Hi, I am new to the site my names is James I am in the process of making a large aquarium made of plywood .One that is going to be large but sizes not worked out yet and i was wondering if you can use thick MDF board .In stead of plywood would it be as strong with supports overslay i woul love soom feed back thanks and any advice yous in this community can give me thanks
Can you use MDF for aquarium
- Thread starter jim1912
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- plywood aquarium
Welcome James.
I have build all of my glass tanks but I have not built any wood aquariums.
But I do work with MDF board almost daily and seeing what water can do to this stuff would make me apprehensive in using it in an aquarium build.
Even if it was sealed and coated with something there is just too much of chance it would come in contact with the water.
If you were to have a leak with plywood you would be able to find the leak and repair it the plywood would dry out eventually and be okay.
With MDF it would swell and basically rot and disintegrate. I also don't think that screws and fasteners have the same holding power in MDF as they do with plywood.
I have build all of my glass tanks but I have not built any wood aquariums.
But I do work with MDF board almost daily and seeing what water can do to this stuff would make me apprehensive in using it in an aquarium build.
Even if it was sealed and coated with something there is just too much of chance it would come in contact with the water.
If you were to have a leak with plywood you would be able to find the leak and repair it the plywood would dry out eventually and be okay.
With MDF it would swell and basically rot and disintegrate. I also don't think that screws and fasteners have the same holding power in MDF as they do with plywood.
Im building mine out of OSB and 2 x 4's. OSB is the only other wood product i would use instead of plywood. Like Big G mentioned MDF will disintegrate when water is present.
I had 2 10gs on a stand made of stacked up milkcrates with a piece of MDF across the top. (it was all junk someone else threw out). The MDF got wet and rotted and I ended up replacing it with a bit of plywood. It was a good free stand for my dorm room. Grea to be able to watch your fish while lying in bed.
I wouldn't trust mdf with water
I do doors and windows and we alway replace mdf trim with actual wood bc the mdf sucks not strong or can with stand water
I do doors and windows and we alway replace mdf trim with actual wood bc the mdf sucks not strong or can with stand water
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I have a lot of OSB but I did not think that it would be strong enough as it was made in layers that's way I was going to scrap that idea did you double it up on the wall and that I just did not think it was strong enough thanks for replying and I would like to no more of your tank thanks
Hi and thanks to all that got bk to me really appreciate the help as I have always had smaller glass tanks all my life and now I am thinking to go big or go home this forum is one of the best that i have seen by farthe speed pepole come to you with help is great I would love all help that i can getwith this build that i can get from tank,viewglass,filltrationand so on so once again thanks happy dayz
To answer your question Jim yes i doubled up on the OSB. I also added angle iron to ease the mind haha OSB, while having 10% less stiffness than plywood, is far superior in epoxy absorption and shearing strength (not to mention much cheaper) . With any other type of wood you must make sure it is waterproof obviously. I fiberglassed the entire tank just to be sure.
thank you for the reply I have been talking to someone else on here and he used OSB doubled it up but i am even scared to use that i think iam going to stick to hardwood plywood the thickest i can findi no it will be exspensive but my mind will be at peace lol
