My idea for a DIY plywood aquarium

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Big Fish Freak said:
Okay, that's what I thought. Just wanted to make sure the guy at HD was full of it. He was trying to tell me that it was safe for fish because it had mold inhibitors..:headshake

I've had a minor setback that is preventing me from starting the build..I have too much stuff in my garage for a working space..the funny part is that 98% of the stuff in my garage isn't even my own...hahaha..I should be starting the build by the beginning of January, but if things change I may start in a week or two..I may just get all the wood cut and pre-drilled so that the process goes much quicker once I have all the space to get everything else together.
Flat pieces of plywood stack easy and don't take up much space.
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I'm getting closer to getting my tanks done. Just started using my 2nd 1.5 gallon kit of Max ACR recently. The resin in this 2nd kit is a lot thicker than the resin from my 1st kit, which is nice because I don't feel the need to thicken it with MAX Bond. Seems like I'm going through it faster though. Need to stock up on disposable gloves and brushes again too. I've went through about 200 gloves and a few dozen brushes already. Wish I'd quit buying brushes 2 or 3 at a time.....and buy them in bulk. Habit I can't quit.
 
well, when you get done with yours I want a link to the build thread!!

As DIYers and budget builders, buying less and telling ourselves it will last us is just they way our lives go..it's a very hard habit to break..
 
Well, it finally happened! I got my wood and some other supplies and started to cut everything up and put it in place..man does it look a lot bigger in person!
MAX ACR and black pigment are on the way (and at a discounted price I might add)
I got the Birch plywood for $30 a sheet too...way better than the listed $50 a sheet..

Everything is cut and dry fits perfectly, with a few small bows that will pull out when i screw it all together, so I am gonna be sanding those edges and get everything ready for next weekend so I can lay down some fiberglass mat and epoxy and get everthing going! I'm shooting to have the tank ready to go by my birthday:headbang2which is a small stretch just on the plumbing aspect as I have yet to decide what I want to do with that, but at the very latest I should be up and running by the end of February. I can't wait for the MAX ACR to come in!
I will post a link to the new thread which will be full of relevant photos and my progress as I get more done. I think I am gonna wait until I get some more work done like actually screwed together and epoxy down before I start a thread that just seems to drag on forever with nothing happening in it.. (kinda like this one hahaha)

In the meantime my :arapaimag has grown like a weed and loves massivore pellets. It's about 18" right now (I got it at around 6") and is starting to show all sorts of red. If it ever stops swimming around long enough to take a picture I will post a good one..I will try and upload the video I took of it with my gopro that I got for Christmas when I catch a minute.
 
Yeah, I'm thinking about ordering more epoxy also, since the Max ACR price is 10% off right now. I still have about about 1 gallon of Max ACR left, and I'll probably need more.

Had a minor setback with my build. I was getting ready to put my glass windows in this past weekend, when I noticed several pinhead sized pits of uncured epoxy in the interior of the tank. I think it was from mixing the ACR with the MAX Bond or because I was doing it in large batches, as I didn't have this same problem on any other surfaces which I just I covered with Max ACR. What a dumb mistake mixing that stuff was. I think I'll need to grind out or sand down those affected areas, then put several layers of epoxy over that.

So I'm not sure when I'll get my project done. I was kinda hoping to get the glass in and have it test fill it over the holidays. I'm not in much of a hurry now either. I was't planning on having fish in the tank until this summer, after I fixed up my crawlspace and put in some new flooring. My rate of progress has been slow, but rather steady, which is why I didn't start a build thread. I usually do a little work on my tank each week. My current build is more of a hobby, than a project, I guess. You'll probably have your tank done well before I get mine complete.
 
Keith, Bummer on the epoxy pits, hope it works out. I picked up my sump glass today, about 10 months after I ordered epoxy! I'm like you, work on it when I can.

Jordan, We're going to at least need some teaser pics until the thread comes along! How much epoxy did you end up ordering?
 
muttley000 said:
Keith, Bummer on the epoxy pits, hope it works out. I picked up my sump glass today, about 10 months after I ordered epoxy! I'm like you, work on it when I can.

Jordan, We're going to at least need some teaser pics until the thread comes along! How much epoxy did you end up ordering?
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i will try and upload some pics tmw at work if i have a chance. But otherwise you will just have to wait and see Muttley! I ordered 3 gallons of the epoxy. I am having trouble finding fiberglass cloth anywhere except online..anyone know a hardware store i can get it from?

also, does anyone forsee any issues with wood glue and the epoxy not working together? I went a little overboard with the glue i guess and its made a pretty good seal around the seams of the wood..or is there anything i can put on it that wont harm the wood and remove the glue?
 
Epoxy came in yesterday while I was working, and I actually found a place semi local that carries fiberglass cloth in rolls, so I will be picking those up tmw on a business related trip, so that just leaves all the work to be started on Sunday, to include a link to my build thread with pictures of my progress, and hopefully a few pictures of the fish..

Sunday can't come fast enough!
 
Rachel.Cody said:
Sounds like a fun build. I'll be tagging along for pictures.


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Thanks! It's been a lot of fun so far just planning the build. I'm just hoping I don't screw up the project. I'm pretty confident that I won't, but I always wonder about what could go wrong.

I'm still a little worried about the wood glue that squeezed out of the seams..I will probably spend tonight pulling the excess glue up by hand..it seems to come off easier than when I sand it..unless someone has a better idea..
 
Big Fish Freak said:
Thanks! It's been a lot of fun so far just planning the build. I'm just hoping I don't screw up the project. I'm pretty confident that I won't, but I always wonder about what could go wrong.

I'm still a little worried about the wood glue that squeezed out of the seams..I will probably spend tonight pulling the excess glue up by hand..it seems to come off easier than when I sand it..unless someone has a better idea..
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I've found that being confident helps the process a lot lol


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