plywood tank thickness 480 gallon
- Thread starter Ryan1783
- Start date
That really depends on your framing I would say. DIY King built his with nothing but 3/4" birch plywood and it held. I plan to frame mine with 2x4 walls then 3/4 acx. It's cheaper than birch and I plan to paint mine so birch isn't neccessary. I would never sleep at night if I used nothing but 3/4" plywood. It needs structural support!
He also overlapped the corners and boxed it in with a second layer of plywood using plywood strips. Essentially making it 1.5 inches thick where the strips are. Between that, the top brace, and fiberglassing the seams I dont see why that's an issue. Mind you, I think his tank is 6ft and not 8ft. It's also taller than 24 inches. Some food for thought there.
I'm in the same boat. I'm preparing to make a plywood tank of the same dimensions (8x4x2) and I'm still in the design phase. There's a guy on MFK who built a saltwater tank using 15/16" plywood only. No external bracing, and his tank has been running fine.
There's a number of ways to build your custom tank. I was in construction for 10 years and plywood is not intended to hold weight across a 8 foot span like that. It's primary use is to give a structure shear strength. Without framing you are basically trying to hold back the weight of a small car with the plywood alone. It's going to bow! Which could cause you fiberglass or sealant to flex and crack. It's your tank and your house, It may be fine. My tank will likely be framed with walers. They are horizontal framing generally used on concrete forms. I'll also use standard 2x4 framing walls around that. Overall the walls of my tank will be 7" thick. The weakest link in my tank will be the 42"x78" 3/4"tempered glass. My tank may be over built as far as framing, but that's cause I know if it fails or leaks in anyway the wife's going to make me take it out.
You can also put 2x4s flat against the ply and sandwich them with a nother sheet of ply this will give you 3 inch of meat
Keeps it alittle more sleek
Keeps it alittle more sleek