building a glass tank with plywood and pond shield bottom

[eh1421]

heres my idea
i have all the glass for the walls of this tank
just not for the bottom
i am trying to keep the cost down so this was my idea tell me what you think

take a piece of plywood and coat it with fiberglass resin and then with pond shield epoxy and use it for my bottom pane in this huge tank 72"x48"x24"

the question is how well does silicone bond to epoxy paint and do you think this would be a good idea

you could easily drill your overflows and all that neat stuff

any input would be great

mike

 

[Dr Joe]

I say go for it. I have done it in the past (but I have gotten away with many things that "can't be done" too). I routed a grove for the glass to sit in the wood too. Silicone in the groove and when cured, resined the wood (thinned for the first coat, to soak in) and 1/2" up the glass. Cut and drill all overflows etc. before assembly or the resin coat.

The reason I get away with doing unconventional things is I take precautions in other areas too. The stands for these (my tanks) were made to be incredibly stable and perfectly square (with foam underlayment (ya, I make my own words too)). So the tanks don't flex.

Have you tried to locate glass at construction salvages or every glass sales within 100 miles (sometimes driving a little ways can save big bucks) (commercial places sometimes have small pieces they are willing to part with cheaper)

Keep us posted with what you deside,

And as usual post pix.

Dr Joe

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[eh1421]

thanks doc

another thought was to make the bottom out of 3/4 inch plywood and then cover it with ceramic tile glued in place with silicone and using silicone as the grout
i think that it would look pretty cool but do u think it would hold up

mike

 

[RBE17]

I'd call Pond Shield and talk to the concerning how well their product adheres to the fiberglass resin.

 

[Dr Joe]

thanks doc

another thought was to make the bottom out of 3/4 inch plywood and then cover it with ceramic tile glued in place with silicone and using silicone as the grout
i think that it would look pretty cool but do u think it would hold up

mike

Make sure the tiles are glased around the edges so water can't migrate thru the tiles.

Many ponds are made this way.

Dr Joe

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[fishdance]

Four glass walls, seperate material bottom? I am wondering what will hold the glass walls to the bottom? I can see hydrostatic water pressure wanting to lift off like a rocket taking off if there is a tiny gap .... Thats the problem with larger acrylic cylinder tanks and concrete bottoms but we drill & bolt the cylinder to concrete which is harder since you are using glass.

 

[arl]

On my 4L 2W 3H acrylic tank the bottom is 1/32" acrylic gooped to 3/4 plywood. The 4 walls are 1/2" acrylic sitting on top of 1/32" bottom. 4 years now and no leaks. The tank that I made a few weeks ago, 3L 3W 1.2H, sides are shelf glass I got on garage sale. Bottom is 1/2 inch plywood with pond liner. Used goop in both tanks.

 

[Dr Joe]

fishdance... I put the sides in a groove so they didn't blow out, worked fine on several tall tanks too.

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On my 4L 2W 3H acrylic tank the bottom is 1/32" acrylic gooped to 3/4 plywood. The 4 walls are 1/2" acrylic sitting on top of 1/32" bottom. 4 years now and no leaks. The tank that I made a few weeks ago, 3L 3W 1.2H, sides are shelf glass I got on garage sale. Bottom is 1/2 inch plywood with pond liner. Used goop in both tanks.

Goop? Which one?

That had to be expensive!

Dr Joe

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[arl]

fishdance... I put the sides in a groove so they didn't blow out, worked fine on several tall tanks too.

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Goop? Which one?

That had to be expensive!

Dr Joe

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I used the one I get from work, E6000 or something. The household goop you can get from wallmart for about $5.00 will also do fine, they're the samething just different packaging. Used about 1.5 tubes and silocone on the sides. Glass $2 and the rest of materials are left overs. Not bad 70 gal or so, not presentable by any means but will do as a grow out tank

 

[eh1421]

I have a buddy with a welder so i was think that i would take some angle iron and build a frame for around the bottom and prob. for the top also.

doc, do you think that this would work like the groove you put in yours
i could have him weld several cross braces on it also using flat stock

mike