Building My 1000 Gallon Plywood Tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Oddball said:
I hate to be the naysayer on such a huge project but, I didn't see any fiberglass cloth being installed at all the joints. You can't expect the wood and hardware to hold all that pressure without it. The epoxy doesn't have the same stretch as the plywood. All that's needed is one small weak spot in the woods grain to cause a major failure. And, you said you siliconed the acrylic into place. Silicone does not adhere to acrylic. It only forms a gasket. The acrylic needs to be hardwared into place and tightened down to provide a uniform silicone bead in applications not using weld-on to to chemically bond the acrylic into place.
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No that's fine I appreciate any comments or concerns. I actually overlapped all the seams and joints with 7.5 oz fiberglass cloth so that's 2 layers. I also bought 6 oz fiberglass tape and used 2 layers of that on each seam. The corner joints probably have about 5 layers of cloth from being overlapped. I used over 4 gallons of west system epoxy on all of this about 4 layers on the walls and 6 to 7 on the seams. You cant really see it in pictures though. I also coated the tank with 2 layers of sweetwater epoxy paint. I am thinking that this is enough.

With the acrylic I used about 24 tubes of silicone. I know it only acts as a gasket but with the water pressure Im hoping it will do. I laid the tank on its side and placed the acrylic in there. I let it cure for about a week. It also only has about 2 mm gap between the acrylic and the tank where I filled with silicone. It has some wooden beams supporting it in now from the inside which i will remove while i fill the tank with water.

Thank you for the comments I really appreciate any advice If you do notice anything else please let me know.
 
aldiaz33 said:
Sorry if it's already been said, but what do you plan to keep? If warm water fish, how do you plan to heat it?
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Im probably going to start out with cold water fish, just to get started. Once my tank is up and running for a while, ill get a few heaters. I still havent decided what to put it in yet. All I got in my 10 gal right now is a gold fish. He is definitely going to be happy in the new tank lol.
 
For substrate I would use sand and not gravel. The waste will sit on top of it and no need to syphon. Just stir it every few months with a long stick in your case and you would be good to go. You could do DIY under gravel jets to help water movement on the bottom and also push the waste to your filters.


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gilberbt said:
For substrate I would use sand and not gravel. The waste will sit on top of it and no need to syphon. Just stir it every few months with a long stick in your case and you would be good to go. You could do DIY under gravel jets to help water movement on the bottom and also push the waste to your filters.


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Yea you are right. Actually I already changed my mind and bought a bunch of sand. Its going to be easier to clean and I like the look of sand better anyway. How do you think I should make the under gravel jets??
 
gilberbt said:
You can use small PVC pipes and lay them under the sand and have a pump or return line power them. It makes more sense if you see what I am talking about. The following site has some good resources and diagrams on how to construct them.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php


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thanks for that, I might try that.


BoilerJA said:
That is amazing! how much will that weigh when its full?
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im guessing about 10,000 lbs. the acrylic weighed over 400 pounds alone. All the wood and stuff i put in this thing plus about 8000 lbs of water. I also need to put about 500 lbs of sand. So yea I wish it was in the living room but had to make in the basement lol.
 
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