800Gallon Tall Plywood Tank

[marinelife]

Make an fiber/epoxy 2x4 brace that you can screw/lag bolt on with either high grade stainless or titanium.

I will most likely just epoy some 2x4s, not sure fibergalssing would be needed.

 

[CJG]

What type of seal are you going to use to set the window in place? Do you or anyone else know if there is some kind of formula to use to find out how much force the wood can take? I know for an acrylic tank there is a formula to use to determine the thickness the material should be. There must be something like that for wood. At least I hope there is. Otherwise how would you know if your putting too much force on the sides? Especially with a tall tank such as this one. This is a question I've considered when thinking of a wooden tank.

 

[SeaMonster]

this is where I got directions but I think they don't recommend building a plywood tank any larger than 500 gallons

http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

 

[CJG]

I checked that out, but it has limits such as height and what not. I think I hit the maximum when I punched in the numbers. How tall is your tank again? It says it doesn't recommend something higher than 30" for plywood

 

[SeaMonster]

I checked that out, but it has limits such as height and what not. I think I hit the maximum when I punched in the numbers. How tall is your tank again? It says it doesn't recommend something higher than 30" for plywood

mine is 24tx30wx96L cost under 650

 

[CJG]

I might have to come take a look at your tank before I do my plywood set up. I'm pretty much inviting myself over. I hope you understand

 

[SeaMonster]

you are more than welcome to come by and look at it.

I actually have a plywood sump too which was my old DT. its 5 years old and still holds like a champ. I believe life expectancy of a plywood tank is 15 years. but I think a plywood tank is only cost efficient when you go large. the 100g sump cost me way ore than just buying a used tank on Craig's list.

 

[CJG]

Got a day in mind? Weekday evenings work best for me.

 

[marinelife]

What type of seal are you going to use to set the window in place? Do you or anyone else know if there is some kind of formula to use to find out how much force the wood can take? I know for an acrylic tank there is a formula to use to determine the thickness the material should be. There must be something like that for wood. At least I hope there is. Otherwise how would you know if your putting too much force on the sides? Especially with a tall tank such as this one. This is a question I've considered when thinking of a wooden tank.

I am getting a Dow Corning building silicone, this is what is used by major aquariums.

As for the force, I never saw one myself but talked to several people that work with wood or tanks for a living. What has to be remembers is the PSI rating for the fiberglass, exopy, and glue used have to be taken into consideration. Since I am using all 3 the PSI rating on the tank is super high and should hold well. There is also a rating for the plywood.
1 PSI per 26" of water, so 2.69 PSI

 

[sandollar]

Very interesting concept. This should be a very nice project.

 

[SeaMonster]

Got a day in mind? Weekday evenings work best for me.

sure, can I pm you next week to set up a time?

have a good weekend

 

[marinelife]

Today I completed the Tunze Streams Mounting Area. I have it angled down so the Streams should hit the middle of the tank on the other side. I also cut the overflow hole.
It is about 15" X1.5", should it be bigger, on the other side with be the overflow box with two 1.5" bulkheads

 

[marinelife]

Update: I have done a little fiberglass work and so far it is going well. I have not had alot if time to work on it but am hoping to finish the first layer over the weekend, then the second should go faster.
So far it has not been a hard process, it is just taking alot of time per area.

 

[marinelife]

Ok I have 1.5 Coats of blue epoxy paint on, I must say I love the color, I am going to finish up the other coats tomorrow. One thing I do not like is you can see the fiberglass.

 

[marinelife]

More

 

[SteelHead]

Wow...thats not somthing you see everyday. Cant wait to see how that works out for ya!

 

[mmn_usn]

joining in to see this one done

 

[g0rFz]

what are you gonna stock it with? do these plywood tanks last forever if sealed correctly?

 

[Scooterman]

Looking good, that fiberglass can be a mess if not prepared for it LOL, speaking from experience LOL

 

[marinelife]

They can last a long time it done correctly.

My stock will be everything in my 375 now