Thinking about building my own glass tank

[soyadrink]

Soooo... Here's the deal,

I have recently decided not to do my drivers license but instead spend the money I saved for it on my favorite hobby(actually my only hobby since it took over all others financially).
I have been thinking about this for a couple of months and have come up with the vague plan of a shallow peninsula reeef tank
I'm lucky enough to have a nice big room in the basement where it stays cool over the summer and behind one wall there is a little room under the staircase which I could put my equipment into.
I have the opportunity to get a bunch of free 1/4" glass from Dan(danno14) so I was thinking, lets build a new tank.
Here are the dimensions I planned: 5'x3'x16", roughly 150 gallons. This should be low enough to be able to use only 1/4" thin glass. What do you think? Put a Eurobrace on it and fine?

I need some feedback on whether this is a good idea or not? I also need some tips on how to(i have read up on it and will continue but your personal experience is still my top lead)

Thanks for baring with me and for all future answers

 

[noonesname124]

waht you mean "not to do my drivers license"

 

[soyadrink]

what it says. Not to get my drivers license would probably make a little more sense

 

[Workaholic]

umm dude, why? you would still depend on others to get you around? and it makes it kinda tough to get a job without a mode of transportation?

Tom

 

[soyadrink]

It saves a lot of money, I live in seattle and can get around very well on the bus, and it saves money(or have I said that already? hehe) but thats really not what this thread is about. So please, back to topic

 

[Workaholic]

It saves a lot of money, I live in seattle and can get around very well on the bus, and it saves money(or have I said that already? hehe) but thats really not what this thread is about. So please, back to topic

Well you could build the whole thing out of glass or you could build it out of plywood and use the glass for the front viewing area. Either way depends on you and how comfortable you are building the tank either way. Personally I'm looking into building a large plywood tank but thats just me.

Tom

 

[soyadrink]

I said before that I want it to be a peninsula tank so I want it viewable fro all sides.

 

[Workaholic]

well first off the very definition of a peninsula tank is only viewable from 3 sides. even then it is still very possible to build a plywood tank with 3 glass panels. Just a thought.

Tom

 

[soyadrink]

Well yeah, thats true, it will only have to be visible on three sides(and the top as it is very shallow it will be on a short stand so you can view it from top down as well.

 

[soyadrink]

Well yeah, thats true, it will only have to be visible on three sides(and the top as it is very shallow it will be on a short stand so you can view it from top down as well.

Can you elaborate on the plywood idea please?

 

[Workaholic]

Can you elaborate on the plywood idea please?

well it is not unheard of for people building large tanks to build the main structure out of wood and coat it with fiberglass and marine potable water epoxy. Usually these tanks are only viewable from the front but typically isn't of big concern as you get the most benefit from building a tank like this (mainly in $$ savings) when you build it very large (200+gallons or so). For example I'm tossing around building a tank that is 70x36x24 using a sheet of 1/2" lexan for the front panel and wood for the rest. Its a somewhat inexpensive way of building a tank for someone who is capable of doing it especially since you get a custom dimension that you want and you can go really big with it. For example the tank i'm looking into will come out to be about 262gallons.

Go to GARF.org and look in their DIY section then go to tank building and put in your dimensions you want and it will tell you everything you need to know on how to build it.

Another bit to keep in mind though that Garf shows you how to build the tank using nothing but 3/4" plywood. Personally If I do end up building a tank like this I will be using much more material than that and there will be several 2x4's involved as well as doubled up sheets of 3/4" plywood, but I would much rather be safe than sorry when it comes to 265+gallons of water and who knows how many thousands of dollars of livestock.

Tom

 

[soyadrink]

Thanks for the link, just went on it and looks pretty good. Informative, and helpful.
I still think I'll be sticking to all glass.
Yeah, I get what you mean about doubling support. Always a good idea and with the plywood tank actually quite affordable.

 

[Workaholic]

Another thing to keep in mind is you will want to figure out a way to keep that tank covered, otherwise that that big of a surface area your evaporation rate is going to be horrendous.

Tom

 

[chend2]

I think it is more than workable. It will pretty much end up being a huge coral frag tank. Working with glass is the sketchy part. See if someone will put it together with you. Beside you will need at two people when you are doing the seams anyway. Also, sanding the glass can be expensive. Servicky said it was like 10 cents a foot or something. Anyway, lighting should be fine. 3x250 MH should do the trick. I would say go for it. Build the tank and stand first, then see where you are at.

 

[chend2]

1/4 inch, eurobrace you are more than fine. I mean I wouldn't lean on it but youll be fine. Also you will have to do several centerbraces, just to keep it from bowing. At least 2 of them.