to heat the tank or use a couple of 800w tit heaters but I have no idea what will work best.
  • Black or blue/white for interior? I will be using it to house several rays and most if not all will be brown.

I'm probably not thinking of several things or have just forgot to write them down but below are pics of the current design.







 
That is a good concept. I would go 6" centers on your uprights it is way over kill but on the other hand it will strengthen you top and bottom stringers which would be what I would want.what type of linear are you thinking of using? I have used liquid rubber and it is very nice but the seam tape is a pain. I would use it again price wise but it does go brownish by the time the tank will be cycled. The other option I would use is fiberglass resin the hole tank (3 coats) and mat all seams then buy marine paint which is the same as straight enamel to do your final 3-4 coats with paint. You need to build the tank strong with no flex at all going this route so the resin won't crack as it has no give
 
Looks similar to how I did mine.



mscamp02 said:
Okay so I have been seriously toying with the idea of a garage build and have so far come up with a quick sketch of what I think could work but still need some input from the ones who have completed one for design help.

I'm just going to bullet down some comments/concerns.


  • The plan is to skin the interior with 3/4 plywood all the way around, just left it open on the sides/rear to be easier to see everything.
  • The overflow/wall seperating the main are from the filtration area is just a guide right now but separates it off 10' and 2' for filtration about 100g area.
  • The floor needs some design work. I currently have just a 12x4x3/4 sheet there but obviously will have a seem at the 8' mark. This is bringing up a huge concern for me and I am thinking of overlapping two layers of 1/2 inch with the seems flipped. Any thoughts to this?
  • The glass is a 2x8x1/2 sheet of plate and I believe it should be plenty strong enough but the question is should I frame out the inside where it is held completely? or just leave the one brace at the bottom?
  • In between the support beams I will lay in some form of insulation to help minimize heat loss and skin the extior with possibly 1/4ply since that is just for looks.
  • Currently there is no top bracing but will be some, I am waiting on drawing it in until I decide how I will enclose the top, possible raised slanted hood with viewing windows or just straight across.
  • No ideas yet of the filtration design but I will work on that when it becomes more of a reality instead of just a design.
  • Still researching here on what people prefer for sealing the interior and have found a few good options but I have time for that.
  • Heating/Cooling will be a main concern. With a slanted hood type design I could try to mimic fishdog and use air to heat the tank or use a couple of 800w tit heaters but I have no idea what will work best.
  • Black or blue/white for interior? I will be using it to house several rays and most if not all will be brown.

I'm probably not thinking of several things or have just forgot to write them down but below are pics of the current design.



Click to expand...
image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
How is it holding up? just out of curiosity.

As far as coating the interior I was actually thinking about doing a two step measure. It has been a while but I have seen someone on here cutting pond liner and overlapping/gluing it down. I was thinking about doing that all over then adding several layers of epoxy on top of that. The thought behind that is that if I get a crack in the epoxy somewhere I won't go straight to failure because the pond liner behind it will be able serve as a secondary measure.
 
Did some quick math and projected cost will be just under 1800 depending on what I do for stand/hood. This quote also has nothing for bio or heat as of yet since that is still wildly unknown.

 
mscamp02 said:
How is it holding up? just out of curiosity.

As far as coating the interior I was actually thinking about doing a two step measure. It has been a while but I have seen someone on here cutting pond liner and overlapping/gluing it down. I was thinking about doing that all over then adding several layers of epoxy on top of that. The thought behind that is that if I get a crack in the epoxy somewhere I won't go straight to failure because the pond liner behind it will be able serve as a secondary measure.
Click to expand...

It's holding up well. The only thing I had to add on was a couple of extra legs in the middle on the stand, this was just poor planning on my behalf though. I built the stand as if was going to hold a glass tank.
 
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