193 gallon plywood build thread

dude thats looking very good not sure i understand the 45's ive heard it a lot on plywood builds.

but its looking sweet! 8)


lol your dog...

 

I could use kitty hair, but the bondo will work fine. All it needs to do is fill the screw holes flush for the epoxy paint to sit flush. Kitty hair would have more strength, but no real strength is needed.

Basically the 45's transmit the forces to to the sides of the walls, instead of to the seam/ corner. The 45's also make it easy to lay the fiberglass cloth down instead of trying to get it to lay down in the 90 degree corner. It makes the cloth set flat so the epoxy can cover it up easily, and it looks nice. It really is not necessary on my tank size, as I know on willie's 360g build, he did not use 45's and his holds water quite well. My tank is essentially is a shorter version of his tank, since his is 8 feet long. But even he said he wished he had done the 45's to get the fiberglass flatter in the corners.


Yeah, Farley is a clown.

 

Everything looks really well constructed. At risk of sounding like a critic, I'm gonna put this out there. As solid and well built as everything is, I'm surprised you have such a small amount of real estate for the glass to adhere to. What's the distance b/w your 45 furring strips and the opening of the tank for the glass? It will most likely be fine, especially if you're emulating a build of a friend that you know works already. Just intuitively, I wouldn't feel comfortable with less than 6" "grasp" area for glass to wood. It appears you have maybe 3". Is that about right? (Or is that tank just HUGE?)

Hope that was clear. No pun intended.

Great build, horkn!

 

I forgot to add beer bottle pics in the tank again. I will clean the tank out and give it a vacuum, and then take more pics to show scale.

The glass has about a 1.25" area on top and bottom to have the glass adhere to the tank front with silicone, and about 1.5" on the sides. GARF's plans, and everybody's builds only have an inch on each side where the silicone goes onto the glass. I left myself a little wiggle room, without having the front "frame" take up too much glass area.

If you think about it, a traditional glass tank only has the thickness of the glass to hold it together with silicone. This tank will have an inch all the way around, and the front frame is holding it it, not just silicone.

Granted, this is my first woody build, and I am merely going by others experience. The plywood gods at fingerlakesreef.com signed off on this, so I can only assume it's going to be sound.


I love constructive criticism, I have extra beer if anyone wants to help me when I start epoxying.

 

I'm sure you'll be fine, horkn. Afterall, this has been done before, and you're getting advice from those who've done it. Nothing else really needs to be said.

That being said (LOL!!) I'm hard headed. I realize the only thing that holds the front pane on a typical glass aquarium is the bead of silicone attaching it to the other panes--but with a wood aquarium, it's different. Wood is not as strong as glass.

I guess I have one question that would let me sleep well at night if this were my baby. Are you going to fortify with epoxy the wood in front BEFORE gluing the glass to it? If yes, then that epoxy will be the key. If not, I'd be nervous.

But again, this is coming from opinion, not experience. You have experience on your side, so again, I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

Actually, plywood as it comes from the lumber yard is stronger than comparable glass panes. Then take in account that the plywood is .75 inches thick, while the pane of glass I am getting is only 3/8" thick.

The whole inside, including the inside of the front pane is getting a good coating of epoxy, and fiberglass matting is getting encased in the epoxy to strengthen it above and beyond what the wood and epoxy will do. The silicone won't apparently stick to plain plywood and needs at least epoxy paint, or epoxy to stick to it. The silicone sticks like crazy to epoxy or epoxy painted wood.

One guy on fingerlakes took extra epoxy, and a piece of 3/4 ply wood and treated the plywood scrap just like his tank. Then he let it set up, and beat on it with a sledge hammer. The epoxied plywood did not even crack! Try that with a pane of glass.
Another guy said that his plywood tank made this way could probably be dropped off the truck he was hauling it in at freeway speed and it would probably be totally fine.

So in addition to being lighter than an all glass tank, it is stronger as well and cost less, they just take a lot more time to make. That and you can't see through plywood. LOL

Boats have been made like this for quite some time, and they hold up just fine. This tank is basically like building a boat, but inside out.

 

Good enough for me.

Can't wait to see it.

By the way, you really need to get a sturdier stand than those milk crates. As soon as you fill that thing with water, those milk crates are gonna give way. At the very least, put some bricks in those crates.

 

LOL

I have my 2x6 and 2x4 stand nearly completed enough to set the tank on it If I can get my butt in gear, and finish putting that together, Dr fragenstein will pop over after work on Saturday and help me get it downstairs.

At the time I had no bench or table or anything to put the tank on, so I used the milk crates. Necessity is the mother of invention, even Macgyver would approve, until I put water in it ;0

 

What makes the wood structurally more sound is the ability to flex under pressure and retain its stability, given it is sealed properly and not water damaged or rotted. Flex glass and it will shatter.
Good work Horkn! If I was near you, I'd definitely give you a helping hand moving that beast and setting it up.

 

bet mcgyver could make a tank outta paper clips and saran wrap. lol.

first time poster here horkn , everything is looking excellent. im totally impressed with your workmanship and attention to detail. along with the research youve done. i look forward to further updates. cheers

guy