How thick should my plywood be?

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xlrustylx

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2013
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Hey guys,

So this isn't really a monster project at hand but I figure that you ladies and gentlemen have expertise in plywood tanks. So here it goes...

I have a 75G tank laying around that I had broken down and never rebuilt. I recently moved and now have a spare room and workshop--which is awesome--so I decided to give that tank new life. I got to thinking and I decided that I could make four decent plywood tanks out of it. Two 120G out of the front and back glass, one 104G out of the bottom glass and one 60G 2ft cube out of the side pieces arranged to where they make a glass corner. That's a combined 404 gallons. Kinda monster, right :P ?

At this combined volume, I reckon it's cost efficient to build four tanks to fill my spare room with aquatic friends.

So here's the big 'Q', how thick does my plywood have to be for these small tanks? 50" L x 24" W x 23" H are the dimensions for the two biggest tanks of the build. I'd be okay with having to use 2x2 around the top and bottom borders inside for bracing. I just want to save as much money as I safely can.

Thanks guys!
-Jared
 
Those size tanks can do 3/4" plywood w o any 2x2 bracing. Why not make one or two larger tanks out of the glass instead of several smaller ones? Also keep go mind that bottom pieces of glass are often scratched by substrate and rocks so may not look good for a front pane
 
Awesome!

So, it would be possible to make like an 8 foot wide tank using the front and back pieces side by side? I could make like a 290G tank if the dimensions are 100"L x 24"w x 28"H. The problem is that I'm on a second floor apartment in a farmhouse. The house is pretty over built but I don't know if my landlord would like that much weight on one area.

Otherwise I'd have to make the smaller tanks simply because of the house.
 
Well that's a probably an issue all its own. That's between you him and the house. The problem with the dimensions you mentioned is that standard plywood is 8' so the 100"L might be hard to achieve. Similarly placing the 2 larger pieces side by side will be exactly 96 which wouldn't leave enough clearance to attach the side walk to front frame. I'd consider one large piece centered w a side panel on either side to give you a 7' window on an 8' w/o any clearance issues. Bottom panel use as a glass lid and the remaining big panel can be used for another tank.
 
Dont listen to that big tank bs these guys are feeding you bro. Your 75 gallon tank glass will not be able to hold the water pressure of anything more than 75 gallons. So you could make two 75 gallons with the front and back pieces and so on so forth.

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i have contradict you "mymonsterfish" glass thickness is determined by the height of the tank not how many gallons the tank will hold. from a little bit of research i have found that a 75 gallon tank will have ruffly 3/8 inch glass. this is plenty for a tank that is up to 24 inches tall. the biggest thing to watch for is bowing of the frame that the glass is mounted to. yes thicker glass would be necessary if you had an extremely long unsupported section but with a properly braced tank it does not really mater. if the OP decided to build a larger tank with the front and side pieces i would add three center braces, one at each joint on the front and one at the center of the large piece of glass.
 
Agree w rotccapt braces would certainly be important on the longer tanks to prevent bowing. I generally do mine every 2 feet but that's just my own personal rule of thumb.
 
You could also cut the front and back pieces of glass if they are too large. The bottom piece may be tempered glass, if so it can't be cut.
 
Mymonsterfish said:
Dont listen to that big tank bs these guys are feeding you bro. Your 75 gallon tank glass will not be able to hold the water pressure of anything more than 75 gallons. So you could make two 75 gallons with the front and back pieces and so on so forth.

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Click to expand...

Really? So the front pane of glass I stole off an old 210 can only hold 210 gallons of water? But I turned that into my new 400 gallon plywood tank.... how about the 3/8 glass I stole off an old 125 and made into my 320? Been over 4 years I believe, it still holding more than 125 gallons of water..

OP. your glass will hold more gallons as long as you don't increase the HEIGHT of your new tank. If its 3/8 thickness don't go over 24" tall. Run good top bracing

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