Plywood tank advise

[Philip Wolters]

So I think I'm pretty well set on what I want to do for a custom tank idea to fill a hole in my house wall. I'm looking for some advice as well as tips to make this a lot easier.so far the tank it's self will be 62" long 48" high and 36" deep the hole to fill is 65"x26" I plan on using the buffer zone for insulation as well as filtration. I plan on using 1" cell cast acrylic for the front and back panel the front will be solid but the back won't because it a split bay window with a 6 inch gap between the windows to keep natural light in the house. For the shell I plan on using 3/4" plywood mainly with 1x2 for bracing ontop of the plywood. I will be sealing the whole ball of wax with pond armor.

That's the basics of the plan if you have any helpful tips to make this easy that would be awesome

 

[Anix]

Just built my 8x4x3h plywood tank this past summer (still setting it up). Few thoughts.

1. Bracing and ribbing the sides of the tank. Take this advice. Even if all you do is double the plywood on the edges of the tank (using the plywood build videos from Joey, the King of DIY, Youtube channel). Also, Pond Armor put out a series of videos on how to use their product and in the very first video they explain why you need to rib around the plywood. And while I am plugging youtube channels, check out a Youtuber named AlexG's Aquarium. He just had an issue where his 720gal (similar design to mine) started to bow and had to add more bracing. For my build, I used 2x4 walls with horizontal bracing between studs. In the next month or so I will be posting my own build post.

2. Use glass over acrylic. Glass is much easier to work with as silicone/RTV 108 bonds better to it. A lot of people who use acrylic end up bolting the acrylic to the tank and using silicone over the bolts. With that said, Joey just did a 2,000 gal concrete build, where he used acrylic. He ended up not using the bolts, but his original plan was to. If you have the acrylic, make it work, but I would just go to glasscages.com and get glass from them. They are the cheapest, I've ever seen and they are a pleasure to work with.

3. Pond Armor is amazing, but buy double what you think you will need. Honestly, I ended up using every drop and whished I had another pint. If you have some left over, I promise you will find a use for it.

4. Make the bottom of the tank an 1.5". Double that baby up.

5. You will need to drink a lot, the good stuff, in this process. You will be amazed by how many little things you either don't know you needed or will not have included when you budgeted this project. So to start, budget a good bottle of something smooth.

There are a lot of other things I could say, but I have to run off to work. I am sure there are lot of more experienced guys here than me, that can share more advice... but this has been some lessons I've learned along the way. You can DM me if you have any other questions.

one last comment..... research as much as humanly possible, like its your job. See what others have done successfully and what they have failed at. Glean as much as you can. Seriously, this could save you hundreds of bucks. There have been a few times I kicked myself because I didn't know company X had this gadget that would make my life so much easier or was a similar design than what I imagined or what have you.

But have fun. This has truly been one of the best experiences I've ever had and brought me closer to my family. OH, and yea... you're going to need really good friends.... or family who cannot say no.

 

[Philip Wolters]

Thank you so much couple of questions isn't the glass needed for the desgin going to be extremely heavy? And what drink would you recommend haha

Ps i watch both of those channels religiously

 

[TexasMFK31]

Thank you so much couple of questions isn't the glass needed for the desgin going to be extremely heavy? And what drink would you recommend haha

Ps i watch both of those channels religiously

You are correct, your glass will need to be ~2" thick for a 48" tall tank. That would be some heavy glass.

 

[Anix]

Yeah, my 7ft pain of glass was something like 350 to 400lbs and took the friends and family I mentioned. Also, weight is an issue over all. Im actually a weight engineer by trade. My tank stand is 750lbs of 2in square tubing, my tank (over all) is almost that much and I am going to have nearly 6,000lbs of water (incuding the sump). I went as far as checking my basement floor to check the concrete rating.

Also I didn't realize you wanted to do a 4ft tall tank. More than the glass thickness (as mentioned will be 2in and I would go 1.5 on the acrylic--Joey did), again than thickness think of maintenance, think about how you're going to clean this thing. What if you needed to get in the tank? Can you get in and out of it? My 3ft tank is a pain in the ass.

Drinks... i am a simple man, who didn't budget enough in this area. I had to settle for a classic. Nothing special, but always does the job-- Jim Beam and Coke.

 

[Anix]

Oooooh... pooo (not sure of the rules on cursing here)... yeah. What saved me a lot of time and money was downloading that there program Sketchup. Designed my whole tank using that thing. Did a great job. Seriously spend the time and sketch that bad boy up. Then show us your design and hopefully some other kind folks can help you along. Looking forward to what you do.