diy tank liner

[g8torb8]

hi there boys and girls !
been away for a while (mostly from a financial problem)
now that my money problems has cleared up a bit i'm ready to design my
ULTIMATE TANK
perhaps ne of u finnheads out there can assist me on something

i am gonna BUILD my own tank to my personal specs and i want to know if i can do this :
for my lagoon derived design i ant to use a pool /pond liner to cover the wood box floor sides and back
i figure 2-3 layers contact cemented to each other should be ok enough

note that i may have resolved my money problems , but i still need this tank to be affordable, i cant / wont buy 3-4 cans of expensive marine epoxy
if i can do pool /pond liner over wood that would be great!

i will down load sketch up and drawup a general idea of my plans for my ultimate tank.

 

[crvz]

I would not trust a liner inside my house over an extended period of time. If you can't afford a couple cans of marine epoxy, I'd wait it out until it was part of the budget.

 

[One Dumm Hikk]

As Chris said, if the money for marine epoxy isn't in the budget, then the budget can't handle the tank.

An alternative idea is to use acrylic/glass (very thin) to line the tank with. The corners would have to be sealed but the rest of it would be acrylic/glass. That would alleviate the issue of the liner getting potentially punctured. And, with it being backed by wood then the acrylic/glass doesn't have to be very thick.

Depending on the size of the tank, acrylic/glass can become just as expensive as marine epoxy though.

As for contact cementing several liners together, the contact cement may eat the liners up - something to check on.

 

[Ratpack]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13153688#post13153688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by One Dumm Hikk
An alternative idea is to use acrylic/glass (very thin) to line the tank with. The corners would have to be sealed but the rest of it would be acrylic/glass. That would alleviate the issue of the liner getting potentially punctured. And, with it being backed by wood then the acrylic/glass doesn't have to be very thick.

Now you have given me an idea. I have access to all the glass I need but it is only 5mm thick. I wonderif I built a plywood tank and then built the liner out of the 5mm glass, would it be OK. Naturally I would have to buy a piece for the front out of thicker glass, but that can be fairly cheap as well. This way I would use aquarium silicone to seal it. The plywood would just be the strength.

 

[g8torb8]

good idea on using thin glass or even acrylic sheets to line the wood box i'll look into this

 

[JLAURIA751]

I don't get what you want to do. Is it that you want a saltwater pond in your house?

 

[Aqua Keepers]

I would ask on this site. They have a whole plywood forum & I'm pretty sure I seen a similar question there.

http://fingerlakesreef.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13

 

[stugray]

Anthony Calfo built a huge plywood pond/tank using pond liner. There was a thread on here somewhere long ago.

If it's good enough for him, I imagine it would work fine.

Stu

 

[REEF-n-Chicago]

I do not see why it would be a problem.
Personally I would go 4 or 5 layers for safety though!

 

[REEF-n-Chicago]

I do not see why it would be a problem.
Personally I would go 4 or 5 layers for safety though!

 

[Aqua Keepers]

I could be mistaken, but I think that pond liners take a beating from UV rays. Sure it might take a few yrs, but it's something to consider.

 

[One Dumm Hikk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13154945#post13154945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ratpack
Now you have given me an idea. I have access to all the glass I need but it is only 5mm thick. I wonderif I built a plywood tank and then built the liner out of the 5mm glass, would it be OK. Naturally I would have to buy a piece for the front out of thicker glass, but that can be fairly cheap as well. This way I would use aquarium silicone to seal it. The plywood would just be the strength.

The only issue you would need to be careful with is bowing of the plywood walls. If they aren't strong enough and the plywood starts bowing, it will stress the glass and may break it. It may even be worthwhile to paint the glass black to keep light from penetrating through to the glue and plywood. Simply Krylon it black (or any other color) and let it cure.

 

[g8torb8]

well this is a general idea i will do up .
note while i am getting the equipment and supplys together i may modify it some what
i do beleive i'm going to incorporate a waterall in it somehow
i will have it in my profile pics so go there

 

[Anthony Calfo]

FWIW... my oldest plywood pond has been running for 8 years. Built well and weathering nicely. It holds 1000 galllons and houses a single young pair of breeding Heterodontus horn sharks (I've successfuly reared juveniles from them). Kindly, Anth-

 

[Anthony Calfo]

FWIW... my oldest plywood pond has been running for 8 years. Built well and weathering nicely. It holds 1000 gallons and houses a single young pair of breeding Heterodontus horn sharks (I've successfuly reared juveniles from them). Kindly, Anth-