Plywood Tank, how to start?
- Thread starter Boundava
- Start date
I have been doing some research, watching videos and reading posts. Feel like I have a better idea of what I want to do.
HUKIT
, thank you for referring me to AquariumDomain as I saw his 4050 gallon build and loved the idea of a wetland filter. Than I looked further back and saw his DIY 315 gallon build (episode 69) where he first incorporated an internal wetland filter in his build.
So starting with the tank build. I decided to with plywood for the 3 sides and bottom with a framed front for the glass. May be overkill, but based on the wood here I am going to go with 3/4" baltic plywood as it is the only thing other than treated floor grade that comes in a 4'x8' sheet at 3/4" thickness at my loca hardware stores.
Tank will be 8' x 3' x 3'; the filter is built in and will take up 2' at the end and will be separated from the "swim" portion by a partition made up of stacked 2"x 2". Overkill...maybe, but the filter will be filled with a 14"x 22"x 36' pile of graded rocks so I would like to have a sturdy divider.
The exterior will have some additional framing for support, and there will be one center brace for the swimming area.
Also due to my strengths (weaknesses), I will be going with two pieces of glass versus one ~70" long piece.
Due to the height of the tank I will be building a low stand. Did something similar for my box turtle's 180 gallon tank, this allows me easier access to the interior.
In case you can't see, its 10" high.
Thinking a 14" stand , that will bring the total height to 50" which will allow for plant growth out of the wetland filter as my basement ceiling isn't high (house built in 1952).
So I did a very rough sketch of what I was planning:
You can see the 2" x 2" (actually 1 1/2" x 1 1/2") stacked wall separating the filter. As noted on the sketch with a *, the framing will be done with 2" x 4" (1 1/2" x 3 1/2" )
The 7 x 4.33 on the top are plant baskets that I found in 4.33" x 7.09" x 4.33". This will allow me to have 3 across and 5 from front to back. Also its a good size for 1- 2 small plants or 1 larger plant. I will be using ceramic balls or pea gravel for the plants, allowing the roots to grow into the water.
As the image shows there will be milk crates on the bottom, but with the sizes of 13" x 13" x 11" or 19" x 13" x 11" there will be a little gapping on the sides that I will solve by cutting some eggcrate and zip tying it to the milk crates to make a (more of less) solid top to keep the rocks from falling in. Then on the top of the milk crates there will be large rocks that will gradually transition in size to pea gravel. I will also be placing lava rocks , dispersed between the layers to encourage extra filtration, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
This is what the front will look like, please excuse my very rough sketching.
I will have 2 pieces of glass with a 3" overlap for the silicone gasket. Based on Aquarium Domain's 315 gallon build, I will be going with 1/2" tempered glass (hopefully I can find a local source). Additionally I will have a top brace in the center of the tank area. I would like to put a glass lid on top of the tank area so may also put a support over the filter partition, I have dwelt with the twin wall and acrylic tops and don't want to work with them again.
HUKIT
, thank you for referring me to AquariumDomain as I saw his 4050 gallon build and loved the idea of a wetland filter. Than I looked further back and saw his DIY 315 gallon build (episode 69) where he first incorporated an internal wetland filter in his build.So starting with the tank build. I decided to with plywood for the 3 sides and bottom with a framed front for the glass. May be overkill, but based on the wood here I am going to go with 3/4" baltic plywood as it is the only thing other than treated floor grade that comes in a 4'x8' sheet at 3/4" thickness at my loca hardware stores.
Tank will be 8' x 3' x 3'; the filter is built in and will take up 2' at the end and will be separated from the "swim" portion by a partition made up of stacked 2"x 2". Overkill...maybe, but the filter will be filled with a 14"x 22"x 36' pile of graded rocks so I would like to have a sturdy divider.
The exterior will have some additional framing for support, and there will be one center brace for the swimming area.
Also due to my strengths (weaknesses), I will be going with two pieces of glass versus one ~70" long piece.
Due to the height of the tank I will be building a low stand. Did something similar for my box turtle's 180 gallon tank, this allows me easier access to the interior.
In case you can't see, its 10" high.
Thinking a 14" stand , that will bring the total height to 50" which will allow for plant growth out of the wetland filter as my basement ceiling isn't high (house built in 1952).
So I did a very rough sketch of what I was planning:
You can see the 2" x 2" (actually 1 1/2" x 1 1/2") stacked wall separating the filter. As noted on the sketch with a *, the framing will be done with 2" x 4" (1 1/2" x 3 1/2" )
The 7 x 4.33 on the top are plant baskets that I found in 4.33" x 7.09" x 4.33". This will allow me to have 3 across and 5 from front to back. Also its a good size for 1- 2 small plants or 1 larger plant. I will be using ceramic balls or pea gravel for the plants, allowing the roots to grow into the water.
As the image shows there will be milk crates on the bottom, but with the sizes of 13" x 13" x 11" or 19" x 13" x 11" there will be a little gapping on the sides that I will solve by cutting some eggcrate and zip tying it to the milk crates to make a (more of less) solid top to keep the rocks from falling in. Then on the top of the milk crates there will be large rocks that will gradually transition in size to pea gravel. I will also be placing lava rocks , dispersed between the layers to encourage extra filtration, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
This is what the front will look like, please excuse my very rough sketching.
I will have 2 pieces of glass with a 3" overlap for the silicone gasket. Based on Aquarium Domain's 315 gallon build, I will be going with 1/2" tempered glass (hopefully I can find a local source). Additionally I will have a top brace in the center of the tank area. I would like to put a glass lid on top of the tank area so may also put a support over the filter partition, I have dwelt with the twin wall and acrylic tops and don't want to work with them again.
So now for the filtration.
Wetland/bog upflow filter 101
Filter utilizing a chamber on the bottom with a "holding area" for water that is then pushed up through varying sizes of rocks that hold bacteria as well as serve as a sediment filter. Topped off with either planted plants, or plants sitting in bins which are sitting on the surface of the filter allowing them to access excess nutrients in the water. Filter also has a cleaning tube which allows access to the holding area and any build up sediments that can be vacuumed out.
My hesitation is the filter will be filled with rocks with larger on bottom gradually becoming pea gravel on the top. So my question is, am I calculating filter size based on the combo of water/rock or just the water capacity minus rocks? Yes, overkill...right?
Looking up I have been reassured that the filtration size is for the combo of water and rocks/filter media, So now to calculate the filter size needed based on "pond" volume.
Wetland/bog upflow filter 101
Filter utilizing a chamber on the bottom with a "holding area" for water that is then pushed up through varying sizes of rocks that hold bacteria as well as serve as a sediment filter. Topped off with either planted plants, or plants sitting in bins which are sitting on the surface of the filter allowing them to access excess nutrients in the water. Filter also has a cleaning tube which allows access to the holding area and any build up sediments that can be vacuumed out.
My hesitation is the filter will be filled with rocks with larger on bottom gradually becoming pea gravel on the top. So my question is, am I calculating filter size based on the combo of water/rock or just the water capacity minus rocks? Yes, overkill...right?
Looking up I have been reassured that the filtration size is for the combo of water and rocks/filter media, So now to calculate the filter size needed based on "pond" volume.
Just for curiosity sake I wanted to find the volume of water (-rocks) in the filter.
Looking further at his site I find the calculation for determining water volume for the filter based on the idea that rocks will take up 60-80%, leaving 40-20% for water (lets average 30%). It is also recommended for the rock depth to be 12"-18" to avoid anaerobic zones. Unsure how much I will have to consider that, as the filtration will be up flowed so there shouldn't be any areas where there will be no flow.
So based on the space I have calculated for the filter box and the fill height for the water the box, the volume of water accommodating for the 30% of space after rock is 127g x 30% = 38 g
Looking further at his site I find the calculation for determining water volume for the filter based on the idea that rocks will take up 60-80%, leaving 40-20% for water (lets average 30%). It is also recommended for the rock depth to be 12"-18" to avoid anaerobic zones. Unsure how much I will have to consider that, as the filtration will be up flowed so there shouldn't be any areas where there will be no flow.
So based on the space I have calculated for the filter box and the fill height for the water the box, the volume of water accommodating for the 30% of space after rock is 127g x 30% = 38 g
However, this doesn't have any determination in flow rate. Ozponds,com talks about having a flow rate through the media of 5-12 minutes, 10 being optimal for larger bodies of water. He then says that the actual calculations for flow rate aren't needed, just to go with the pond size and size up giving the example of a 5000 liter pond utilizing a 6-7000 liter pump.
If that's the case then for the 359g the filter should be 500-600 g?
If that's the case then for the 359g the filter should be 500-600 g?
However he also states that to calculate gph you should take the filter volume V x 6, which would be 127 x 6. or 762 gph.
Confused? Me too.
So if you are following along...
Just have to figure out the tubing size for the pump to the holding area of the tank.
Pumps will be at the furthest end of the tank, towards the bottom in order to have better access to debris, I will also have 1-3 circulation pumps for some water movement within the tank other than the water flowing from the filter into the tank.
Love some feedback on every point of the build; suggestions, questions, clarifications, criticisms, improvements and reality checks are welcome.
Sorry for the multiple posts, the site wouldn't let me post the filtration part in one go, I had to break it up to avois the "O
However he also states that to calculate gph you should take the filter volume V x 6, which would be 127 x 6. or 762 gph.
Confused? Me too.
So if you are following along...
Just have to figure out the tubing size for the pump to the holding area of the tank.
Pumps will be at the furthest end of the tank, towards the bottom in order to have better access to debris, I will also have 1-3 circulation pumps for some water movement within the tank other than the water flowing from the filter into the tank.
Love some feedback on every point of the build; suggestions, questions, clarifications, criticisms, improvements and reality checks are welcome.
Sorry for the multiple posts, site wouldn't let me post the filtration part in one go, so I had to break it up until it stopped giving me the: OOPS there's a problem...pop up.
Confused? Me too.
So if you are following along...
- Tank gallons = 359
- Filter total volume = 127
- Filter water volume in gallons= 38
- Approximate pump rate = 600 gph
- Calculated pump rate = 762 gph
Just have to figure out the tubing size for the pump to the holding area of the tank.
Pumps will be at the furthest end of the tank, towards the bottom in order to have better access to debris, I will also have 1-3 circulation pumps for some water movement within the tank other than the water flowing from the filter into the tank.
Love some feedback on every point of the build; suggestions, questions, clarifications, criticisms, improvements and reality checks are welcome.
Sorry for the multiple posts, the site wouldn't let me post the filtration part in one go, I had to break it up to avois the "O
However he also states that to calculate gph you should take the filter volume V x 6, which would be 127 x 6. or 762 gph.
Confused? Me too.
So if you are following along...
- Tank gallons = 359
- Filter total volume = 127
- Filter water volume in gallons= 38
- Approximate pump rate = 600 gph
- Calculated pump rate = 762 gph
Just have to figure out the tubing size for the pump to the holding area of the tank.
Pumps will be at the furthest end of the tank, towards the bottom in order to have better access to debris, I will also have 1-3 circulation pumps for some water movement within the tank other than the water flowing from the filter into the tank.
Love some feedback on every point of the build; suggestions, questions, clarifications, criticisms, improvements and reality checks are welcome.
Sorry for the multiple posts, site wouldn't let me post the filtration part in one go, so I had to break it up until it stopped giving me the: OOPS there's a problem...pop up.
I hope you continue to update the thread with through the build process. When my wife tells me that I have too many tanks, I show her Aquariumdomain to show it could be so much worse, Lol. His annex section is proof of his madness. One of few gems on YouTube.
This is another channel I watch as he has some nice aesthetic touches such as aluminum trim. Plus he captures all his stock locally.
This is another channel I watch as he has some nice aesthetic touches such as aluminum trim. Plus he captures all his stock locally.
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