Ply Wood Tank-I made this!-3reef Forums

viking · 01-06-2003, 11:54 PM

Maybe to help this new section get off the ground i'll post about my one and only DIY effort. A 300 gal plywood system.
I say system as i tried as far as possible to make as much as possible from plywood. Thats tank, hood, sumps and apart from some strong uprights the stand too.

Much more, well actualy a bit more info can be found on my web site (still working on it sometimes) at My reef setup

Cheers,
Viking.

Matt Rogers · 01-07-2003, 05:13 AM

That's great viking. I don't know anything about plywood tanks. How do you safely treat the wood for saltwater use?

viking · 01-07-2003, 10:54 AM

Matt,
The wood inside the tank is painted using a food grade epoxy paint. I put 5 coats of this on the inside surface. The paint also has another feature in that its very hard, so does resist scratching a little. Care must still be taken but its not easy to scratch through.
Cheers,
Viking.

Matt Rogers · 01-07-2003, 05:03 PM

Paint? That's wild. How long is that supposed to last?

What do you seal the wood together with?

viking · 01-07-2003, 05:10 PM

Matt,
who knows but they reckon about 20 years. By seal the wood do you mean against leaks? If so the paint does that too. This stuff is like steel when its dry.
Cheers,
Viking.

Matt Rogers · 01-07-2003, 05:20 PM

20 years is worth it.

No, I mean the edges of the wood that touch each other. You don't use silicone with wood, right?

viking · 01-07-2003, 05:37 PM

Matt,
When the tank is put together the edges are glued and screwed together. I used a three inch long wood screw every 3 inches along all edges. This makes for a very strong box. On the inside the paint does a good job to make a water seal but we also run a bead of silicone (after painting) in all corners to make sure. The glass front is held in place with silicone and all edges of the glass are sealed with silicone too. It sticks well to the paint.
Cheers,
Viking.

Matt Rogers · 01-07-2003, 08:00 PM

Wood screw every 3 inches? Man that is strong. Cool project. I was checking out your site. Cool looking site! All your tank pics are fuzzy though! Did you compress the crap out of them or something?

later,

matt

viking · 01-08-2003, 12:36 AM

Matt,
No mate thats the way i take photos. Never been very good at that. I even borrowed a $1000 camera and they were the best

Feel free to pop round and take some shot for me.
Cheers,
Viking.

karlas · 01-09-2003, 04:14 AM

thats a very interesting tank set up never seen one made outta wood before thats sometin u can say not everybody has