does my ply tank need reinforcing?

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M

matty.green

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 29, 2013
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0
1
uk
I'm in the process of building a ply aquarium measuring 6x3x3 and lining it with fibreglass/epoxy. I've seen a few other builds where the tanks have been externally reinforced with 2x4 and was wondering if you guys would recommend doing this on my build. And also instead of doin it externally would it work placing 2x4 along all the seams inside the tank and screwing them inplace from outside instead
 
Probably need to give more information than this.

We don't know how thick the plywood is, how many coats or which brands you are using, we don't know how it's being supported underneath, etc.

I haven't seen many builds with internal support, so I don't have an opinion.
 
6'x3' is a nice sized aquarium, but anything over 30" high can be a real pain to service. Most fish don't need 36" of height, if they do, than a 6'x3' aquarium wouldn't be big enough anyway. I built my aquarium 30" & that already is a pain to service. My original plan was 36", but one of the other members monster peacock talked me out of it and i'm glad I went 30" instead. Really though, the decision to go shorter was because my glass is only 5/8" thick & the additional watet pressure associated with a higher tank was going to be alot higher. In my opinion, at that size, two layers of chop mat & resin with an extra layer @ each seam would be plenty strong even without exterior bracing. Use an epoxy resin as your top coat & you're good to go. Don't skimp in the plywood though, buy the good stuff. Good luck.

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I have been considering making it a little shorter due to the glass cost. So internal or external reinforcing isn't required then. I am a little worried about the fibreglass fracturing in the joints. Is it possible to silicone the joints first then fibreglass over the silicone or will than cause more problems
 
With the fiberglass chop mat & resin, you'll be ok. Just make sure you get good saturation than roll out air bubbles. Don't make your mix to hot. It'll dry to fast & than it'll be more prone to cracking. Really though, with two full layers of mat and polyester resin, you'll be ok. Put an extra layer @ each seam for extra support. I did 3 layers of mat & resin. Each seam has 6 overlapping layers. I used 5 gal of marine grade polyester resin & fiberglass chop mat to complete my aquarium. It's overkill really. My aquarium is 96"x34.5"x30", which is about 430 gal. If I was to build a bigger one 600 gal or more, i'd start framing my aquariums. Would be cheaper to just frame it @ that size & you wouldn't need to use that much fiberglass. One layer & epoxy sealant is all you'd need. The frame & plywood would provide the strength.

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Make sure the access on top of your aquarium is large enough for u to slide your glass in. my aquarium being 30" high, 34.5" deep, getting glass in was not a problem.

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I wanna see some pictures man. Please don't make the inside black. Mines is black & it's ugly. Does nothing to enhance color in fish.

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I plan on painting the inside blue. I'll get some pictures up as soon as there's some real progress on it. Atm I'm only half way through building the stand.
 
Blue is a great color. I had planned on doing that, even bought the blue pigment for resin, but found out later that polyester resins aren't suitable for long term water submersion that i'd need to use an epoxy top coat to seal. Pigment would've worked, but epoxy resins are more than double the cost of poly. I was pressed for time so I went with the zophar. It works great, but black sucks. Next time i'll just shell out the extra cash and make it blue. I know u mentioned that u where half way done with your stand,but if you need a good solid design, go check out uaru joeys youtube channel. He makes a great stand. I used it.

My Xbox gamer tag: xXclusive808x. Run & gun baby!
 
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