Glass tank with Plywood Bottom - Thoughts?

[Revan]

Hey All,

I'm in the planning stages of a glass tank with a plywood bottom. The reason for the plywood bottom is simply that I cannot fit a glass sheet of the required dimensions down into my basement.

I've seen a few similar builds online (most notably Joey's 540g). However I've not seen any that have status updates several years down the road. Joey's 540g was torn down as he needed the room back, and the other examples just never had any further updates.

Does anyone here have experience with such builds in the long-term? I'm talking 5-10 years or more.

Specifications:
Dimensions : 8' L x 4' W x 2.5' T
Gallons : ~ 600 US gallons
Glass : 3/4"
Wood Bottom : two pieces of 3/4" Plywood (1.5" total thickness)
Waterproofing : Pond Shield
Silicone : Momentive 103
Bracing Top : euro braced with 4" wide strips around the entire perimeter then cross braced with an additional two 4" wide strips
Bracing Bottom : the 2nd sheet of plywood will be cut 3/4" smaller all around, creating a staggered dual layer bottom. Each glass panel will be placed in the groove so that it's siliconed on both it's bottom edge and side edge. Additionally, a strip of plywood will be screwed into the bottom panel and run along the bottom of the tank. This bit is for looks mainly, but it should also add some structural strength.

 

[fishdance]

You can use a split base glass bottom if you can't get larger glass panels into the room.

 

[twentyleagues]

Hey All,

I'm in the planning stages of a glass tank with a plywood bottom. The reason for the plywood bottom is simply that I cannot fit a glass sheet of the required dimensions down into my basement.

I've seen a few similar builds online (most notably Joey's 540g). However I've not seen any that have status updates several years down the road. Joey's 540g was torn down as he needed the room back, and the other examples just never had any further updates.

Does anyone here have experience with such builds in the long-term? I'm talking 5-10 years or more.

Specifications:
Dimensions : 8' L x 4' W x 2.5' T
Gallons : ~ 600 US gallons
Glass : 3/4"
Wood Bottom : two pieces of 3/4" Plywood (1.5" total thickness)
Waterproofing : Pond Shield
Silicone : Momentive 103
Bracing Top : euro braced with 4" wide strips around the entire perimeter then cross braced with an additional two 4" wide strips
Bracing Bottom : the 2nd sheet of plywood will be cut 3/4" smaller all around, creating a staggered dual layer bottom. Each glass panel will be placed in the groove so that it's siliconed on both it's bottom edge and side edge. Additionally, a strip of plywood will be screwed into the bottom panel and run along the bottom of the tank. This bit is for looks mainly, but it should also add some structural strength.

Pretty much the same as any plywood tank...at least for the bottom. If done properly should last a long time. Look up the plywood builds. If it were me I'd do a 3 window plywood tank, back bottom and a frame for the other three windows.

Joey has to change stuff alot because he is bipolar, most likely untreated.

 

[kno4te]

Seen a similar build on YouTube. It came out really nice and still working.

 

[jjohnwm]

I am not understanding this. If you can get a couple of 4x8 sheets of plywood in to the basement...why not the glass? Building a tank that requires the sealing and waterproofing of wood, and yet still incorporates all those sheets of glass siliconed together, seems like the worst of both worlds.