redtop03's 360 gallon plywood adventure

[redtop03]

I have started building a plywood aquarium,96"longx36"widex27"deep,but the water will be around 23"or24"deep,I am gonna try 2 surge buckets on it,I figured the extra depth would be good.
here are some pics of where I am at on it right now.






here is after the fiberglass

 

[redtop03]

and here is after the first coat of sweetwater epoxy paint






I don't know why the pics are so small?

 

[redtop03]

I'm gonna be going very slow from here on out,that dang money thing,they cut our hours at work,so money is really tight right now.
I've done spent $567.28,and my wife is very understanding but she is getting frustrated at me

I am probably ready for the glass now,but I bought 2 gallons of the epoxy paint,just used 1 gallon so far,I'll save some for the sump and the top bracing,but I'll probably paint some more on the inside of the tank,can't get too much in there.

 

[redtop03]

Well,I figured out what I did wrong with the pics,so here is some you can see,some are still smaller than I like,but I don't know what's going on with photobucket

and after the fiberglass

 

[bradbmbj]

Looks really nice, I have always wanted to do a plywood tank.

 

[redtop03]

here is after the first coat of sweetwater paint

I'm gonna leave the back of the over flow with the wood showing(pic #2),so people can see it is a wooden tank

 

[redtop03]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14901440#post14901440 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bradbmbj
Looks really nice, I have always wanted to do a plywood tank.

thanks,

I'm having a time out of this pic thing,but I think I got it figured out now

 

[redtop03]

I got a questions for the top bracing,

I want to do a euro style with 1 center brace,and I don't know how wide the bracing around the perimeter,and how wide the center brace need to be to keep it from bowing from the water pressure,I'm gonna use a full sheet of plywood for the top and just cut out the holes leaving just the perimeter and center brace

any suggestion would be appreciated

 

[Aquarist007]

great start for your build thread---I'll be following it as I am sure others will be.

 

[redtop03]

thanks cap'n,
it'll be a very slow build,but I'll do the best I can.

 

[redtop03]

I did do some more today with the top bracing,the 2 braces that have the bulk heads on then is the 2 I really want to remove but I don't know if the perimeter bracing will be enough between the end and center brace to keep it from bowing,I will leave the center brace for sure,any advice would be appreciated

 

[redtop03]

here are some more pics,

 

[james3370]

looks good so far

this 120g seahorse tank listed in the current tanks has peaked my interest too....details??
:bum:

 

[redtop03]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14907598#post14907598 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by james3370
looks good so far

this 120g seahorse tank listed in the current tanks has peaked my interest too....details??
:bum:

its a 120 5 foot long tank with 2 CB yellow reidi seahorses,a pair of perculas,a green spotted dragonet,a peril goby,3 yellow deep sea Gorgonians and 2 red Gorgonians, they have plenty of room in there,every one gets along

the perculas are not recommended with seahorses though.

I wanted a pair of seahorses and that is the only tank I had extra at the time,I have it plumbed in with my other tank,its not a good idea to do that but I didn't have any other kind of filtration for that tank at the time.

they prefer cooler water than most reef tanks run,I am running my system at about 76 degrees thats about as high as the horses can take and about as low as the coral can take,I think.

the good news is every thing seems to be doing great

when I get this wooden tank going I gonna try to get a smaller tank for the horses,and run a separate system for them.maybe build a tank for 'em

here are some pic first are a little fuzzy

 

[Aquarist007]

what do you estimate your costs will be to build this tank?

 

[redtop03]

cap'n right now I have $567.28 in it,I'm keeping track of that also

glass and silicon are all I need now for it to be an aquarium,just need more money

glasscages.com quoted the 1/2"x94"x24"plate glass $175

glasscages.com also has a glass tank this size (375 gallon)at $1780 for the reef ready with the bulk heads and over flow covers

my tank will actually be taller than that but I'm gonna run my water level lower than that,I want to add surge buckets and figured the instant flood of water needed somewhere to go besides my floor,if the over flow couldn't handle it all at once

 

[redtop03]

here are links to some of my inspirations to do this

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1441135&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1026436&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=716410

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=686757

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=674932

this last one has nothing to do with a plywood tank,but it is a great thread,aquarium built for the St. Jude Children Hospital in Tenn.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1196137

 

[redtop03]

cap,n
I checked on the price for wood for my stand,I'm guessing I have less than $1000 in the tank and stand,but I'll still have to get all my plumbing,so as for a final cost,I'm not sure.

I think my sister is gonna buy the lumber for my stand today,if so I'll be able to get a lot more done

I'm also gonna hafta get a bigger return pump,I was looking at the pan world,is that what yours is?

Is it a quiet and strong pump?

Does an aquarium really ever have a final cost?

 

[2frosty4u]

Awsome start to your new tank. The Capn and I both run the exact same pump and it's Blueline 100HD. The pump is very strong and quiet. It's a pressure rated pump with a 42 foot head rating. We use them because our sumps are in the basement and the display tank is on the first floor and they can really push a ton of water vertically.

 

[redtop03]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14910606#post14910606 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 2frosty4u
Awsome start to your new tank. The Capn and I both run the exact same pump and it's Blueline 100HD. The pump is very strong and quiet. It's a pressure rated pump with a 42 foot head rating. We use them because our sumps are in the basement and the display tank is on the first floor and they can really push a ton of water vertically.

thank you,

My sump will be under the tank,I plan on using a SCWD on the return pump and hook to the holes on each end of the tank,I don't know but I assume the SCWD will cause a lot of back pressure on the pump,

I'd like to do a closed loop and an OM 4 way on the back wall,but that would be far to expensive for me right now.

but it being plywood I might could do it later.