Plywood Tank Question

[Reel Distraction]

I have looked through many of the posts and there are some amazing tanks built. The common concern seems to be how to line the tank. Liner or some form of eppoxy/paint.

This may have been asked and answered already but why not use thin plexi for your liner? If you have the plywood for strength you could seal up thin plexi inside the plywood and then have a glass or plexi front. It seems very inexpensive and would all but guarantee no leeks as long as the seams were done properly it should last forever.

I have been so inspired by everything I have seen here. I am planning on taking the 90g I have with a broken seal and turning it into a much larger tank. Maybe 8' long with two seperate windows and 3'-4' wide.

Please give me your thoughts.

 

[fish4me]

Ultimately I think there are multiple reasons why plexi is not often used to line these monster aquariums:

1. It can be costly to buy plexi of that size that can line the whole interior of the tank. For example, lets say you were building a tank that is the size of a sheet of plywood for base dimensions....you would need to then purchase 8 x 4 sheet of plexi as just the base. This alone would be costly.

2. It would have to be sealed near perfectly, and thin plexi is extremly flexible compared to thicker plywood that is made up of many small wood sheets that are hard pressed very intensely together.

3. How to adhere the plexi to the front pane of glass or acrylic and how would you attach it to the plywood?

 

[Burko]

"This may have been asked and answered already but why not use thin plexi for your liner? If you have the plywood for strength you could seal up thin plexi inside the plywood and then have a glass or plexi front."

I priced it and am sure it would work...but at twice the cost of a liquid liner.