building a 500 gallon plywood tank

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i filled tank half way day after x mis , i thought i be done with the tank by jan 1st , but my whole family got some kinda flu, we all had to go to dr and get drugs , it really knock me down , been really sick, so not done nothing , , just starting to get my strength back today , i dont know when get back to playing with the tank
 
my cost for tank and stand

lows in plant city fl

7 sheets of sanded pine , little over 40 bucks each,,, 5 sheets for tank , 2 for stand
30 2x4s all wood 425
no truck , u haul 70
screws all sizes 90
wood glue and gun 50
epoxy 3 gallon was 290 , was 290 with shipping shipping, was 65 bucks for shipping , the place was 90 miles each way from my house so only would save me few bucks to drive there , so just got it shipped to house
4 bulks heads 25
glass 2 sheets half inch with shipping 480
and silicone 40
clear pvs pipe for overflows 70 bucks , could went with the white pvc save 65 bucks , just though be cool to see water goes threw the pipe
60 bucks for paint brushes and some blades
in all got about 1600 bucks
 
i do have a question for everyone for the top for my tank , i ran silicone everywhere in the tank ,, all the seem beside the very top seam ,from the tank to the top, i didnt want to silicone it till i know i didnt need to take it the top off ,incase had a leak,, , that bead will be over inch above the water line, but my question is , i only have the top part screwed down , should i glue it and screw it down so can never take off the top part off , or just use screws??? thanks for your in put
 
well its been about 2 weeks and finally got back to playing with my tank , i glued and screwed the top down and filled it up , , only had 1 small leak on bulk head , tighten the nut down and was good , i did re drill my stand so the bottom of the bulk head goes right to the tank , the hole in the stand is about 3 times the size for bulk head , tank held water about week now , been playing with the filter system
 
i got a old light just resting on top for tempory use , not going to be there once i get my canopy built , its only 4 feet long , i will have 4 sets of light kit when done ,,, its looks all red ,but camera flash looks kinda orange , not sure why
 
it took my 3 times but my filter system pipe has no leaks , i went with pool hoses and fitting , got them at pench of penny flex able hoses and for tempory i have my filter system out side the stand so can play with it easy , im going have 2 ,, 7 inch round socks 16 inch long , i had sock on each side of my tank , which is a 55 gallon tank and had the pump in middle to start off , the pump i have is not big enough for the whole tank , its 1200 gallon an hour will have 2 of them soon ,,, and if i need bigger thats down the road , but had few problem , i have to climb in my stand to clean or replace the socks , so moving both socks to 1 end , which will be right at the door , so can clean easy , and putting my pump at the other end , and will add a sponge with glass to block off the pump so will add a 2nd filter in a way
 
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