I'm considering building a plywood tank and was wondering about there longevity. Who here has the longest lasting plywood tank? Please link your build thread if you have one. Thanks
diy tank longevity
- Thread starter mustang93svt
- Start date
longevity is dependant on the quality of the build. If you put a little effort into your build they can last a long time. My 2 140gal plywood tanks are roughly 20 years old.
I may have a pic in the attic (built in the 70s before PCs). My 900gal ran for 17 years before I lost track of it. I ran it for nearly 12 years, including moves to 3 different states, before selling it to a lfs that ran it for another 5 years before closing its doors. The lfs called me to repair a leak after the move to the store and it stayed sealed the rest of its time in the shop. About a year after the lfs closed, I found it on ebay being auctioned off and the seller stated it held water fine.
It was built out of 1" marine grade CDX plywood. Brass screws every inch and slow-cure 2 part epoxy locking the wood seams together. 2-part marine epoxy over heavy fiberglass cloth with extra epoxy laid up in each seam (7 coats and fine-sanded between each coat). The epoxy was tinted a Carribean blue. 4 opening full rim-sealed top with additional bracing at each end and center. Glassed up weir to built-in overflow on the right side of the tank. Tank sealed onto the 4x4 horizontal stand on 10 4x4 legs with rear cross bracing incorporating center and bottom 3/4" shelves for leg stability. Front glass floats on a silicone sealer wide bead (no screws) with the bottom edge resting on a glassed in plywood edge. "decorative" teak plank edging was bolted on around the top and bottom edges of the tank to assist the tank in resisting bowing.
It was built out of 1" marine grade CDX plywood. Brass screws every inch and slow-cure 2 part epoxy locking the wood seams together. 2-part marine epoxy over heavy fiberglass cloth with extra epoxy laid up in each seam (7 coats and fine-sanded between each coat). The epoxy was tinted a Carribean blue. 4 opening full rim-sealed top with additional bracing at each end and center. Glassed up weir to built-in overflow on the right side of the tank. Tank sealed onto the 4x4 horizontal stand on 10 4x4 legs with rear cross bracing incorporating center and bottom 3/4" shelves for leg stability. Front glass floats on a silicone sealer wide bead (no screws) with the bottom edge resting on a glassed in plywood edge. "decorative" teak plank edging was bolted on around the top and bottom edges of the tank to assist the tank in resisting bowing.
ScatMan;4840487; said:pics?
how to?
materials used?
I didn't make the tanks so the materials are likely wood, epoxy, glass, screws, and silicone.
I assume the how to consisted of making a plywood box (looks like 3/4"), painting it with epoxy, putting silicone around the seams, and installing the viewing window. There are various curing times throughout that process.
I didn't know that a plywood tank could last that long at 20 years my impression of them is that they had a life span of five to ten years.