Oak bookcase to 220 gallon aquarium
- Thread starter lrochon
- Start date
are you bracing the wood at all for bowing? plywood tanks Ive looked at seemed to have some beams going across the back to keep it from bowing out. since the epoxy and fiberglass will not bend at all and lacks any real strength, if the wood gives even a fraction of a mm the epoxy will crack and you'll have 200G of mess. even if its not as drastic as that, over time your corners get little cracks and you get little leaks and you just have a general pain on your hands.
all in all, it seems like you would need bout 80$ worth of plywood to remake this tank. your about to put a 100$ worth of epoxy on it. why wouldnt you redo this same design out of plywood if thats the "correct" wood for the job when it costs so little and has such huge implications to the long term success?
the large tank forum I had asked, and Ive looked, IMO this is a project thats best overengineered than under. I would use plywood, and I would put atleast 2 bands of 2x4's around the back and sides to keep it from bowing, and Id use glass for the viewing pane, starphire if possible, as long as your not concerned with weight or joint strength of the glass seams, glass has alot of benefits over acrylic for this sort of job, namely it bonds to silicone much better.
my 2 cents, though you seem quite set on doing this as you already have begun doing it.
all in all, it seems like you would need bout 80$ worth of plywood to remake this tank. your about to put a 100$ worth of epoxy on it. why wouldnt you redo this same design out of plywood if thats the "correct" wood for the job when it costs so little and has such huge implications to the long term success?
the large tank forum I had asked, and Ive looked, IMO this is a project thats best overengineered than under. I would use plywood, and I would put atleast 2 bands of 2x4's around the back and sides to keep it from bowing, and Id use glass for the viewing pane, starphire if possible, as long as your not concerned with weight or joint strength of the glass seams, glass has alot of benefits over acrylic for this sort of job, namely it bonds to silicone much better.
my 2 cents, though you seem quite set on doing this as you already have begun doing it.
Well, it's still at a stage were I can still convert it into a stand or something. I just decided to buy a 225 gallon acrylic tank from a guy locally, and it comes with its own metal stand. I'm going to build a tank room around it. It was actually my first option, and I'm going back to it. This project has gotten way too much criticism to continue as is. Sometimes you have to give way to the experts. It was beginning to look less cost effective anyway. I'll quit now with a total investment of a box of screws and some wood filler 
. The tank I'm buying is pretty darned nice.
. The tank I'm buying is pretty darned nice.Im sure you will be quite happy with that choice. specially with the price your getting the other tank for, who couldnt be happy with that price.
plywood seems good for the much larger tanks where material thickness and costs associated are a problem. Id say your on the bubble, and at 650$ for that other tank in 3/4" acrylic, Id say thats a great deal.
plywood seems good for the much larger tanks where material thickness and costs associated are a problem. Id say your on the bubble, and at 650$ for that other tank in 3/4" acrylic, Id say thats a great deal.
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