Sponsor Our Community
Go Back   The Reef Tank > Equipment / Methodology related Forums > DIY Forum
Have a question? It's Free!

DIY Forum Share those Do-It-Yourself projects and money saving tips with us here.


Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-20-2004, 10:10 PM   #1
jeepjon
Nano reefer and Jeeper
 
jeepjon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 784
Question

Tank Building Question


anyone here ever build a tank out of wood? I mean, if you think about it...it would be really easy to do, and you could just coat the inside with fiberglass...it would be easy to plumb, and you could easily add on built in refugiums and sumps in the design, and it would be A LOT cheaper and easier than building an acrylic tank! I mean, by wood, a wooden tank with a glass side installed wherever you want to view the tank. I have seen these built for freshwater, and I know large commercial/zoo aquariums use fiberglass, so couldn't you build the frame out of wood/plywood, install a layer of fiberglass over the wood, then install your glass, and seal with another layer of fiberglass on the inside of your tank? I think this sounds like a good idea to me, because I could finally design my custom tank the way I like it!
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
jeepjon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2004, 10:49 PM   #2
Geoff
Reefless Reefer
 
Geoff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,559
Images: 167
this is done fairly often. the hard part is the glass/acrylic interface.

here is a good thread that will help.

G~
__________________
Think Tanker
Friends Don't Let Friends Use Refugiums!
Reef Knowledge Impaired
"J" crowd member.
My Build Thread
Geoff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2004, 02:31 AM   #3
wanareef
Pretty In Pink
 
wanareef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: portland or
Posts: 3,262
Images: 29
Reviews: 6
I have built several plywood tanks and no problems or leaks. Just cut out the ply for the ends, bottom, back. For the face, you can just routout an opening for the viewing area or make a frame of 3/4" -1" wood.

What I did was use fiberglass cloth on all the corners, and then pour in a coat of resin to about 1/8" to 1/4" thick. On all sides. For the glass, you just use aquarium silicone on the inside of the frame, place your glass on the silicone and add weights. Wait till dry then water test. For the top leave open and just use two SS threaded bars for the cross piece. This will not hinder the lights.

Make sure you have at least 1.5" overlap on glass and frame.

I have built a 100, 225 and a 250gal ply tanks and the dnext one will be 300gal. Just use common sense in building.

HTH
wanareef is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2004, 03:41 PM   #4
jeepjon
Nano reefer and Jeeper
 
jeepjon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 784
that helps a lot! I wasn't planning on building anything that big. I just wanted to maybe try a cool shaped tank, like a 2' cube tank, or maybe a 2*2*3 foot tank...something good shaped for reef tanks that you can't find around, you know?
__________________
http://jeepjon.blogspot.com

Anybody have a used Nano Cube or Aquapod they would like to sell? No pump/light? PM me!
jeepjon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2004, 10:52 PM   #5
Phil_g1017
Little Fishy
 
Phil_g1017's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Kelso, Wa.
Posts: 141
Images: 7
Quote:
Originally posted by wanareef
I

snip

I have built a 100, 225 and a 250gal ply tanks and the next one will be 300gal. Just use common sense in building.

Charles:

I admire your many DIY accomplishments. Now I am curious to learn what are you doing (have done) with all those tanks?
Phil_g1017 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2004, 05:13 AM   #6
wanareef
Pretty In Pink
 
wanareef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: portland or
Posts: 3,262
Images: 29
Reviews: 6
Phil

Thanks. It's nice to be able to save a little $$ and use it to buy more corals or fish.

They have all been FW tanks and since have been sold or given away. Wait till you see the next tank - 300 ply in-wall. I'll be posting as I build it.

It will have all the goodies that are on a full blown reef tank. Coast to coast, closed loop w/ spray bars, dual above tank fuge gravity feed, and making most of the equipment - skimmer dual mazzie, sump, large calicum reactor and alk top off and finally will have our own RO/DI - no more lugging water

Hopefully by them the Aquarium Controller will be done and ready and I hope to automate as much as possible.

Last edited by wanareef; 03-23-2004 at 05:19 AM.
wanareef is offline   Reply With Quote
Comparison Shopping
Tropical Science Biolabs Aqua Chargers 350pc

As low as $22

at 4 sellers

Azoo Glucan Marine Fish Flake Food

As low as $9

at 3 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Aqua Medic 1000 Calcium Reactor

As low as $268

at 5 sellers

Current USA 18W SmartPaq Compact Fluorescent Lamp

As low as $14

at 5 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Caribsea Super Natural Peace River 20lb

As low as $11

at 11 sellers

Impeller for Mag 3600 Pumps

As low as $42

at 13 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Marineland Rite-Size A Cartridge for Penguin Mini BIO-Wheel Mini & 100 6pk

As low as $9

at 15 sellers

Mega Watt UV Lamp - 30W

As low as $36

at 7 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Eheim Reducing Piece 0.65 inch0.9in to 0.5 inch0.65 inch

As low as $5

at 4 sellers

BioMax for Aqua Clear 30 and 150

As low as $2

at 9 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Kordon Ich Attack Disease Inhibitor - 1gal

As low as $38

at 7 sellers

Pondmaster Adjustable Mini Bell Fountain Head Kit

As low as $6

at 15 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Snowflake Eel

As low as $14

at 15 sellers

AQUARIUM SYSTEMS SEAGARDEN FRESH WATER BROAD LEAF LUDWIGIA SMALL

As low as $2

at 12 sellers

Members with more than 50 posts don't see this bar

Reply

Tags
aquarium silicone , gravity feed , spray bars
 
Quick Reply
Reply:
Image Verification
Please enter the six letters or digits that appear in the image opposite.




Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Sitemap:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196
Sponsor Our Community

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:11 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Our lawyer tells us that, by pressing the "New Thread" or "New Reply" button, you acknowledge that the opinions and information expressed in your article are yours alone and not those of thereeftank.com, dba The Reef Tank. Further, you agree to indemnify The Reef Tank, its moderators, administrators and agents from any and all liability which may arise as a result of your article. (C)opyright 2006 TheReefTank.com
 
close
Sign up for free and join one of the largest communities of saltwater aquarists!
Our members will be glad to help you with anything you need!

Join over 30,000 TRT members!

Email

Email Confirm Email
Username
Password Confirm Password

I agree to the website rules