New 1200 gallon tank idea

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legendaryfrog

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2007
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arlington heights, il
Ive recently gotton the urge to build another tank, and since i dont have enough funds for an all-acrylic tank, im going DIY.

heres a basic "profile" of the tank

the front of the tank is 1" acrylic while all the other sides are 1/4" inch acrylic reinforced with 1-1.5" of plywood.

please comment.

tank.JPG
 
i say go for it man. it will be sweet if you do it
 
i would coat it anyway cause thats alot of humidity coming off a tank that size
 
I love hearing about these projects, like to see them come together even more. Yours sounds like a good one. I have a similar project it will be 22FT in length with two 120 X 36" acrylic panels. Am pretty impressed with Sanitred and will be using it to seal the tank I think. Have thought about the acrylic liner idea but solvent cementing a 1.25" 120" X 36" peice of acrylic to a .25" peice would be very difficult and require a perfectly smooth edge. Ive never seen one of the acrylic lined tanks either. Would like to see one.
 
i've seen other people just slide in plexi glass or lexan pieces on the inner edges of the plywood. then just silicone glu the corners after they roughen up the edges a bit. line the front piece as well, roughen up the edges around where the glass is gonna sit, then silicone the glass to the front. worked for him, dont see why it wouldn't work for you.
 
legendaryfrog;685161; said:
Ive recently gotton the urge to build another tank, and since i dont have enough funds for an all-acrylic tank, im going DIY.

heres a basic "profile" of the tank

the front of the tank is 1" acrylic while all the other sides are 1/4" inch acrylic reinforced with 1-1.5" of plywood.

please comment.
Click to expand...


Are you looking for a cheap way to waterproof a box or do you want the smooth sides of plexy?

If you bond the acrylic and the plywood box flexes at all a seam could fail.

If you do like ethnics said, silicone the inside joints of the box, with both edges of the acrylic rough up about 1/4", lay the sheets in the fresh silicone and press into place, then silicone all the seams inside.

legendaryfrog;685425; said:
since no water will come in contact with the plywood, is it fine that i dont coat it?
Click to expand...

No, at the least condensation will occur between the wood and acrylic, or worst a leak between them. Atleast use something like Thomson's water seal if the fishes water won't touch it, even with spills on the edges.

Have you considered Sanitred or Pondarmor, unless you have the acrylic, I think you should do a price comparison first.

So hurry up already and get started :nilly: .

Dr Joe

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i just want the smooth sides. but no doubt, the plywood will be reinforced with 2*4's.


what do you mean by roughing up 1/4"?????

Oh, and heres my tank budget: $4500

$2500 tank ($1800 acrylic, $200-300 plywood, $200 2*4's, $200 misc.)
$500 filtration (diy wet/dry)
$500 fish (community fish)
$400 lighting (400 watts)
$600 decor+
 
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