Think About Building a tank

[parker64]

Hey guys i was thinking about building a wood tank i was thinking around 300 to 400 gallons what do you think im looking at in cost if i just wanted to do 1 glass of plexiglass window in the front?

 

[kjfan1]

Dirt cheap lol.

Check for other threads and see what others spend too.

I am building one know. 5-600 gal. wood is under $100, Epoxy $40, glass free. So Were thinking total cost under 250.

 

[parker64]

yea thats what i was think thanks for the help how r u getting free glass

 

[CJH]

Hey guys i was thinking about building a wood tank i was thinking around 300 to 400 gallons what do you think im looking at in cost if i just wanted to do 1 glass of plexiglass window in the front?

A few years back I found an excellent overview on some other fish forum about plywood tanks. It was a forum, not Garf.org.

The upshot of this thread was that the cost of plywood tanks was overwhelmingly associated with the height of the tank more than anything else. I don't remember where I read this thread or the "results" but I want to say it was around 30" tall where the cost of plywood tanks really started to skyrocket.

So a 400 gallon tank could be 96 x 40 x 24 (L x W x H) or it could be 48 x 40 x 48. And short of finding a free piece of glass or acrylic we would expect the latter to cost considerably more than the former. So it's hard to predict your costs.

So I would choose your dimensions and in particular carefully consider height. Once you've made that decision you can check out the thickness calculators and start to shop for your glass or acrylic.

 

[frostygirl]

Where are you buying your epoxy from and what type did you use? I am going to build a tank of my own in a little bit, and the hard part for me is finding the right epoxy and the right cost for it. I'd love to know where you are buying enough epoxy to do a 5-600 gallon plywood tank for $40, cause i will go there as well.

 

[kallmond]

All the cost in a plywood tank is in the glass and the waterproofing. With some new products like pond armor coming out the waterproofing costs are lower, but the window usually represents roughly half the build cost.

 

[CJH]

With some new products like pond armor coming out the waterproofing costs are lower...

You lost me. The epoxy that Pond Armor carries was over $300 for a 1.5 gallon kit last time I checked. Do they carry something else now? Or is their polyurea cheaper than their epoxy?

To Kallimond plus everyone else:

US Composites carries at 1.5 gallon kit of "thin" epoxy resin for $65, which works out to about $44 per gallon. I think that's the epoxy Kjfan1 was referring to in a previous post in this thread. There is a build on page 1 of this forum using this epoxy.

You can get a 1.5 gallon kit of Max ACR on Ebay for about $80. That's the product Buckdog used on his build.

I only mention those two because they are inexpensive and because both companies are known for excellent customer service once you get them on the phone.

Also, both are 100% epoxy resin so no haz-mat shipping is required. Same for the epoxy from Pond Armour.

 

[ITHURTZ]

my 330gal

100$ in wood
90$ for pond liner
115$ for 2 4'x2' 3/4" plexi windows.

Then maybe add $50 for all the finishing touches