Plywood Aquarium questions.

[Kribensis4me]

Ok MFK friends. Wife took my mind off collecting guns and back onto the thought of building a plywood tank. So I can recall some questions I had last year so I thought Id just ask real quick.

We are in AZ so evaporation is real big. Does all the plywood need to be water treated? Or is it just the inside?

Plywood comes in 8x4 sheets. But id like to make a plywood tank at least 10' x 2' x 2-3'. So with that in mind, ware can I find info on joining plywood pieces? or can I order plywood longer then 8'?

And at the size id like to build. Will it be just 5 plywood sides(counting the front viewing area) and rubber coating the inside? Or for a take of 10x2x3' tall would I be slapping 2x4's between 2 plywood sheets for the walls?

And back to the humidity... Wouldn't it get into the walls of the "plywood" tank?

ANd last question... we or I really dont want to replace ALL the carpet in our house. LOL
So does anyone know of the average lifespan of these ply"wood" tanks? LOL

The Ol' lade WANTS me to build one. But she wont let anything less then cherry or rose wood furniture quality into our living room. Id love to build a garage tank for us and all the neighborhood kids walking by. But in AZ 120* in the garage is a normal all summer and would need a bunch of chillers. But thats a different story. LOL

Thanks yall for your time and reading my long winded posting. Its appreciated.

My Goal is to make a Ex-Cichlasoma fish tank. hehehe Thats why its no less then 10' and 2' deep is all the real estate we can use in the livingroom.

 

[Kribensis4me]

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[PGill]

You can order 10' sheets. As far as how long it will last, well, that's the million dollar question. Mine's been running for a little over a year now without any issues.

 

[Kribensis4me]

You can order 10' sheets. As far as how long it will last, well, that's the million dollar question. Mine's been running for a little over a year now without any issues.

Thanks for the reply

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[Kribensis4me]

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[rotccapt]

for a tank that long and tall i would defiantly go with a 2x4 frame with 3/4 inch plywood this would give you the required strength for a tank that tall. if you go this route you can butt joint two pieces of ply on the stud to get your 10 feet. have you looked into the price of glass or acrylic for a 3 foot tall tank? you will need at least 3/4 inch glass and probably 1 inch to 1.25 inch acrylic. you will want at least 2 to 3 center braces on a tank that long. to help with bowing you could add a 2x6 cap to the 2x4 frame kinda like a euro brace with 2x4 center braces. also if you have the space you might try making it a little bit wider to give your fish a little more swim space front to back.

 

[Kribensis4me]

ya, 2' front to back is the deepest I can really go. we have a 75g and 2 125g tanks. And as it is. After the build, The ol lady may want me to sell one of the 125 tanks. jhehehe

 

[dledinger]

For joining...it's composite. You can do a butt joint, or if you're really worried do a scarf joint. Google that and you'll probably end up on some boat building forums...and that is what you're building, an inside out composite boat.