CyclistMT
More Idiot Than Savant
Ah, I get it now. Once the silicone is cured the glass will not fall out when you upright the tank especially if you use RTV silicone.
Brian's 520 gal. Plywood Build + Fish Room
- Thread starter Brian Crook
- Start date
Ah, I get it now. Once the silicone is cured the glass will not fall out when you upright the tank especially if you use RTV silicone.
Brian Crook
New member
Thanks, I'll have some more to share shortly. I'm actually out the other way in Bruce County, where apparently I'm the one and only person into saltwater aquariums..
Brian Crook
New member
As described in an earlier post, I opted for some oak veneer plywood to build the aquarium. I also purchased some oak hardwood flooring that I'll be using to build my 'bar top' on the display side.
I built the stand using 2x6's spaced every 12". On the display side they each land on a 2x4 in the wall, and on the fish room side the weight is distributed through three large legs. I will also be skinning the stand in oak veneer plywood, although probably not for a while. Each leg of the stand is anchored to the concrete, and the plywood skin will provide additional rigidity once it's added... although it's already rock solid.
After getting the stand built and installed, I finished off the flooring in this room.
I built the stand using 2x6's spaced every 12". On the display side they each land on a 2x4 in the wall, and on the fish room side the weight is distributed through three large legs. I will also be skinning the stand in oak veneer plywood, although probably not for a while. Each leg of the stand is anchored to the concrete, and the plywood skin will provide additional rigidity once it's added... although it's already rock solid.
After getting the stand built and installed, I finished off the flooring in this room.
Brian Crook
New member
I picked up some multi-coloured stone veneer to install under the aquarium on the display side. I will cap it on all sides and down the middle using some solid oak hobby wood that I'll run through the router a few times to give it some sort of design. From these oak pieces I'll mount some nice ornate iron braces that will support my bar top that I mentioned earlier.
Now onto the exciting part!
My order from US Composites arrived and I have started cutting and assembling my aquarium.
To recap, I purchased five 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" oak veneer plywood, which is more than enough to build my 96" x 42.5" x 31.5" tall tank (outer dimensions). There will also be an overflow box on each end. I'll be using the leftover plywood as part of my bar top and likely for some other pieces in the fish room.
I used PL Premium and a mountain of 2" premium screws for the assembly. I opted not to use a biscuit joiner or dado / rabbit routing as I don't have all that much experience doing this type of word working and didn't want to introduce too many new skills into this project... However I will be applying fiberglass to the interior faces and edges, and also pouring all the edges and as many faces as I can.
I ordered the 10 gal thin resin / 5 gal slow hardener kit from US Composites, 7.5 oz fiber cloth, 8 oz cloth tape, and all necessary accessories and applicators. Since I was getting all this shipped all the way from Florida to Ontario, I took the opportunity to throw in the 2 gal kit of their "Kleer Kote" table-top epoxy for my bar top.
All the exterior cuts were made using my circular saw with a Diablo finishing blade (great purchase). All interior cuts were made with my plunge router using a simple guide clamped down to the plywood. Minimal sanding was required.
Now onto the exciting part!
My order from US Composites arrived and I have started cutting and assembling my aquarium.
To recap, I purchased five 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" oak veneer plywood, which is more than enough to build my 96" x 42.5" x 31.5" tall tank (outer dimensions). There will also be an overflow box on each end. I'll be using the leftover plywood as part of my bar top and likely for some other pieces in the fish room.
I used PL Premium and a mountain of 2" premium screws for the assembly. I opted not to use a biscuit joiner or dado / rabbit routing as I don't have all that much experience doing this type of word working and didn't want to introduce too many new skills into this project... However I will be applying fiberglass to the interior faces and edges, and also pouring all the edges and as many faces as I can.
I ordered the 10 gal thin resin / 5 gal slow hardener kit from US Composites, 7.5 oz fiber cloth, 8 oz cloth tape, and all necessary accessories and applicators. Since I was getting all this shipped all the way from Florida to Ontario, I took the opportunity to throw in the 2 gal kit of their "Kleer Kote" table-top epoxy for my bar top.
All the exterior cuts were made using my circular saw with a Diablo finishing blade (great purchase). All interior cuts were made with my plunge router using a simple guide clamped down to the plywood. Minimal sanding was required.
CyclistMT
More Idiot Than Savant
The picture might be misleading but I'm wondering if your overflows are big enough. Have you determined how much sump to tank flow you're going to have to calculate the surface area overflow need?
Brian Crook
New member
I estimated 3000 gph which apparently requires 45 liner inches of overflow. Each of the four overflows is 12" totaling 48 linear inches.
Right now in my current tank I'm running a Waveline DC10000 II (max 2850 gph) return pump, with only two overflows in the system. In total it's probably about 22" of linear overflow. I can run this pump at full output and the overflows are quite capable of handling all the water... So I'm not really sure how accurate these calculators are. At the end of the day I just came to the conclusion that 48" is more than double what I currently have, and thus could support an even larger pump if required. I'll look into the pump curves a little further down the road before making a final decision. What has your experience been like with respect to overflow capacity?
My current plan for flow and turbulence in the tank itself is to use the Neptune WaV powerheads (they are rated for up to 1" thick walls), and the overflows will be for sump/refugium/frag tank purposes.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
Looks like it's going to be a nice build. Looking forward to seeing the progress
Brian Crook
New member
Thanks! I'm definitely excited for this project to start coming together.
Mermaid shot! Mermaid shot!
Dave.M
Haha... That definitely seems like a requirement when building a tank this large!!
I'll have to take it one step further and go for a snorkel shot once it's full of water.
CyclistMT
More Idiot Than Savant
Ah good. Definitely the way the picture looked to me then. Those slots didn't look like 12". However, once you epoxy them they won't be 12" anymore. Something to consider in case you want to enlarge them now.
Looks good though! I wish I would have had the room to do a weir with an external overflow.
Brian Crook
New member
Well, I've placed an order for the glass! Miracles Aquariums is a couple hours away from me and I know they have a reputation for designing and fabricating top quality custom aquariums, so I decided to order the glass through them.
Looking through the safety factor table and after discussing it with Miracles, I decided to go with 3/4" glass. Originally I planned on going with what is considered to be 5/8" however the actual cut would be less than 5/8", and didn't provide as much buffer to the safety factor as what I was looking for.
Anyways, it's a 92" x 27.5" x 3/4" thick piece of Starphire glass.
This will be my first time going with Starphire so I am pretty excited to see it in person and compare it to my existing setup. The glass itself will likely weigh about 160 lbs so I've got high hopes that the silicone bond will be enough to secure it in place!
The glass will overlap the plywood by approximately 1-3/4" on all sides, which should provide sufficient space for a wide silicone seal. The remaining viewing window will be 88.5" x 24". It'll probably be a couple of weeks for them to fabricate and deliver it, so stay tuned for some photos when that day comes.
Looking through the safety factor table and after discussing it with Miracles, I decided to go with 3/4" glass. Originally I planned on going with what is considered to be 5/8" however the actual cut would be less than 5/8", and didn't provide as much buffer to the safety factor as what I was looking for.
Anyways, it's a 92" x 27.5" x 3/4" thick piece of Starphire glass.
This will be my first time going with Starphire so I am pretty excited to see it in person and compare it to my existing setup. The glass itself will likely weigh about 160 lbs so I've got high hopes that the silicone bond will be enough to secure it in place!
The glass will overlap the plywood by approximately 1-3/4" on all sides, which should provide sufficient space for a wide silicone seal. The remaining viewing window will be 88.5" x 24". It'll probably be a couple of weeks for them to fabricate and deliver it, so stay tuned for some photos when that day comes.
dave.m
Active member
I think the idea is that the pressure of the water behind the pane is supposed to keep it pressed against the frame. I have always shared the same concern you had mentioned about gravity eventually pulling the pane down towards the bottom. Did Miracles have anything to say about this? I can't imagine it would hurt to have some blocks (possibly thick glass?) underneath the pane to keep it up where you want it to stay.
Dave.M
Dave.M
Brian Crook
New member
Miracles was impressed that I was building a plywood aquarium, but did not offer any particular comments or advice about such matters.
However I am still a little torn regarding whether or not to support the glass from underneath. Most other plywood tank builds do not use such an approach, and there appear to be a lot of success stories... so perhaps that's just the engineering side of me coming out?
The only potential downside to adding some sort of blocking under the glass would be the risk that it creates an area that isn't waterproofed as well, perhaps if it's touching up against the front plywood rim and epoxy didn't work its way in there. I was thinking about cutting a few small strips of plywood and basically molding them right onto the (already epoxied) tank with even more epoxy!
I will continue to think this one over as I work on the tank...
dave.m
Active member
I was thinking more along the lines of finishing the fibreglass as usual and then just using strips of the same glass as your viewing pane spaced along the bottom as support. A lot of plywood builds I've seen used acrylic, which is much lighter than glass. Also, a lot of plywood tanks I've looked at had the viewing pane sitting right on the inside bottom, so the overlap on the front around the pane formed support.
Dave.M
Dave.M
Brian Crook
New member
Well, I plan on pouring fillets in the edges so the glass would not be able to sit directly on the bottom.
However I think I am convinced to do something. Most likely it'll be some wood epoxied in-place into the final pour coat on the bottom, but out 1/4" from the front wall. It would then be further secured in place by becoming part of the fillet pour. I'll post some pictures once I figure it all out.
avoidtheboyd
New member
Builds looking good so far, excited to see more!
CyclistMT
More Idiot Than Savant
You guys are way over thinking this. I understand why, no one wants a bunch of water on the floor and all the tank inhabitants dead but really, you're tilting at windmills here.
Just search this site for RTV 103 or 108. It's an adhesive strength silicone that's been used extensively to build many tanks. In this application you're going to have 1 3/4" gasket of this stuff all around the perimeter of the glass. Once it's in and cured you could turn the tank glass up so that gravity is pulling on the entire pane and you will die of old age before that silicone lets loose. Trust me, it's incredible stuff.
That being said, it's also a bit harder to work with. You only have a few minutes of working time with it before it starts to skin over. For your size panel I would recommend 2-3 (3 probably best) guys with caulking guns (might even want battery powered ones) laying down your beads so you can get the glass in place in time.
I was doing smaller panes on my tank by myself with a regular hand caulk gun and is was starting to skin over by the time I got to the glass. Also, get yourself some suction cups from Harbor Freight to more easily manage moving your glass into place.
