300ish Gallon plywood - First attempt

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
bansheenoy;3756003; said:
yah i planed on getting a gallon or 2 of the rubber stuff they use for koi ponds.. its basicallly the same stuff your using just diffrent brand.. but im building a tank that is allmost the same size as urs mines a like 310g:headbang2. how much sealent should i get? im doing a 75g sump glass so i dont have 2 worry about sealing that. and thankx


I not sure how much Im gonna need yet. It seems to go a long ways. I should be able to get a solid 3-4 coats out of the 1 gallon can. The first coat is kinda light to seal up the pores in the wood so the next coats are full thickness.
 
I have been bitten by the bug to do a build myself and I will be following every step. I am planning on about 200 gallons. Just a baby Monster !
 
Eveready;3756772; said:
I have been bitten by the bug to do a build myself and I will be following every step. I am planning on about 200 gallons. Just a baby Monster !

For time involved and materials its probably gonna be cheaper or about the same to buy a prebuilt tank for anything under 300 gallons.


Plywood builds don't really become cost effective till the 500+ range. I kept costs down with a lot of material already on hand in the form of job leftovers and a lot of tools and know how already had.
 
woo hoo. Got a free 55 gallon tank today. In decent shape. The plastic top brace is broken but meh. I can fix that.
 
Muni;3756906; said:
For time involved and materials its probably gonna be cheaper or about the same to buy a prebuilt tank for anything under 300 gallons.


Plywood builds don't really become cost effective till the 500+ range. I kept costs down with a lot of material already on hand in the form of job leftovers and a lot of tools and know how already had.

I hear that a lot but never really priced out glass or acrylic tanks in the just under 500 gallon range so I don't know how true it is. but what about two 250's or four 125's or some other combos and you can't say your not enjoying the whole diy thing cause it show in your work and that worth a lot if you ask me
 
Oh I agree Garhog. I enjoy doing this and so do a lot of other people. But not everyone has the skills/tools/time it takes to make something like this happen.


If you have a lot of time you can make up for the lack of one of the others.
 
Lookin great so far. This is my first subscribtion and I can't wait to see how your build turns out as I'm planning one myself soon. Good luck!
 
Oh I have the time and have done carpentry for most of 40 years,(grandpa was a carpenter and taught me how to do real carpentry, but I do prefer to use power tools), and as far as the money goes, it's not about saving money for me.
It's about saying," Yeah I did, and I did it all by myself", okay with a lot of help from MFK,(of course I'll probably forget to mention that part).:naughty:
On behalf of a whole lot of fans, Thanks for letting us look over your shoulder. :popcorn:
It looks pretty good from here.
 
Eveready;3758813; said:
Oh I have the time and have done carpentry for most of 40 years,(grandpa was a carpenter and taught me how to do real carpentry, but I do prefer to use power tools), and as far as the money goes, it's not about saving money for me.
It's about saying," Yeah I did, and I did it all by myself", okay with a lot of help from MFK,(of course I'll probably forget to mention that part).
On behalf of a whole lot of fans, Thanks for letting us look over your shoulder.
It looks pretrty good from here.


In that case you are a "PERFECT!" do it yourself tank candidate. You've got more experience then I do.

It is most definitely about the "look what I did/can do factor". Pride in your hobby and abilities plain and simple.
 
Thanks, but I did have a (stupid ? ) question I forgot to ask.
I was wondering if one could use a 1/2" thick tempered tabletop glass ?
I was perusing glass on the web and it just kinda jumped out at me.
 
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