just seeing what everyone used for plywood on their tanks? I know should be 3/4 inch but do I need the best like birch or will a less grade work? this will be my first time trying it. want to do a 8x4 by 30in tall. using a piece of glass from a old 150gal then pond armor but want to get right plywood.....THANKS
what kind of plywood?
- Thread starter coty123
- Start date
It doesn't need to be expensive grade plywood. I figured it would be a one time thing, and I would be using it for the life of the tank essentially. I bought MDO plywood. It's not the cheapest, but I wanted a good surface for painting too. It's typically used to make signs that's used outside.
External grade seems to be the norm. It's tough, but you need to seal it. Not the cheapest, but not the dearest. It's also strong, usually birch in the UK [from memory].
Shop grade would be the next good option, i think it can be in the same wood used for external [birch i think], only it has a better finish so you won't have to scour through a diy shop for decent boards. But you could find external grade with a good finish with a little effort.
Marine ply would be the 'luxury' option. It won't really be any stronger, but if you spring a leak it won't screw the laminate construction as readily. It is not cheap though and still needs sealing properly.
The garf calculator will probably recommend 3/4, but i am fairly sure that site doesn't actually use calculations to form it's recommendations for material thickness (either that or the calculations are at best questionable). There is no proper calculator for plywood thickness that i have found that scales with aquarium size.
What i would suggest is go overkill, but i have seen tanks of that size made of 3/4 that have held up fine (for how long i don't know). Personally i wouldn't go any bigger than around 6 long x 2.5ft tall with 3/4 unless you framed it to add structure. For the size you are building, i would consider maybe 1"-1.5" if i where to use no structural framework.
Some folks glue and screw two 3/4 sheets to form a 1.5 board for tanks of similar size. See this:
Shop grade would be the next good option, i think it can be in the same wood used for external [birch i think], only it has a better finish so you won't have to scour through a diy shop for decent boards. But you could find external grade with a good finish with a little effort.
Marine ply would be the 'luxury' option. It won't really be any stronger, but if you spring a leak it won't screw the laminate construction as readily. It is not cheap though and still needs sealing properly.
The garf calculator will probably recommend 3/4, but i am fairly sure that site doesn't actually use calculations to form it's recommendations for material thickness (either that or the calculations are at best questionable). There is no proper calculator for plywood thickness that i have found that scales with aquarium size.
What i would suggest is go overkill, but i have seen tanks of that size made of 3/4 that have held up fine (for how long i don't know). Personally i wouldn't go any bigger than around 6 long x 2.5ft tall with 3/4 unless you framed it to add structure. For the size you are building, i would consider maybe 1"-1.5" if i where to use no structural framework.
Some folks glue and screw two 3/4 sheets to form a 1.5 board for tanks of similar size. See this:
External grade seems to be the norm. It's tough, but you need to seal it. Not the cheapest, but not the dearest. It's also strong, usually birch in the UK [from memory].
Shop grade would be the next good option, i think it can be in the same wood used for external [birch i think], only it has a better finish so you won't have to scour through a diy shop for decent boards. But you could find external grade with a good finish with a little effort.
Marine ply would be the 'luxury' option. It won't really be any stronger, buy if you spring a leak it won't screw the laminate construction as readily. It is not cheap though.
The garf calculator will probably recommend 3/4, but i am fairly sure that site doesn't actually use calculations to form it's recommendations for material thickness (either that or the calculations are at best questionable). There is no proper calculator for plywood that i have found that scales with aquarium size.
What i would suggest is go overkill, but i have seen tanks of that size made of 3/4 that have held up fine (for how long i don't know). Personally i wouldn't go any bigger than around 6 long x 2.5ft tall with 3/4 unless you framed it to add structure. For the size you are building, i would consider maybe 1"-1.5" if i where to use no structural framework.
Some folks glue and screw two 3/4 sheets to form a 1.5 board. See this:
Shop grade would be the next good option, i think it can be in the same wood used for external [birch i think], only it has a better finish so you won't have to scour through a diy shop for decent boards. But you could find external grade with a good finish with a little effort.
Marine ply would be the 'luxury' option. It won't really be any stronger, buy if you spring a leak it won't screw the laminate construction as readily. It is not cheap though.
The garf calculator will probably recommend 3/4, but i am fairly sure that site doesn't actually use calculations to form it's recommendations for material thickness (either that or the calculations are at best questionable). There is no proper calculator for plywood that i have found that scales with aquarium size.
What i would suggest is go overkill, but i have seen tanks of that size made of 3/4 that have held up fine (for how long i don't know). Personally i wouldn't go any bigger than around 6 long x 2.5ft tall with 3/4 unless you framed it to add structure. For the size you are building, i would consider maybe 1"-1.5" if i where to use no structural framework.
Some folks glue and screw two 3/4 sheets to form a 1.5 board. See this:
