I believe that VLD's leaks ended up being from the bondo he used to seal the seams and screw holes. After this discovery I think he retracted his statement about the hardiboard, and that it does work but it sucks up pond armor faster than wood does. I think there is a liquid nails product that has been used with great success instead of bondo to cover screws, but I'm not sure of what it's called. Good luck with the build and I'm looking forward to seeing the progress.
First DIY project
- Thread starter jhutch
- Start date
Picked up a big 100 gallon rubbermaid tub today to be used as my sump for the tank.
And this is a pic of the pair im building this tank for. The male is the big spot on top that hasnt darkened up yet.
And this is a pic of the pair im building this tank for. The male is the big spot on top that hasnt darkened up yet.
If you need to fiberglass indoors I would use an epoxy resin instead of polyester or vinyl ester. I actually kind of like the smell of polyester but when laying it out over a large area in an enclosed area it's too much for me.
[EDIT] Sorry, I read you decided to use Pond Armor. I've never used it but as I recall it's a 100% solids epoxy resin so there should be very little odor.
Man you make a very good point. Guess ill be returning this and getting 2 shorter ones. 2 50gallon ones would give me the clearance to get in and change media out. I would have not thought about it until i was putting the filtration stuff in then it would have been too late.
Ok thanks ill look into an epoxy resin instead. Will the fiberglass bond to hardie backer fine or not? Im just planning to use it to seal the joints. Do i need to fiberglass since im using pond armor?
Fiberglass doesn't bond per se. It's what you wet the fiberglass out with that needs to bond to the substrate, whether it be plywood, hardi-backer, or whatever.
But all of the commonly used sealants used in plywood builds will bond fine to hardi-backer. Epoxy resin, epoxy paint, polyester/vinyl ester and the various "liquid rubbers" will all bond fine.
I do think you should use fiberglass reinforcement in the corners and all interior edges and seams.
Ok its been a while. I put this project on hold and bought a 240 gallon tank but due to a drilling error that tank is now garbage so im back to the build. I got my Sikaflex 1a delivered yesterday, which is going to be used to bond the hardiebacker to the plywood, all plywood is in and tank came together today. I just need to get the hardiebacker, some liquid nails to fill in screw holes and i think i am going to custom make some overflows for the tank as well. But here are some new pics of the progress i made today.
(captions are for the pics above)
Got the "floor" mounted to the stand. I did this for added support for the bottom of the tank.
This is the plywood bottom being mounted to the frame.
plywood back is mounted and a side
this is just showing the frame for the sides of the tank with 4x4 corner posts
all plywood is mounted(glued and screwed) used gorilla glue where plywood meets plywood
front view of the tank on the stand
side view of the tank on the stand
and finally my brother in the tank
All thats left now is to build the frame for the top, it will have two center braces and i will also be building a canopy for the top so that the light will be hidden. All plumbing in the back will be hidden as well and cords so you wont see anything. I am thinking of using tongue and groove for the aesthetic appearance and i still need hardiebacker and to fiberglass the joints once the concrete board is in and finally to pond armor it then install 1/2" glass.
I also still need to get filtration. I will be running a custom made trickle filtration system with most likely a 2000gph return pump.
Tank is 6'x3'x2'
(captions are for the pics above)
Got the "floor" mounted to the stand. I did this for added support for the bottom of the tank.
This is the plywood bottom being mounted to the frame.
plywood back is mounted and a side
this is just showing the frame for the sides of the tank with 4x4 corner posts
all plywood is mounted(glued and screwed) used gorilla glue where plywood meets plywood
front view of the tank on the stand
side view of the tank on the stand
and finally my brother in the tank
All thats left now is to build the frame for the top, it will have two center braces and i will also be building a canopy for the top so that the light will be hidden. All plumbing in the back will be hidden as well and cords so you wont see anything. I am thinking of using tongue and groove for the aesthetic appearance and i still need hardiebacker and to fiberglass the joints once the concrete board is in and finally to pond armor it then install 1/2" glass.
I also still need to get filtration. I will be running a custom made trickle filtration system with most likely a 2000gph return pump.
Tank is 6'x3'x2'
This was the original idea, which left no room for maintenance.
This is the new idea, its a 100 gallon sump but totally made by hand out of 2x4s, 4x4s and marine grade plywood for the sides inside and it is a 10x10 pond liner fit and trimmed up.
And this is it under the stand. Fit perfectly with very little room to spare and i can fit under to clean everything so perfectly built. I have decided not to use the tongue and groove pine for the finished product but i tacked it back up to keep the kids out from underneath the tank.
Got all the hardie backer cut and ready to glue down but first i need to get my bulkheads here so i can decide on final overflow design. I have decided to make my overflows with pvp so it should be an interesting final look.
