building a 500 gallon plywood tank

[kherron666]

put plastic in tank and around living room and made little walls to protect the house and move the tank next to back doors and had plastic going out there too so water could rush out of house if it all crash , this water test getting everthing took half day ,fun fun

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

well good news , took 30 min to fill and it held , , went to luch and still good , drained it and move back , and took all my extra braceing i made around the tank so i can cut out for the glass

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

next step was drilling for over flow and return , i went with 2 over flows 1 and half inch wide , 1 return and 1 that will be for my water changes , going to have clear pvc pipe 3/4 of my tank high , so for time for water changes , all have to do is open valve and will drain threw that over flow , all togeather 4 holes , all 1 and 1/2 inch ,,, then started putting my braces back on tank , screw and glue , and even knowing tank stand held the weight , i up the stand bracing , added another set of support for all the 2x4 for top of the stand supports ,, i added them for peace of mind ,,, since it will be my life under this tank playing with pumps and everthing , knowing that there is about 4500 pds above me , yeah 4 extra 2x4 sounds like a plan lol anyway tank and stand built now ,

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

this is the stand adding another set of legs to the other legs and top supports , i went over kill im sure but its only 2x4 and i rather be safe then sorry , and for my stand i wanted open front with alot doors,,, and 1 side is going to be 1 big 4 foot door ,

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

next step is painting time , im going to paint everthing at the end , stand and tank and inside and out side , but now only paiting inside tank to get it water proff and once i know i can get it to hold water , ill paint the stand and to finish the out side work , but now its only worry about inside of tank , again this is my first real project and im worry about everthing , so doing step by step , once finish that part of the project , then i buy the stuff for next step , just the way i roll lol

 

[kherron666]

the next pic is why i made the top and bottom part of my tank wider , so once i wrapped the tank with 2x4 ,, the pic shows the top of the tank , its corner , 3/4 plywood and 2x4 glued togeather ,,, top and bottom made same way

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

its painting time , and i went with my favorite color,,,, aka hooker red

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]

 

[Carch melanopte]

Plywood has no place in the marine aquarium. It will rot, fall apart and cause you many problems. Use a material that is suitable for containing saltwater. Acrylic, fiberglass, concrete, hdpe, or glass are all great options just to name a few.

 

[Pearson]

Plywood has no place in the marine aquarium. It will rot, fall apart and cause you many problems. Use a material that is suitable for containing saltwater. Acrylic, fiberglass, concrete, hdpe, or glass are all great options just to name a few.

You haven't really looked into plywood tanks have you? :lolspin:

There have been multiple plywood built tanks that you can find just by a quick search here on the site. The plywood is sealed so there shouldn't be any water that actually touches the wood. There's a lot more info about it but that's the simplest example I can come up with.

 

[kherron666]

Plywood has no place in the marine aquarium. It will rot, fall apart and cause you many problems. Use a material that is suitable for containing saltwater. Acrylic, fiberglass, concrete, hdpe, or glass are all great options just to name a few.

i read alot of people used plywood and have builds even bigger , if it fails it fails , but this is a hobby and i enjoy doing it i had fun building and design it , plywood tanks not for everyone , each for their own

 

[kherron666]

 

[kherron666]