Another Plywood tank attempt

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AndrewMack

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 8, 2007
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Fleming Island FL
So my last plywood tank attempt did not go well. I was working with cheap tools and started the project on a bad note. So now that i have a good skil saw and an actual drill( i was assembling the last one with a screw driver) a ton of large clamps, angle clamps, and ratchet strap clamps i am going to give this another try. My plan is to make this tank 8' wide, 2' tall but only going to be fill 20-22'' and 30-36' front to back. My goal is to have a tank large enough to house my silver aro for life. which is currently in a 220 at a friends. what i was going to do is make a 2x4 frame top and bottom with the 2x4 verticle. then put a 1/2" sheet of flake board in. then put 2x4s in between the top and bottom frame evenly spaced with no more then a 4" gap along the sides,back and bottom. then put a 3x4"sheet of plywood inside over the 1/2". on top i was going to put two 2x4s in the center, and one on each side at an angle to the front corners .this is just a rough draft idea, im trying to figure out how many 2x4s and ply to go buy. let me know what you think. White being plywood,brown 2x4s, clear is glass and the stuff that looks like water is well water :D

woodtank.jpg

woodtank2.jpg
 
Also i was told by someone that plywood tanks always leak, is this true? i doubt it sense i see alot of them being build but thought i would ask and is 1500gph enough filtration with a big wet/dry
 
tanks with good seals and good water proofing are perfectly safe. a buddy of mine had a 120 for years with no leaks
 
Ok good to go. so what about my above design. I plan to buy some 2x4s this weekend and starting the frame work, I am going on deployment June 10th so when i get back i will start on it again. and the GPH what do you recomend I start with. I was reading you dont need such a large turnover with big wet/dry filters
 
If you truly want to house your arowana comfortably for its entire life, i would think a 10x4x2 would be a better tank size, and not cost too terribly much more. I think it would make your arowana a lot happier in the long run, and provide you with a lot more versatility in your stocking.
 
badisbadis101;3141193; said:
If you truly want to house your arowana comfortably for its entire life, i would think a 10x4x2 would be a better tank size, and not cost too terribly much more. I think it would make your arowana a lot happier in the long run, and provide you with a lot more versatility in your stocking.
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i agree a bigger tank would be better, however the problem is this : plywood only comes in sheets 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. there is no safe way to join a sheet with another in the middle of a wall. this would compromise that wall and leak. 8 feet long for a plywood tank really maxes it out
 
yes that is one of the reasons im going with a 8' tank, and a 10' sheet of glass would run me another 200-300
 
the only way you could make a 10' tank would be with glass or acrylic. i think the aro will be fine in the 8
 
Ok well I went and priced 2x4s and plywood. I think im going to do without the 1/2" flake board and just do one 3/4" sheet of plywood. whats the max gap between 2x4s i could safely go?
 
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