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.

 

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?

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.