Looking for a little insight on the design I put together today, i'm not an engineer or a carpenter so i'm pretty much in the dark when it comes to this type of thing but i've read through most of the tank builds under 700g on here.
Most of the dimensions are in the pictures but the tank would be ~300g and the built in wet/dry sump should be ~50g minus ~12g of dry bio balls/scrubbies. None of the pictures show any type of supports since I was new to the program and it was frustrating me already
and I was hoping to get away without any visible beams on the inside of the main tank or the outside of the whole thing although there will be a basic 2x2 (ripped 2x4) frame around the edges of tank on the inside for ease of mounting the plywood. All of the walls inside the sump are removable, the horizontal pieces would be supported like shelves and the two vertical pieces would slide down in runners. I'm thinking 1/4 inch acrylic for the sump pieces (unless I can use thinner or need thicker). Plywood would be at least 5/8 inch thick, maybe 3/4 since it will be the main support for the tank. Oh and i'll be using aluminum corner brackets on the outside of all corners for added peace of mind since i plan to skin the whole thing later on and they will be hidden.
I noticed there are a few measurements missing from the pictures and I apologize. There is 7 inches of plywood above and below the windows and 5 inches on the ends. There is also 5 inches around both access holes on top. The sump picture has no measurements shown because the chamber sizes are not finalized in my brain yet.
a few questions I have:
How much should I overlap the glass onto the plywood? In the design I have 2 inches top and bottom and 1 1/2 inches on the ends of the big window and 1 1/2 inches all around the small end window.
Since glass thickness calculators are based on an all glass aquarium are they accurate for plywood builds? If you ran 2x2 around the big viewing window to stiffen the plywood on the long side would that influence the thickness of glass needed?
I'm hoping to find a broken tank, 150g or 180g, that I can salvage the glass from so the glass dimensions in the plan are 72x25. I am assuming that these sizes would have 5/8 inch glass or better since my 90 has 1/2. If that doesn't work out i would have to buy a piece and change the design slightly to be more wallet friendly.
I've lost my train of thought so here are the pictures, any feedback good or bad is encouraged!
(disregard the 27 1/2" measurement, somehow i messed that up, its only 27")
(the border around the windows is the overlap)
The filter sock area is slightly larger than the sock length, the drip plate is about 1" below the minimum water line, and the optional area (charcoal?) is probably way too big. The idea is to be able to get to any area without having to tear the whole thing down. I'm still undecided on using a power head at the pump exit in the wall or running pvc to a spray bar at the other end.
Most of the dimensions are in the pictures but the tank would be ~300g and the built in wet/dry sump should be ~50g minus ~12g of dry bio balls/scrubbies. None of the pictures show any type of supports since I was new to the program and it was frustrating me already
and I was hoping to get away without any visible beams on the inside of the main tank or the outside of the whole thing although there will be a basic 2x2 (ripped 2x4) frame around the edges of tank on the inside for ease of mounting the plywood. All of the walls inside the sump are removable, the horizontal pieces would be supported like shelves and the two vertical pieces would slide down in runners. I'm thinking 1/4 inch acrylic for the sump pieces (unless I can use thinner or need thicker). Plywood would be at least 5/8 inch thick, maybe 3/4 since it will be the main support for the tank. Oh and i'll be using aluminum corner brackets on the outside of all corners for added peace of mind since i plan to skin the whole thing later on and they will be hidden.I noticed there are a few measurements missing from the pictures and I apologize. There is 7 inches of plywood above and below the windows and 5 inches on the ends. There is also 5 inches around both access holes on top. The sump picture has no measurements shown because the chamber sizes are not finalized in my brain yet.
a few questions I have:
How much should I overlap the glass onto the plywood? In the design I have 2 inches top and bottom and 1 1/2 inches on the ends of the big window and 1 1/2 inches all around the small end window.
Since glass thickness calculators are based on an all glass aquarium are they accurate for plywood builds? If you ran 2x2 around the big viewing window to stiffen the plywood on the long side would that influence the thickness of glass needed?
I'm hoping to find a broken tank, 150g or 180g, that I can salvage the glass from so the glass dimensions in the plan are 72x25. I am assuming that these sizes would have 5/8 inch glass or better since my 90 has 1/2. If that doesn't work out i would have to buy a piece and change the design slightly to be more wallet friendly.
I've lost my train of thought so here are the pictures, any feedback good or bad is encouraged!
(disregard the 27 1/2" measurement, somehow i messed that up, its only 27")
(the border around the windows is the overlap)
The filter sock area is slightly larger than the sock length, the drip plate is about 1" below the minimum water line, and the optional area (charcoal?) is probably way too big. The idea is to be able to get to any area without having to tear the whole thing down. I'm still undecided on using a power head at the pump exit in the wall or running pvc to a spray bar at the other end.
