plywood bottom?

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bawb

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 27, 2013
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United States
I picked up a 240gal tank with a cracked bottom. But the cost of glass to replace it is way too much. $286.

With guys on here making plywood tanks, I was wondering how hard it would be to just replace the bottom with plywood.
The glass bottom was 1/2" but I think the plywood should be at least 3/4".
Some builds had the plywood coated with epoxy, others had sheets of acrylic glued to the plywood.
I like the acrylic sheet idea better but am still worried about getting a good bond between the glass and the wood/acrylic.
There is a ton of good info on here, but also a lot of dead links.
Can anyone suggest a good link to some threads with info I can use?
Or any thoughts on this project.
 
bawb said:
I picked up a 240gal tank with a cracked bottom. But the cost of glass to replace it is way too much. $286.
Click to expand...

Glasscages offers 1/2" inch thick plate glass at $9/square foot. Assuming you have an 8 foot long and 2 foot wide tank, that works out to $144. I would think a glass maker could beat $144.

Did you ask them for tempered glass? Did you ask them to repair the tank for you? Otherwise, I think $286 makes no sense except it's way over priced.
 
The tank is 72x24x30 so I asked for a price on 72x24 not tempered and not installed.
When they gave me that price, I didn't even ask about getting it drilled.
But since I use rock for aquascaping, I do like the thought of a more forgiving wood bottom.
 
bawb said:
The tank is 72x24x30 so I asked for a price on 72x24 not tempered and not installed.
When they gave me that price, I didn't even ask about getting it drilled.
But since I use rock for aquascaping, I do like the thought of a more forgiving wood bottom.
Click to expand...

Okay. So Glasscages will charge $108 for that piece of glass (6x2=12; 12x$9=$108.)

You said the cost is too much and there is a company that will charge you 62% less, but you don't seem interested now. How much did you think the glass was going to cost when you asked for a quote?
 
At $286 the cost was too much, so I want to explore all my options. But Glasscages price is much more reasonable (but shipping from Tn might be costly), so I should get some more local quotes too.
It's not so much that I'm not interested, more that I want to consider all my options, and the wood does have the added appeal that the lava rock will not damage it.
I'm not getting any feedback on the wood bottom, so it may not have been done, or not possible to get a good seal.
Although I heard glass would be expensive, I wanted to get the facts and kept an open mind. The first quote did shock me a bit but you came up with Glasscages at a much lower price, so I should look around more to find the best price.
 
In my experience, plastic sheets never bond.
If you use plywood, you will need to coat it with fiberglass in order to get a seal.
I have used a piece of glass large enough to cover a cross crack, and glued it over the top of the crack. But if it is the length of the tank, an entire new piece, is really the only secure way.
 
duanes said:
In my experience, plastic sheets never bond.
If you use plywood, you will need to coat it with fiberglass in order to get a seal.
I have used a piece of glass large enough to cover a cross crack, and glued it over the top of the crack. But if it is the length of the tank, an entire new piece, is really the only secure way.
Click to expand...
I agree or some product like pond armor if you havent worked with fiber glass. I honestly would find someone local. They'll surely give a better price in my experience, since you say you like to use rocks I would just cut some lighting diffuser to the dimensions of the tank and call it a day rather than messing with wood.
 
I wouldn't waste your time... get a piece of glass and be done with it. You'll come close to if not exceed the cost of the glass trying to waterproof that piece of wood, and the whole thing will be a huge liability. Especially for the floor.. any little scuff and you're tank is leaking and the wood is ruined. Your thoughts that the wood will be tougher than the glass is way off. You're talking about sealing it with stuff the thickness of paint... it doesn't take much to puncture that, especially if you're stacking rocks. You can go thicker.. but then being certain to exceed the cost of the glass.

If it was me an in no rush I would look for condemned buildings and businesses. Sometimes you can score some free thick non-tempered pane glass if you're willing to schmooz with the recking crew. You'll want non-tempered in this case so that you can cut it to fit.
 
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