DIY plywood & Glass Tank

Hi! I plan to make a reef tank of PLYWOOD and GLASS myself (Im so excited!!~!) Thank you so much! I was wondering though....are there any rules to the dimensions of the tank? I was planning to make a tank 33x28x24 (INCHES)....33 being the face from left to right, 28 being the side from front to back, and 24 being the height from top to bottom...it would be about a 90-95 Gallon tank and I will be using 3/8" thick GLASS for the front. Would there be any problems with this? I would apreciate any and all input you can give me before I begin...even info that is not pertaining to the dimensions would be greatly appreciated.

[reiple]

much like a cube! my tank is all glass 30x21x24 and it uses the thickness for 30 gallons (it's 60 now i think). a thicker glass would be more safe. (1/2&quot?

How are you planning to seal the points where the glass and plywood meet? Marine Epoxy? What if the wood "warps"? will you use a paint sealant (those paint which waterproof anything?)? Or paint the inside marine epoxy?

what about a cement and glass tank? use cement slabs instead of glass?

[Scuba]

If you talk to viking, he will give you some good advice on it. Here is his home page http://www.fishyfrolics.com/viking/

[Scuba]

Here is a link for a 140 gal plywood tank.
http://www.garf.org/140.gallon.html

[Crows_Ridge]

Have a blast! I built our latest tank in the wall. It is 72''L x 36''W x 30''T. I used acrylic, but would use glass next time because of scratches. It is 3/4 plywood, painted black and I lined it with 1/8'' acrylic instead of using 2 part paint.

It has 3ea. 1 1/2'' intake and 9ea. 1'' returns on the closed loop. Will make the next one 96''x 48''x30''T


Good luck!

Chris

[marinelife]

I was searching and found this thread, how are these tanks doing?

[jbaker]

Check out Garf link. The biggest problem to overcome in the water pressure pushing out on the tank walls. Garf has all the calculators you'll need as well a making up a materials list. Good luck, I've been debating whether or not to try the same thing at "sometime" in the future.

[ziggy222]

for all the supplies and work involved to make a plywood tank that might not last as long.i would just buy a all glass tank.now i can see the reason for a home made stand.stores sell crappy stands but their tanks are better than you could make yourself.

[gazog]

My father has a 125 gallon plywood and glass tank we built almost 22 years ago. it has been used continuously since it was first filled except for 3 times that they moved and that was only for a couple of days.

As far as cost goes I am willing to bet that its quite a bit cheaper due to the fact that your only using 1 sheet of glass. Even marine plywood is way cheaper that a sheet of 1/2 glass.

[AaronG]

has any one ever thought of changing the wood for fiberglass(they make boats out of it and inset the glass) just a thought for all u talented builders.