1300gal ... plywood build.....

camaroboy8691 said:
to you other wood tank builders , whats your spacing on biskets and screws ?? im putting a bisket every 6" and a screw every 6" between the biskets , any advice on that ?
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I don't want to sound negative, but I think you should have used at least two and possibly three layers of plywood, it should have been marine grade with water proof glue, and you should consider using epoxy and not simple fiberglass resin. IMPO.
 
jgsalwater said:
I don't want to sound negative, but I think you should have used at least two and possibly three layers of plywood, it should have been marine grade with water proof glue, and you should consider using epoxy and not simple fiberglass resin. IMPO.
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not sounding negative , your sounding like you care to see this thing not fail .


but the viewing areas and top will be doubled up so to speak and have 1.5" of wood .... marine grade wood is not nessecery alot of guys built big tanks and pretty much all did not use it .....i will be adding ribs to the outside of the structure to help with the side load pressures....... the glue im using is tightbond 3 it is water proof .................epoxy resin will be used , im familiar with the types of resins offered and also the types of glass matting so im not going to skimp out on it ..........if i could figure out a way to vaccum bag it i would even go that route


any other comments are greatly appreciated and please if you see something that you might think i could do better on please let me know ..... remember when this is done and holds water it will be supporting thousands of dollers of livestock ....
 
I built a large plywood tank once and made a made mistake. It was as tall as yours is but a lillte narrower. I used a polyester resin and coated it all with epoxy. Multi coats and reinforced with glass. I cut out an opening on one side for viewing. Inserted a large sheet of 3/4" tempered glass, which rested against the inside edge all around.

To seal the glass I use a heavy bead of marine grade silicone between the tank and the glass. Everything was fine for a month. No leaks. Then all hell broke loose and the tank started leaking between the silicone and the epoxy. In analysising what went wrong, I descovered the heavy silicone bead never fully cured in it's center and the solvent in the silicone slowly eat into the epoxy and lifted it off of the polyester underneath, allowing water to leak out between the glass and the plywood tank. Don't make the same mistake!

If I did it again I would seal between the tank and the glass, or acrylic, using a strip 1/2" thick by 2" wide bunaN rubber, and a light coating of silicone on each side to seal between the acrylic and tank. The silicone will cure more rapidly and the rubber makes a good cushion for any slight irregularities on the coated plywood.

Reinforcing the long sides with two ribs 2 by 6", cut from a sheet of plywood and doubled up for thickness, at 1/3 and 2/3 the way up the side will do it. It will also make a nice steps to work on the tank.

I'd also cut the first three coats of epoxy with a thinner to fully saturate the plywood and all the exposed edges good before starting with the fiberglass reinforcement.

Look forward to seeing the end result.
 
jgsalwater said:
I built a large plywood tank once and made a made mistake. It was as tall as yours is but a lillte narrower. I used a polyester resin and coated it all with epoxy. Multi coats and reinforced with glass. I cut out an opening on one side for viewing. Inserted a large sheet of 3/4" tempered glass, which rested against the inside edge all around.

To seal the glass I use a heavy bead of marine grade silicone between the tank and the glass. Everything was fine for a month. No leaks. Then all hell broke loose and the tank started leaking between the silicone and the epoxy. In analysising what went wrong, I descovered the heavy silicone bead never fully cured in it's center and the solvent in the silicone slowly eat into the epoxy and lifted it off of the polyester underneath, allowing water to leak out between the glass and the plywood tank. Don't make the same mistake!

If I did it again I would seal between the tank and the glass, or acrylic, using a strip 1/2" thick by 2" wide bunaN rubber, and a light coating of silicone on each side to seal between the acrylic and tank. The silicone will cure more rapidly and the rubber makes a good cushion for any slight irregularities on the coated plywood.

Reinforcing the long sides with two ribs 2 by 6", cut from a sheet of plywood and doubled up for thickness, at 1/3 and 2/3 the way up the side will do it. It will also make a nice steps to work on the tank.

I'd also cut the first three coats of epoxy with a thinner to fully saturate the plywood and all the exposed edges good before starting with the fiberglass reinforcement.

Look forward to seeing the end result.
Click to expand...


good advice , i have dow silicone 795 i think it is , its made for bonding the acrylic in fish tanks it seems to be what everyone is using on fingerlakes forum...............however , if your familiar with automotive window sealant ..the urathane stuff , that is something im looking at , but i dont know if it will do anything after it cures , that stuff drys and seals good .
 
dweathers said:
what do you plan on adding livestock wise?
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not a clue yet ........ but the 1st few will be

yellow tang
sail fin tang
2 false percs
1 gold strip clown
1 mandiran
1 yellow watchman
1 bared cardinal

this is what i have in my current tank along with corals , i have a decent sized frog spawn , a sabae anemone , and some leathers ......



i do like the blue chromis , so ill be addign those for a school . and i like tangs , not sure what kind i will add , but when the time comes ill be asking for opinions
 
Maybe a stupid question, but what is the advantage of building with plywood? doens't seem as safe to me..
 
Mangodude said:
what is the advantage of building with plywood?
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Significant reduction in cost of a tank made of plywood with a glass window versus a tank made of all glass or all acrylic. The savings in materials means you can go for a larger tank than you might have been able to afford otherwise. But of course, this has to be weighed against the increased costs of operating and maintaining a larger tank, as well.

Dave.M
 
nope nothing new , past 2 weeks have been extremly busy at my shop , basically little to no work sept and oct, then all a sudden BAM ... not that im complaining just a heck of a roller coaster ride some times , im hoping within the next week i can atleast finish up the wood work as i need to now move the tank where im building it for a new machine install at my shop so its going into my storage building to get finished there .

i was really bummed becuase last week i wanted to install the solar tubes where it will be going , but work over ruled that , so now that its getting cold here in PA and winter is upon us it might have to wait till spring time now , which is ok , atleast i can take my time on the tank ...
 
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