i am going to be building a 10'x5-8'x2.5' tank with plywood sides, back and bottom. it will have an angle iron fram and stand with 6"x6"s or 8"x8"s for support at the stands crossmembers...i have been thinking how to attach the front veiwing pannel and i am not sure on a few things...one is if there should be wood between the angle iron and the panel or not...two is if i should do glass, saphire glass, or acrilic....third is the thickness of said panel...any thoughts? also i will be doing an overflow system and i am thinking of doing sump pumps or pool pumps but i am not sure what will be best and most economic all around...all imput is welcome the width is not yet finalized cause i need the tank to be moveable if i have to move and it is cold here in mn so it has to come inside and not stay in a garage all year...atleast till i have my house on the "back 40"...thanx in advanced
new tank planned with a few q's
- Thread starter sbuse
- Start date
i would realy like some imput as this is my first tank build and i would like it to go as smooth as it can...i have found out through rivermuds thinkness deal that the panel should be 3/4" glass...but the pumps and glass to wood seal i'm still not sure...would culcking work or is there something why better to use? thanx....
Sbuse, it's kind of hard to picture what you have in mind without making assumptions. Can you draw something up with Sketch or Paint and give us a clearer idea of the options you are looking at and point to the areas where you have questions?
I was thinking instead of doing wood in between the angle iron and the glass, maybe you could do some sort of plastic molding.
For the viewing panel you need to go with the sapphire or cell cast acrylic. Nothing beets the acrylic for viewing and the sapphire is going to cost ya. Easy choice.
Okay, now the attaching it to the frame part. What ever you decide with the frame, metal or wood. GE Silicone 1 will work. Don't worry if it sticks or not, your going to use it as a gasket between your frame. You need spacers to keep the silicon from squeezing out between the glass and the frame from the water pressure. I use these clear door bumpers with self adhesive you stick to the back of kitchen doors, they come in packs of 12 at HD. Stick these to the glass or acrylic every 4 inches or so before you put the silicon 1 on. These bumpers will not give at all and they will support your viewing panel so the silicon wont squeeze out under the pressure. I would go with a 3" over lap of the viewing panel and the frame. That gives you a lot of extra sealing area. Glue the whole 3" boarder and then support the glass with clamps to keep it in place while the glue dries. I would wait a week for it to dry then when you fill it the water the pressure will clamp the viewing panel to your frame. The bumpers will not let it squeeze to far and you will have 3 inches of sealing surface. No way that's going to leak!
Okay, now the attaching it to the frame part. What ever you decide with the frame, metal or wood. GE Silicone 1 will work. Don't worry if it sticks or not, your going to use it as a gasket between your frame. You need spacers to keep the silicon from squeezing out between the glass and the frame from the water pressure. I use these clear door bumpers with self adhesive you stick to the back of kitchen doors, they come in packs of 12 at HD. Stick these to the glass or acrylic every 4 inches or so before you put the silicon 1 on. These bumpers will not give at all and they will support your viewing panel so the silicon wont squeeze out under the pressure. I would go with a 3" over lap of the viewing panel and the frame. That gives you a lot of extra sealing area. Glue the whole 3" boarder and then support the glass with clamps to keep it in place while the glue dries. I would wait a week for it to dry then when you fill it the water the pressure will clamp the viewing panel to your frame. The bumpers will not let it squeeze to far and you will have 3 inches of sealing surface. No way that's going to leak!
ok here are the questions and the pics with corresponding number for each question....
1) in between the veiwing window and the angel iron frame should there be wood or just the bumpers that were already mentioned by egon....and should the windo be put in first or last, basically on top off the walls and bottom wood or should the window be snug to the frame with the wall and bottom wood flush to it?
2) i will have an overflow/sump system with pvc inlets and outlets...with that being said...how should i seal the pvc to the wood? how big of pipes should i use as i want to have around 12,000gph flow rate (about 10x turnover per hour for my big cats that will go in the tank)
3) for the overflow system...how big should the return line/lines be? and for the sprayer tube how long and with how many/ large holes to spray into the tank...
4) on the whole tank should the wood be sealed to the frame or just snuggly fit to the iron?
5) on the stand at the crossmembers for the support should i use 6x6s or 8x8s and how many should i use?
6) should i use pool pumps or house sump pumps? or is there a more economic pump to get the gph i would like?
7) how large should the sump be to handel the gph i need? and should i do the same construction as the tank?
8) for lights i was thinking of just useing 4' or larger floresnt lights is there a better more economic kind of lighting?
9) for sealing the wood should i use fiberglass, liquid rubber or is there something better out there?
thanx again
1) in between the veiwing window and the angel iron frame should there be wood or just the bumpers that were already mentioned by egon....and should the windo be put in first or last, basically on top off the walls and bottom wood or should the window be snug to the frame with the wall and bottom wood flush to it?
2) i will have an overflow/sump system with pvc inlets and outlets...with that being said...how should i seal the pvc to the wood? how big of pipes should i use as i want to have around 12,000gph flow rate (about 10x turnover per hour for my big cats that will go in the tank)
3) for the overflow system...how big should the return line/lines be? and for the sprayer tube how long and with how many/ large holes to spray into the tank...
4) on the whole tank should the wood be sealed to the frame or just snuggly fit to the iron?
5) on the stand at the crossmembers for the support should i use 6x6s or 8x8s and how many should i use?
6) should i use pool pumps or house sump pumps? or is there a more economic pump to get the gph i would like?
7) how large should the sump be to handel the gph i need? and should i do the same construction as the tank?
8) for lights i was thinking of just useing 4' or larger floresnt lights is there a better more economic kind of lighting?
9) for sealing the wood should i use fiberglass, liquid rubber or is there something better out there?
thanx again
in regards to the glass i just checked glasscages.com and for a 1.5" thick sheet of acrylic it is $3960 + shipping...for a 3/4" sheet of starphire glass it is $1920 + shipping...is there a cheaper place to get either from?
First, it's starfire or starphire not sapphire.
http://www.lairdplastics.com/ is the best place to get cell cast acrylic. I searched the net and someone here pointed me to them. I dealt with John Starret in Houston because it was closest to New Orleans. Contact the closest Laird to your location. My 50x99x2" sheet was cheaper than VLDesign's 8' sheet of 3/4" starfire.
I would put wood between the angle iron and glass/acrylic. Wood is more forgiving than even plastic. You will want to get hard rubber sheet cut in strips to use as spacers 3/8" is probably enough for your application. It assures that the sealant doesn't get squeezed out. Use Dow 795, not regular silicone. It's designed for glazing applications and bonds to unlike materials. Acrylic does need to be sanded on about 1-1.5" on the edge to bond.
Build your stand and tank frame separate. I would use 1.5-2" angle iron with 1/2" bolts, washers, and lock nuts. Build stand in 2-3 sections that each can stand on its own. Use tabs between the sections to interlock them.
Your tank exoskeleton should be in 6 sections (top, bottom, left, right, front, back) and bolt together. You could use garf.org's plywood tank instructions for building the plywood part of your tank. The difference would be that you will build it inside the bottom frame which is bolted in place to the stand. I'd bolt through the plywood to assemble the frame using washers on both sides.
http://www.permadri.com/pond-coat.html is what I'm using to coat the inside of my tank. I'd suggest using it rather than pond armor due to your desire to have the tank portable. It would be easier to unbolt the tank sections and reassemble elsewhere.
These are my opinions. Other people may have their own. Let's hope so.
http://www.lairdplastics.com/ is the best place to get cell cast acrylic. I searched the net and someone here pointed me to them. I dealt with John Starret in Houston because it was closest to New Orleans. Contact the closest Laird to your location. My 50x99x2" sheet was cheaper than VLDesign's 8' sheet of 3/4" starfire.
I would put wood between the angle iron and glass/acrylic. Wood is more forgiving than even plastic. You will want to get hard rubber sheet cut in strips to use as spacers 3/8" is probably enough for your application. It assures that the sealant doesn't get squeezed out. Use Dow 795, not regular silicone. It's designed for glazing applications and bonds to unlike materials. Acrylic does need to be sanded on about 1-1.5" on the edge to bond.
Build your stand and tank frame separate. I would use 1.5-2" angle iron with 1/2" bolts, washers, and lock nuts. Build stand in 2-3 sections that each can stand on its own. Use tabs between the sections to interlock them.
Your tank exoskeleton should be in 6 sections (top, bottom, left, right, front, back) and bolt together. You could use garf.org's plywood tank instructions for building the plywood part of your tank. The difference would be that you will build it inside the bottom frame which is bolted in place to the stand. I'd bolt through the plywood to assemble the frame using washers on both sides.
http://www.permadri.com/pond-coat.html is what I'm using to coat the inside of my tank. I'd suggest using it rather than pond armor due to your desire to have the tank portable. It would be easier to unbolt the tank sections and reassemble elsewhere.
These are my opinions. Other people may have their own. Let's hope so.