Buying a plywood tank...

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If you wanted to you could clean it out really well and re-epoxy it just to be safe. Its a great starting point if nothing else, plus give you and excuse to go to the beach!
 
Just be careful when transporting. The main reason why plywood tanks lined with epoxy or fiberglass fail is because of stress due to moving. Good luck. That price is a steal if everything works out.
 
Ok Guys....I got the tank. Just as promised in the add. Measurments and condition were right on. Once filled it should hold 305 or maybe a few more gallons as the tank is a little tall than the 36 inches stated in the add. Everything looks good at this point. Its going to need some work but hopefully nothing major. The construction of the tank is pretty interesting. It was built out of marine plywood and fiberglass. The glass is in really good shape which was a huge relief. The fiber glass on the outside has a few spots that need to be repaired which shouldnt be too big of a deal. The entire thing needs to be painted inside and out which is where I could use some guidance from someone who understand fiberglass. I cleaned the tank today and some of the paint on the inside is flaking off. Is there some way to sand all the old paint off and then repaint it with some kind of paint that is safe for fish? Do I need to remove the old paint first or can I just paint over it? I really appreciate the help as I want to make sure I am careful repairing the tank so that I dont do anything to make it unsafe for my fish.

The stand is def in need of some help. I havent really spent a lot of time examining it but I know it will at least need to be partially redone along with finishing it up. The guy acted like it was the greatest stand ever built. The wood doesnt even touch on some of the joints. I will give him credit for using heavy bolts on the 4x4s so those are pretty sturdy but they are uneven a little so I dont know what I ll need to do to square them up. Id like to be able to use what he has done on it thus far since lumber is so expensive, but I may end up just starting over since this guy was apparently DUI (drilling under the influence) as he built this thing.

As far as going to the beach that didnt really work. I left Auburn with my girlfriend at 545 friday afternoon. My plan was to leave at 4 so we were a little late but not too bad. I was planning to until 1 or 2 am then stop for the night. At about midnight we got on the Florida Turnpike and that ruined the whole plan. I didnt realize the turnpike was a monopoly with no exits other than their service stations where they mark everything up 40-50% and charge 50 cents more for gas than the stations before the turnpike. Not to mention the only gas stations on the turnpike are citgo which just happens to be owned by hugo chavez, but I guess thats another issue. So i drove all the way to the end of the turnpike which we reached at around 4 am. By this time I realized that if I got a hotel room Id have to check out at 10am which would be a waste of money. So I drove on. I got to ft lauderdale at 7 am or so after missing the exit and turning around in Miami bc I didnt have a great map (was using map quest maps and directions which sometimes suck). So we drove to a few hotels and they were all out of sight. Days Inn 10 miles from the beach wanted 280 for one night. So then we drove to the beach and tried a few hole in the wall places but none were up to my gf's standards of cleanliness so we just went to breakfast at Denny's. Then I called the tank owner and met them to pick up the tank. Then we drove to the beach and walked for a few mins in the 50 mile an hour wind. We then decided that the weather sucked and that staying would be a waste of money so we decided to drive back. I went to a grocery store and bought 4 cans of Red Bull and off we went on our way back to Alabama. I then realized that I was so exausted that we were definetly going to die when I fell asleep at the wheel so we stopped in a IHOP parking lot and I passed out for 2 hours. I got up and had some food then got back on the road. We got back in at 2am last night 36 hours hours after we left. The trip ended up being 1320 miles. It will def go down as one of my great feats of endurance. I litterally collapsed into bed when we got back and slept for 13 hours.

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys and I look forward to hearing from anyone with experience working with fiberglass and or marine plywood.
 
Glad the tank worked out, and the trips like that are the best to look back at. we did a 2300 mile trip in a day and a half.....but thats an entire different story. If you go to a paint shop (for homes) ask about epoxt paint. its a 2 part paint that will cure instead of dry. After it has cured it shouldnt release anything harmful into the tank, but it wouldnt be a bad idea to fill it and drain it a couple times anyway.
try to remove as much of the old stuff as you can, and remember to post pix!
 
So epoxy is ok to use on fiberglass and marine plywood? My buddy down stairs is an epoxy expert so I should be able to get some get help to make sure that works out well. Unfortuantely I dont have a digital camera anymore and my roommate left the computer cord for his at home after xmas so I dont know when i ll be able to get some pictures up.

The stand is 2 feet tall which is less than ideal for setting up equipment under the tank. Im leaning towards completely rebuilding the stand although Id love to be able to save some cash by using part of what is already done. Thanks again for all the advice.
 
Thanks a lot for the link. That stuff sounds like it would work great.

Im trying to think of how I am going to set up the filtration. Can fiberglass be drilled for overflows and returns to set up a sump?
 
Great deal.sounds like a grueling road trip though..That stand def needs beefing up.you absolutely can drill holes in plywood/fiberglass with a regular holesaw just go slow.
 
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