# Start of my 130ish gallon corner setup



## Solace (Feb 12, 2006)

I like your rock castles.. I need to find some good rocks to make something for my shrimpies


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Cool project. I think the toughest aspect here is keeping water and plywood separate from each other  Working with epoxy and fiberglass and stuff isn't everyones favorite pastime, and with a large tank like that you are hopefully prepared and perhaps have made a few trial runs with smaller sizes?!

I wouldn't generalize Garf's rules... It all depends on thickness of the glass, bracing etc. Obviously, if you go larger you need thicker glass and more/better/wider bracing to avoid bowing and shattering.

But I assume you are way past that planning stage... Keep us updated. I am interested in knowing if you really save a lot of money by going plywood vs glass.


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## nik (Mar 7, 2006)

Looks good 

For what it's worth... I don't have much experience makin plywood tanks, but I have been building boats (up to about 50') with the stuff.

So, my advice:

Don't know about the recommendations. They probably apply, but it should be fine to either go for thicker plywood or make some kind of support for it. Make sure to have thick enough glass though...

About the tank itself. Some people are saying use marine grade plywood and waterproof glue. That is all good, but not really necessary. The whole point here is to use the epoxy to make a waterproof layer on top of the plywood. If this doesn't succeed, the tank is f****d anyway. Doesn't make any difference if it's "marine grade" or not. Same with the glue. However, you might as well use waterproof glue, the difference in price is insignificant.

About the epoxy. Make sure you get a good brand. I don't know who makes good epoxy, but I know that the "west system" will work. Many stores will say they have epoxy, but they don't know what they're talking about. If you can't get west systems, then get something else used for cold-moulding and strip-planking boats.

Working with epoxy sucks. It's poisonous, promotes cancer and whatever. You want to get dosing pumps to mix the glue and the hardener. They're cheap, and it makes things soooo much easier.

You want to make sure, after glueing the tank together, that there is no cracks or unevenness anywhere. If it is (and it usually will be), get some powder to mix mith the epoxy to make it thicker. Fill in everything. Sand down (wear mask). Make sure everything is perfectly smooth before starting "painting" with the epoxy.

Decide on your background. You get colored powder to mix with the epoxy, but the choises are limited. But you get black, which is what most people want. You can also paint the wood before applying epoxy, but then the the epoxy won't stick as good. Go for the powder if you can. But only on the last layer of epoxy.

You want at least four layers of epoxy. Thin layers, because it runs easily. After applying the second layer, you might want to add some of the aforementioned powder, to make it thicker. Use your own good judgement. And you should sand down the epoxy after each layer. You want to do this properly...

After everything is cured, you can silicone the glass in the front. Silicone sticks very good to the epoxy, so no problems here. I would recommend also to silicone all the inside edges of the tank. This shouldn't be necessary (if everything else is done properly), but it will let you sleep better at night 

I don't know about the cost of this. I think it will be cheaper than an all-glass tank, and I _know _it is a lot more satisfactorly. It is also a lot more sturdy than just glass. If everything is done right, it should last practically forever. And less chance of cracking anything.

Some people are worried about scratching the paint (epoxy), and recommend acrylic on the bottom and sides of the tank. I think this is silly. It takes a lot to scratch the paint. As I said, it can take a lot more beating than glass.

Anyways, you probably knew most of this from before... Good luck with the tank, and keep us posted


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

I have a bit of resin and epoxy experience; I have a bad car audio habit still  

I was actually thinking of doing a liner of acrylic instead of the epoxy route. 2x4s will frame the outside of the plywood tank portion, and then line the inside of the plywood with acrylic, sealing the corners/edges with silicone. Wood for strength and acrylic for water retention. I'm just very paranoid of developing a crack, nick, or chip using epoxy. It' would probably never happen, but if it did......

Seeing that there is only going to be one visible side on the outside of my tank (And ascetics are important for this project), I think it gives me a lot more options for framing and finishing. In the end it is probably going to be WAY overbuilt, but that's fine with me


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Eh, just crappy pic w/ a crappy update I'm ALMOST done with the tank framing. I'm going to finish up the framing this weekend and take some measurements to see just how much this is going to hold.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Well, there are the finished framing pics. She's a sturdy one After seeing pics of the DIY plywood tanks, I have no fears about filling this thing. My framing did take a good size chunk out of the tank, but I'm still happy with its 109 gallons. 

Next step is to talk to some of the local plastic places and talk about some acrylic. I'm still on the fence as to what I want to use for the front, but I 'm feeling like glass today....

Yes, the last pic is dorky, but I was trying to give a sence of size; I'm 6' and 180lbs.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

thats one heck of a tank there good luck with it!

and it looks as if stealthy ninja has a new recruite!

-=- fish newb -=-


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Waiting in the depths of the garage he waits for his next victim....... 

I was doing some sanding


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## Fosty (Oct 17, 2003)

Thats a really cool project. What happens with a tank background? Do you just paint the back or leave it wood-backgrounded?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Please keep updating us! Also, when you are done, maybe you can do a quick summary of all the expenses that went into this.

Looks very sturdy :thumbsup: Only thing that makes me wonder is the 72" front/top, will you add a brace to prevent that from bowing?


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## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

How about a low-iron (Starfire) glass sheet for the front?


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## distrbd (Feb 17, 2006)

Cool project,I was wondering how well the weight is distributed on the legs, probably it is better to some how spread the weight evenly rather than on 3 legs.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

If I do end up bracing it on top, I'll have to wait until I get the front in there. 

I have to hit up the glass shops this week and see what I can get. Ordering acrylic seems like it's more money than it's worth. 

I think I'll be ok with the spacing. The bottom of the tank is 2 sheets of .75" high grade plywood, then the top of the stand is 2 layers of 2x4s.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Well, after having a few days off (I somehow managed to get pink eye and seeing that I work in an OR I got sent home) I got some more work done. Stupid digi-cam is packed away somewhere (Gotta move in 2 weeks), so all I have are phone pics.





































The outside is not close to being done, so yes the screws will be covered. The pic of the inside acrlyic is horrable, but it's 1/8" acrylic painted black from the outside. I siliconed once, siliconed twice, and yes, one last time. The bottom seal looks like crap, but it's well sealed and hey, it will be covered The verticle seals look 1000x time better. They turned out quite nice actually. I'm going to try and get my glass ordered over these next 2 weeks while we get ready to move.


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## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

This looks like it;s coming together nicely.

What are you palnning for filtration? Bulkhead fittings in the acrylic?


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks. Most likely going to be a home brew canister setup, that will be another thread  Yes, bulk heads.


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## Ds11375 (Jan 28, 2006)

*Great Job*

Looking forward to seeing how you trim it out.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

My project is still kicking, I've been a bit lazy and had a small setback with the acrylic. Acrylic has been redone and the glass has been set in place. I'll see if the blasted thing holds water next weekend. If not, I've been eyeing up an AGA 125Gal at the LFS


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Always looking forward to updates... Hope it will hold water, so we get to see the final results. AGA 125's are so boring compared to what you are doing here.

Let me get that straight... so instead of epoxy and fiberglass and all that shizzle you used acrylic sheets to get this water tight? I think that's ingenious. How much does the acrylic cost?


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks. 

I don't want to give up hope just yet after my little setback, because I do think it's a nifty looking tank. 

Yeah, it's just 1/8" acrylic from Home Depot. $40 for a 36x72" sheet. I used 2 sheets. I did use epoxy in all of the acrylic joints, then sealed that with some silicone.


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## jetta_mike (Apr 4, 2005)

This is looking really cool. Looking forward to see how it holds water!!


-mike-


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## windsurfer (Mar 8, 2005)

*be careful with silicone and acrylic !*

Silicone normally does not adhere well to acrylics. It is much better to use a proper acrylic cement (solvent welding).

-jd


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

is acrylic cement non-toxic to aquatic life?


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

the_noobinator said:


> is acrylic cement non-toxic to aquatic life?


I would suggest using regular acetone to seal the seams of the acrylic. Acetone atctually melts (for lack of a better word) the sheets together. I use a small bottle that has a needle to dispurse the acetone. It will actually get sucked between the sheets and form a pernament joint.


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## conduct (Mar 25, 2005)

tusk said:


> My project is still kicking, I've been a bit lazy and had a small setback with the acrylic. Acrylic has been redone and the glass has been set in place. I'll see if the blasted thing holds water next weekend. If not, I've been eyeing up an AGA 125Gal at the LFS


I was just wondering the outcome of the tank?


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## Architect1 (Feb 19, 2006)

Nice a wood tank. Humm ideas are comming into my head. although I think theres to much wood holding it up I have a 2x4 in each coner and in the back middle holding my tank up and to link them together with 2x4s wooks great. So 19 2x4 to build it.

theres millions of right ways to do it Not saying mines right or wrong just reduces the weight.

But it will look awsome staind. I was wondering if you put glass around the wooden sides? and does it have to be think or is it fine thin?


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

It's still kicking, slowly.

Heh, I was waiting until later but here I go.....


I decided I didn't like the silicone job. Tried to remove the acrylic and cracked a panel.

I got some more acrylic and silicone. Filled it up and found a couple of leaks.

RRRAAARRRR. Ok, how about some fiberglass instead of silicone. Yep, it's holding water! Was I happy? No.

Am I sick of scraping silicone off of the glass? YES!

Now I'm happily waiting for my epoxy from Aquatic Eco-Systems. I should have gone straight to this instead of trying the acrylic. Lesson learned:icon_roll 

I have my glass all cleaned up and have really worked the inside of the tank over. I used some higher quality bondo and filled all of the gaps/joints so EVERYTHING is smoothed out. You can't catch a fingernail anywhere. 

I ALMOST hauled the whole thing to the curb for the trashmen. I'm glad I didn't (Yet  ) When it's all said and done (Pluming and all), I think it will be pretty slick. 

Someday I'll get it finished:redface:


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Thank you for the update. LOL... this is starting to remind me of another great tank project. 

So you scratched the idea of using acrylic and went with fiberglass, no, epoxy! Hmmm... I am sorta planning a similar project, and your experiences are very helpful.

What do you think about getting thin, cheap glass to line the inside of something like this, and seal it with silicone? Silicone will stick to glass...

Please keep us informed... :smile:


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

The thought of glass crossed my mind. You have to make sure you're Norm Abraham when you're cutting and assembling though. I have a rather healthy fudge factor with mine Too many angles and what not also made me not go that route. 

I had the acrylic in there and instead of silicone I tried some fiberglass mat and resin. I was going to coat the 'glassed areas with silicone or something, as we all know about polyester resin. It did hold and I probabally could have gotten away with it, but that's my issue, I don't want to just get away with it. I didn't feel that there was really a good bond.

I'm really trying to build this for the longterm and overbuilt. When I did have water in the tank, there wasn't any strength issues anywhere so that's one issue out of the way 

I really wish I would have just bucked up and ordered that epoxy from the start. I might have had the basic tank/stand portion done by now, but hey I learned things along the way (Getting a bunk tube of silicone in the middle of doing the actual sealing sucked).

Once I get the inside lined and holding water to my standards I'll take some more and better pics of the finer/interesting points to this. 

I also have to give my wife some credit for making me not quit on this. After all of the long hours I've spent on this so far and MANY more to come and after looking at some tanks at the LFS she wants to see me finish this. I think she's just glad it's not my car or something to that nature :smile:


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Ah ha! Finally an update that's positive!

After previous fail attempts, the epoxy paint I ordered from Eco-Complete worked wonderfully. That stuff is pretty neat. I managed to get 7 coats out of the 1 gallon kit. I wish I would have gotten this from the start. It's easy to work with, but the fumes are quite pungent; Fiberglass epoxy fumes really don't bother me and this stuff did. 

After everything was dried out and ready to go, it was time to fill this again. So after spouting leaks again and again I was prepared for failure as this was going to be my last attempt with this tank. It was a bit surreal seeing the tank getting fuller and fuller and the floor staying dry. I filled it completely up, no leaks. I let it sit full for a week. No water loss. Schweet I think it finally time to move on to the canopy and the lighting. 

I was going to try and order my 311W (55wx5 & 36Wx1, once again the shape of the tank is causing me grief with design) worth of power today from AH Supply seeing that I'm semi motivated today. 

I went and got all the wood I need for trimming yesterday so that is my plan for this upcoming weekend as I almost have my canopy completed.

Well, onto the pics,


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Thanks for sharing again, great persistance.

Couple of questions... 7 coats?? Sounds like a lot of work. Not knowing much about epoxy, I'd rather do one thick coat (positioning the tank so the surface that is to be painted lays flat on the bottom). 

What do you think of this stuff?

What did you pay for your front glass? How thick? Got it locally, I assume?

The blue color looks interesting, and I mean this in a positive way.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

7 coats my be overkill, but that is the name of the tank (Wait until I start the pluming). I also wanted to use as much of the paint as I could due to the overall price which was almost $100. There was no real reason I went with that brand other than the fact they sell a lot of commercial grade stuff, and the fact it passes the potable water standards. It took two weekends to do. I mixed half of the paint, followed the mixing and drying directions, and did as many coats as I could per the directions (coats and drying time had all sorts of "if this"). I let it dry a week, then repeated. I'm glad I put on as many coats as I did. I inadvertanly dropped an angled piece of 2x4 directly onto the bottom from 3' up. After almost pissing myself I looked and saw that the corner of the 2x4 had chipped off and the bottom of the tank was totally fine... whew. 

I did get the glass locally. It was a bit of a pain to get (there were only a few that would go thicker than .25") and prices varied a lot. I just ended going with the semi-cheapest just because the were the best to deal with on the phone. IIRC the measurements are .5 x 26 x 56". I was really on the fence about the .5 vs. .75" thick glass. After filling it, I feel TOTALLY safe going with that. The front/frame is HEAVILY braced all the way around which helps a great deal. I think it ended up costing $200-225 w/ polished edges (Well worth the extra $60).


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## RobChuck (Mar 9, 2006)

The tank looks fantastic! I've always liked the idea of going DIY with plywood and hope to someday soon. And you're not the first person from whom I've heard glowing reviews of AES's aquatic epoxy (they're catalog is fun to browse!).


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

What an awesome project - I wish I would have caught it sooner! Great looking tank you have there, and it seems to be rock solid. I hope you never have to move it once you get it all set up and settled in. Thanks for sharing!


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks for the comments. 

I have another set of pics after another weekend of work.

I have all the trim work done except for the canopy. The trim for the glass section was a PITA. If you can tell from the pic it has a slight lip to it. Each side is notched (To cover imperfections from cutting the area for the glass). I should have gotten a dato blade..... but I managed to do it and still have all my fingers I have to wait until I get my lights before I can get that done. After a couple of emails back and fourth from AH Supply they told me what I should get, so this weekend I'll place my order. I filled it up again, to double check things, and well, just because I wanted to see water in it  

Now I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for a pump; Fluval FX5 or an Eheim 1260 hobby pump and go my DIY route...


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have an FX5 and I highly recommend it.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Uh oh.......

I got a little ticked off last week on Monday. Normally, I would have gone outside and had a smoke, but seeing that's bad for ya, and I'm 9 weeks into being quitter that option was no good. In the past I've had a problem with hitting inatimate objects to vent my anger and never had a problem besides sore and scraped knuckles. Well, for some reason I snapped and slugged the padded portion of my weight bench. *SNAP* "Uh oh...." 

I broke the base of my right hand's "pinky" metacarpal into 3 pieces. Surgery this past Monday. 

The thing that wiggs me out is that I'm an OR Tech. So yeah, I knew better. I have first-hand information on what happens in an OR (I've scrubbed a few of these specific hand cases). It's no biggie, just that sometimes it's better off not knowing some things 

Well I survived. It wasn't as weird as I thought it was going to be(Being in the know and all....)The surgery was a little more difficult than expected. Knowing that, I'm glad I got it fixed rather than just having a closed reduction and a cast as I had the choice of what I wanted to do. So some K-Wires and some bovine bone graft and I'm all good.

I have the next 2 months off, which stinks, sort of:hihi: 

****Would rather be working on my tank than watching TV


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Ahhh, I can relate. I haven't broken bones but I have bruised a wrist pretty bad where it has swollen up and looked nasty. I hope whatever it is that ticked you off is no longer a problem. As I was reading this I was horrified that the *SNAP* was going to be the tank cracking and subsequent flooding of your house. I'm both glad that the tank is ok and very sorry about your poor pinky. I hope you feel better!


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

Been there.. I feel for you.. I hope it heals fast.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That is a beautiful DIY project! I wish I had noticed this thread sooner.


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Well, I finally started thinking about this again:biggrin: My hand, for the most part, is all better (Though there are still some lingering issues) and it's finally starting to warm up here in Wisconsin. It's SO close to being done enough to bring it inside...... it just needs to stay above 40 degrees so I can do the wood filling and staining.

What's left:
Staining
AH Lights
SoilMaster Substrate
Fluval FX5
Plumbing 

Mmmmmmmm............ now I just need some free time:icon_wink


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

Things to check off my list:

Staining: DONE
In-line heaters x2: DONE
UV Filter: DONE
Plumbing: Bought (That was hard enough. The look on the checkout girls face was priceless when she saw my cart full of litte PVC connectors:hihi: ) 
Filter: DONE (I LOVE my FX5:icon_twis Beastly is all I can really say and needs to be said about it)

I plan on drilling the bulkheads, plumbing, and some electrical this weekend.


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## tropicalfish (Mar 29, 2007)

The tank looks nice! Remember to show pictures after you get the stuff all set up with fish and stuff!!




tusk said:


> Uh oh.......
> 
> I got a little ticked off last week on Monday. Normally, I would have gone outside and had a smoke, but seeing that's bad for ya, and I'm 9 weeks into being quitter that option was no good. In the past I've had a problem with hitting inatimate objects to vent my anger and never had a problem besides sore and scraped knuckles. Well, for some reason I snapped and slugged the padded portion of my weight bench. *SNAP* "Uh oh...."
> 
> ...


For me, looking at my fish tank is a good way to relieve stress....


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I am so looking forward to see this tank finished and setup! I'd love to do something like this one day, just a big 8x2x2, and threads like this are an inspiration. Hope your hand is doing better... Sometimes when breaking wood I think of you :hihi:


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## tusk (Jan 30, 2006)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/47381-its-done-well-almost-110gal-corner.html#post422063

I started a new thread. It's almost time.... muhahahaha


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