DIY tank almost finished! Dont laugh it just may work!

[bprewit]

GARF website and others give instructions for a wood/glass aquarium so I decided to give it a try finally. I have been considering this for some time and planned on a very large tank but its just not going to happen so re-thought and re-designed and started to assemble. The inside measurements of the tank are 48"X24"X24" which should give me a volume of about 120 gallons. It is made from 3/4" exterior plywood with red oak laminate on the outside. I decided to add windows on the side as well and got 3/8" glass cut for the front and sides. I attempted to build a calfo style overflow for the back and will see if it actually works. I have 2 coats of epoxy on it now and will get another 3 coats before I install the glass and each coat is put on 24-36hrs apart. I took a couple of pictures though it is taped off pretty good as I am using a HVLP gun to spray the two part epoxy and the outside has already been stained and sealed so cant see anything but tape and plastic. Oh the inside coating is supposed to be Gray instead of white, the can states that is is Gray tint but its white. Sucks because i didnt want it white but cant afford another long road trip and the cash to buy any more.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/DIYtank002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/DIYtank001.jpg

[DeletedAccount]

Pretty neat. I cannot wait to see / hear how it turns out.

[don-n-sa]

Very interesting...looks good. What will bond the glass to the wood?

[bprewit]

Silicone to bond the glass to the wood or actually the silicone will bond the glass to the epoxy coating that should be about 24mils dry film thickness when finished.

[bprewit]

I figured the cost was gonna end up being way more than expected but so far its not bad at all. Here is what I have spent so far:
3/4" exterior grade plywood $30
1- 46"X23"X3/8" plate glass $62
2- 23"X23"X3/8" plate glass $70
Two part epoxy for potable water tanks $41
Acrylic for overflow $30
then of course silicone, liquid nails, drywall screws, paint brushes, stain and polyurathane, etc etc ran about $50
I started with $300 in my pocket and have about $18 left so far. I still need to buy some 1" bulkheads for the overflow and closed loop but other than that I pretty much have bought everything needed to build this. The only tanks I found that were 2' wide and 4' long that will fit in my living room had to be special ordered as nobody here had them and I was looking at spending about $400 for the bare tank with no holes, overflow, etc. This actually seems to be a reasonable way to build a decent sized tank!

[bprewit]

Well finally time to install the glass. I have installed the two side pieces as well as the overflow and will install the front glass, center brace, and finish silicone around all edges tomorrow. I am shooting for thursday for a test fill to check for leaks which will give a good 3 day cure time for all silicone and a 6 day cure time for the epoxy coating. I ended up with 5 coats of the epoxy paint and checked the final thickness on a test piece and had 25mils thickness when cured so should be plenty thick. I installed 4 bulkheads, two for the overflow and two for the closed loop. They are all 1.5" threaded and actually found these things for $4 at a local plumbing supply shop. They are very large extra heavy type bulkheads but seem to work just fine. I still need to trim out the outside of the wood to hide the screw heads and seams but figure that will wait until I know this thing will work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/DIYtank003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/DIYtank004.jpg

[Tim Marvin]

Looks great! I have also heard you can line them with fiberglass so the wood just kinda acts as the frame.

[oceancube]

hey nice setup, wondering are you gonna add any type of support to the middle for bowing , or do you think the resin is tough enough to hold all that water pressure? that would be a great idea for a behind the wall tank!!

[bprewit]

There is a center brace that will be attatched after the front glass is put in to keep it from bowing as I doubt it is strong enough without it or atleast I dont wanna find out! I coated the center brace with the epoxy same as the tank.

[oceancube]

yeah i wouldn't want to find water all over my place, good your adding support to the center!! hope it works out great for you!!!

[tgray]

If you go Port Aranasas check out the U.T. Marine Science Institute visitor center. Most of the display tanks are of plywood/glass construction.

[bprewit]

Well after the tank disaster on monday I have to set this guy up quickly. I got back from work trip today and filled it with water for the first time to check for leaks. None found luckily! I wanted to leave it filled for a week or so but not near enough time for that and will leave it filled with tap water through tomorrow and if no leaks by that time then its going to get R/O and some salt. I hate petsmart prices but they were the only ones semi-close to me that were open late so picked up enough salt and sand from them as well as a couple of cheap 20g tanks to use as temp holding quarters for everything while I remove the old stand, sump, fuge, and equipment and transfer everything to the new stand. If everything goes as planned I will post some pics by the end of the weekend!

[Chris]

Good to hear on the leak-test! :D

Can't wait for the update. ;)

[Henry]

awesome, good luck on the update!

[Ram_Puppy]

man I hope everything goes well! good luck!

I have seen a few of these tanks, and read about some as well. The ones I saw, like Tim had mentioned, were made w/ a paint in fiberglass finish, and the epoxy was well. There is one on the web somewhere (planted) that is over 20 years old.

I wouldn't sweat the white color, you know it will be covered in coraline in no time!

[scuba_steveo]

I hate petsmart prices but they were the only ones semi-close to me that were open late so picked up enough salt

Always go online and print out the online price which is much cheaper. They will honor the online price in the store.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6788&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030148&ASSORT MENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1113675079 041

[scuba_steveo]

32 bucks compared to 45 in store

[bprewit]

Well I got the stand framed out and the tank set and about 95 gallons of water mixed and in the tank. I got about 90lbs of sand in and used a old emperor filter stuffed with synthetic pillow stuffing to try and clear up the water. It is finally up to temp and has been mixed for 24hrs so close to transfering the fish, rock, and coral and should have them in there late tonight. I added a third door to my stand on the side so that I could use a middle support and still slide my 30g sump in by going through the side. I built the stand pretty tall which isnt the best for looks but should give me plenty of room for my skimmer as well as a small shelf inside to store some junk and added some supports on the back of the stand and screwed them into the wall studs for extra strength. I am **** sure not a carpenter but its coming along ok and looks decent. Need to build the front doors, canopy, get everything stained and sealed, and move the sump and plumbing over. Hopefully by sunday night it will be complete except for the canopy as waiting on another MH bulb and ballast. Heck even painted the room, ran new wiring with dedicated circut for the tank, and rearranged the room somewhat. Here are some pictures so far:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank004.jpg

[oceancube]

well looks really good, im glad to see your at least moving on, goodluck and hope it works out great for you!!! ;)

[dan]

W0W that looks great!!! feels good when you can do the DIY projects. i try to build every thing myself. are you going to build a sump and fuge to go under the tank?keep us posted.

[bprewit]

Finally got the fish, rock, and what little coral that lived in the tank. I do have a 30g L tank that is a sump/fuge that I will get moved over in the next day or so. I was only able to save about 40lbs of rock so tank looks really empty but do have another 30lbs or so that I set outside when the other tank was broken so will re-cure it the next week and get it moved into the tank. Still need to stain and finish the stand as well as build the canopy but that will have to wait a day or two as lots of other projects to finish first. I set the canopy from the 55g tank on for some temp lighting and it should get me through.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/tank%20equipment/NewTank007.jpg