211 Gallon(uk) plywood build

[rustyspurs]

Looking at your last picture you posted, it appears you enjoy your 'TV dinner' LOL

lol, the remains of the family chinese meal..
i have a 37 inch hd tv beside the tank and i swear i have to focus on the tv to stop my eyes wandering over to the tank.

 

[rustyspurs]

Great to see the tank all sorted out,looks great.I have a 5 foot piece of driftwood if u want it, its a hawthorn trunk with a couple of roots well worn by the sea,free if your interested.Do u have your filtration sorted out?

hi Brian,
ill gladly take the driftwood bud, im off work at the moment so if it suits i can pick it up tomorrow. pm me your address and let me know when suits u.
my kids are off for the summer now and i need to get them out of the house
as for filtration,
i have the eheims set up now and if i use the powerhead properly i think i can keep it together until i can get a pump for the sump i plan to put together.
im kinda putting of drilling drain holes in my tank though lol

 

[rustyspurs]

I am really impressed with the job you have done and I have loads of ?'s rusty if you don't mind answering them.
When the wooden shell was made you coated the whole thing with fibre glass resin before attaching the glass?
How did you add the matt fibre and where did you purchase this from?
As you applied the resin, was it just a case of painting on the resin and sticky the matting to it as you went and coating the top of the matting once it was on ?
When all of this was done you then applied the top coat which water proofed the shell?
After that did you just lay the tank on its front and siliconed it laying the glass on it until it set?
One more ? Does the glass have anything else securing it to the tank or just the silicone. Questions, questions questions
Thanks for the quick response........

google is ur friend mate,
i got the resin, matt and topcoat from fibreglassdirect.co.uk.
google 'how to lay fibreglass resin' and check out the plywood build sticky at the top of the diy tank page,
in a nutshell its..
fibreglass resin layer,
add the matt before adding another layer of resin until the matt becomes see through,
roll out the air bubbles with a fibreglass roller( very important)
let dry and then add the resin topcoat.
the window is held with just the silicone, which if u use the right stuff( aquarium silicone) is plenty.
last point ill make is if you are going to fibreglass DO wear the proper mask as i didnt bother and woke up two days later in a cold sweat and shaking like a leaf.
it wasent until i spoke to a mate who works in the steel business later that evening who explained that it takes 24-48 hours for the fumes to affect your ammune system.

the rsin releases styrene gas as it cures.. not good

 

[rustyspurs]

hi all,
just wondering where the best place to find decent wood to give my tank a professional looking finish,
the place i got the 2 by 4's and plywood from has nothing with a decent look to it.
i dont even know what to google lol
what do you call the kind of wood with a finish on the front ?
the tanks been holding water with no problems for a week now so im confident enough to move unto the last stage

 

[Yanbbrox]

Congrats on an awesome job, thanks for sharing.

 

[rustyspurs]

hi all,
just quick photo of the 5ft piece of driftwood i got from fellow mfk'er zungaro.(thanks again Brian)
it floats lol, but i actually love the look. a few big plants and it'll look the business.
Also saw Zungaro's set-up and it was epic,
maybe one day when ive bought my house....

 

[rustyspurs]

hi all,
its been a couple of months but ive finally got the tank sheeted with an oak finish.
since the build the tank has been running perfect, all ive added is an above tank filter to polish the water.
do you guys have any suggestions for a fish related drawing for the bare piece of wood below the viewing window, i have a mate who's a great artist i just need ideas,
cheers Paul

 

[rustyspurs]

Hi all,
thought id update the photos to show how the tank is looking these days,
i cut the trunk in half and set it upright for a natural tree look as i got sick of the darkness in the tank.

 

[littlewangzfan]

It looks better IMO. I wish I'm close so I could get the other half...for free lol. Congrats, It's been a year mate.

 

[rustyspurs]

Hi bud,
you could have had it the other piece too,
i just used google maps for a laugh to see how far away you are, its not that bad... 7617 miles ....ROFL

And yeah a year, time flies when your getting older